Interviews with Grim Kells and Board Members of Grimalkin Records (Evelyn Zelmer)

Partial Transcript: Evelyn Zelmer [interviewer]: Okay, um, so we could just start... like if you want to give like your name, your pronouns, and kind of what you do.

Nancy Grim Kells [interviewee]: Okay, well, my name is Nancy Grim Kells, and I go by Grim, and I use they/them pronouns. I'm the founder and facilitator and executive director of Grimakin records. Um, and we are a queer and trans and BIPOC record label and collective, and we do mutual aid work-- that's our main focus. And we provide different support services to artists. So we do releases like a record label would but we're, you know, much more than a record label. We help artists with things like production services, like mixing, mastering, video production, photography. We have production network-- an international production network. We do mentoring-- we have a mentoring network, educational workshops. And yeah, that's about the gist of it.

Keywords: collective; facilitator; network; queer; workshops

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Um, so could you tell me a little bit about like, where you're from and how you grew up?

Grim: Yeah. I'm from Redding, Pennsylvania. And, let's see, I graduated high school in 1990. I moved to Philadelphia and I went to Tyler School of Art, got a BFA there, sculpture was my major. And I think, you know that that experience was really important because I had been into painting and drawing, but I kind of gravitated to the sculpture department (laughs at a phone ringing loudly in the background). Because they were much more inclusive in terms of what you could do like performance, music, you know, actually making sculpture too and things like that. And I basically just, you know, did a lot of like, retail customer service jobs/food service jobs for quite a while and did data entry for a little while. Yeah, it's really hard to get a get a good paying job with an art degree (laughing). I moved out to Los Angeles in 1996. My intention was to live there for a year and then maybe apply for grad school, so I could get, you know, discounted tuition rates and get a master's degree in fine art. And I was showing my art a little bit. And I just quickly kind of realized that really wasn't the road I wanted to go; I wasn't really interested in making artwork that was in galleries that like basically wealthy people would buy for investment.

So I...and I also really started to realize just through all the different jobs I was doing, that were basically just for a paycheck, you know, that that made me very miserable. And that it was really important for me to do work that was helping other people in some way. I really wasn't sure what that was or what that looked like. I worked-- um I got a job when I moved to Los Angeles doing canvassing and organizing work for California Peace Action, and I did that for a couple of years. And then I while I was doing that, I learned about a program they had at the Los Angeles School District there. They were in need of teachers and they had a program where you could get your degree while going to school and and that was very attractive for me because I didn't really have a lot of money to go, like, go back to school. And so I did that. And I was a para-- like a paraprofessional for a semester and was interested...like I'm...I have have some disabilities and I'm neurodiverse so I was interested in like maybe becoming a special ed teacher. So by being a paraprofessional for a semester I could kind of see if that was even something I really wanted to do, and it was, so I ended up going into that program and I became a special ed teacher. I did that in public middle school in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles. Umm, I did that 10 years there and then I...my parents are getting older and my mom had a lot of health issues and things like that, so I really wanted to get-- kind of I wanted to get out of LA; I was on the other side of the country. And so I ended up moving. I was looking for jobs in Pennsylvania, but I was also looking in Virginia; um, my partner's family's in Virginia. And so I ended up getting a job at the schools in Surry County.

Keywords: Los Angeles; fine art; neurodiverse

Partial Transcript: So I moved. And it was like right up my alley because I was looking to get out of the city, and I was kind of looking to move to like, an area that was the opposite, pretty much, of Los Angeles. Yeah, so I moved. I did another four years teaching, and I was really getting kind of burned out from teaching with standardized testing. All the money with schools are tied to test scores. And in Los Angeles, it wasn't as big of an issue because the school is really big. But in the country, schools are really small, and so test scores are even more important, and there's just so much pressure and people who are kind of pushing unethical things too (laughs). And I just was like, 'I gotta get out of this.' So I ended up resigning from that and becoming a vocational counselor.

And while I became a vocational counselor, I was actually finally, like, moving outside of Surry County a lot because I was like, having to travel. I was basically...you know, we meet with clients all over, all over Virginia, like Hampton Roads, and even into, into like Richmond and things like that. And I started thinking, like, 'you know, I really should find out what else is going on in the city.' And basically, I, you know, I just started going to shows again, kind of like getting out of my shell again. I had kind of been living sort of like a hermit, really//, like just in the country and not really doing too much outside of teaching. So doing that I started meeting a lot of people, saw how many like just really amazing musicians there are in Richmond, and I started forming friendships, and meeting other queer people. And basically, from there, I started thinking about maybe starting a record label// or something like that.

