Down The Avenue

Can you talk about Avenue Studio?

We have a lot of musicians here in Louisville, and I thought it’d be a cool idea to use Avenue as a platform to get out some of the unreleased songs that they don’t want to put on Apple Music. I made a Soundcloud page for Avenue and asked them to send in some tracks to give them more traction. We had five or six guest mixes in the Soundcloud page and some unreleased tracks. I also connected with two producers, Parker Bolin and Tony Wise, for a joint project—an EP—which we presented on Avenue. I did the album photography for them, and we sold cassette tapes during the release event and through the Avenue website.

Where did the music begin? How does this affect your taste in mixtapes now?

I made the first playlist the second time I released the magazine for Avenue. We did a playlist that we were working on for the year. It was an inspirational thing. The playlists were a thing that I created, for the most part. I did a playlist when I released clothing and a mixtape for a party. I’ve loved music my whole life. I grew up in a household where we always had music. My mom had CD binders and huge bins full of cassette tapes. I even have my aunt's “It Was Written,” Nas album! Music has always helped me create, and it inspires me in everything I’ve done—even back when I played sports. It helps create “the vibe.”

Tell us about your vision behind Avenue Studios — the inspiration behind it, where it began, and how it came to be.

I have two best friends who I can always go to for an opinion on things I wanted to put out. One of them helped me spearhead and get it all together; he’s the head photographer. Years ago, we had an idea to start a fashion-type magazine, but that didn’t happen. A couple of years after that, that same friend said, “You should put your thoughts out there about the creatives in the city. You’re the guy who should do it. People love your vision.” We were thinking of names—French or Italian—but we couldn’t find anything. Then we thought of Avenue, because it sounds really good. It looks good, and it’s a name that everybody can identify with. I was like, “I could envision that on a shirt right now.” I just added ‘Studios’ because it sounds good!

Originally, we were supposed to feature local businesses in Louisville. We just wanted to shine people and places that didn’t get enough shine. Because Louisville is a small, big city, we don’t really have a platform for creatives to perform. Our city doesn’t give them the chance to make them shine locally. I wanted to push that forward. That was the goal for the magazine. One of my friends had his first art show in Paris, but nobody knew him here. I just wanted to put the shine on the community around me and use whatever small platform I have to be able to help bring people up from the city. We had a big release party at Home Skateshop, a local establishment that has been here for 30 years. We covered them and the owner supported us from the get-go. Since then, we have had a good relationship with him. That was where it started.

How would you describe your job in three words?

Communicator, because I bring a message to people. Connector, because I connect creatives. Builder, because I build up the community through my work. 

Did you always want to work in media? What drew you to this industry?

I never actually had a dream job. I was just interested in all kinds of things. My actual day job is a video editor at our ABC-affiliated news station here. I’ve been doing video editing work since I was in high school, and I continued that up until college. It’s always been a part of what I did. Publication media didn’t become a thing until after college when I’d read street-style magazines and fashion books. That was when I got into my thing and my photography.

Are you thinking of pursuing Avenue Studios full-time in the future?

The day job is still a priority just because it provides more security. I work at a news station, so there’s always gonna be a job for me, but I do feel like, the way that Avenue is going, I can do this as a full-time thing in the future. I’m patient with it. I’m not in a rush to carry it up. I do hope in a few years that this can become a thing. I have no doubt that this can be a thing, I just really need to pursue this and not mess up. People believe in it enough, and everything’s going right, right now. I just have a lot to think about. My wife and I’ve talked about it. Eventually, I would love to be able to do that. I mean we’re still relatively young! I’m 30, and Avenue Studios is just almost three years. I’m in no rush.

What are some struggles you’ve faced in this industry?

Consistency has been something I’ve struggled with, because I have a day job and it gets tiring sometimes. It’s also hard to figure out when and where to get help for things. In Louisville, everybody knows everybody here. I get approached all the time by people who want to collaborate with Avenue, but I never know when someone’s getting a leg up for themselves. I’ve learned to stick to my circle and be selective of who we bring in. I’ve built a core foundation from the get-go that I can stay solid with. If I need anything, they’re the ones who can push me forward. I can trust them, and they push me to where I need to be.

