From GED to PhD with Austin Dean Ashford, Part 2

Texas Tech University doctoral student in interdisciplinary arts, Austin Dean Ashford, joins host Hayden Browning to discuss life, arts and what it takes to keep climbing mountains. 

From getting his GED to now finishing his PhD, Austin has had a lifetime full of experiences from singing to his grandmother to making Denzel Washington cry. You'll want to follow this man's talent from humble beginnings, to Broadway, to the international stage and beyond. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're talking about uh that power, and then I recognize you like empowering and empowerment, which makes sense as a director because you have to.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

You have to, not only do you have to uh not have power, you have to empower the people around you to carry this film that you're making and adapting together. Is there any time that you have thought of your one-act shows and someone else has implemented something into that for you?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Oh man, I already said that. The trick is because people only see me up there on stage, they think I do everything by myself. There could be nothing more false than that. Um uh the dramaturg, the person who I sit there and research with to make sure the piece cohesively makes sense. Extremely important. The director, the person who's outside of my body on the other side saying, mm, what about that movement? What about that action? What about that light? Because I can't do all of those things. Uh sometimes I still have a different person doing costumes, even though I'm only one person like, mmm, we have to find our costume that's gonna work for me to work for an hour that I'm gonna move around and I'm gonna sweat in. Uh, the lighting person, the birds are when you go here, because I could do all that in fluorescent, but when you put the spotlight here, the green light here, the blue and the red light here, the lure on the lid, it's a completely different story. The scenic designer, the reason why do I have a nice big backdrop for Island Trapper? Where's the desk? Where's the chair? Um, and then I gotta go even further. People don't like talking about, you know, I'm talking about producing, you know, who's the head of the marketing team? Who's the ED? How are we doing social media? How are we doing flyers? Where are the interviews? Are we talking to radio? Are we talking to newspaper? Am I going to a school to try to get people to come? Um, how are we gonna design the flyer? What is the font gonna be? What is the picture gonna be? What's up? There's so many people involved. Um, and then another thing people don't take into account for is like in the way that my plays are set up, is the audience has a role. So the audience actually has to do work to be able to be like involved with my shows too. So it's like there's so many things that are like are going around. I think I might be a quarterback, but I still have like a coach, a head coach, a general manager, a teammate here, a teammate there, and we're trying to put everything on. Um, and I think another thing that helps me as I'm teaching people do one-person shows is when they first seem like, how am I gonna do all that by myself? It's like the trick looked good then, because you thought I did it by myself, but you're not doing anything by yourself. It's kind of like in a movie where, like, oh, you've seen the lead actor, and you don't really know everybody who's involved in that movie until the end of the credits. Like, the credits are so long that you're literally like, okay, I'm done. There's more. Yes, there's there's more because there's so many people involved. But I also think that that also makes sure that I have a really nice, distinct story. It's really fine-tuned. I went through so many different checks and balances, and so many people who would have gone through that. I'm like, okay, I'm at a comfortable same thing like with the movies. Alright, we went through so many editors, so many filters, so many sound people, so many polish, so many festivals that now by the time you're finally seeing it, it's good, but also that collaboration and community and collective also not get to have a really awesome experience with someone who's a coworker who can now be a friend when the project's done. That's amazing. I love it, it's great, and I love re-collaborating with people again and doing stuff again. I'm trying to see that when I graduate. If tech is gonna bring me back in here, babe, you'll tell me be one of the flyest alumni that a school has ever had.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

No, I'm I'm looking forward to seeing everything that you do because you're most definitely gonna do just that much more, and you're only gonna get better from here on out. Yeah, you'll be so excited. I just try, you know, I try to maintain your your You already have this uh This view that you give everyone else that is just upbeat and positive and and a good person to be around. So I'm just trying to return the favor.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

I appreciate it. Of course. Because I also want to give like big credit to like the community. I think I'm really a reflection of the people who've poured into me. And I think I'm happy to say that because I think some people feel like they pour into people and their efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated. So when someone just does something for me, I'm just like, yo, thank you. You did not have to do that. You could be on your phone doing TikTok or like having a beer somewhere, but you took the time out to like help me along my way, and I'm just extremely grateful for that because people really don't have to. So when someone does that enthusiastically, it like lights something up in me to want to be able to operate enthusiastically.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

