In this episode, we sit down with Kurt Donovan at the NJ Underground Studios in Jersey City to dive into the vibrant world of creative support and development.
At NJ Underground Studios, creativity thrives. Donovan, a filmmaker and event planner, founded the studio with a mission to nurture artists through affordable, professional studio sessions and various growth opportunities. From seminars to partnerships with organizations and galleries, the studio is a hub for artists to flourish.
In our conversation, we highlight the rich creative community in Jersey City. Donovan's passion for supporting fellow artists led to the creation of events like "Come As You Are" and the "Underground Developmental Series," which provide platforms for artists to showcase their talents and connect with others.
The Underground Developmental (UD) series, in particular, has become a cornerstone of support for emerging artists in various creative fields. Originating from Donovan's desire to provide opportunities for passionate artists lacking local support, UD events offer a nurturing environment for artists to perform, receive feedback, and grow.
Throughout the episode, Donovan emphasizes the importance of community and collaboration in fostering artistic growth. From his transition to documentary filmmaking to his commitment to supporting others, Donovan embodies the values of authenticity and connection.
The conversation also delves into the power of storytelling, whether through studio sessions, podcasts, or documentaries. We both acknowledge the comfort and connection found in sharing stories.
In summary, this episode highlights the vital role of community support for artists in Jersey City and beyond. With NJ Underground Studios and initiatives like the Underground Developmental series, Donovan is paving the way for a more inclusive and vibrant creative landscape, one story at a time.
@njunderground.studios
@kurtdonovan
GET YOUR JERSEY FEST TICKETS NOW! https://www.seetickets.us/event/jersey-fest/588283
Music: "Ride" by Jackson Pines
jacksonpines.com
Thank you to our sponsors:
New Jersey Lottery: njlottery.com
Make Cool Sh*t: makecoolshit.co
Albert & Whitney CPAs: awcpasllc.com
Mayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendar
Contact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.com
In this episode, we sit down with Kurt Donovan at the NJ Underground Studios in Jersey City to dive into the vibrant world of creative support and development.
At NJ Underground Studios, creativity thrives. Donovan, a filmmaker and event planner, founded the studio with a mission to nurture artists through affordable, professional studio sessions and various growth opportunities. From seminars to partnerships with organizations and galleries, the studio is a hub for artists to flourish.
In our conversation, we highlight the rich creative community in Jersey City. Donovan's passion for supporting fellow artists led to the creation of events like "Come As You Are" and the "Underground Developmental Series," which provide platforms for artists to showcase their talents and connect with others.
The Underground Developmental (UD) series, in particular, has become a cornerstone of support for emerging artists in various creative fields. Originating from Donovan's desire to provide opportunities for passionate artists lacking local support, UD events offer a nurturing environment for artists to perform, receive feedback, and grow.
Throughout the episode, Donovan emphasizes the importance of community and collaboration in fostering artistic growth. From his transition to documentary filmmaking to his commitment to supporting others, Donovan embodies the values of authenticity and connection.
The conversation also delves into the power of storytelling, whether through studio sessions, podcasts, or documentaries. We both acknowledge the comfort and connection found in sharing stories.
In summary, this episode highlights the vital role of community support for artists in Jersey City and beyond. With NJ Underground Studios and initiatives like the Underground Developmental series, Donovan is paving the way for a more inclusive and vibrant creative landscape, one story at a time.
@njunderground.studios
@kurtdonovan
GET YOUR JERSEY FEST TICKETS NOW! https://www.seetickets.us/event/jersey-fest/588283
Music: "Ride" by Jackson Pines
jacksonpines.com
Thank you to our sponsors:
New Jersey Lottery: njlottery.com
Make Cool Sh*t: makecoolshit.co
Albert & Whitney CPAs: awcpasllc.com
Mayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendar
Contact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.com
0:01
[Music]
0:23
of bra all right what's up everybody welcome back to another episode of GRE from the guard State powered by the New
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Jersey Lottery I'm my cam we're here in Jersey City today at New Jersey NJ underground Studios you said that right
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with Kurt Donovan Kurt welcome to the show thank you for having me appreciate it absolutely uh thank you for having me
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in your space this is cool uh so let's like because we're here and we're going
0:45
to talk about it like let's talk about the space a little bit so talk about the studio what it is who it who people what
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people can actually come and use the space like what do you guys do here uh so essentially me and my friend um we're
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creatives and uh we wanted to just create a space where we could consistently uh develop and help grow
1:05
creatives and artists uh by giving them uh not only affordable but um really
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professional and quality uh Studio sessions whether you want to um make music whether you want to do a photo
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shoot um uh whether you want to get like different seminars on how to grow
1:22
because we're not only just helping on the ends of just like creating which we which we are like uh focused on as well
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but we're really Focus are is helping uh creatives get to like a higher point in
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their career and actually make their art like a career so we have different we
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partner with different um organizations that help like grow artists and different um galleries that could that
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uh cultivate different art galleries and art shows and stuff like that that could actually get artists into those C
1:53
positions that they can really shine and grow from and from do we wanted to do that very consistently so yeah kind of
2:00
the idea of how we came up with the got the studio space yeah no it's cool and like we don't really use a ton of
2:07
