We recently connected with Spaceship and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Spaceship, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

There’s a risk I took that I will always remember because of how it changed everything for me. It is a risk intertwined with love, art, and a complete departure from someone I never truly aspired to be.

For three decades, I had grown up within a fringe Christian sect. It’s gone by many names – Church of God Bible Study Center, BSCI, Inc., as well as the front group 24K Gold Music Shows, of which I was a member for over a decade, working as a touring musician week after week, year after year, for free – and their need to stay off the map probably tells you all you need to know. But in my experience, let’s just say I felt the full of effect of rules as restrictions and the curtain of secrecy for, well, my whole life. There was a certain strangeness about me, as well. I was a rebel, of sorts. Always happy to lean toward absurdist tendencies, a lover of all kinds of stories and art forms not sanctioned by the church, and my hair? Well, some would say I never took to Baptist-level crew cuts. But, I always tried to bury that side of me in the hopes of fitting in. Then one day, I met Koura. The name may not mean much to you, but it should. To me, Koura was like a bright beacon of hope in the darkness. I started to envision a new me, and of course I fell in love. And so, I decided to take a massive chance, one where I would risk being judged by pretty much everyone I know: I married Koura without telling anyone else apart from my mother (shout-out to the best mom in the world). We even went to Belize for our honeymoon, hoping maybe we could make it work with the church’s plans to pull up roots in the States and move there. But it just wasn’t for us. For me. Then the pastor found out the extent of my passion for creating art outside of church. He demanded I write a confession letter to the group. That was it – the final straw. The excommunication was like whiplash. It meant losing 30 years of my life, friends who were like family, and facing this overwhelming fear that I might burn in Hell for eternity. But it also meant I could finally be true to myself, to my art, to a world I had once been deadly afraid of. Now, I’m here, singing my songs, writing my stories, making films with the love of my life, and facing a future where there once was none. It’s full of uncertainty, but also full of possibilities. It’s scary sometimes. I still struggle with the weight of the past. But I’m here, feeling more free to create, to express myself, to tell the truth. This risk – choosing love, art, and authenticity over the safety of everything I’d known – turned my world upside down. But you know what? I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s led me here, to this chance to make art and connect with people in a real way. So yeah, that’s my risk story. It’s still unfolding, really. And that feels pretty damn good.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a singer and songwriter. I got my start in…my bedroom. I would record funny little songs that no one has ever heard, and I’m glad for that. Later in life, I toured as a musician for over a decade with 24K Gold Music Shows, which was a front group of the nondenominational religious fringe cult in which I grew up. With hitRECord, an online collaborative community started by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I began overseeing and producing music, writing, little films and visual art pieces since 2010. Two of my songs, “The Spaces Between” and “Of the Future,” even made it onto the Emmy-award winning TV series Hit Record on TV, which was pretty wild. But that was just the beginning. In 2013, I teamed up with the incredible Koura Linda – who is now my wife of almost 10 years – after she had founded her company, Space Dream Productions. It’s all about independent film and media, grounded in the idea that storytellers are the real MVPs. Koura has said those who tell stories are ambassadors of humanity, and I wholeheartedly agree. Space Dream is all about amplifying unheard voices and helping to create unseen worlds in a way that not only entertain but showcase the best parts of what makes us who we are. I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come. We’ve received dozens of awards and nominations for our films, which is great. But what really gets me is the impact we’re making. We’re sharing stories that matter, that I hope resonate with people. That’s what it’s all about. For anyone looking to work with us or follow our journey, know that we’re all about authenticity, creativity, and pushing boundaries. I mean, I love comfort zones, but the best journeys take place upon realizing that if you want something, you have to get out there and just make stuff.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think that we have a concept of ‘resilience’ that can be quite toxic, so I think the question should be answered with a question: What is resilience?

In a nutshell. it’s the ability to bounce back from adversity and life’s challenges. My own journey may be like many people’s journeys, which can be summed up with a quote that hit me hard when I first read it: “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” I’m not really a baseball aficionado, but I get the analogy. I grew up surrounded by peers who seemed to be doing great in life, while I struggled to keep pace. I didn’t have a dad in my life, except on weekends, and we didn’t have much because my mom struggled to keep everything together while also giving most of her time and energy to the church in which I grew up, with little to show for it.

Adverse childhood trauma, or ACEs, have the strong potential to derail anyone from a contented, productive life. As an adult, my wife and I saw the film “Resilience” by James Redford at the Sundance Film Festival, which opened up my eyes and affected me deeply. I had never stopped to think about how much childhood trauma and stress can have long-lasting impacts on health and life outcomes. It highlighted the ACE study, showing strong links between childhood adversity and later struggles like addiction or even criminality. In my case, those early challenges initially held me back and caused a lot of self-doubt. Over time I have learned that those experiences didn’t have to define me…but it’s a constant state of learning and growing.It’s an ongoing process, but one that’s been deeply rewarding.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

This is a tricky one. I’d say the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is embracing the inherent risk that comes with true artistic expression. I’ve said it before: art is risk. Risk mitigation is not an artistic endeavor, and in fact, I’d say it throttles and chokes out the creative urge. Art is walking a tightrope of extremes, between love-it-or-hate-it. That’s where the real magic happens.

So for me, the greatest reward comes from creating something that asks genuine questions, something that holds up a dangerous mirror to society. It’s not about giving easy answers or pleasing everyone. If I’m not 100% genuinely about what I am expressing, then that’s what I would ultimately call an unrewarding experience. It’s about sparking conversations, making people think, and maybe even inspiring change. When I put something out there. I’m not trying to be another brand of toothpaste on the shelf. I’m offering something peculiar, something that might not get people sweaty in a club, which in my opinion is just an environment to sell booze (which is fine, if you’re into that.) But I hope to make art that might make a person sit down, shut up, really listen, and then reflect. The reward is also in knowing that my art might touch someone in a way I never anticipated. It might inspire them to search for their own answers or see the world differently. That’s the beauty of risk in art…you never know exactly how it will be received or interpreted, and that unpredictability is thrilling. So yeah, the most rewarding part? It’s creating something true to myself, something that walks that risky high-wire rope, and then letting it go, out into the world to see what happens. Take risks, and watch where they lead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://iamspaceship.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamspaceship/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamspaceship
• Other: Space Dream Productions: https://www.spacedreamproductions.com/