Interview 1: Jerem-why

I've started to meet some really interesting people doing my own creative work, so for my own sake I wanted to ask them a few questions about what they do. The answers I got back were really interesting, so I think I'll share them with you. Today, you will learn a little bit about my good friend Jeremy, who is a spoken-word artist like myself.

-Jeremy, how did you get involved doing creative work in the first place?
"I would have to say that I got involved in doing creative work when I met Fidelis, Josh, and Natan [other members of the group] and we started jamming out in the piano rooms at school just freestyling. I used to write a lot when I was 18/19 but not until 4 or 5 months ago did I really start to dive into writing from the depths of me."

-So far, what has been your best memory doing creative work?
"I would have to say that the best memory I have doing creative work would have to be the joy and elation of sharing my piece "My Brother" with Fidelis face to face just after I had written it. There was an immense creative energy between us that I felt upon reading that to him."

 -What piece that you've written do you feel best expresses you?
"To be honest, even though it was written while I was withdrawing from Nicotine, I would have to say it is my piece "Dear Non-smoking Friends" because before I wrote that piece I had never been so honest in my writings...ever."

-What has been your biggest influence in writing?
"My biggest influence in my writings have been [the other members of] Random Receipts. Each and every person involved with the group has inspired me in ways I cannot explain with mere words. But most definitely the sharing of creativity between all of us is what inspires my writings most." 

-Do you have any advice for people who want to get into the creative scene?
"My advice for people who want to get into the creative scene is to stop trying to get into the creative scene. You are already a creative being who creates every moment of every day which means you are already in the creative scene-- you just don't realize it yet. Try and find wonderful people who's ego's aren't too inflated, try and find genuine people who are accepting of others works and share with them everything you've ever written even if you're scared shitless to do so. Either that, or, come hang out with Random Receipts!"  

-A quote that inspires you?

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."

-Ken Kesey

The reason this quote inspires me is because it reminds me of the Dao.


Creativity is flowing through my veins, step to me and you'll get love filled words 
that will destroy your ego more quickly than clinched fists will damage your physical body, 
consider me something similar to godly the way I create something out of nothing, 
so I ask you...to the plate, what is it that you bring? Do you draw, paint, sing? 
What is it that you have to offer the world around you? 
I ASK YOU, what is it that you do? 
You must answer this question before I allow you into my temple because my inner realms are sacred, 
there's only room for love, not hatred. 
I'm not down with fake shit or a quick fix, I'm not here to listen to your clever words the way you play tricks, I'm in the moment so consider me present, 
if you're searching for a guru I have nothing to share with you, no life lessons, 
I'm over the endless nights of self created stresses, 
I have left anxiety begging me for more but you should've seen how quickly I shut that door. 
Goodnight to the fear of night and good morning to the love of day, where sun filled skies, and the chatter amongst birds guide me along my path and show me the Way.

--Jeremy Kemp 


I had a lot of fun contemplating Jeremy's answers. He has a lot of insight into the world around him, and he oftentimes isn't afraid to share what he's thinking. 

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Thanks for reading!