studios for the way that I run my show but it's always cool to have a studio to
2:13
be in a studio because it kind of elevates it a little bit it's a cool space and like the you know I told you
2:18
before literally so last week's episode is with 02 Brewing which is like right down the street um and like I said
2:24
there's a bunch of different Studio spaces in here but this is really cool and this this one that you're in right
2:30
now you've been in for how long like this pH I Believe we' been this for 5 months okay and then cuz you had a
2:36
different one yeah I different we had a different one that was actually down the hallway building for like eight months
2:43
and then um actually just posted that video today where we moved into here yeah uh and we've been here for five months yeah cool and so like you you
2:52
said you wanted to get people like a space to create like let's learn a a little bit about you so you said you're a creative um what what what kind of
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creative stuff do you do I know it's a bunch but let's like round you out a little bit yeah um so I've I've always
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been kind of um just drawn to different creative arts uh when I was younger I
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was really into film making and acting and I used to just make my own films
3:19
like get my friends together just make my own short films and uh post it on YouTube and that's really one of the
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first loves that I I had and um just from there are just translated into me
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uh just trying different creative aspects out like I got into painting I got into like uh kind of doing fashion I
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got into music and stuff like that and just just the things that really stuck with me was mostly music and still like
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the film making videography documentary yeah um uh and after a while guide into
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event planning as well just to um I guess give every just give uh every
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person who's in that who's kind of like me who's kind of like a creative uh the opportunities and the platforms I didn't
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have well I still don't have yeah unless that's like creating yourself so um yeah
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so I'm drawn to just anything creative aspect wise yeah whether it's either uh
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me pay me it or just me living vicariously through a really good painter by just documenting them yeah
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kind of thing so yeah well I think like just you know surrounding yourself with people that are creative you know even
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just doing this show like the amount of people that we've had on that are creative and a variety of things whether it's like music art food you know
4:40
different things like that it just I think it just like helps Elevate what you do you know like you just get to see
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people see what people see through like their eyes like their lens or whatever um and I think like everybody kind of
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benefits yeah I feel like it just brings that creativity out of me as well just to see somebody create something and
5:00
something in the artistic kind of way and something in a really like passionate way and I feel like that's it really just makes me just once to do
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something as well and just like feed off of that so yeah I just love being around other people who are like that as well
5:13
yeah for sure So like um what were you do prior to you guys opening the studio
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uh like what were you doing before that so um so I I opened the studio with uh my
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friend tag and we know each other from high school and um After High School I
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was doing um I was doing my music and I was also doing my documentaries uh where
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I was showcasing artists and uh different creatives and stuff like that so he was one of the people that I
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documented um and he was doing a he was vending his clothes at a a um a show and
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I asked him if I could come in and document him doing that and I got like some interviews with him and docum the
6:02
whole process and in that process I threw to him the idea of I I've been
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thinking of doing like a creative like event kind of thing yeah and um just
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just growing up I I wasn't really around a lot of creative people so my my uh experience of putting out
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ideas to people that are like kind of creative wise was kind of like not really there's not really much belief
6:28
behind that but right when I told him that he was actually very supportive of that and wanted to help me do that
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wanted to actually get on board with that so that was really one of the first times that that like somebody was doing that so it actually motivated me to do
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that and then we started doing um uh a showcase called come as you are and um
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and we started that in 2021 and uh that basically was just the idea of having
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different creatives in all aspects uh musician uh performing on the stage um uh desires
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being showcased as vendors and Painters having their paintings showcased and different uh just creatives in general
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just being able to be showcased there and being able to network there so we did five of those in Jersey City and um
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those went really well and from doing that that really gave me the like the
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confidence to really just like keep creating spaces like that and uh after
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doing that that's when I started to do my underground developmental series of shows where it was more focused on the
