Filmmaker Adam Sjoberg was one of the first brave souls to ever say yes to an interview with Ragged Band. Having traveled thousands of miles and labored for countless hours readying his feature-length debut “Shake The Dust” over the last four years, he’s decided to reach out for support during the home stretch.
If you’ve ever contemplated putting your money where your mouth is when it comes to being a lover and consumer of the arts, the kind of micro-patronage Kickstarter offers is a great place to start. And if you’re looking for a young artist with integrity, incredible talent, and matchless energy, your search is over. The story Adam is telling, one of how art and hope can combine to redeem and empower lives hammered by poverty in a world tilted toward wealth and power, is one which must be retold in every generation.
Watch the trailer below and visit the Kickstarter page to chip in.
During my time editing Ragged Band I’ve been privileged to speak with an incredibly diverse group of artists and thinkers. I look forward to each interview, and when the ensuing post goes up I enjoy hearing back from readers who have been inspired by the creativity, character, and diligence of artists they’ve often been introduced to for the first time. As time goes by fresh faces appear at the top of the site’s feed, but everyone I’ve spoken with remains on my radar.
In the spirit of looking back on the site’s first chapter I’m running an alumni post that’ll serve to bring those of you who haven’t been with us from the beginning up to speed on some of the folks we’ve featured over the past year. In fact, there’s so much going on that it’s gonna be a two-parter. Here we go…
Photographer and filmmaker Adam Sjöberg is keeping up a busy travel and editorial schedule as he works to complete Shake The Dust, his forthcoming feature-length documentary on breakdancing in the developing world. In the meantime, he’s entered a short film in this year’s Vimeo contest. It features the story of Arthur Hitchcock, a young man who walked across America to raise money and awareness around breast cancer after the disease took his mother’s life and left him parentless at 19.
Adam also recently announced plans to begin work editing a film incorporating footage from the last five years of Fauxchella, the annual alternative to the Coachella Valley Festival that he and his friends have been hosting for the last half decade.
If you’ve never taken the time to read Sjöberg’s essay on the year he spent couch-surfing, I suggest you do so. It’s a well-written confessional that gives perfect voice to some of the concerns central to Ragged Band.
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California film-maker Vern Moen’s Long Beach Film Company has released an official trailer for their forthcoming film, “Plastiki & the Material of the Future.” It’s narrated by none other than Mr. Alec Baldwin.
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Bryan John Appleby took his act on the road this winter for a successful West Coast tour that he and his backing band co-headlined with Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver. Appleby’s full-length debut, “Fire on the Vine” is now available on CD.
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Author and blogger Brett McCracken is still searching while also working on his forthcoming second book.
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Jordan Butcher continues to curate one of the best “inspiration boards” around, and is working on design projects related to the films Act of Valor, Mirror Mirror and American Reunion.
Trying to keep up with Adam Sjöberg’s travel itinerary is a Sisyphean task. Whether on a mission to capture images for corporate clients, bear vibrant witness to various humanitarian causes, or document exquisite weddings as part of his standing gig with one of New York’s most prestigious boutique wedding photography outfits, Ira Lippke Studios, Mr Sjöberg seems to exist in the act of being perpetually slungshot between continents. It’s hard to imagine the guy sleeping.
Ragged Band is a web-based publication dedicated to exploring the stories, struggles, and creative processes of contemporary artists and thinkers. We speak with nascent visionaries, plumb the memories of established icons, and share the inspiration that motivates each to do good work. Editor and founder Ben Bishop is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon.
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