And so at first, we were just doing some benefit shows, we did a couple of compilations. We were using the name "Friends for Equality" for a little bit. And then in 2018, we started using "Grimalkin Records" as the name. And again, it was just a few friends, and we were just...you know, it was pretty small at first, and it was just kind of like a passion project and things like that. And then, from 2018 to 2020, it did steadily grow. We released an artist named Backxwash, and she really blew up while releasing with us. And that actually brought a lot more eyes to our label, too. And we started getting more of an influx of people like wanting to release with us and things like that, and it kind of just was picking up, and then the pandemic hit (laughs). And I...lost my job.

Keywords: rural; teaching; vocational counselor

Partial Transcript: And at that point, we had to really...I had to really like think about not just my life and what I was doing-- because there wasn't even work in my field anymore at that moment-- but also just kind of how I was gonna continue to make Grimalkin work because I was like, I was funding a lot of the stuff with just like money I made from my job and things like that.

Also, sidenote//, I only started playing my own music as Spartan Jetplex out in 2019. January 2019 I played out for the first time. That was huge for me, because I said I would never play out because I have terrible, terrible stage fright and get really nervous. But with friends encouraging me-- and I had been, like, doing some improv stuff with some friends out, like live, prior to that-- I kind of got the nerve to do that. So when the pandemic hit (laughs), it was a lot, like a couple of blows, like losing my job, can't play out anymore-- which I was actually really starting to enjoy, you know. I had a year under my belt of playing out and I was starting to like, feel better about it and felt like I was sounding better (laughing) things like that. So it was just like, crushing, and I actually was more depressed than I had ever been for a really short period of time there. But I did snap out of it pretty quickly. I was like, 'I don't know what I'm doing with my life. I don't know.' And then it just kind of like occurred to me like, well, you know, maybe, 'I have Grimalkin still and it's been growing and you know maybe, maybe the universe is telling me I should do all these things I dreamed of.' (We hear a guitar soundcheck going on upstairs throughout this next section). Because things like, you know, organizing work, advocacy work, education: these are things I'd hoped we could eventually bring into Grimalkin outside of just music and things like that. But it was just like...more or less like, just thoughts and things like that, you know, not really reality.

I applied for unemployment, I did get unemployment for a full year which was nice. And then we made some financial changes with Grimalkin. We ended up-- like just some small things//, like we were charging $8 for digital sale, and $8 for tape. And like the artists would get 100% of the digital. And then we always ask for tapes to like, for the proceeds to go to a mutual aid organization, or person/individual in need who is local to the artist. So I ended up like just doing some math. And I realized like, 'well, if we raise the price to $10, and Grimalkin keeps 25%, it ends up being that the artists who've been with us already-- it's about the same amount that they would get when they were getting 100% of just an $8 sale.' Yeah. And, so I pitched that to everybody. And that way we could continue making physical releases, even if things weren't selling, because that was something like I had been kind of funding if we needed the money, and I'm just like, 'I don't have the money now. I can't do that.'...And so that really worked out super well.

And.....yeah, soon after, I think like pretty immediately after I lost my job and I decided to do this full time and try to give it my all, we became an LLC for a really short period of time. I think I was kind of trying to figure out like, what was gonna work or what we were going to do. And then we realized pretty quickly, like, 'we're not for profit, so this is not it (laughs) at all.' So we started working on implementing a lot of things, like working towards doing workshops. And kind of..because I had all my time now to invest in Grimalkin, we started doing, like releases every month. You know, we just started doing more and more. Because I had the time, obviously, which I didn't have when I was working. And it really has blossomed and grown from there. We applied to be a nonprofit. And then we finally got that at the end of the last day of February// of this year (laughs slightly), we got our nonprofit status. And you know, it's been like touch-and-go and things like that. But the good thing is, is that it's always moved forward. We haven't really like fallen backwards or anything like that. And things seem to be picking up more and more now since we've got the nonprofit status.

I will say we definitely want to continue building our grassroots network because.. it's our Patreon supporters and people who've donated to us that has gotten us this far. And there's a lot of pitfalls and issues with nonprofits, too. And we want to make sure that we don't fall into those things. I mean, there's a lot of-- it takes a lot of work and time to apply for grants. It's very expensive to hire someone to write grants. It's time consuming also. And then there's also sometimes a lot of restrictions and reporting involved. So it takes a lot of time. So we're trying to figure things out so that we're continuing to build our grassroots support, but still seeing like where we can like tap into, maybe, smaller grants and things like that. So...we did get a small grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. That's gonna help us with the next three workshops that we're doing. We had an individual who runs a foundation who had been following us and supporting us personally reach out to us and is going to be giving us some more support and that's// really exciting. Like through their foundation. And yeah, I mean, that's been that's pretty much like the st- (laughs) story. I know it sounds like a whole lot (laughs). (Soundcheck is over at this point).

Keywords: financial change; grants; nonprofit status; pandemic; unemployment

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: No, thank you, that was great. Yeah, and just curious: Why the name Grimalkin? Like, what's the meaning of that?