On the flip side, do you have some great memories that you’ve had in this job?

The release party we had last year has to be my favorite memory I’ve had so far. I had a collab t-shirt with a collective called 2026 with Francis and Domdi, both of whom I was friends with in high school. We decided to do a big backyard party for the collab t-shirt. It was just so organic. We set up a DJ booth at the patio. We sold shirts in the backyard and we sold out in the first hour. I called it an Avenue party and it was packed out! We had free drinks and free food, which were gone in the first thirty minutes of the party. There had to be 200 people there. We had an amazing night, because we just brought a bunch of people together. It was such a diverse crowd—men, women, white, Black, Brown, Asian—literally everybody was there. It only lasted for three hours, but it was one of those nights that if you weren’t there, you surely missed out. This party helped reaffirm to me that the community really believes in what we’re doing around here. They love the positive energy that we’re bringing to the city.

As the creative director of Avenue, you're involved with everything — writing, event planning, designing, videography, and photography. What’s your creative process?

Honestly, it’s so random. The company’s so young that I haven’t set up a schedule yet, but sometimes if I go out of town, I get inspired by the things I see. I just have random ideas that come to me. Then, I work on it until it’s time to let it out. This was what happened with the blue theme for the company right now. I’m a huge fan of Miles Davis and his album, “Kind of Blue,” was the biggest inspiration for me this year. I carry a Miles Davis tote bag and everything. My creative process is just random. Sometimes I don’t like to do anything because this stuff can take a toll on you mentally if you work on it too much. But when I do get inspired, it can be [from] old basketball clips from the 90s, Michael Jordan, an old Malcolm X clip and systematic racism, and 90s UCLA basketball shorts. Inspiration is just nonstop until I put it out.

Your company has been intentional in creating a community for creatives to showcase their work. With the current political climate and the BLM movement, what does this look in a time of social distancing?

I can keep trying to spread messages online. I can keep trying to put out merchandise that speaks a message, like the “Each One, Teach One” tee that was an important shirt to put out, because it had a message of spreading resources and knowledge and helping out your fellow men. We even made it before COVID happened, but it was timely in a time of hysteria for teaching people how to protect themselves. Even now with the police brutality cases, it was good to put another one out to remind others. I’ve also been trying to learn stuff myself, and I’ve been reading to further my knowledge.

Personally, I’ve just been trying to put out messages through the platform I have. Through documenting protests, these people see that I care about the community, because this is me. I’m Black. I have no choice but to care. This is what I stand for. All of these things help forward the community of not just creatives, but also our community as a whole in Louisville. I’ve also been donating to causes like The West End Initiative, and it’s helping families and businesses in West Louisville pay for groceries, bills, and mortgages. I’m trying to find a way to make a deeper impact in the community, and it’s especially hard to do that when we have to socially distance, but I can do that online for now. That’s how I can play my part for now.

Leave us with a word of wisdom. If there was anything you could say to your teenage self, what would it be?

One, don’t listen to your teachers. I’m thirty, and I was in high school in the mid-2000s. I went to the best high school in Kentucky, but there were some teachers that didn’t support you creatively. If there was something I could say to my teenage self, I’d say take the risk. If you feel something, do it. Chances are you might do well at it. Take a venture. Take a risk. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail, and that’s a part of life. It happens. You can’t expect to be perfect.

I always tell people that my favorite motto is Nike’s “Just Do It.” We’ll have doubts but you have to do it! You can’t let those doubts take over you, because you’ll never know what’s there. If I never did Avenue, I would have never known that people would be behind it so wholeheartedly, that I could go beyond just posting something on Instagram and being the cool guy. I didn’t just wanna be that guy who dresses nice. I wanted to do something more than just that.

Back when I was in college, I quit football in my sophomore year. I grew tired of it. It was a big part of my life, but it wasn’t making me happy. I wanted to stop, and it felt great letting that go. So take the risk! I mean, I still get high anxiety thinking about the future. My wife talks me out of it on Sunday nights when I see the week ahead, and I’m kept up by what’s to come, but sometimes you just gotta go through it. It is what it is, so do it.