My new “Background Noise” podcast series focuses on the music that artists listen to when they work, what music inspires them, or just music they like. This week, in Episode 3, the focus is on Brooklyn’s Abel Macias.
photo by @dgclarkk
If you’ve wandered the streets of New York, you’ve most likely seen some of Sacred Youth‘s work. From his bright Pink Clouds pieces, to his yellow rabbit wheat pastes, which often adorn doors and various other surfaces. These alone were enough to get my attention, so when I saw that he was participating in this year’s Bushwick Open Studios, and would be opening his studio to the public, I jumped on the chance to check it out.
I grabbed my friend Seth, and off to the studio we went. On the outside of the building was a great mural he had done with Rae, and as we descended into his basement studio, my eyes widened, and my brain nearly exploded. There were so many different pieces of art down there. From large scale paintings, to smaller prints, t-shirts, stickers, and framed pages from books, overlaid with phrases hand-written by Sacred Youth. Many of it blurred the line between well educated artist and outsider art. In other words, my cup of tea.
It’s very clear that he never sleeps. He recently had a group show with Beau, Elle and Hue at the now defunct White Rabbit gallery on Houston Street here in NY, and his work can often be seen on display in or around Little Skips cafe in Brooklyn.
A couple of questions:
What was your first concert?
First concert was NIRVANA at the Omni in Atlanta. 1993. so cool.
Last concert?
Last one was my friends band, SKATERS, from NYC, who just got signed to Warner Bros. They are awesome.
First album/tape/cd?
Some Weird Al Yankovic cd was probably my first cd.
Was there any one album that made a significant impression on you?
Definitely Nirvana’s Nevermind became my soundtrack to my youth. Energetic, rebellious, at times FUN and upbeat with with Sad angst moments as well.
You can check out more of Abel’s work over at his website or on his Instagram.
Stream his Background Noise podcast below, on MixCloud, or download it on iTunes
The Background Noise podcast will be taking a break until Jan 6, returning with a great mix from NYC street artist Gilf!
The Bomarr Blog Presents: The Background Noise Podcast Series, Episode 1: Abel Macias by Bomarr on Mixcloud
