'Inside/Out' brings black artists from around Sonoma County to Sebastopol this Friday
The Juneteenth event you won't want to miss: Local black artists gather to share their work at Laguna Lab
Laguna Lab, which is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting art and music venues in Sebastopol, is hosting a showcase of black performers from Sonoma County this Friday in honor of Juneteenth, June 19. Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 that the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally received word of their freedom—more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The program, titled “Inside/Out: Sonoma Black Artistry in Progress,” features genre-defying vocalist Audio Angel; revolutionary rapper Damion Square; international electronic artist Eki Shola; soulful singer/songwriter Erica Ambrin; lyrical explorer King Lung; poetic music performer LaiddBackZach; community catalyst + rapper PaqGod; and Sebastopol-based experimental DJ and musician Sicksentz. (Don’t miss our Q&A with Sicksentz at the end of this article.)
“Inside/Out” is being produced by Angel Clendening, a Petaluma-based singer who goes by the name Audio Angel, and Laid Back Zach (also known as LBZ), a hip-hop artist and poet originally from Compton, California, who now lives in Cotati.
Clendening said they chose the line-up for Friday night’s performance because “We wanted to have a good mix and also to drive home the awareness that there is no one way to look like a black artist in Sonoma County or to be a Sonoma County artist.”
“There is a homogenized kind of stereotype that goes with ‘Sonoma homegrown,’ and it’s usually a white person with a guitar,” she said. “Yes, that’s a stereotype—and it’s not like that’s a super negative thing—yet it’s an impactful thing, and it’s challenging when you don’t look like what’s typical, and you certainly aren’t gonna sound like what’s typical, nor should you.”
Clendening stresses that there’ll be a variety of performances at this event. “There’s so many styles of music, but because it’s black and brown folks, people might immediately assume, ‘Oh, that’s a hip hop event,’ and we do have hip hop artists, but we have all kinds of artists.”
There is, however, a unifying theme for the event, Clendening said.
“What I’ve done is given everybody a prompt, and the prompt is ‘Seed, Soil, Plant.’ Interviewing my artists, everyone had a different interpretation of that, and I’m like, ‘This is what I’m talking about!’ You can’t make the same art even with the same prompt, because you’re going to do it through your lens.”
Eki Shola, one of the performers in “Inside/Out,” is a Santa Rosa-based traveling physician who is also a musician and composer. She said of her involvement in the show, “It’s the uplifting and inspiring opportunity to be in fellowship with other artists of color that makes me proud to be a part of this event.”
For Clendening, producing this show brings together two parts of her professional life. “I’m a voice actor and an actor and a singer, and I also do expression coaching, so all the ways that people express themselves really bring a lot of joy to me,” she said. “Being stoked about things—that’s what interests me. Even if I’m not interested in what you’re interested in, I’m interested that you are so lit up by it. I’m working with clients around anything that stops that invisible energy that kind of lights people up, whatever inspires and makes you enthusiastic.”
“A lot of us, with our voices in particular, have been told and have a story that our voices don’t matter, especially as women and as women of color. Black women have been harmed for speaking out or using our voices to say how we really feel, and people in general are often told from a very young age, ‘Shut up, be quiet,’ and so I’m very passionate about expression.”
Clendening said speaking up is particularly important in today’s political climate. “This is a very volatile time for all artists that I’m aware of, and being African American in America and in Sonoma County makes that even more challenging, and yet I feel inspired and determined to do what I can to have our voices included and uplifted.”
3 Questions for Cliff Callender (AKA SickSentz)
Sebastopol resident Cliff Callender, who goes by the stage name Sicksentz, is one of the performers in “Inside/Out” this Friday. We loved what he had to say in this quick Q&A, so we decided to share his full comments, which came via text.
What sort of performance will you be doing on Friday?
I’m playing double duty at Friday’s performance. As the event DJ, I’m providing the music before and in between acts to make sure the vibe stays consistent throughout the night. As an artist, I’ll be presenting some of the instrumental hip-hop, R&B, and electronic music that I’ve made since moving to Sebastopol. I’m using vintage FX machines and hardware samplers to trigger the music and rhythms.
How did you get involved in this kind of work?
I got involved in making music growing up in the black church on the East Coast. I was always fascinated by how the organist could change the entire mood of the room via chords. As I got older, DJing and performing live on stage felt like a natural goal and something I always wanted to pay forward to people, being able to change their mood via artistic expression via sound.
My mom and stepdad both had DJing roots. My stepdad came up in the Paradise Garage era of New York City, so the DJing side of things was pretty inevitable.
As far as the intersection of music and education, since really early on I was blessed to have public school teachers in New York that would take a little extra time out of their day to pour into my musical ambitions or my technological ambitions. As I got older, I felt it was really important to do the same thing for people that I meet. If there are folks that are looking to learn, regardless of age, color, or creed, I use that as an opportunity to build a bridge and teach them what I’ve learned. I’m not formally trained, so it’s extra important for me, as schools get de-invested in, to show people that there are different paths to getting your music made and getting your voice heard.
What does being a part of this particular event mean to you?
The performance itself is extremely important to me. I am honored to be tapped with this responsibility. As I’ve moved to a place that’s, candidly, a lot less diverse than where I’ve grown up, the chance to showcase black art has gone from something that was an everyday thing in New York City to being something that holds a lot more significance in Sebastopol.
I think I have the opportunity, and in a lot of ways the responsibility, to give folks an accurate version of black music and black art. I’ve been so lucky as a DJ to see so many facets of that culture. In the spirit of Sankofa, I have to make sure the generations that haven’t experienced it yet get exposure to it from the people that lived it and breathed it so we can all live it and breathe it together too.
Performing here as a black artist is very much being a bridge builder. I’m really humbled by the opportunity and grateful to share the stage with the rest of these artists and the room with my neighbors.
‘Inside/Out: Sonoma Black Artistry in Progress’ is this Friday, June 19, 6 pm, at Laguna Lab, 117 Morris St., Sebastopol. $25 for general admission, $13 for students/economic hardship tickets, and $38 for Pay It Forward tickets. Get tickets.