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like the newer artists and really like focusing on how to get the newer artist to those um to those platform to to like
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getting bigger instead of um just chasing bigger artists I wanted to actually like help grow like artists who
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are like me so just just doing those we I started that series um and after just
8:00
doing those as well and from doing both of those events I just was kind of like I love the consistency of it but I
8:06
wouldn't I wouldn't have like The Daily Grind of just having like somewhere where I can every day help not only like
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myself grows at artists but have other people as well have those same opportunities and just giving them the
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same like platforms U that I have as well so yeah that was kind of like all encompassing the idea of the events I
8:27
kind of put in here as well but just more of a consistent like everyday like kind of thing it doesn't have to be like
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an event um so just all around just I was kind of I just really want to have
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just all the creatives just really just go up in that way and just all the um artists in Jersey just really have those
8:47
platforms where they can really just grow and so that we have artists that
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are coming out of Jersey who are really big and I I think that would be like a really cool way to elevate Talent from
8:58
Jersey sure yeah yeah yeah it's cool too because like you're talking about how it started basically with the events like
9:04
the come are you come as you are and the um the underground development series is that said that right yeah underground
9:11
devel uh underground developmental so like those things you like I think you
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told me off mic that at one point you were doing like three events a month in in some cases um but those are still
9:23
like 3 days but then to give these you know creatives and people a platform or a place to continue between those uh
9:31
events is like important too you know like it helping curate that which I think is really cool and then when you
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uh when we connected because we've connected a while ago I feel like yeah and then you know now we're finally doing this episode and like that was one
9:43
of the things that I thought was really cool because you know you're giving people a place to kind of showcase what
9:49
they're passionate about but then also giving them with the with the actual events but then here giving them a place
9:56
to kind of work on it curate it you know get it to where like you know they can be the next big thing that kind of comes
10:02
out of out of Jersey which I think is awesome yeah no thank you appreciate that's I feel like that's what you do as
10:07
well like um showcasing what people are passionate about as well I I'm I'm
10:12
definitely more in the just like mostly creative side but like there's definitely other like aspects to it as
10:19
well like other just like different people um showcasing their passions I feel like you do that like beautifully
10:25
as well draw drew me to um your podcast cool so yeah well it's like a Love Fest
10:30
in here um so let's also talk about and I'm curious because this episode is
10:36
actually coming out May 14th so it's episode 129 which is a lot um but
10:42
actually this Saturday is when we have or the Saturday that will be after this episode releases is actually jerseyfest
10:49
so like we're working on that and you know obviously like we're at this point when this episode comes out hopefully
10:54
we're done with the actual work I'm getting it set up um but like I
10:59
have been OB was like aware of Jersey City like I live in Bloomfield so I you know we come in eat here drink here
11:05
whatever um but the more I've kind of spent time here kind of getting this event set up the more I've learned about
11:13
the area and I think I with your stuff and with all the kind of stuff that's
11:19
going on like Jersey City is like a really unique interesting place with like a lot of unique interesting people
11:26
and so talk to me like maybe kind of from a community standpoint like the Jersey City community and the creatives
11:31
that you work with in this immediate area like the Hudson County area basically like talk to me about that
11:37
like you know and the importance of that almost so I feel like i' I've lived in
11:42
Jersey City for most of my life and I feel like just in terms of um just being
11:48
able to meet other like-minded individuals it's it's definitely um it's definitely easier for it's
11:57
easier in Jersey today I feel like and I like I really started to meet most of
12:02
the creatives that I know from Jersey City because well not only the fact that I lived here but um I used to live in
12:09
other parts of Jersey as well but I would I I definitely saw the vast difference of being here because I feel
12:15
like it's more of a it's more of a city where like things are going on just like in the same light of how I feel as
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though it's kind of hard to have a creative scene if it's like um say like
12:29
a like a suburb in New Jersey because there's not many PL there's not many like places where like things are going
12:36
on unless you have like a big like like venue in your city yeah um more the lights of like how New York is like it's
12:42
very easy to get into different scenes and stuff like that because there's so much going on and there's like trains that you get all over the place and like
12:49
that so I feel like the accessibility wise of Jersey City and it being um
12:55
they're being like consistent shows and just like consistent way to get around with like the Light Rail and with like
13:00
the buses and trains and stuff um it was a lot easier for me to actually meet
13:06
more people um I met a lot of people in this building alone like even before I had a stud here I was able to meet like
13:13
a lot of people um so I feel like Jersey City definitely has a very uh a very rich community of artists
13:21
that are here that are really um putting on for their city as well they're trying
13:26
to grow something in in Jersey City and just from doing the com to shows in Jersey City I was very surprised about
13:34
how much um interest there was because like I was I was a start like a small artist right um so to see how much
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people came with the whole like idea of growing that community and getting the
13:48
artists in the same building and just really trying to support all the artists and grow that community and the majority
13:54
