Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dear Cl. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

DEAR, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think every creative has that moment of wonder as a child where they view whatever medium that will later go on to inspire them for the first time almost as a pivotal memory. It’s definitely a core memory in most musicians (and me). Before music I wanted to be a film director, this was my childhood dream. I wanted to write & tell my own stories while creating the movies and TV that would babysit me everyday. There’s never really been a specific moment for me but a lot of them that reinforce that I should do this.

I’d spend a lot of time in the city just looking at murals and graffiti being painted on walls, the whole downtown renaissance of the 90s – my time was filled reading books and using my imagination to pass the time.

I lived in this apartment with just my mom when I was a little kid on the top floor – my mom was going to school at the time and had this original 1980s Desktop PC that only had a word processing program and green text. I’ve never seen another computer like it since (I lost it in 2006 unfortunately). I didn’t really know how to write at all, but I’d spend everyday going place to place when I wasn’t in school just envisioning the stories I wanted to tell or thinking or what story I just read/watched.

One summer night I was bored and had this idea to sit down and ‘write’ my first script. So I did. In reality I was just mashing buttons like a cat on a keyboard but to me it was evidence of something I’ve actually ‘made’ – I felt the same mania I feel today when I make anything. It’s weird but jumbled letters have never made me feel so excited.

Years later I had this podcast type thing in 2007 in my high school and I interviewed this comedian that came to do a talk at an assembly. She was really chill and I asked her a lot of different questions about just working in the entertainment industry, I was sort of undecided if I wanted to stick to a professional side or a creative side still. The podcast was meant to be funny but it still sticks with me how nice that was that she took time out of her day to talk to a kid about his questions.

Seeing other creatives in the community ultimately led me to want to pursue it professionally. And having these examples of others from when I was younger, just cemented it.

DEAR, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It’s important to me to foster culture and art. That’s a cause that’s larger than me as a person. Overall to tie that to this question still, I take pride in small events that I could take part in that help people along their creative path. Creative expression is very closely tied to personal development and this can benefit anyone. It fosters centers of the brain which can help with problem-solving tasks in ways someone might not realize. Even just creating art is an example for others to do it too, or talking about it.

You never know the impact your words or content can have on others. What can kickstart some development or journey in someone. What little thing you do like the businesses offering sandwiches I mention later in this article can have a genuine impact at making someone have good memories.

It’s good to be aware of what impact you can have on others and take pride in that. I’m proud of the artist I am in the community I’m from.

My linktr.ee resume is linked at the end. I make paranormal hip hop, content & narratives. I do clothing and other things. My most recent project is The Long Dark which is a spiritual journey/narrative of a man living in a paranormal world finding happiness and god. I try to do a new project every month if I can.

Thank you for reaching out to me again.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Rhode Island and specifically Providence has a very interesting take on artist-living that I haven’t seen or heard of as much elsewhere. We put a lot of emphasis on our creative work and arts, especially since the revival in the 1990s of the capitol and the arts scene. Some of our taxes go to supporting arts programs or stuff like hostels which are only for registered artists that offer subsidized rent, communal living with other artists. It’s also in refurbished warehouses and old mills that are converted to apartments, sort of knocking out two birds with one stone. Most of our old mills are apartments or lofts now.

These artists support the community not only with their art and involvement in local events, but by inspiring local youth to take part in art, express themselves, learn about media, and maybe even be an artist themselves one day like me.
It teaches local history and culture too that might otherwise be forgotten because it’s relatively obscure. It’s really important on the ground work that means a lot, feeling as if you’re contributing to an overall goal of positivity for the next. I think a lot of long-term artists in RI share this feeling.

The venues that build the artists also support local youth in getting involved with stuff like poetry, painting, music – venues like AS220 are very known for this.

There are some restaurants in Providence that offer free food or sandwiches to open mics, or other events – it’s advertising the business and supporting artists at the same time. I really appreciate stuff like this. We’re all a community and we’re all working together for the best event. Whether that’s by offering free food, catering events, partnering with local bands or groups for events, using their business site as a festival area. All of these things combined drive business locally for both artist and business. Society could utilize more ways to combine business models that benefit all involved when it comes to art, it really helps create a community.

As a whole if this was a more common program it would allow more artists to live relatively okay while they stabilize a monetary base for their products or whatever they are doing. Many of the very basic expenses that everyone has really holds back art in a lot of cases – the lifting of these barriers is sometimes all it takes to create a thriving ecosystem of art.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

We’re in the digital age so a lot of the things that used to be outside in the community are now in our homes on our own e-communities. But there’s still things you can’t get online regardless, one of these things is criticism and how to approach it.

The communities in RI are very open to feedback, especially down to non-artists who frequent events. I’ve been told a few times coming off a stage from someone who wasn’t an artist how they really appreciated my set, (thank you) and overall I think this atmosphere of openness and being able to approach in a friendly sense opens up the possibility for criticism. Not always in a bad way.

Criticism in music is hard, a lot of people can take it personally but if you are able to bridge that gap while staying observant about how you are critiquing it, it can lead to expanding your network/reach. This goes back to being a student of media, even if you dislike something still being able to recognize what it was trying to accomplish, how it did on that goal, and the good/bad things about it. It’s really important to approach this from the standpoint of how you’d wish others would critique your own work, that sometimes some art is a work in progress and the best advice might be on how to get to the next step – not to the finish line.

How you receive criticism is equally as important. Not all criticism is relatively valid, especially if it’s not approached from a place of non-judgement and community. But at the same time it’s important not to fight back against feedback even if it’s unwarranted, it’s still interactions with your art and these interactions are memories people will remember.

This improves your own work too because after awhile you apply these same habits to you. If I had the tools of recognizing how the community is in terms of feedback, and how that fosters growth – how it isn’t an attack against the art itself. To me that’s pretty rare.

So to answer your question, the importance of criticism and why.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/dearcl113
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/dearclx113
• Twitter: https://x.com/xDEARCL
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/careylament

Image Credits

Images edited & designed by DEARCL