And I love that. I love the fact that every I mean I've been doing research on you, so every single time that you go onto like a television show or or a news channel, you always bring this exer exertion of energy and positive outlook. And um I've been I've been experiencing that firsthand. It's been quite quite the wave, quite the rush.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Thanks, man. I'm talking about I appreciate y'all. Like what people don't notice in those interviews, even like with you, it's like you all are people too are taking the time out to try to bring great information, great content to the people. I think sometimes we are always looking at the person who's being asked the questions, but I'm like, no, everybody had to wake up this morning, everybody has a lot of tasks, everybody has a lot of goals, but everybody wants it to be a really good outcome. So I'm just grateful when someone has the energy to want it to have a big good outcome. Because there's a lot of reasons for people to have a bad attitude about anything. So someone chooses to have the right attitude and they want to share it, because people love sharing the bad attitude. Yeah. But when someone wants to choose to share the good one, I'm like, oh man, like this is so so awesome. Because I mean, even I know people like try to clown on like tech or even the art department, like, oh you got a tech or in the art department. I'm like, yeah, that's dope over here. Like, it's yeah, it's fun. Like my classmates make really, really incredible art and they do really, really great things. Like, even like in the my not even in my in like direct disciplines, but I look at disciplines over the really great disciplines. I look at the school as a whole, I'm like, no, I'm really at one of the best schools like in the country in the world. Like, if you ask me about my PhD program, I'm like, you're not gonna find other interdisciplinary fine arts PhD programs that are gonna like you to excel in dance, theater, music, film, art, and philosophy all at the same time. Like this is but people don't always like appreciate what's right here. So that's why like now I'm even trying to the fact that I'm I feel grateful and honored that you were willing to take out the time to say, hey, I'm gonna look up this individual because I think that he has value. And I appreciate that because the way that you value your work makes me value this moment, and I'm already ready to watch your movies because I one thing that I learned is how you do anything is how you'll do work, everything. Oh no, oh, I got to give you a drill. Yeah, no, I learned that from an old head. Yeah, they're literally saying, like, because sometimes you know you want to cut corners, and I think that's the only reason I've been able to be so successful. Those just my small play, those just like a small album, or it's just a small class. I'm gonna give my full effort because how I do that one, how I do anything is how I'm gonna do everything, and people notice. So if you find a time where you're cutting corners, you wanted to cut that corner on that mile run, you're gonna have to find a way to cut a corner in everything. So if you're just like, no, I'm gonna do the whole thing to get the whole process, then you're gonna be able to benefit holistically the whole time. So even like now being a student, I'm like, okay, instead of cutting corners, the class is hard, just go study more. Because as I'm going to study more, I'm learning more. Okay, if I don't know a lot of people, go and truly actually try to know people, see how you can help them, and hopefully somebody wanna help you. Don't always go like, oh help somebody, you're gonna help me back. But usually when you're genuine and you help somebody, someone's like, huh, thank you. Is there something I can help you with? I owe you something, you know, yeah. And even if not, and if all you get is the endorphine or a serotonin that tells you, oh, you did a good thing, that's good, that helps you like want to be here. I know this might sound weird or corny, but I'm very happy to be a doctoral student in this program at this school at this time because I'm seeing the elevation and trajectory. If I could, I tell people like, people don't even know you can get your PhD in art. I'm like, yeah, do you know what artists are out here? And I know people are like, oh, if I go to school, uh, I'm gonna be wasting time. It's like, no, I I've advanced and I appreciate so many more art forms now. Now I really look into art, texture, colors, and shapes, which have now helped me with video camera, I'm looking at angles, cinematography, the rule of thirds, which has now helped me when I'm looking at sound and cutting and mixing and mastering, which has now helped me with playwriting, which has helped me with songwriting, which has helped me with dance, which has helped me with the philosophy and the argument, and why am I doing all of these things? You're like, wait a minute. It all adds up slowly but surely, then with like the gratitude. Part of me is kind of sad that the time is coming to an end because I'm like, oh, I'm in my last semester of my coursework, I'm getting ready for exams and dissertation, but I'm looking at like the trajectory, I've been really prepared by this place. Like, I'm about to release my third album in three years. I had never released an album prior to coming to Texas Tech. I mean my I'm about to release my third album three years this year. Congratulations. Thank you. I'm about to go on another national tour this summer. I'm dropping my first physical book, digital book, and audiobook this summer, dropping my first cartoon with 12 episodes this summer, and I have a residency with the Kennedy Center, the same place we got all those awards. They're just giving me a residency saying we want you to just develop your new stuff with us, and we'll pay you just to develop it. That's incredible. But none of that was before, you know, before we were here, none of that happened. Like I was playing music, but I didn't have an album. Uh even now, like with the US uh embassy, they're sending me to like Ecuador, sending me to Colombia, just became an ambassador for the San Diego International French Festival. So, like, now these places trust me to where they want to send me around the world to represent them. But for me, I was just trying to trying to grasp everything that I can and enjoy it to