of the people came from Jersey City so it was really cool to actually get to meet more people from the city and just
14:01
to see that that Community like me and my friend we would go to downtown Jersey
14:06
City where it's like Grove Street where um there's like a lot going on and where
14:12
it's like you can't drive down there right yeah you can't drive yeah and we were like kind of like Washington Square
14:18
Park style like set up a table with like like clothes and just like sell to
14:24
people and we would meet a lot of people just like a lot of creative people so I feel like just having different things
14:30
like that in like where you could where it creates more opportunity for people to actually get a chance to meet people
14:37
and just in that area alone the amount of like open mic shows and stuff like that is is is really cool so just to
14:44
have those things I feel like is is very imperative because um I when I lived in
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other parts of in of Jersey it was really like okay I don't know what's
14:55
going on but I it's it's like I've been here for a while and it's kind of hard to find yeah whereas though I got kind
15:00
of thrown in New Jersey City and automatically I'm I'm seeing all these things going on that are catching my
15:06
attention I'm kind of falling into different things like they're saying this open mics here they're saying this stuff here so it was kind of easier and
15:13
I feel like this Jersey City is is really home to me I always want to be in
15:18
this area yeah yeah yeah and I think it's cool too because just as like an outsider cuz I never I've never lived in
15:24
Jersey City but come here a decent amount it's like Jersey city has whole
15:29
definitely Embraces the art aspect of it with you know the public murals and the stuff on grow Street and like newer G
15:36
like all those things that I think is really a cool thing and that not is like
15:41
as Park is a similar in that similar vein but then there's like other places in Jersey that just don't really you
15:47
know it's just like not not a priority I guess um which is great so uh I do want
15:53
to talk a little bit about when you start doing like the the docu series like document
15:59
artists why like why artist and why was that the thing that you were kind of drawn to was just because you were also
16:05
an artist so you kind of wanted to explore that like talk to me a little bit about that um so I started doing
16:12
that um I guess that was that was based from
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my love from film making yeah and because I was already shooting uh
16:23
my uh like short films and stuff when I was like in Middle School like early High School
16:29
and once I got out of high school then Co hit and I I feel like that's really
16:35
when I started doing the documentaries a lot more because um it was just the like
16:42
I it was it was so much work to get actors together and like a lot of the time I didn't really have actors I just
16:49
had my friends and I would have to drag them to to do things and he just act you know and um so it would be a whole thing
16:56
but I felt like um just me being a a artist and a creative person and knowing
17:03
like other creative people like I had one of my friends who was um who was a a musician who I uh I wasn't even a
17:12
musician but I just bought all the music equipment just so I could record him oh cool and I guess I always just had like
17:18
a like a passion to like try to help other people around me to try to achieve
17:24
their passions as well yeah um but
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uh yeah so when I when I I I started doing that and then Co happened so it
17:35
was kind of a lot easier to just record the things that were going on around me yeah and kind of uh find the stories in
17:42
like everyday life and like have that being the film that I'm making and just
17:48
the ongoing story of my life so I would at first I would very much like is still on my YouTube like my like early videos
17:56
were more like aesthetically like like wide shots of like my friends just having conversations and stuff like that
18:04
and um it kind of uh gradually got more into me getting more in front of the
18:10
camera and um just more those is telling my story and uh documenting my journey
18:17
of how I would get to um where I want to get to with my artistic expression and
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just that then became like showcasing other people as well it's like what would we do with
18:29
Dr wi's now and also my journey as well so it just kind of it just kind of came
18:36
from my like film making aspect but I always love like documentaries as well and I always the the films that I love
18:44
the most of the films where it it seems like it's not even a film yeah it's just like very raw and very um uncut and
18:52
very like it it doesn't it's not like it doesn't see it doesn't sound like two
18:58
people reciting Shakespeare to each other it sounds more like two people having a a conversation yeah like like
19:04
like people normally do yeah so that's what really drew me into it as well because it's like it's like you get a
19:12
like the feeling of you're there and you're really like in that experience just really kind of made me drew me into
19:18
just shooting like a lot of raw like documentary style videos and that's what I like about podcast as well like I
19:24
always say listen to podcast like all day just just because you know just
19:29
I guess like feeling that it's there it's also like um uh it's it's very
19:36
comforting kind of content very comforting kind of feeling like um I
19:41
used to do Uber um I used to do Uber at Uber Eats uh uh on a bike and in a car
19:47
when I was like younger and um I would just I would just feel lonely just doing it all day alone and then I would listen
19:53
to like a podcast and feel like there's somebody around me yeah you're part of the conversation yeah exactly so yeah I
19:59
guess it's just like very like comforting as well that's what drew me to it also yeah I find comfort in doing
20:06
it why is like talking to people I like learning people's stories and kind of like how they got there it was weird
20:12
like I don't really listen to podcasts at all oh yeah yeah because I'm always editing mine editing other people's
20:18
doing stuff like that so just like constantly listening to stuff music is kind of like where I all some music all day but yeah just a weird thing about me
20:26
host a podcast for four years now and don't actually listen to many podcast
20:31
but but you're living in the podcast yeah right living yeah right exactly it's like a chef that doesn't want to go home and cook for himself kind of thing
20:38
but that's why I like doing interviews as well because I'll be listening to a podcast like damn you should have asked
20:43
him this yeah right I I totally agree with that as being able to really get to
20:49
