Artists Off Stage - Adam Rhodes
by JAMES A. DURAN
Adam Rhodes of Box Dreams has been spending time at home in Long Beach, CA drawing on an evolving canvas, trying out landscaping, and getting really into historical documentaries
Hey Adam! What's the first thing you did when you woke up today?
Hey James thanks for having me for me. Today I woke up and drove over to my parents house from my apartment to help plant a tree in the garden. I've been landscaping for the past few days with my family. It sounds really accomplished but I have no idea what I'm doing I put one of those plastic edges in yesterday and it was absolutely terrifying. Overall though I'm happy with the results it's really cool how forgiving dirt can be.
So, with the closure of music venues and social-distancing in full effect, we're asking artists how they're spending time off-stage - what have you been up to lately? Any projects or hobbies you've been sinking hours into?
Lately I've been drawing on this huge canvas fabric I nailed to the wall of my room adding images and patterns while listening to ambient music like Brian Eno and Hiroshi Yoshimura. Nothing impressing has appeared yet but I'm into this swollen hand the size of my head I markered. I've also been getting into historical documentaries lately like Oliver Stone's The Untold History of The United States and Genius of the Modern World. Oh and I bought the Adobe creative suite for the first time so I can finally stop drawing in low quality phone apps and try to play with the big boys.
Right now, we're missing live shows a ton - do you have a preference when it comes to performing live in Box Dreams or working on music in the studio/at home?
That’s a good question, the pure joy of being seen for the art I made feels good it would be a lie to say I don't enjoy that feeling, but nothing will ever change how amazing it feels to make something new. It's a lot harder to keep pushing myself to get there but that is what I live and breathe for.
What's one thing you're looking forward to when things return to normal, and what's one thing you aren't?
When I get in a small crowd at a bar or show I like to isolate myself in the middle and feel the energy coming from the sounds and movements of the people around me. Its such a beautifully strange and wonderful feeling there's so much and so little happening at the same time. It might sound cliché but I really miss that energy. I'm not looking forward to the social anxiety it sometimes takes to put me in that situation lol.
Adam performing with Box Dreams