propel. Now I'm looking at the like past trajectory and I'm like, oh man, thank you, Texas Tech. And even my department, because I mean sometimes I don't I don't know what the business, the law stupids to get the boss from what we're doing here. But like the art kind of gets oh gets overlooked. And the only reason I'm gonna say that's because, like, yes, our football team is phenomenal, yes, our basketball team is phenomenal, but if I'm able to wear the Texas Tech art jersey, you know, just dropped a special on Amazon last year. As a current student, dropped a special on Amazon. I'm Latin Grammy nominated for music. I'm not even Latin. I know. But this is this is product of Texas, like tech. I didn't have that before I got here. Happened, didn't hear. Like, ambassadorship going to Columbia and Ecuador, being able to do arts education, arts and technology. Um, when I started working at um, I was just working at Apple before I came back for the semester. When I went to Apple, they're like, How do you know all this stuff about like art in the discipline? I was like, I'm getting my PhD in interdisciplinary fine arts where I already know about technology, I already know about Web3, I already know about NFTs now, like I already know about drawing. So putting all this stuff together, and sometimes you're sitting there working a class like, oh, but then that time you get to apply it or it clicks, and I think I'm just fortunate because it's clicking as I'm here. It's not supposed to click till you leave. You know, you're supposed to like graduate and think like three or four, oh, that one thing I learned, then it's supposed to click. But I'm just fortunate that it's clicking now that I'm even more excited that when I leave, then I'm like, oh man, this is awesome. Like, what I know I keep saying lessen distance between human beings. I think right now education is in a struggle, and I want to lessen the distance between students, faculty, professors, and the institution of education. Because I think we are beautiful people. I think sometimes the system and what we want and how long it takes for a system to operate and change what we're trying to do through COVID and how things have shifted, is it's being a little bit difficult. Like, games should be more fun, we should find more new artists, we should be hanging out, but like there's so many things going on. So as I'm noticing what's going on, I'm like, all right, how can I possibly be an agent of change just to make school a better place after COVID? Like, people are talking so bad about school, like people don't want to be in school, it costs too much, it doesn't have like no, like the coolest thing for me of school is something to talk about networking with classmates. I kind of feel like I network with professors and teachers because they prefer me for the professional world too. So for me to be in an ecosystem where I need to grow, I need the students to be happy, I need them to be adventurous, I need them to be encouraged. When students are isolated in their rooms and they're leaving every weekend and they're not part of the community, it makes the network harder to do. When teachers have so many like things like stopping them from teaching how they want to teach or the things they want to teach because they have to fit in the system and get in the grades, now I'm not able to learn from somebody who I'm networking is gonna help me get into the real world. So I'm like, if if we can just find a way to value some of the stuff we have and do it here, I think the growth of everybody be better. But that's like a new problem we've had with everybody shifting to online, and now we're trying to shift back in person, and the shift back in person's been just just a little rough, but I think that we all want to. I can tell that we all want to. So I'm just kind of excited with like the way this things are like shaping and and moving and like kind of getting back to our old ways. I'm like, yo, I mean, even though I'm an artist, I'm like, yo, it'd be really cool if the artist the school had like an artist showcase. Why doesn't Texas Tech have like a showcase for on-campus artists and people to know about people like on campus? Why don't we see movies from kids here like on campus? How do we support them and promote them? And but a lot of things is people are having, they're like, all right, I did this in class, but I have to leave to go. It's like, no, no, no. We have we have the resources, we have the institutions, we have the lights, we can we can do all that here. So then when you do go in the real world, it's more like I have an experience basis that we have to go to get the experience. So I know I went on a long entanglement, but I believe in school and education and my classmates and professors because of how I've been able to come out as a human being through the process. And I've dropped out, I mean, I was multiple times. Uh, but I still find that I'm like, oh, it might make me sound so corny, but I'm so grateful to God that I'm able to just be able to be in school and learn when people have so many other difficult issues they have to deal with every single day. Like somebody out there is really hungry, somebody out there really doesn't have a home. Somebody out there can't walk, somebody can't. Somebody out there can't walk. So we just have problems, they don't even want to. But I'm like, oh, I get to have the privilege of sitting in a classroom and learning from someone who took the time to come up with a lesson plan and da da da da da and to break it down just like learning at the this, and I have a classmate next to me who if I don't get it, they're gonna help me get it, or we can go study. Like that is such a a privilege, but we have to be excited about the work we're doing in the room. So I think one thing I just want to bring is like, hey, no matter what you're teaching, whatever you're doing, it's exciting and it's interesting. And if you come with that energy, everybody in the ecosystem benefits. Sorry for that. Super long. You are fine. That was so humble of you, and um so I guess I'm a reflection of you because you're extremely humble too. Hey, like, y'all, you look, I haven't been interviewing him, but this gentleman right here is really awesome and extremely kind, and his research is phenomenal. I I really know how you knew about the New Zealand stuff.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