Grim: Yeah so um, I love cats, and cats seem to love me (laughs). So like I have two cats that I-- you know, one was from the pound and one I picked up at the dump because I live in the country so we have a dump. So then I have, I have two other cats who just sort of like adopted us and they live outside. So we have two inside and we have two outside. The two outside, one of them is very feral. And it took years before they would even like, let me pet 'em (laughs), but I love cats//.

And so I was trying to come up with a name like, somehow around cats. And then I just was like doing some Googling, stuff like that (laughing). And I came across the word "grimalkin." And it was just like, 'that's it' because.. so grimalkin means cat and it also means a familiar. And, um, that is definitely in line with a lot of our artists and myself (laughs) too. And then it also means-- I'm not a woman-- but it does mean a spiteful old woman. It's a derogatory, archaic word. And the meaning I guess it was a derogatory term, like you would call someone a grimalkin to be like, 'you're a spiteful old woman.' And I just thought that that was just like taking the word back//, making it something positive. And I just thought that was hilarious. Just like, all those things combined.

Evelyn: Yeah. And had you gone by Grim before that?

Grim: No//, I actually chose Grim afterwards. So yeah, I actually borrowed the name from Grimalkin essentially. I...Nancy's not a deadname-- and that's my birth name my parents gave me and I'm named after my grandmother. I do like the name Nancy. It actually also is like a derogatory word for an effeminate boy, which I love that about it, but it is so gendered//. And it just doesn't feel very-- it just didn't feel very good to be called that anymore by folks that didn't know me for a very long time. Like, if my partner calls me that it's one thing, like, I've been with them for 14 years, you know, but like...So I just took on the name Grim because I wanted to be called something that wasn't so gendered. Yeah.

Keywords: cats; gender; naming; reclamation

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Yeah. So, um, so I guess another question is like, how does your gender identity impact your relationship with music? And kind of the journey of Grimalkin?

Grim: Oh, gosh....it's been a really. long. journey. (Their tone becomes less secure, more vulnerable). So I was raised during a time where-- I mean, I always knew I was queer. And...I guess I...I was raised during a time where, like-- because I was, I was born in '72. And like, when I was in high school, there really-- even though I know, nonbinary and all that has been around for forever-- in popular culture and whatnot, and like, growing up in the 80s and 90s, that was not a common.. Like just the idea of being nonbinary was not a common cultural, like, thing that I would have even come across. And if you were trans, you were either a woman or you were a man. Like you were, there was no like, you know-- even though I know worldwide, and culturally, it is something (laughs slightly) like has existed since the beginning of time, it wasn't something that I had come across as a young kid growing up.

And so when I started meeting other queer people, and like, that were younger than me actually// (laughs). Like, it was young people that kind of like-- it was kind of a very long, slow.. epiphany for myself. Like, whereas, like, I always felt kind of like-- I guess like, sometimes I feel more feminine, sometimes I feel more masculine//, and I just never could really put my finger on it. And so when I learned about nonbinary, it just, yeah, it just made sense for me. And, I didn't really like come out as like nonbinary until like 2019. Like that's how late it was. I just didn't have the language for it, and I just like knew-- I just always felt like I didn't quite fit in. I didn't even feel like I quite fit in, like even amongst other LGBTQ like, you know. (Their voice is shakier here and their eyes look slightly wet). For the longest time it was just like a struggle for me where like nothing really, none of the labels, none of the things really completely fit for me.

And my album, Godless Goddess that I put out in 2019. It's like... (laughing) I'm so much older, I'm like in my 40s writing what is very much like a coming of age album for me. It's like I was like, reborn, and honestly Grimalkin has really contributed to me becoming.. like being able to be my authentic self, because like, (sighs) every job I've ever had, every community I ever lived in, every whatever, I always had to, like, hide and cover up who I was. Not just my gender identity, but also even just like being or having learning difficulties or being neurodiverse and things like that. I've always developed like coping skills to just sort of like, blend in and adjust, you know, like submit, or hide or cover up.

And honestly, I really wasn't able, I would say, to fully be myself until I lost my job really//. Because my last job and every job I've ever had, I never was out (laughs slightly) to anyone.. It just never felt safe to do so. And so it's really amazing being able to like, be in a community fully and not ever have to, like, ever pretend I'm something that I'm not. And that never happened to me until I lost my job because at my job I really did have to kind of.. like I think some people would have been cool about it, but it just, you know, it's just like one of those things, you know.

Evelyn: Yeah. And so it sounds like Grimalkin kind of serves that purpose for your artists as well.

Grim: Yeah. Yeah//. It did for me, even though I might be the founder or whatnot. I feel like when I started Grimalkin.. yes, I was in the LGBT community, but it was like, I didn't really find myself completely or be my authentic self until like, years into being part of Grimalkin. //And meeting other people and seeing myself in them and being like, 'Oh. Oh, shit. Like, I can wear a dress, and still, I'm not a woman.' Like you know what I mean? It doesn't mean that I'm any less of this or that. And like, I think like, I grew up in a time, like I said, where it was like, 'you're either this or that.' And sometimes I would try to fight against being like feminine just because, you know, like, it's just weird. It's like a weird thing (laughs).

