We were lucky to catch up with Chaseedaw Giles recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chaseedaw, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.
I took a big risk moving to Los Angeles back around Christmas of 2019. My family and closest friends don’t live here and no one imagined a global pandemic shutting the world down. It was one of the most uncertain times in my life. There were a lot of teary eyed nights wondering if I was doing the right thing with my life, however, you can’t quiet your passions. Although I did not have many opportunities for performance art during the pandemic, I did find a mentor and learn how to write a screenplay. I am compulsively creative. I love to write drama and horror, and ended up writing a drama feature called The Final Cut that placed semi-finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and interest in the script. If not for these past few years and circumstances, I don’t know that I would have had the inspiration or time to write it. No matter what you do time keeps passing whether you take the risk or not. You’re better off taking the risk. I can truly say there are no “what-ifs” in my life. I have tried and am trying everything I’ve ever wanted to do.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a hip-hop artist and part of a rap duo called Black From Home that fuses jazz with rock, an actress, a writer, and a model. My first creative memory is writing poetry after reading a book of Langston Hughes poems when I was a kid. I had never seen poems written without following the rules of sentence structure, punctuation, or even placement on the page. It made me want to experiment more with words and rhymes. I went from writing poems to writing songs and short stories or skits. I had a very active imagination and loved dressing up and playing with dolls, creating whole lives and storylines for my characters. After college I lived in Washington, DC for seven years where I acted in several theatrical productions, short films, modeled, and released and performed original music. I am inspired largely by my experience being a tall, Black woman growing up in Boston’s inner city, and the prejudices I faced while pursuing the arts. I’ve had people tell me at a young age that I wasn’t the right complexion for Hollywood, and once an agent told me I should avoid the sun during the summer and get headshots with straight hair. A lot has changed in most recent years, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement, but a lot still remains the same. One of my greatest hopes is to inspire young Black girls and boys to embrace who they are and persevere in the pursuit of their dreams. For that reason, many of the themes in my music and writing have to deal with mental health and self-esteem.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Everyone possesses some type of creativity, but for those who claim to have none and who don’t pursue the arts I wish they understood the compulsion of creativity. People who truly love art don’t create with the hope of becoming rich or famous. If it happens of course we’d gladly accept it, we’re sensitive about our art, we enjoy recognition, and money helps keep the lights on. But even without those things I would still write stories, make music, act, pose for photos, or pursue other mediums for storytelling. It’s something that comes as naturally to me as breathing. I have known what I wanted to do ever since I was a little girl. I’d watch movies and see myself on the screen, or listen to music and imagine it was me on the stage. I’ve always wanted to entertain and tell stories. The creative arts allow me to be vulnerable and share feelings and thoughts that I would otherwise have a difficult time expressing.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Artists should be paid so much more for their time and work. When I think of the thousands of dollars I’ve spent making music and the fraction of a penny streamers pay when someone listens to that music it just isn’t fair. Music is used by every industry to sell and promote products, but the musicians see a small fraction of those profits if any. Without music and art life would be so boring. People crave entertainment but hardly have a clue what it takes to create that entertainment. Performing is the easiest part, but that one performance is countless hours of learning, practice, not being very good at first, and constantly putting yourself out there to be judged and critiqued. Always pay your artists and tell them thank you if you’ve been entertained.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chaseedaw.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/chaseedaw
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Chaseedaw
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chaseedaw
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChaChaWrites
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@chaseedaw
Image Credits
Schaun Champion, Daniel Alexandre