marc louis-boyard Archives - Slow Culture Magazine

Jason McMahon (Odd West out on Jan 31 2020) – ITW #12

17 December 20193 May 2020Interviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Public transportation strikes can be painful. Not for us! Almost two months ago, we were stuck home on a cold Fall day. We then received an incoming message announcing Odd West, Jason McMahon’s first solo album after his abundant opportunities as a respected touring musician. Folk/americana? That aroused curiosity.

Our modest but hyperactive sound system didn’t fail to instantly reveal the richness of the twelve tracks of Odd West. Unsurprisingly enough, and beyond his musical abilities, JasonMcMahon has a sense of generosity and openness in his words that touched us and that you can find in this interview.

Before reading, press play to enjoy “Book of Knots” and “Ambisinistrous”.

The Novella Project (Holland House Books) – ITW #11

4 December 20193 May 2020Interviews, Literature Marc Louis-Boyard

The Novella Project (tutored by Holland House Books and supported by Arts Council England) is the ambitious reunion of two teams, each working on two books published each year.

Each party (including the author) comes from under-represented minorities and/or working class backgrounds. The main goal of The Novella Project is to learn: the merry teams are composed of interns with bright dreams and ever-growing motivations. Layout, marketing, editing, typography… Many fields and duties are put under the spotlight. Of course, authors can be directly involved too.

With the precious help of Holland House Books founder Robert Peett, we were lucky enough to interview Phaidra Robinson, Mia Skevington, Yinka Olanyia and Isabel Cash, all team members of The Novella Project. Find the results of their work at the end of this article!

Teamwork, responsibilities, communication and business vision, this interview is your opportunity to learn from these publishers in the making.

silvi alcivar (the poetry store) – WHY I WRITE VOL.14

1 December 20193 May 2020Literature, Why I Write Marc Louis-Boyard

my poems emerge from the dark of you meeting i. then there is something more than light. there is life.

BIO: as poet and owner of the poetry store, silvi alcivar writes and sells custom poetry on-demand and as art. to date, she’s worked in places as small as someone’s living room, as intimate as a funeral, and as recognizable as tedX. in addition to selling tens of thousands of poems worldwide, she’s performed on stage and radio and exhibits art in galleries throughout the bay area. her truest passion is in teaching poetry classes for the elderly, which started in 2005 and will continue until she’s too old to do it. she’s grateful to cornell university’s college scholar program for giving her the opportunity to choose a college path of her own choosing and penn state for introducing her to the true meaning of an MFA (read: mother f*cking artist).

Picture: scott r. kline

Why I Write, by silvi alcivar.

Helen E. Mundler (Holland House Books) – WHY I WRITE VOL.13

24 November 20193 May 2020Literature, Why I Write Marc Louis-Boyard

BIO: Helen E. Mundler is an academic and novelist. She has published two novels, Homesickness (Dewi Lewis, 2003) and L’Anglaise (Holland House, 2018), as well as several short stories. At present she is revising a third novel, entitled Three Days by the Sea. This is a family-based story full of surprises and revelations, with a good dose of hope and renewal.

She has published critical books on A.S. Byatt (Harmattan, 2003) and Liz Jensen (Boydell and Brewer, 2016). Her current research is on rewritings of the Noah myth in climate change literature, and she recently worked on this in America as a Fulbright research scholar.

Why I Write, by Helen E. Mundler.

WHERE TO BEGIN WITH… Dostoyevsky Wannabe (indie press)

10 November 201910 November 2019Literature, Where to begin with... Marc Louis-Boyard

Slow Culture just turned 3, and we’re back to basics. Since Frank Zappa and Miles Davis have their own guides, it’s due time for Dostoyevsky Wannabe to have theirs. Are we exaggerating? Certainly not.

Dostoyevsky Wannabe helped us falling in love with literature again, and are not likely to leave our seasonal and massive book wishlists any time soon. In the span of 4 years, the Mancunian small press founded by Richard Brammer and Victoria Brown edited, designed and published dozens of titles. In our opinion, it’s been a quality over quality affair all along.

Here are six titles that enchanted our life until now, one page at a time.

Full Body, Always There (Five Kill Records) – ALBUM REVIEW #11

27 October 20193 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

BIO: Full Body own their name. The Rochester, NY quartet play a robust breed of gangly rock music that lurches in the intersection between impatient slowcore, gnarled shoegaze, and noisy post-hardcore. The band introduced their dynamically sensitive appeal on their ambitious 2017 debut, What’s Good?, a record that threaded needly guitar licks through a thick fabric of bashing drums and distinctly scratchy vocals.

Once Always There hit our inbox, we did our homework. We have to admit that we weren’t too impressed with Full Body’s first tracks from What’s Good and Smart Martian. How times have changed!

Don’t be scared by the rushed “noise rock” categorization, Full Body delivers here a palatable and digestive experience. Entrée, plat, dessert.

With Always There, Full Body succeeded in crafting tasty and relevant compositions for both newbies on the scene and seasoned musicians (and even technicians). The Rochester quartet only left us with one luxurious anxiety: the fear of musical abandonment in the future.