Keywords: authentic self; community; gender norms; queer journey

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Yeah. So kind of related, I guess, like, how do you see.. or what's the role of Grimalkin records in the RVA music scene? Like, how would you..?

Grim: (sighs). Well, um, well, I see like music and art as, like, a vehicle for change.... And I see myself as a facilitator, and I always use that word, as opposed to, like, manager or somebody like that. And the only reason why I say Executive Director is because like, that's kind of forced on you when you're a nonprofit (laughs). Like, I would never use that, ever. Like, if I could just say, I'm like the founder, the facilitator, leave it at that Because I feel like.. I guess I'm answering your question kind of, relating to this-- I feel like my strength is being able to kind of see possibilities, and also see possibilities in other people and like, see strengths and things like that. And like, that's just kind of from my education background. And I've always approached teaching, like, kind of, as a facilitator more than the instructor who's giving information. It's like, where you kind of like help them find the things they need or develop their own skills.

And I guess, that is kind of how I see Grimalkin as a whole. As like, this space for people to explore and like .. facilitate change, facilitate who they are, maybe like, grow up within that and find opportunities for different things. And I guess that's-- so within.. Yeah, so I would say I would say that for Richmond, too, I guess. And but, you know, not just Richmond, you know, like, anyone, anyone who feels like a kinship with what we're doing. You know, to be a part of that and collaboration, like I see.. I want Grimalkin to be a place where we can partner with other people, collaborate with other people, and also, not just other like, groups and organizations-- but that happens also within Grimalkin, like, so many of our artists have been like, featured artists on other people's albums, and people end up doing projects together and collaborating like doing video, maybe for someone's album, so just kind of all of that stuff. That, I guess, is what I hope: to just kind of be this place for that kind of creative exploration and joy (laughs).

Evelyn: Yeah. So um, could you talk a little bit a little bit about how Grimalkin does mutual aid? And if you have, like an example, specifically in Richmond?

Grim: Oh, yeah, okay, so.. Jason Jamal did an album, and he donated the proceeds for his tapes to his friend who's getting top surgery. So like, that would be an example. We'll often have, like a friend, like just something happened to somebody, like maybe they need to raise money to make ends meet for their rent//, or something like that. So we'll do like a fundraiser, you know, online, encouraging people, you know, to donate. So we've done stuff like that.

And then like, more broadly, it would be like, you know, kind of...you know, benefit shows and things like that for other organizations that are involved with mutual aid. Like the Virginia Anti-Violence Project, you know. Just kind of trying to raise awareness of how important mutual aid is. And then just also-- you know, the thing with helping other organizations that I find as important as smaller grassroots organizations is just bringing awareness to their work, building partnerships with them, so that we can, like refer artists to them for other things. Like, you know, we've had an artist, maybe they need counseling help, and so the Virginia Anti-Violence Project does provide a counseling service, so we can be like, 'Oh, hey, we can put you in contact with some help.' So I would consider those types of things to be mutual aid too even though they're more specifically related-- So it kind of like// the whole gamut from like, just literally helping a person in your community to like, more broadly educating people, I guess.

Keywords: facilitator; mentor; mutual aid; teaching

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: So, does everyone-- like, basically involved like, on the collective and on the board-- does everybody play music?

Grim: Oh, yes, yes-- we have had, we've had a couple, like, we have had a couple collective members that didn't make music, but were involved in music, like they booked shows or they did other artistic endeavors. So you absolutely don't have to be a musician to be a board member or a collective member, or be part of our community at all. Like there's so many other things like, you know, creative endeavors, you know, within Grimalkin. But I would say yes, right now, yeah, everyone. Yeah. I would say with the exception of Carla who's not technically on the board, because she does our accounting, and she's like our business manager. She's the only person I think, who does not make music, like part of our (crash sound, they laugh) It's a bit noisy down here. But that's like part of our like, I don't know, community or like, what have you.

Evelyn: Yeah, and I was looking through some of the artists and I noticed, like, it's a lot of experimental stuff. And so I was wondering, like, what are the most predominant genres that you record?