actually ask those questions and like yeah yeah like the ones that are kind of like the pre-scripted question type of
20:55
thing and like you know that like they didn't even listen to that answer that that person just gave and they asked like some random question like you said
21:02
like they just said that their mom is from Mars like why didn't you just ask about that you know like that kind of
21:07
thing the male Performing Art Center is the heart of arts and entertainment in Morristown New Jersey empac presents
21:13
over 200 events annually and is home to an Innovative Children's Arts education program to see impact's upcoming
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schedule of worldclass concerts standup comedy family shows and more head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in
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co.com so let's talk a little bit about uh the underground developmental cuz I
22:20
that's really interesting to me um what are they you know like cuz we were
22:26
talking about off mic like kind of what the setup B and and different things like that um so talk to us a little bit
22:31
about what those are and kind of if people someone does go to one like what are they what should they expect so
22:39
underground developmental is an artist showcase Series where we really focus on
22:45
our main goal is really to just help artists um just make just grow and just
22:52
make what they want to do as a passion their career and give them the tools to
22:57
do that and we Who Run It are creatives ourselves as well as we're trying to do
23:03
um grow as well and um so we feel like I feel like that's the that's the most
23:09
authentic way to do it is really just because it's created just based off of
23:14
of what we never had so I feel like that's the best way to really create
23:20
something and um it really started with just me trying just me seeing how many
23:27
um really hungry and like passionate and genuine artists there are around me in
23:32
in Jersey and just wanting to give them a platform that they never had before
23:38
and that I never had before like me as an artist um growing up and trying to
23:43
grow my music um in New Jersey it really wasn't a lot of places that you could go
23:51
number one but it also like you even where there's places you could go you just like it's like you got to know
23:57
somebody yeah right or you got to pay a significant amount to get on those shows or whatever so it was just difficult in
24:03
those aspects so I really wanted to create something where um the focus is
24:09
not on and and not only that like even if there was a show and you did pay to get on a show like PE there's no like
24:16
Community people are not really there to meet people people are not really there to support new artists whatever like um
24:24
so I really wanted to create something that's for people people who are had the
24:29
same mindset of like let's come together and let's support each other let Let's help each other like grow and Elevate
24:35
and um get better and just just uh yeah just get better as a creative um so
24:42
that's when I started to do the underground Developmental and um the first one was fairly small but it was
24:49
amazing because I could tell that every single person in that room was on the same exact type of energy like in the
24:55
sense of we're here to support artists and we're here to get better and we're not like we are aware that a lot of us
25:02
are like either like first time performers or like trying to get to a certain point where um where we're just
25:10
getting better so it's just the fact that everybody who got on the stage got showed mad love to people who they never
25:16
even met before other than that day yeah regardless of even if they were like good or not like just of the fact that
25:23
like yo you got up and you tried and you you're getting up and you're you're getting better and you're developing and
25:28
you're and because that's all of us and so just I it just created that level of of
25:37
of genuine love and support that I never have ever seen at any other show before
25:43
yeah and really from the beginning too which is crazy yeah and I feel like that really stems from just
25:50
me like that's what I say I I love the fact that I think it's most genuine to
25:56
create something that's really genuine to you and that's really real to you because I created that based on my
26:02
experience as a creative um coming up in the in the scene and really seeing what
26:07
it is and seeing what there isn't that what's not there and how it can just be a lot better and like actually get
26:15
artists um that actual love and support that they need to actually um improve
26:20
their career yeah so um so that I created like that and really marketed
26:25
towards those type of people and just even just underground development so that's just the name of it alone like
26:32
like if you're an artist who's kind of like like I guess like just thinks that
26:38
they're too big for that like I'm not a developing artist I'm like the best artist in the world yeah right thing
26:43
yeah that automatically turns them off to it so I feel like a lot of the marketing and that created what it is
26:50
and what it is is just um a lot of different like a bunch of different
26:56
creatives in general who are there to not only grow as an artist but who
27:02
understands that that's everybody else as well and we're all trying to grow as well they're all trying to um just
27:10
Elevate ourselves as artists and it's a really family aspect that everybody has to each other like everybody cares about
27:16
each other and what I love as well is everybody holds each other accountable as well like within a lot of um like
27:22
underground communities you know like people don't really hold each other accountable in terms of like their
27:30
actions or like what they do uh outside of the shows or whatever like that but
27:35
we really care about having this um the community and the shows as a safe space
27:41
to where everybody can be there and not worry about something negative happening to them from somebody who does like
27:48
negative things so um we really care about each other at at the Showcase and
27:53
um that's that's the main thing that we are in like I care about everybody just
27:59
being genuine and being um a real person regardless of status regardless of how
28:05
good your music is so um and yeah so we did so we've done 31 of those and
28:13
um uh we're about to get started uh with a a new venue in Kerney in New Jersey um
28:22
and like I said ear just stacking it up in terms of like like that was really the Baseline of it like the all right I
28:29
need I want this to be like a supporting supportive like Series where artists can really come through to support each
28:35
other and have that genuine um atmosphere and it just got bigger and
28:40
bigger in that sense and just seeing how everybody was on that same like energy
28:46
