INTERVIEW: EVIN WOLVERTON
1. How do you define creativity?
Creativity has a wider breadth than I think most people recognize. To me, it's the process of bringing your own internal reality into the world around you. Painters paint according to their own personal perception of the world -- and they share that by externalizing it. But the same principle is at play when someone arranges the pens in their office drawer according to color. Creativity is the inner ideal externalized.2. Do you believe that each person has the capacity to be creative? Why?
Absolutely. If a person can acknowledge the fact that there is a difference between how they perceive the world (or reality) and how others perceive it, then they should understand that any personal mark they make to share their own perception is creative. I think the potential is universally present. And I don't mean the potential for, say, masterful jazz composition, but rather the presence of mind to share your individuality.
3. How did you find your creative niche?
I hired a team of private investigators to find one for me. No ... I was lucky enough to have been raised in proximity to a number of creative communities: traditional Appalachian and Irish music circles, actors, satirists, etc. Currently, this mixture has funnelled me into a place of songwriting. I can't say that I belong to only one of these niches; I'd like to think that I get to borrow from all of them. Then again, I'd also like to think that I have powers of telepathy and nostril-lightning, so my opinion is farm from infallible.
4. Do you think creativity is innate or learned? Explain.
All kids are creative; it's science. It should be, at least. But somewhere along the line of growing up, we are trained to conform to a sort of societal standard for what a "normal" person does, and we save the pursuit of creative endeavors for those who show conspicuous talent or interest in fine arts. But fine arts are not all that fine; I often think manual labor and basic craftsmanship to be more beautiful than painting. A lot of creative potential gets sunk beneath the undertow of conformity, but I don't think it ever leaves.
5. Who or what experiences have inspired your work?
My parents' tastes (naturally), and mostly my forays into the Northern Californa folk / trad music scene and Hollywood comedy scene. There's a consistently-evolving list of people that I'd cite as "influences," which you would in turn cite as "exhaustive" and "unnecessary."
6. Have you always wanted to do what you are doing? If not, what made you decide to start?
When I was a teenager, I went to a music festival with my dad and showcased a song I'd written. It was my first song, and I was still green, but it was well-received amongst the musicians that I'd come to shyly admire. People that I looked up to were telling me, "You can do this. I'll be mad at you if you don't." So... here I am. If I suck, it's their fault.
7. Does spirituality and culture play a role in your creativity? Explain.
In my creativity? Sure. I was raised with a pretty strong religious background, which I only recently shed. But there's such a strong mythology (harsh word, but applicable) to the Christian culture -- it's such a prevalent force in European & American art forms. As far as culture goes, the traditional music scenes exposed me to a lot of beautiful, foreign, and antiquated lifestyles (gypsy business and the like), which is rich beyond my ability to resist it all. Yes, it's all there, and I can't keep it out even when I try.
8. How important is education to your creative process?
This is tricky. I think that over-educating the creative mind can make it too rigid to function properly. Education is useful in that it should supply creativity with a wide gamut of tools, but potentially harmful in its emphasis of enforcing successful structure. So long as a person possesses the awareness to be selective about what learnings they cleave to, education can be very freeing.
9. How do you deal with creativity blocks?
Every day. The way around it is this: stop trying to make something happen, and start trying to let something happen. Even if it wasn't what you intended, it's still a source of momentum that can take you around the block.
10. What part of you do you share in your creative endeavors?
The private parts. Wanna see em? (I keed, I keed). I think there's very little of myself that I reserve from my writings and such. Not because I'm some sort of exhibitionist, but because the process of opening myself up to expression has basically erroded any need I once had to shield myself.
11. Have you had to overcome obstacles (physical, financial, social, etc.) in your creative world? Explain.
The big ones for me are financial and social obstacles. Financial, because I have a day job. It keeps me fed and housed, but it also keeps me from dedicating the amount of time towards music that I'd like to. And really, it's such a crapshoot to try and depend on your expression as a means of income these days. So, for now, music is relegated to full-time hobby status. The social aspect is a big deal because artists (and I'm not trying to place myself in that category) feed off of the energy of a creative community. This is why you see neighborhoods in every city that have essentially served as cloisters for the artists. Go to Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, or Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, and you'll see the evidence of creative huddling. We need to feel like we're not totally alone in making things happen. Also, we need peers to steal from.
12. Do you believe that it is important to be accepted by others as being creative or is just doing what you love to do enough to justify your work? Explain.
I think every creative endeavor needs an audience. Whether that be a stadium or a coffee shop or just an attentive lover is up to the ideals of the creator. Art is a construct dependent upon a maker and a viewer, so naturally there has to be some sort of transaction of attention in order for it to take on value. I do worry about anyone who could create entirely for the purpose for pleasing one's self; these are the kinds of people who live in tool sheds and hide food in their beards.
(ADDED BY EVIN)
13. Makeout time now?
Yeah.
Background some what resembles a magnified white bed of icing