Grim: Yeah, yeah. Well, so I will say that is the one tie-- main, I would say main, like overlying...thing about us musically. I would say is that-- it's not that you /have/ to be making experimental music. I'm not gonna say we're not gonna release something if it's not, but I will say underground, experimental-- it's definitely like-- it's a huge part of like, kind of what I think has drawn a lot of us to each other. A lot of different things I feel like have drawn us to each other too. A lot of us are also disabled or neurodiverse. That's another thing, besides being queer, a lot of us being trans, things like that.
So yeah, as far as genre goes, I have always loved all kinds of music. And I've like-- anything like experimental, underground stuff to like, pop-, you know, popular stuff, you know, what have you. I think I've always kind of probably been drawn more to stuff that's like, lesser (laughs), less popular, or less known, more underground. And so maybe that's informed a lot of how Grimalkin is, but it just kind of naturally has been that way. It's not like we have this thing where-- like, there's no, there's no specific genre. And I would say, a lot of the artists too kind of dabble in multiple genres, a mixing of genres, kind of pushing the lines of genre. So I would say that's an overlying thing. But as far as like-- there isn't anything that I would say we wouldn't necessarily release. Like we're actually-- I'm so excited-- we're gonna be releasing Coldwater's next album, and that's like psych country. I'm really excited about it. And I would definitely say it's experimental within the genre or whatever. Yeah, they're like a Canadian, a Canadian band.

Evelyn: Yeah, so how do you locate artists? Like do they reach out to Grimalkin? Or do you...?

Grim: Both. So initially, like, initially, it would be like me coming to shows, meeting people, like asking, stuff like that. I met a few people like on Twitter actually (laughs), back when Twitter seemed to be more like, I don't know. There was a time on Twitter where I met a lot of artists actually, like Kate Can Wait releases with us. And then she like, introduced us to Mabel, who's Don't do it, Neil who releases with us. And then like, Backxwash and I were following each other, and I hit her up about releasing with us. And then, you know, it's just kind of like that, and then we'll have people definitely hit us up. I'm trying to think of....Pedroso and Pedrosa. They reached out to us and they're, they're from Brazil, (and Hafa's?) in Brazil. They're, they're a collective member. They had reached out to us, like submitted an album. So there's like a little bit, I'd say, a little bit of a mix.
We definitely like take submissions, you know, like there's a, there's a whole information about releasing with us and joining the collective on our website, there's two different tabs about it. And people-- there's a submission form that people can submit. We have tips there, like, we definitely want people to read, to read that information before submitting to us. And then like, we have a whole team. And they're not all collective members. Some of them are just artists, and some of them aren't musicians, or that-- I forgot there's (Scoop?) who does graphic design for us and he doesn't make, he doesn't make music. So anyway, we have this submission team of like, I don't remember how much it fluctuates, like, people come and go. But basically, whenever we get a cold submission, somebody we don't know, even if it is somebody we do know, I'll still pass it along. Like, even if we're like, 'yeah, we're definitely gonna release this.' But like, we, we put it out to everybody on the submission team email, and like, not everybody necessarily responds to every release that we get in, but we make a collective decision whether we're gonna move forward with someone or not.
So it's def-- it started out kind of like me just reaching out to people because it was just me and a couple of friends at first, but now it's-- we have a process. It's collective, we collectively decide, you know. Now obviously, if there's something I'm really excited about, I'm gonna be like, 'I really want to release this. What do you all think?' (laughs) So far, nobody's been like, 'no,' you know, but I mean, like, if somebody had a legitimate concern, like, I would absolutely, like, want to know. That's why kind of-- that's why I think it's good to have a group of people because, in this day and age too, like, you don't know, sometimes you don't know people, and you gotta be kind of a little bit careful, you know. And we want people to tell us why they want to release us specifically, like why us and not a different label. And it's pretty obvious, when we get something that you could tell had been sent out to like, I don't know, dozens of labels, you know.
It's just like, you know, we're more than a label, so we really want people who feel like a kinship with us and are interested in community building, and maybe being a little bit more active with us beyond just like, 'what can you do for me?,' you know. It's not that we don't want to help people, but we are so much about mutual aid and mutual support that we don't want it to be-- it's, we're not this big label with all this money. And I don't have a trustfund (laughs). It's not you know, like, this is not, this is not a big company and things like that. So we want people who are generally like, you know, wanting to be a part of what we're doing more broadly than just releasing music.

Evelyn: Alright, well, we're coming up on the end of our time, so is there anything that you want to say that I didn't ask?

Grim: No, I don't think so (laughs). I appreciate you like talking to me and asking-- It's exciting to hear that maybe more people will learn about what we're doing. That's what I'm really-- (gesturing to my notebook) and I have to say your notes style: I highly relate to. I don't know if people like tease you when they see your notes-

Evelyn: (laughing) Yeah, no one can read it.

Grim: I was just like, kind of like, 'Oh, wow, like, that's how my notebook looks.'

Evelyn: Awesome. Thank you so much.

Grim: Yeah. All right. Awesome. Thank you.

Keywords: board; collective; community-building; releases; submissions

Partial Transcript: (Eli)zabeth Owens (interviewee): ...setting up and maintaining a website, um, transitioning to help with social media, I manage our Patreon page, and just some other day-in-day-out--

Nancy Grim Kells (interviewee): Oh and helping with interns now.

Eli: Interns, yes. So I'm going to be kind of helping to flesh out our education initiatives in the coming year.

Grim: Yeah. And I should mention, both of us have a background of teaching so that's very important.