and on that same Vibe was really cool and um just over a year I've seen so
28:52
many artists just get so much better and come and consistently keep coming to the
28:58
shows consistently perform and just get so much better um to where we do we have
29:04
screenings of like old documentaries and the artists are like damn I hate this performance and I'm like I love that you
29:09
hate this performance cuz this is a year ago because like that shows that you guys so much better right so that's
29:15
that's literally the the most that's the most amazing thing um to really see that
29:21
constant progression and like the artists are getting like bigger and now like uh like artists who started like 3
29:29
uh cuz we did 31 shows so artist who like started a un3 um who might have come like alone now he performed at UD
29:36
28 and there's like 10 people who are coming to see him yeah so that's really like an amazing thing because these are
29:43
people's like real life like passions and dreams and I love to see um like you
29:49
could really tell that they they um that's their passion when they're consistently coming and trying and
29:55
failing and keep trying and keep going so I love to to see like how how passionate the people are there and um
30:03
if you're an artist in whatever capacity like a new artist a medium artist or a
30:08
big artist this is like there's no I would say there's no better place for a creative to be to um just be in a
30:15
community of other genuine like-minded creatives as well as really significantly grow their career whether
30:22
you're a um like a painter or musician or a designer or whatever it is
30:27
especially with the upcoming series that um with the upcoming um UD shows that
30:33
we're going to be having um because just as time went along just implementing
30:39
more we have a lot more things where we're about to start implementing like um just to help artists really uh just
30:47
grow substantially uh with music marketers are going to be there to do like inperson like consultations we're
30:53
going to have different content pieces where artists can get in front of the camera and actually have content where
30:59
they could um utilize for social media and just partnering that with this space
31:04
where we can have seminars and like consultations where we could really like Hands-On like help artists um actually
31:10
grow and uh because there's a lot of and I I love the fact that we could do that
31:17
because we have the right mind for artists um there's a lot of like U
31:24
people who are in it to try to help artists to just so they could gain money but we're really like I'm really trying
31:31
to help grow artists so that we can all grow like I feel like I feel very I
31:38
don't know I feel very obligated to help every every step of the way that I go as an artist I just feel obligated to help
31:45
everybody else bring them along with you yeah cuz that's like that was me just like two three years ago just trying to
31:51
claw for any type of traction yeah right yeah yeah no it's so cool cuz it just like when listening to you talk about
31:58
like knowing what it is to a degree but then kind of hearing you talk about it and kind of seeing like like 31 shows is
32:03
a lot a year is not that long you know so like all that kind of stuff that's uh
32:09
evolved over that time I think is is really cool and kind of you know you yourself seeing the progression of
32:16
someone you know as an artist or whatever and kind of like having the um you know like it makes you feel good you
32:23
know kind of thing uh is there like a if people are that are listen to this are
32:28
either like an artist or someone that would come and watch this just cuz they're interested or whatever um is
32:34
there like a general like genre of stuff that you guys are doing or like what
32:40
what is that like so it's it's really all around and that's what's beautiful
32:45
about it it's really a mixing pot of of different artists um because when I when
32:51
I first started I really just wanted I I had no exact like kind of style of music
32:57
that you could do I kind of just like really just allowed any style of music that they could perform and just to see
33:04
really what's what's out there and people would perform hip-hop people perform Rock people perform R&B people
33:10
perform um reae people perform just all all around different types of music and
33:16
um I love that because uh once once we
33:21
really once I really got to uh to see like around like uni three or four when I really got to see like all the artists
33:27
who were really out here um I started to allow always allow like the open mic to
33:33
be like whomever and then with the featured artist I um I would cheate the featured artist and um but it would be
33:41
like a meling PT it would be like the first artist who like a like a R&B like singer and the next artist is like a was
33:49
like a band and then the next artist is a rapper and then the next artist is like a um like a like a like a hyper
33:58
kind of like like glitch kind of artist like just showcasing all of the
34:03
underground and just all of the different artists that they have um in
34:08
just a different like like individual genres within the genres of like um of
34:15
music and um uh yeah so that's always been kind of my my thing with that is
34:21
just really having it just anybody can really come through and anybody can perform anything and and um the crowd is
34:29
is very receptive like I feel like a lot of people see the like the mhing videos and like the yeah um and and think that
34:37
like they can't come and like like that's the vibe that they got be on to come through but those are the videos
34:44
that really get a lot of attention but if you look at the documentaries if you look at the social media there's also
34:50
like so many videos of some of the best vocalists you've ever heard like singing
34:56
like in performing and um uh just just all around different
35:02
genres like and what's beautiful as well with that is is this is one of the most receptive crowds I've ever seen it's
35:09
literally the um exact um opposite of the Apollo Theater like like everybody
35:17
is just showing you love like even if you're failing like even if you're up there like there's been so many times where people get up on the stage like
35:24
hey it's my first time I'm mad nervous they're like shaking and [ __ ] like and the crowd is like no you're good y like
35:30
do yeah so like it's really just that building each other up because like
35:37
we're all doing the same thing we're all like in it together and just that
35:43
mindset of just like helping each other get to that point um is really is really
35:48
really cool and um yeah and they receptive to anything so like it doesn't
35:54
have to be they're not just trying to just MH like they're there's um there's
35:59
a lot of people who are don't who are just in there to just listen to music and even the people who do like there's
