Low Key Arts to launch online interview series
Continuing to expand its online presence, Low Key Arts will launch a new virtual interview series next week.
The first “Movers and Makers” interview will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 and will be livestreamed via Facebook Live. Chicago- based musician Damon Locks will be the first guest of the show and will be interviewed by Sonny Kay, executive director of Low Key Arts.
The new series is “something we’ve been thinking (about) for around six months or so, since the pandemic started,” Key said, noting they are thinking “about what kind of presence Low Key Arts … could carve out for ourselves online, in a virtual space.”
While many organizations have turned to livestreaming performances during the pandemic, Kay said the “idea of live performances wasn’t something that excited us” and many of the virtual performances “felt underwhelmed.”
Unable to host live, in-person events and not wanting to have virtual shows, Kay said, “Why not just bring interesting people to Hot Springs?”
“Locks has a 30-year history in underground music and art and has been actively involved in the Prison and Neighborhood Arts Project in Chicago for many years. As a designer, his work has adorned some of the most influential rock albums of the past two decades,” a news release said.
Kay said Locks is an old friend of his and he chose him as
his first interview because “frankly, given the climate — election on the horizon and everything going on this year — (the) most timely and sensitive thing to do is start with someone like Damon.”
One thing that also helped in the decision, Kay said, is Locks’ recent project, Black Monument Ensemble, which recently released its debut album, “Where Future Unfolds.”
“No recording in the last year or two has moved me as much as this record,” Kay said, noting he “would like to bring more attention” to the album and to Locks’ other work.
After the interview is over, Kay said they will take the raw interview and “edit it and add in the usual supplemental stuff.” The polished version of the interview will then be posted on LKA’s YouTube page.
Kay plans to host the interviews for a while. “I ran a record label for a long time,” he said, and there are many artists he knows from those days that he could interview for the series.
The series could also look at filmmakers in the future. “We’ve spoken to (director) Jen Gerber. It’s a possibility of her bringing guests in,” Kay said, noting if it happens, he would “hand the reigns over to (Gerber) for those episodes,” and have her do the interviews.
The plan, Kay said, is for LKA to host two interviews a month. He said the “initial round of reaching out was met with enthusiastic responses” from potential guests.
While dates haven’t been set, Kay said that they hope to hold another one in the middle of November, and another at the end of November.