Eric Kemp (interviewee): My name is Eric Kemp, my pronouns are he/they, and my music is Infinite Bliss. I'm a Grimalkin board member. And I mostly just kind of help when needed, like, I don't have really a specific position or anything--

Grim: You help a lot with the social media.

Eric: Yeah, with the social media side of things and kind of help find other people to help us with the work we're doing.

Keywords: education initiatives; interns; social media

Partial Transcript: Evelyn Zelmer (interviewer): And then Grim, you say that you strive to make Grimalkin like non-hierarchical. So I was wondering if you could elaborate on that, and maybe talk about your responsibilities in the context of that?

Grim: Yeah, yeah. So it's really important that all the decisions we make that we do them collectively. So before-- we became a nonprofit, as of February of this year-- but prior to that, we were always like, a collective. And so all, like any kind of major decisions, especially about like, in regards to money-- like when we had to make financial changes when I like, lost my job, for example, when we had to do things differently so that we could keep making releases. You know, everything is run by the collective and they, they-- you know, making sure and getting advice from from everyone who's in the collective. They are-- and all of us, the three of us, and several other people are in the collective. But then even beyond that, even after we made decisions, if it impacts any of our artists, I reach out to every single artist like well, 'we have to do the financial change,' which I think I mentioned in the prior interview. I've made sure to contact each and every artist: 'This is what we're doing,' 'Are you good with this?,' making sure we get everybody's input and concerns.
We have open business meetings and board meetings. Every month, we have a business meeting. And twice a year, at least twice a year, we're going to strive maybe quarterly to have these board meetings too-- and they're all open to the public, they're on our public calendar. Anyone, even if they're not an artist necessarily are welcome to hear what we're doing. And then twice a year on our Discord, we're having a conversation about what it's been like to be a nonprofit and open the door for folks to find out how things have been going since we became a nonprofit. We did our first one-- I guess it was, I guess it was soon after we became a nonprofit. And the next one we're doing is in November. It's just basically an opportunity for people to ask us questions about how it's going, what's working, what's not working. There's a lot of pitfalls with nonprofits. So we want to make sure we keep that like conversation going like, like throughout our existence.
We have a-- on our website, we have a forum where people can, anonymously or giving their name, if they've got concerns and questions. And maybe they want to say something and they don't necessarily-- you know, we try to in every way possible..make sure that everybody can be heard. And although like obviously like I'm doing the day-in day-out stuff, and some things when it comes to business, you know, I do sometimes have to call the shots. But like I said, if I'm making a decision, I'm still then like, 'what do you all think of this decision?,' 'Do you think it's okay?,' and I'm like running it by multiple people.

Eli: Yeah, and to add to that, financially, we track our finances on a spreadsheet, and that's available for everybody in the collective and beyond to look at.

Grim: All artists who release with us, we make sure if they want to see-- I track all money coming in and out on a spreadsheet, so people can--

Eli: So it's all transparent.

Keywords: board meetings; business meetings; finances; forum; nonprofit; transparent

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Awesome. So um, and then, can you guys talk about community partners and fellow collectives who are doing similar work as you guys that you're connected with? Or maybe even like, how they factor into like, all of your organizational/admin stuff that you've been talking about?

Grim: Yeah, well, so tonight's a great example because we partner with the Virginia Anti-Violence Project. We've referred artists to their services in the past, we do benefit shows for them-- that's what we're doing tonight to help them raise money. I'm a board member, I've been volunteering with them probably as long as I've been doing Grimalkin. And so that's one way, and there's Nationz Foundation locally, there's Health Brigade. These are organizations that like-- it's very important to us to partner with other organizations that are like-minded because we want to be able to help artists receive services beyond our music if they need assistance. And so not just locally, like with all our tape proceeds, they go to different mutual aid organizations local to the artists. So we're trying to continually build those relationships with other mutual aid organizations and nonprofits.
But then there's other things we do like All In VA, I think they just go by All In but their Instagram is @all.in.VA (laughs). And they're doing an event on November 13, at Studio Two Three. And so we're gonna be tabling their event and like partnering with them in the future with some of our shows and events. Like if we do one at the University of Richmond in the spring, like we talked about, I'm hoping to bring them in on board to like partner with us on that. And they are a queer-run organization. We partner with other labels that are-- like, Judy Hong runs Quiet Year. I'm doing a workshop with them next month in November on a label series we're doing that's just kind of like a series for folks who want to learn about how to start a DIY label or even if you're just an artist who is curious about how to put out releases on your own or do things like booking or marketing yourself and stuff like that. So that's basically what that series is about. We've partnered with Anna, who runs the GSS. And uh... Dub Tapes, which is run by (unintelligible) in New Zealand. And the GSS is in the Philippines. Now Quiet Year is local here. In the past, we've had shows at Space Litter but I'm not sure that their space is-- I'm not sure what's going on with them right now. Then Hunting Dog is one of our collective-- or was a past collective member and definitely one of our artists-- she is part of the Ice Cream Social. And they do a lot of shows and DJ. So there's a lot of like-- is there something I'm missing?