I I've been I've been keeping up. I that's all I gotta say. That's all I gotta say. I actually I spent um a good eight hours just sitting in my bed just looking you up and writing down details. Okay, I hope I don't bore you. Tell me what are some of the most interesting things you found. Okay, so I really um the the Denzel tiers really got me. Um the the Latin Grammy, that was funny. I I I had no idea until I I saw online and I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

I did not know that more people actually watch the Latin Grammys than the American Grammys. Like by a large number. I think the regular Grammys is like 8 million, 7. The Latin's is like 18 million. I think it's because of just the way that we do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Um uh the Love It Community uh theater, first touring artists.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Yes, we started a whole program. That's the stuff we're talking about. Uh but that's shout out to them because uh and so I had the opportunity to do stuff at Texas Tech. So all the plays and stuff I'm doing at the community theater, I could have done there. But a part of me was like, we already have the systems, and not to be bad, but like a lot of students are like, oh, the free ticketing thing, I'm uh I'm probably not gonna go. But what I know is I'm doing stuff at the community theater, even the college students want to see I'm doing the community theater, it's like, oh, he's applying it to the real world, I want to see how he's doing it. But also I'm able to invite like people's brothers, sisters, mom, or dads, it's very more communal. Because one of the things that I think make me sad about art, and you definitely know it's because of Hollywood too. I think some people think if you're not gonna make it on Broadway or Hollywood, don't do the thing. And I hate that aspect. I love this aspect. I hate that aspect. And the reason I feel like is like, man, that means that the local communities are getting cheated out because we wanted you to educate you and to be sparked and inspired by this to be able to bring something back to us that we can see. But if all the best players are having their aim on going there and then they don't make it there, and then they just stop. What does that mean for the local community, the city community, the state community, the regional community? And I'm like, we deserve really great art too. Oh, you're right without having to pay.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

That's telling them that they'll never make it, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

And I think the smaller people are very, very, very important for the and the smaller people become so big to like that local community who can also probably support you and uplift you to make something even bigger, but you're so focused on trying to make it somewhere else, like no, like your neighbor, the guy who helps with the mail, the person with the garbage can, the person who might like help you with the laundry or your dry cleaning, if they all knew you're doing something locally or they could support you in your film or your play, they would, but you you cheat about not giving the opportunity. But I also think that aim that everybody thinks you have to be in New York or LA to be an artist is so false. It's so false.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

You're completely right. I was uh I was in Vegas a couple weeks ago. Ooh, big city. Yeah, I loved it, loved it. Um my my family friend, uh Melissa and Coi, they went for a helicopter flight out to the Grand Canyon. And once they were on the helicopter, they were talking to the the pilot. Now the pilot apparently is a videographer uh half half the time during the year and she shot American sniper. And and I I just the pilot? The pilot for the helicopter, half time throughout the year she goes and shoots video, and then she also goes and shoots. Like the American sniper thing, the field of the video.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Wow!

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Yeah. That's so crazy. Small small it's really shows that small people are are big, big influence, you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

I love people who are multidisciplined like that, because it's kind of like a person right in front of me be like a whole cook made a magnificent meal, you don't know they're a surgeon or a mechanic at the exact same time. Like that is that's so beautiful. That's so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

I mean, it really shows uh just that reminds me of, you know, the fact that you do want to play, and not only do that, but you also benefit the community. Uh and I think that's the number one thing that people should look at at you is the fact that you're really a people person, you push it.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

That I found hated. And even now where I'm able to do like these tours and all these places, they're not big places. I'm only doing venues, maybe like just be honest with you, I'm only doing like 50, 60 spot venues. But the 50-60 people who show, they come in full and are supportive to where I don't need a record label to do a tour because I have personal relationships with people in all these smaller towns across the country to where I just gotta feel a 50 that a night, the 50 or full. We play the songs and sing along to like the songs, and I get to live out my dream, and they get to say, I got some good art this time. And I get to do like, oh, I have a relationship with you, I'm coming, I'm just coming back. I'm just like cousin Austin coming back in town, instead of me saying, Oh, I'm not signed, I don't have a manager, I don't have an agent, I want to sell out this 5,000-seat venue. It's like no no no no no no no. Um what can I practically do with the relationships I have? So, me, I'm trying to do something small, but I might be partnering, I'm touring. One of the places I'm hitting is Dallas in Houston. I'm dealing with some people I went to school with. I was like, I'm looking for a 50-seat venue, da da da da. But as I'm partnering with them, they're like, how many people can you bring on? So I'm like, I'd probably bring 25. But I'm partnering with them, them, and them. And they're like, well, I can probably bring 20, I can probably bring 15, I can bring 15. So now we're gonna have a small event that's sold out, and we're happy and it's manageable, and we're living our dreams while still having our lives. While still being able to like go to work, do the da da da da, but it's still tangible, so I don't have to feel like my dreams are like deferred. It's like, no, it's in your hand if you're willing to collaborate and know, I don't want to say bare minimum, but what do you need to make it happen? Because a lot of people say, Oh, if I don't have this, I have this, because it's like, mm-hmm. So even when I talk to some filmmakers, and it probably don't help because I used to work at album, people are like, oh, I need this and this to make a film. I'm like, you know. Do you have an editing program? Yeah. What kind of phone you got? Oh, from 14 Pro Max. Shoots in 4K. So I mean you're good.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

You don't even need to shoot in 4K with film, it's 24 frames per second generally. That to 30.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

My next one, shout to you for knowing that. The next thing that's for me though, is that is like, so what's stopping you from even how I got good at the Uklay? I used to suck at this thing. The only way I got good though is you have to be willing to suck. To be embarrassingly bad.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