36:05
in there like they would love to hear whatever like receptive to whatever type of music like slow music like any type
36:12
of thing they just want to hear what's going on and discover and and hear the
36:17
talent and just really just try to support and try to see the talent that's
36:23
around them and that's I feel like the most beautiful aspect of shows yeah for sure um what whether it's between like the
36:30
I'm curious because there's all like obviously these great moments that have kind of happened and and different things the evolution of it is obviously
36:37
like the the big thing um is there been um like a any particular moment and I'm
36:44
sure there's a bunch but any particular moment that kind of stands out to you that you're like whether it's with the docu series whether it's the with the
36:49
come as you are whether it's you know the ud stuff we're like wow like we're on to something with this like this is
36:56
like a really cool moment in time where like you know I helped kind of either curate it or create it or whatever has
37:03
there like been a moment like that for you in that stretch of time um I feel like the first moment of that
37:13
was definitely I say the first moment of that with UD is definitely from the
37:19
second show because I could tell it it kind of like caught fire after this
37:26
after the first one and um that I feel like that happened because like with KES series that we did
37:33
um the first KES was the first time I was I was expecting there to be like 20 people to come there and like it was
37:40
like over 100 people who came so I was in just disbelief and that was the first
37:47
time I really had that oh yeah no this is this is weong to something here yeah
37:52
and um so those those were big and then uh from those we focus on getting like
37:58
bigger artists on those so for me to go from that and then I'm like okay I want
38:04
to redirect completely and focus on the smaller artists who are who uh want to
38:09
perform and try to help them develop rather than focus on the bigger artist and um so I already I knew from that I'm
38:18
like okay these are probably going to be smaller shows so I I expected so the
38:23
first one was like a smaller show but everybody was on the same kind of uh energy so I guess that also gave me like a
38:30
confidence we're on to something like the B is there yeah but I still kind of thought okay maybe we're going to still
38:35
have that that same kind of numbered crowd like consistently but then the second one it was like way more people
38:42
so all on that same energy as well so I was like okay definitely definitely this
38:48
is something right and um yeah and but I feel like just as time
38:54
goes along because like like me three or four years ago would look at like a lot of the stuff that I was doing that time
39:01
is like just just in disbelief so uh but I feel like I have a hard time
39:08
processing things so like I'll just just keep I just keep going and going and
39:13
like there'll be certain times where I'm on the stage and then I have a second I'll be like oh wow like this is crazy
39:19
and I'll like tear up a little bit or something like that there's like a couple times where that happens like sporadically randomly at random
39:25
different times so there's definitely that um but yeah I would say definitely
39:31
the first one of UD was from the second show just see how many people came to the second one and just new new people
39:37
as well just on that same exact energy so I was like yeah this is this is something that's that's going to go
39:44
somewhere and it keep going yes yeah that's so cool like it's just it's I'm sure it's hard to pick out like a moment
39:50
but especially because talking to you and kind of understanding you a little bit more over the course of the day so far it's like the process is kind of
39:58
like the big thing for you like that creative process and you know building these things and kind of like we don't
40:03
really know what the end is or like what the finish line is or whatever but we're just kind of going along and doing what
40:10
we want to do yeah thanks um let's talk about your stuff specifically now like the the music that you do all that kind
40:17
of stuff like how would you describe it um and then you know how did that kind of start for you um so right now I make
40:26
uh we'll see the alternative music like postp and like dark Wave Music and uh so
40:33
I started really making music um after I bought my friend that uh recording
40:40
equipment yeah like um yeah I was I was doing music I mean I was doing uh I was
40:46
doing films and acting and I would go to like New York and do like auditions and
40:51
stuff like that so that's really what I was into but I also loved like music and painting and stuff like that and I would
40:57
just dabble in it a little bit but um so I bought my friend the recording equipment and then I started um
41:04
engineering him as well just like just like uh engineering of music and after a while I just started kind of uh just
41:11
trying it out like 201 like 18 just like making like random songs and stuff and a
41:16
lot of my stuff would come out like very like melodic like I would I grew up listening to a lot like um Nirvana so I
41:24
I never thought I was a good singer when I was growing up but then I heard like Kirk Cain sing like very off key to
41:31
certain songs and I'll would be like okay this sounds dope and this is not even on like like like I don't have to
41:37
sound like Ariana Grande to sing well the thing so um yeah so that gave me the
41:43
confidence to like do stuff like that and uh after like time went on I was
41:49
making like different um music like alternative like rap music and like when
41:55
I was in high school I listen to mad juice world I would make stuff like like music like that like which would be like
42:01
a blend of like uh like alternative and like uh rap type of music yeah and um
42:08
yeah just just in a couple years after that I just really started making like a lot of more like rock music and uh like
42:15
I I like the I like to make a lot of like more melodic like alternative kind of um the songs and that's kind of what
42:24
I graduated to the type of like music I'm Mak hour is more like M like postp
42:30
like Indie kind of music because um like I I grew up listening to like the Cure
42:37
and uh I I always loved like that kind of like sound and I a lot of my my music
42:44
is very like melodic so it it it works a lot with like my style that I have in
42:50
terms of like my voice and stuff like that and yeah so that's that's a lot of the stuff that I make um right now and
42:56
like the genre that I'm in right now and yeah I think it's cool because there's so many like different like sub genres
43:02
of music yeah that's that that you could like also like tap into um that I also
43:10
realized with doing like UD like it's not just like within like even like hip-hop like it's like lyrical hip-hop