Eli: We recently started partnering with VCU Library. It's not really like a, you know, a grassroots organization. But they are partnering with us to put on basically visual creative workshops at the workshop at VCU, which is really exciting. And we're hoping to have kind of like a queer archive of all of our work and music at VCU in their special archives, their Special Collections archive, which is also very exciting. Yeah. I'm trying to think if there's any other organizations--

Eric: Then, um, through Hunting Dog, I've kind of-- I haven't really done much but like donate to them or do releases to donate to them. But Maroon Movement--

Grim: Yes!

Eric: --is a mutual aid organization. So Hunting Dog kind of got us all--

Grim: Yes, involved with them. Yeah. And they do mutual aid in in Richmond and Baltimore and DC, kind of like the--

Eric: Yeah like the Maryland-DC area.

Grim: Yeah. Oh! Oh, my God. (Loop?) Sessions. They're not exactly-- so they're not a queer organization, but they are-- How would I describe it? They have different chapters all over the world, and Max started one in the DMV. And it's a beatmaking challenge, but it's very community oriented, not competition oriented. And like the challenge is you have twenty-three hours essentially, to make a beat or a track from a crate that they drop, then you have like this short time-- and we're actually doing an in-person event in February here at Garden Grove with (Loop?) Sessions. It's typically online since the pandemic, but we are having another person and...So we've got a lot of different things going and we're constantly// trying to meet new people, ya know? So the more we can like, find other people who are doing similar things like, we're all about that, like, let's, let's see if we can work together.

Keywords: benefit shows; mutual aid; relationships

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Yeah, awesome. And so all three of you are playing tonight, so I was wondering if you could talk about, like your artist name, and then the genre you play, and then kind of how your identity plays into both of those things?

Eric: Yeah, so my artist name is Infinite Bliss. Other than maybe, lyrically, I don't think it has much to do with my gender identity, but it is really about like, kind of my experience as like a biracial artist and stuff. And then it's called Infinite Bliss cuz there's just a lot of reverb and delay going on. It's kind of big and ambient. But yeah, you know, I put in like samples... I actually kind of had this idea-- I think it might have been Hunting Dog who told me about it-- of trying to convey information through music so like kind of putting these samples from things I don't think people have really heard like James Baldwin speeches, Martin Luther King speeches that aren't like the "I Have a Dream" speech and stuff (laughs slightly). And I'm pretty sure Hunting Dog told me, you know, people will listen to your music and kind of hear stuff in it, you know, that might make you think about things that you know... not many people are just sitting, listening, looking up like Martin Luther King speeches or something like that, you know, so it kind of creates another avenue to kind of derive that experience for people. Yeah.

Eli: So my name is-- my artist name is my name, which is (Eli)zabeth Owens, but the 'Eli' is in parenthesis. So I'm nonbinary, and I go by Eli, just like in my day-to-day relations, but I don't like-- well, Elizabeth isn't a deadname to me, it's still like my name, but it's a way to play with that a little bit. And Eli also means to ascend which I really like. And, I don't know, my music is very like art rock, like baroque-y folky kind of stuff. I play Celtic harp and piano and I produce these kind of like glitchy electronic tracks that go with it, and....it's introspective, it's very spiritual. That's my, that's my thing. Yeah.

Grim: Yeah, I go by Spartan Jetplex for my music, and the name actually just came from back..back before I was a teacher and I was just like, doing whatever jobs to make ends meet. One of them was like doing filing and data entry. And I would-- it was /awfully/ boring and just kind of painful (laughs), but just like cause it was so boring and unfulfilling. But I would be having to go through so many different like files and names of companies, that I started to just like, write down bits and pieces of different names of companies that I thought could like, I don't know, could make good band names or something. And eventually, like I somehow took Spartan from one and Jetplex from another and put it together. And I think I kind of liked it because it was like, it seems like this, I don't know, like, this strong or fight-- I don't know, it has this like fighting connotation, I guess to it. But like, I mean, I wouldn't say my music is really like, (laughs) like that, necessarily. So I think it kind of is like, you know, you might hear the name, and then when you actually listen to the music you get like a totally like, whoa. Like you didn't expect that maybe.
And I make-- I call it dark folk, or goth folk. It's just, um, I do a lot of experimentation in my recordings. But when I play live, it's just guitar and vocals. So it's like, very stripped-down versions of songs that like, you might hear on my albums. And they're all very, they're all very personal. Like, all my songs are coming from personal experiences. And I usually try to draw on a lot of the dark and difficult sides of life and kind of take from those experiences to kind of process and work through that darkness to make something positive out of it. And that's pretty much-- and I guess that kind of fits in with the name now that I think about it. Yeah, that's about it (laughs).