I love that quote from you.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

In order to be great. I'm talking like I'm embarrassing. I wrote that.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

I actually, that was a quote that uh before you have to be great at anything, you have to be embarrassingly bad. And I love that quote because um I'm currently learning the guitar. Oh, you didn't share that poor! I'm currently learning the guitar. Oh, snark! My brother, he's so great at the guitar, and um my parents, they love listening to him. I can sing, I'm a shower singer, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

I can tell in your voice you have a singer. I'm actually wondering if you know what to do with the bottom three because it's the same as guitar, the bottom three strings.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

The bottom three strings are the same as the bottom?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Okay, so so so D, right? It'd be like this, right? That's a D.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Very close. It's closer to Like your handshapes are right on. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

So how long did it take you to adapt to to the Ukulella?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Uh let's see. My grandfather was actually part of a famous band called the San Francisco TKOs, where he played the saxophone and he was the lead arranger. They actually went to New Zealand and Scotland. And I've heard his music. And so, and no offense, I love you, Mom, I love you, Dad. But the talent skipped them. It skipped them. My older sister played the sax, my other sister played the flute, my other brother played the trumpet, so they thought I was gonna pick up a horn. And I was like, give me a drum set. Yeah. So I was just playing around the drums, but when I was little, my grandfather, he was a boxer too. So he would teach me how to box, but he never teach me how to play the piano. But I would always sit next to him when you played the piano. And I was like, it's so interesting that he taught me how to use my hands as a weapon and not an instrument. I always think about that. Um but then eventually later, I'm playing football, I'm playing basketball, and then like I'm on the football team, all these Simones and Tongas, they just I'm like, oh, that's cool, bad man, but make it do the And then I start rapping And then you're like Austin, you look get your own I'm not playing for you anymore. So I asked my dad, like, hey dad, I get a hook lady from the street. I was like, I have 35 bucks, give me 15, and I can get when you're let's go. I get a red one. Her name was Rosalina Aisha Samateo, California. Oh my god. When I first started, I was embarrassingly bad. Like, not not like uh it was like my older sister, like, stop, please. Please stop. I get on this thing called the BART train and try to play, and people just like oh, but eventually keep playing, keep playing in front of people, and just and then people who would come on the train angry, I just play, I wouldn't look at them, and I noticed that their angry faces would just start to just kind of chill out. And then they start when I start putting people asleep on the train, and they'd leave waving like, okay, I'm getting pretty good. But it's that process of being publicly embarrassingly bad and sharing, and that process of continuously doing it that'll get you there. So I hear friends who are like, oh, I'm gonna be a filmmaker. I'm like, well, are you making films on your phone? Just to be in the practice of like, I have a shot list, I have lights, I have scenics, I have my rule of thirds, I I know how I'm gonna edit it, I know my process, I know my production, I know how I'm gonna release it. You don't you can do all that process and be getting better. Oh man, I want to learn how to be able to play uh like this instrument, be a musical artist. Okay, how many times are how many hours are you putting on it? Are you riding on it? Are you going to open mics? Are you putting it out on discharge? Are you making the music be like the stuff that people think that they need, even if you get that person, let's say you get signed or you get that film deal, as soon as you do, you just go right back to that process you would have been doing by yourself. So you might as well learn it and don't skip the steps. Completely. Because then when you do get there, like even now playing people, like, oh awesome, how do you know all these songs in your head, or how do you know all these characters in your life? I was like, well, because I sucked in front of people for a long time. But I was looking up to where some people were like, um, not today, but like keep going, keep going, keep going. Then you kind of put your head up and like, oh dang. Man, like three albums. I'm like my fourth one-person show. Like I'm going around the like world and getting a PhD. But first you have to be the dropout, first you gotta be out of tune. First, your you know, your white balance gotta be off. Like you gotta, you gotta like mess up, but that also makes the story so cool because what it reminds me is is that we have amazing capacity when we lock in. If we can lock in, and I think sometimes is we put a lot of effort in the jobs we get or the orders we get from like our parents, it's like, dang, if we put those same orders on ourselves for our dreams, what that what would that mean? You know, the same like if um you have a job and you can't be late for your job, or say, why are you late? If you held that same standard to yourself for your dreams, what would you be? Better. So I'm like, oh, I really don't want to do this shot list or do scouting or get permits or oh, I really don't want to learn these chords. It's like, but if you did though.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

That's what I'm saying. I like so I've I picked up the guitar, right? And uh John Mayer once said, um, you can either pick up the guitar to learn to play music, or you can pick up the guitar to learn to play guitar. And and you can either play music or you can play the guitar. And I want to learn to play music because you know, you want to be able to generate something um just for yourself at the end of the day. Just appreciate it more. I know I love that quote from John Mayer.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