43:17
it's like trap there's like like there's like so many sub Jrs like rock there's like Punk Rock Post Punk like um like
43:24
metal like dark wave like all types of different like some genres so um it's
43:29
cool to actually like dive into those and really like get your see what you
43:35
enjoy making and and see what you like so I feel like I just really dove into
43:41
making the stuff that really fit me and like really fit like the way I felt and like the way that's more like natural
43:46
the most like natural to me yeah yeah yeah so uh so we're getting close I think check the time yeah getting close
43:53
to the end of this episode which sucks but you know yeah uh so like you do all these things
44:01
right like the basically takes up your entire day yeah you know but do you do anything else besides like all this all
44:08
the creative things that you're doing because you do I mean with the shows with your own stuff with the studio with
44:13
you know helping support people like there's so many different layers to all the things that you're doing it just
44:19
it's really cool you know no thank you yeah um that's the thing like not really
44:24
honestly yeah I feel like I I know I feel like um like I feel like I'm a maniac with
44:31
this stuff like in the sense of like
44:36
um there's just so much that I want to do and there's so much stuff that I'm
44:42
passionate about to where I've kind of gotten to the point where I'm like I
44:48
need to like lock into all of these aspects to really make it grow and um
44:55
this is really the first time in over a year that I had a break from UD cuz in the first six months we were
45:02
doing three shows a month in the second six months we were doing two shows a month so I really wasn't able to make my
45:09
music or like lock into like other aspects of like the creative that I have been so um I'm really trying to figure
45:17
out the just the management of everything like the Ballance of all the stuff yeah because I also see like
45:23
um like people like I'll see like like Instagram reels of like people who are
45:29
like uh like older who are like yeah I wish I wasn't such a maniac with my
45:36
career and I would have spent more time with like the people I love and stuff like that um so I do want to fit more of
45:44
that into my while also simultaneously figuring how to like Elevate everything
45:50
like yeah career-wise and I think that it comes with like building like more of
45:56
a team to be honest having more help like with the things that I'm doing because yeah doing all those events and
46:03
that was definitely a lot of work and we're not going to lie to you oh dude I I get it um so you mentioned you know
46:09
all these things that you want to do like what are some things you're like this is kind of like the next thing that
46:14
I want to try to go after and try to make happen is there something um the
46:20
next thing I really want to go after is try to have this weld oil machine like UD and
46:27
like a lot of other well oil machines consistently going at the same time yeah
46:32
so that's really the goal for me like year round having like UD going year round having being able to have my like
46:40
music coming out have my documentaries coming out um yeah just being able to do more of
46:47
the things I want to do like I haven't made a film since I was in Middle School like I want to have time to do that I
46:52
want to have time to spend with like like people I care about so
46:58
um yeah just just really want to figure out my my my really main goal right now
47:04
was figure out how to have all this stuff going on at the same time and like manage everything like TimeWise yeah
47:10
yeah yeah well that's good well I hope you figure it out but it's like the same thing with me people like oh what do you do besides like the show and like all
47:16
that stuff and I'm like know that's pretty much all we do you know like uh
47:21
because you know I love it and I get to like go do stuff you know and it's like
47:27
still kind of connected to the show and what we do with Jersey and like all that kind of stuff too so yeah you know it's
47:34
fun that's that's the best thing I feel like aligning like your career with the thing that you love to do is like yeah
47:39
you can never you can never go wrong with that yeah what's your hobby I'm like I don't know it's like my job and my hobby it's like kind of just how it
47:46
works yeah um all right so if people have listened to this episode they want to learn more about you more about UD
47:52
more about all the other stuff that you have going on uh where are places you would want them to go to do that and if
47:58
you forget one we're going to put them all in the show notes anyway so that's okay so if you want to follow me I make
48:05
music and I do documentaries uh showcasing different creative artists on YouTube you can check me on YouTube Kurt
48:12
Donovan that's d o n a v o n and uh
48:18
people spell it with o I like literally wrote it with an O on my pad make sure I fix it okay no you're good but
48:24
like I need to make sure I SP it right um no yeah I've got to the point where
48:29
like if somebody spells it wrong like on a thing I'm yeah it's an easy to fix though you know just add a little um so
48:37
yeah uh on Instagram YouTube Tik Tok at Kurt Donovan of the
48:44
A and uh everything underground developmental um is on my YouTube as
48:50
well like all the documentaries that we have um and also on Instagram at underground developmental or NJ
48:57
underground develo and um yeah if you want to come to a seminar
49:02
and uh or have a like a session or something like that come down to NJ and
49:08
brown City yeah and then and then once you and then after you come here um go
49:16
to um the Jersey Fest that's right come to Jersey Fest of course and you can
49:21
make it a double stop two stops in the same day really if you really wanted to yeah you know I'm going to be over there
49:28
cool yeah got to be yeah definitely got to have you we're having an Afterparty too so I'll make sure I tell you about
49:33
that bet but that's not for everybody um exclus exclusive uh well I really
49:39
appreciate you having me in uh thank you for running the cameras behind the scenes um and uh we'll make sure like I
49:46
said we'll put all those links and handles and stuff like that in the show notes people just go click it check it out uh we'll also put greetings to
49:52
thegarden state.com which is the website for the show where we can get all the other stuff that we have going on between all of our other episodes the
49:58
maps the different things so go to green.com too um Kurt thank you again so
50:03
this has been the green with GSA podcast powered by the New Jersey Lottery I'm Mike cam we were here in Jersey City at
50:09
NJ underground Studios with Kurt Donovan thank you for listening and we'll catch you next [Music]
50:20
time do you want R oh tell me before you
50:27
long way do you want to ride [Music]