Keywords: experience; genre; name; surprising

Partial Transcript: Evelyn: Yeah, great. And then I know you guys are all local, so what can you say about playing and working in Richmond specifically?

Eli: Um, so I guess technically, I'm the only one who lives in the city of Richmond. And I...like Richmond a lot. I was born in England, then moved to Texas, and then to Virginia. I came here for school 10 years ago. So this is the place I've lived the longest. And I really love it because it's not a big city, it's a pretty cozy city. Which means...it's kind of, I don't know, it's like you run into the same people again and again at shows, which is nice, I think, because when you get to know them and build a community. There's always /tons/ going on. There's like a vibrant arts and music scene. It's, it's really lovely, it's really wonderful. Like every day of the week there's something to do. Uh, there's a really big queer scene, very supportive-- I mean, obviously, you know, there's always gonna be pockets of, you know, not supportive people, but I found a really nice niche, a really nice community in Richmond. And yeah that's it: vibrant arts and.. good food (laughs slightly). That's all I have to say about that.

Grim: Yeah, so I actually don't live here, I live an hour south in a rural area called Carsley. So Richmond is the closest city that has a lot of cool stuff going on. I guess I'm kind of situated between Norfolk and Richmond...but this is a little bit closer than Norfolk is. (To Eric) You're /in/ Norfolk (laughs)

Eric: Yeah, I live in Norfolk, and, you know, it's kind of got its own-- like the 757 is like Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and a few other cities, like small cities form kind of this like metropolis, I guess. But, you know, I mostly play in Richmond, and I just think it's kind of more of what I got going on-- like Norfolk, Virginia, Beach are very, like Beach City kind of places. A little bit less, I guess, like artful, you know, a lot of like, you know, like, beach kind of stuff like beach rock, reggae bands, Dave Matthews type stuff. So I tend to play Richmond more. And I have a lot of friends in Richmond. And even before I was doing Infinite Bliss, just the other bands I've been in, we've done better in Richmond. So it's kind of just become my like, artistic home, even though Norfolk is is my actual.

Eli: There's like every genre too in Richmond. So some cities have like one genre that they do. But Richmond, every genre. Pretty much every genre: bluegrass, hip hop, jazz, you know, rap, metal, so much metal, punk and metal. Yeah.

Eric: And it's all over the place.

Grim: Noise (laughs from everyone).

Eric: And I feel like it's from like, kind of mainstream stuff to like really, really underground and weird stuff. It's a very wide variety kinda going on.

Grim: And I would say like, like about what you had asked me about before, like our focus is-- I would say the thing that ties all of us together is our experimentation with music. Everyone we've released with or who's in our collective tends to be more on the underground or experimental side of what we're doing.

Evelyn: Great. So I guess is there anything else that you want to say that I didn't ask about? (Eric laughs). Maybe about like experimentation or about mutual aid, or about tonight's concert, or just anything?

Grim: (They all murmur together). I guess, yeah, I don't know.

Eli: We need money (all laugh).

Grim: Yeah we need that. So we need support. Or we just want more people to you know, join our community too. Even if they can't afford to donate or join our Patreon, you know just even coming to shows or telling their friends and, you know....like-minded family I guess (laughs), um, about what we do, that would be awesome.

Eli: And it is really nice to have just-- it's easy to forget that people are transphobic and homophobic sometimes, for me, because I'm so surrounded by, like, the community that Grimalkin has kind of built-- and not just Grimalkin, but mostly Grimalkin for me (laughs slightly). And I will say, that's a really nice thing to have to fall back on, like, cus I can feel like I always have these people, I always have these friends I can play shows with and feel safe and supported.

Grim: Yeah, yeah, that's really special, actually.

Eli: It is.

Grim: It's hard to find and play shows and feel-- (to Eric) like we've talked about, like, you've had some really awful experiences in Norfolk; we together had one. (They both laugh). So it's just like, sometimes, yeah, whenever we play a show that we've booked, you know, it's gonna be like, with people who we can be ourselves around. And I think I mentioned it to you last time we talked, like being part of Grimalkin and doing this job now as like a full-time thing-- It's the first time I've /ever/ been able to be my full authentic self in /any/ kind of job or place ever. Like couldn't be that way, never felt comfortable being that way as a public school teacher, or as a vocational counselor. Just, you know, I knew there'd be some people that'd be ok with it but I also knew there would be some people that wouldn't be, and I had to stay closeted /all/ the time. And now it's like, so wonderful. Like I don't have to be closeted any of the time, like within Grimalkin (laughs). So it's like really nice.

Evelyn: Yeah, awesome. So, if that's everything then we can bring it to a close.

Grim: Yeah, thank you!

Eric: (overlapping) Yeah, thank you so much.

Evelyn: Thanks for talking to me. Cool. And it's 7:32.

Grim: Okay!

Keywords: arts; every genre; experimentation; support; underground; vibrant