That was amazing. I love John Mayer. Body is a Wonderland. Oh, most definitely. John Mayer used to have this opener who I really, really love named David Ryan Harris. I think he's actually he's opening again for him, I'm pretty sure. Oh my gosh, that guy can write songs so good and sing so good. And I think I like them just paired together because Dave has this like really nice, like gentle voice, and so does Ryan, but both of their guitar playing is just like how do you write that good and play that good? Because usually someone has one or the other's like, alright, either like sing really, really good and you're playing's alright, or your playing's really good and you're singing, it's like no. But you know that has a mean courage for us as storytellers. People ask me, like, oh, so why are you doing this, or why are you playing this, or even why are you getting a PhD? I'm like, I'm setting up for the storyteller I want to be 30, 40 years from now.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

I completely agree.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

And unlike sports or athletics, your arm gets hurt and you can't play anymore. You only get better at telling stories of time. Have you ever had a creative block? I actually don't think I really this is my this is some of the weird stuff I learned from my acting teachers. I don't really I'm grateful when I have a block because I think like blockages and boundaries allow creativity to excel. Sometimes when things are too open, it's hard to be creative because it's just like it's whatever. Sometimes you need those boundaries, but oh those boundaries help me be creative. Yes. But I've ever feel like I have a block in my in my artistry life, it's because I know there's a block in my personal life. Those two things are very similar. So if I've ever been on a block in my artistry life, I'm like, something's going on in my like in my real life that I need to fix. And if there's something like block in my real life, there's usually a block in the artistry. So I think uh what I usually try to do is, I mean, this is I'm giving you guys the juice right now. I try to find out what scares me or makes me fearful. The blockage is usually something that I'm intimidated by or I'm fearful by and I don't want to face. And it takes me a while for me to recognize like this intangible thing is not gonna kill me. Because you know, our brains are so powerful that you know there's something you don't want to deal with. You will run from it, you will hide from all means you don't even think about it. I told something to text, I'll turn off notifications, I don't want it. Um but I've also noticed that when I'm able to face something or do it scared anyway, it's so much more powerful on the other side. And another thing that I've noticed that helps me with blockages is don't edit and critique while creating. Create, take a break, then come back and edit critique. But if I'm sitting here looking at something, whether it's a song, whether it's a play, and I'm like, but it needs to be like don't write that because it needs to be like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't come in the room yet, brother. I'll let you know when the editor and the critic can come in the room. But right now it's Crayola markers. I'm writing on the wall, I'm making stuff that makes no sense, because that part has to be free. That's the fun part. That's where I get to jump around. So I think the only time I have a blockage is when I don't allow myself permission to do that.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

I love that. I I always think about um, you know, the hero's journey.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Come on, Joseph Campbell, talk to me!

SPEAKER_01 29:53

So so the hero's journey, uh, there's always a bump in the road for the hero. And there's always something that puts him down before he can come up on top. And I always think about that whenever I have a creative block, because I always think about hey, this this one moment of struggle and small mishap will just allow me to be a better uh person at this this.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

So what do you do when you have a blockage? What do you do? What's your game plan?

SPEAKER_01 30:20

What do you do? So I I allow myself to be totally bad. There's all the whole way through, I just I suck. And I allow I allow myself to suck. Yeah and I what I do is I just kind of turn it into humor. Humor's my humor's my like outlet for me personally. Um I'll make jokes about something that really bothers me, or I'll just go and I'll clear my mind by walking around or something, you know. I really try to get out of wherever I am and then right back in as fast as I can. Because it that one five-minute break allows me to kind of have less stress and less struggle in my mind, and I can just kind of slip back into the creative process.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Give you some jokes, let you go for a walk, get some air, get some water, you back in the game. Yeah, I mean that's good. That's some good environments.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

It makes it makes you happy.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Yeah. And I think humor is a healthy way. I've always, and I know people are like, ah, why do people like love dark comedy? But I've noticed people who are able to understand dark comedy can maneuver through the world with less pessimism. A lot of times for me. Because I'm like, ah, you'd be able to take something dark and kind of find like a little brightness, a little, a little smirk to it, even though it's really, really dark, but just to help you navigate because the world can be really, really dark sometimes, you know. It's hard to look around and see all of that. Yeah, but if you see something that kind of makes you smirked so you can make the next step, I've noticed those people are able to like maneuver in a way that I I admire. Um, more so than people who are just like and some people love tragedy. It's like, okay, you'll get a moment of tragedy from me, but then right back we got to scoop it back up because yeah, energy is just everything. Man, I'm wondering, what is the thing that you like about tech most?

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Oh, what do I like about tech most? Well, I'm actually uh uh second generation. My my both my parents went here to Texas. Both of them here? Both of them went to the team. Because they meet here. They met here. Uh-huh. Um, and you feel pressure to meet your boo here? Oh I always feel pressure. My sister, she she loves you know going out and dating and meeting people and you know, having a relationship. But me recently, this past year, I've been trying to focus on myself and grow myself and try to focus on what I want to do in my future because if I had someone, what if I didn't have them? You know what I mean? Like at the end of the day, I really have to analyze where do I want to be as an individual. Self-love first, so you could have love the poor. Oh, most definitely. It you can't love another human being without loving yourself.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Dude, have you have have your folks ever seen your art?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

They see your films or so I was in a I was in a news team in high school. You're in news? I was I was in a news team. I was I was I was part of the skit team. So there was like a little segment called Skit Team 6, and we have like a little skit that we do.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Like the SNL part of the news. Yes, exactly. So the sketches and the writing, and now that's how you got into film, and the oh okay, I see.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Well actually the first time I got into film and like editing and video, uh, I was eight years old and I built my computer. Um, and so I was really into video games, and I take the time to like take my clips from the video games and put them together with music and make little montages. Yeah, yeah. And um I think uh I first started making videos on Adell laptop, which then I moved to the computer. The PC. Oh my gosh. Yeah, then I moved to the computer, which was eight years old. Um You started young, yeah. Yeah, I I feel like my parents wanted to give us something, each of us something that we all separately enjoyed. And can lock in on. Yeah, Peyton was real like cheerleading and basketball and like sports and all that. Zane's is music and and mine's video and media, most definitely. I love it. I love media. And in high school I I really uh enjoyed doing skit team. Um that was the the team that we used. Um But they stopped they stopped wanting to to do like the skits and stuff because they were getting bored and they wanted to play m like Among Us and these games that you just sit in class and play. But I was always thinking, you know, like I'm never gonna get this time back. Like, why not make more skits and more skits like it just kind of became what I wanted to do. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I I wanted to be an engineer, and then I was like, I'm not mathematically inclined enough for this.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

So No, you're like just engineering in a different way.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Exactly. It's a little bit more creative. Yeah. Just a little bit more. I'd say that they are very like logistically creative, but um I I'm very uh English was always my my strong suit. Yeah, you articulate yourself very well. I I was kind of born in a household that liked to correct grammar.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Oh you wasn't saying ain't too much around the crib.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

My dad said too many me and my friends. He's my friend and I. My friend and I. Every single time.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

That is amazing, but you're coming out to be an amazing artist, man. Wait, what year are you in school?

SPEAKER_01 35:26

I'm a sophomore.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

You have so much problem there. I got a long ways to go. I got a long ways to go. There's a great ways to go. Like there's so much greatness on the path.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

The journey is better than the end result.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

It is every time. I think that's even making me think about like the PhD. Like it's coming to an end. I was like, yeah, I think I might have had more fun getting it done than like the actual documents could represent.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

That's good though. So out of all your awards, would you say that your PhD is your most looked forward to for you?

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Yeah, that's the one that I think I'm like most locked into because I have like little cousins, my mom, my dad, my brother, or sister. Nobody ever has just made it that far or really tried to, and doing it is something they like, not like some people might get like a law degree or a medicine degree, not even because they want to, just because money, and I'm like, no, there's actually something that I want to do and I like it. And I was like, oh man, this is really exciting. I think the only thing that's gonna be tough is after that's knocked out, I learned this from Lauren Hill, is the problem is you know, all the people say, Oh, I'm the number one rapper, I'm da da da da. Everybody once they get to a once they get to that mountain that they climb, they want to stay on top of it. But you're supposed to use that experience to say, alright, now I'm gonna go to another valley to climb another mountain because I know I can. Exactly. So I'm excited to finish this one to say, like, man, I'm ready to I'm actually excited to go into a valley to climb another mountain.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

And this time you get to set that mountain for yourself. Yeah, hopefully. Like this is a PhD, everyone can get a PhD, but this next thing is like, you know, you make this for yourself, and if anything, that should be after getting your PhD, that should be even more of a stronger thing to strive for. It's something that you can create just from a goal set in your mind.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

It's legacy time.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

It's awesome, it's awesome. It's legacy time.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

I'm also trying to try to make sure, like, I don't know, I think people think it's weird to have like relationships with the place you went to. Like, I still love my undergrad, I still love where I got my masters, like I hope I get to come here and make homecoming like a really cool smacking thing. But when I love when I was a student is at some schools, I loved it when like actual alumni from there came back because it would just change my mindset of trajectory to be like, oh man, you went here too, and you're doing completely something else now. So I'm excited to end strongly here to remind students what they can do while they're still a student. Like, no, you don't have to graduate to get no Latin Grammy, you don't have to graduate to be on Amazon, you don't have to graduate to be an ambassador, but you have to graduate work. And you could do it while you're a student, but also I'm excited to do that so that also when I graduate, it's like, okay, now it's a whole new bar. Like, what is possible, what is capable, and I want to be able to come back and bring some things to implement things. Like the same way I did solo fest at LCT. I love to bring solo fest here on campus. Um, I like to help other people just how to learn how to be artists at school to prepare yourself to be an artist outside of school because a lot of things you think you need outside, you could learn right here with the things already have. Like you could learn radio, media training, all that stuff right here at the school. There's literally a radio. Have you even got some like, have you ever gone? And I'm like, no, but I want to be an artist. Like, have you performed at anything on campus? No, I'm like, well.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Why not?

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Like that's the perfect place you start. That's where you get the first clip. That's where like your doormate becomes a fan of you for the first time because they they saw you. So I want to help people to recognize, like, it's so corny, but like the greatness is within everything, like that's the biggest thing about island trap. Like, he went on this whole journey to recognize that the he was never trapped, the island was on the inside. So it's like, no, like the thing that's the reason why he came to the school because he wanted to be a doctor, or you wanted to be a lawyer, engineer, like practice those things right now. Like, here we are. If you want to be a designer, if you want to be a cook, make some food for people around the dorms, or design some clothes for somebody around. You want to do events, set up a party, set up like a shindig. Like, you want to do a business, like do the business outside the dorms, like get it, get I think so many people are thinking, like, oh, once I finish this, then I can do that. It's like, mm-hmm. If you organize and lock in, you can you can kind of do both, and you doing both will kind of help you get through instead of being really mad at the thing you're doing, feeling like you have to wait, and then you're like No, honestly, I because I I had this podcast with you, and I was really, really, really nervous about it.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

I've never done a podcast before, never hosted anything. And um I had I set myself up with a couple metalsmith workers last week, and I just recorded the metalsmith workers and recorded them, you know, doing some metalsmith work, and it kind of helped me get away from the mindset of, hey, I have this really big podcast Monday. You know, I'm I'm already focused on something else at at hand and the weekend in it. Metal smithing. I want to ask you so many questions. It's so cool. It's so cool. I walked in there, it just Is it welding? It's everything. They they take metal and they'll like they'll put it in this this spinning, I forgot what the name of it, this spinning machine, and it'll spin it, and it'll heat up while it's spinning. I think it's called a it starts with an S. Um But uh it heats up the metal and they'll sit there and they're all the people that I interviewed about the metalsmith working, they're very like they love the part of metalsmithing about the fact of it being like a hard labor. It's like very gritty and very um labor-filled, physical. You know, like it's sitting there, your work is actively resisting you as you're trying to form it into something. Yeah, that's beautiful. I know. And when they were explaining that to me, I was like, wow, so a bunch of these people they have a whole bunch of emotions inside that they carry with them and just put into their art, like physically. And I think that's really, really interesting. Um but it helped me come here, be like and be prepared for this because of the fact that I get to get my mind away from hey, this is Austin Dean Ashford, you know, this this guy, he's not gonna be here for very long. I I better make this good, you know.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

And one, you made it phenomenal, but two, that aspect you just told me like you're actively working with art that's resisting you, and you're actively working with it. I'm like, oh man, that is such a beautiful, brilliant concept and metaphor. I'm glad that you did that during that time while doing this, just so you can share that with me at this moment. Because I'm like, wow, that is that is incredible. And you also kind of in the same time as us, I'm recognizing, like, yeah, what does it mean to work with art that is resisting you?

SPEAKER_01 42:10

That's a good question. Because you can have that anywhere. It doesn't have to be just metalsmith work. Have you ever had a time in in your work where your art's resisted you?

SPEAKER_00 42:19

Yeah. I think um as much as I thought Hamilton was gonna open up the doors for what I did, it kind of commodified it. What did you do with Hamilton? No, so I make like hip-hop theater, so a lot of my theater that I make is embedded in the pedagogy of hip-hop. But when people experience Hamilton, they recognize an American Broadway musical that has a rap in it. Those are two different things. However, with that thing in existence, I can now kind of let people know what I'm doing in the world, but it's not the exact same thing. So I could at least say, Did you like Hamilton? Yeah, well then you're gonna probably like Island Trap. But if Hamilton didn't exist, it's harder to explain, even though we're not doing like the exact same thing. So, but also hip hop has just had a very difficult placing with theater. So sometimes they kind of resist each other as you're trying to like put them together because a lot of times What do you say? It's the culture that really kind of bashes heads with one another. Because theater is a very bourgeois, higher class, you can afford it, these things that they're talking about. Hip hop comes from revolting, rebellion, kind of lower class people. I'm trying to put those both things kind of in the same space to bring the two different people into the same space.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

That's so hard to narrow cast two separate, completely different audiences and one performance in itself. And I can see how that might resist you as an artist.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

Um but much like the metalworking, I need the metalworkers to do that in order to do that. For me to have a frame or a structure, the same way I feel like I need that to be able to bring in people who may look differently to be in the same space or people who are used to that in the same space to be able to work together. So I appreciate you bringing up the metal workers. It allows me like anything in a weird way. I'm um an interdisciplinary like worker of my own type of metals and minerals. Well, thank you so much. It's been awesome. Thanks, man. I appreciate you. It's been great. Tech, baby, you know it is. Interdisciplinary department for the arts are here, man.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Let's go. Alright, awesome. Thanks, man. Alright, it's been so good.