We recently connected with Julian Thomas and have shared our conversation below.

Julian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The worst investment I’ve ever made was paying for people to like me. I paid with my creativity, my artist freedom, my sanity. What I mean is doing things that weren’t from my most authentic self. I’m not talking about those commissions that we roll our eyes at, or collaborations that require you to work within the framework of someone else’s vision. This is par for the course. I mean the moments when i sat down to create my own work and id consider whether or not people would like what I’m doing. I’d spend time tweaking things to make them more “palpable”, or including elements that i pretended i connected with, simply because i was trying to appeal to certain groups of people. The degrees of success were sometimes significant, but the toll it took my from spirit was more substantial. If i could change anything in my past, it would be that. The desire to “fit in” bled over from my work into my lifestyle. I spent years of my life living within a shell, and creating things as if the shell were actually me. Many of the people i was trying to appeal to aren’t even around anymore, or have moved on to the next trend, or occasionally even revealed an interest in the things i actually was supposed to be making. The most important thing I’ve learned as an artist is to make the things I’m truly called to make, and let those who are attracted to it be attracted to it. Chasing a particular level of renown, or trying to appeal to interests that aren’t truly your own may prove successful, but will it create happiness? It doesn’t for me.

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

This is always my least favorite part of an interview. “Who are you?”. A very existential question, and the answer could change moment to moment. How did i get into my craft? Was it writing short, speculative fiction as an elementary schooler? Was it getting accepted into a school for performing arts as a teen? Maybe it was skipping class to go have rap battles at other schools? I’m not sure. What i know is this: above all else i am a storyteller. Whether this be through rap music, prose, 3D printed objects, games, what have you, my goal is to tell stories. I also teach disenfranchised youth how to do the same.

My purpose with my work is to plant seeds of revolution in the minds of my people, to bridge the gap between geek culture and black subcultures, and to provide a safe space for black and marginalized children to explore avenues their immediate environments may not provide. I would’ve never known i love making comics had i never been exposed to them. It’s my job to ensure exposure is never the reason a black child doesn’t pursue dream.

As an artist, i have no particular medium of choice. Whatever best conveys the story i want to tell. As a professional, I author the graphic novel series “Black Heart”, and run a 3D printing company called XYZima. From Ted Talks to museum exhibits to paying my bills from my work, i attribute any success I’ve seen to my aggressive approach to grass roots marketing. I like to get outside with the people. As a college student i used the campus library to burn copies of my mixtapes and left them everywhere i could. Posters, t shirts, performances. As a writer i took my book to every shop that would grant me an audience. I got involved in the communities. As a 3D printer I’d take my best prints with me into any public setting i ventured into, knowing that at some point conversation would be struck. this allowed me to develop relationships, and it’s my relationships that have given me the platforms i have. Much more so than the quality of my work. This may sound jaded, but i had to get the attention of folks before they could decide if they even liked my work.

I am most proud of my ability to bring to fruition any goal i have, regardless of my resources. I’m no illustrator, yet I’ve sold well over a thousand copies of a comic book– hand to hand. I’m no engineer, yet my albums are mixed and mastered. I’m no rich man, yet any artist that I’ve worked with has been compensated. I am proud of this because day in and day out i, like many artists, am told my efforts are fruitless. That i am on a wild goose chase. The odds are against, sometimes i start to believe it. You may believe those things too. But, then, i remember what I’ve already accomplished with so little at my disposal and I’m reinvigorated. The youth see the same thing and, at least i hope, that are inspired to stay the course. That’s all i can ask for.

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

The best thing we can do to support artists, and people in general, is to reframe the way we think about society. We have to divorce the concept of pursuing capital from the concept of success. So many artists have had to shift from creating things to be happy, or to impact the world, to creating things to survive. This is detrimental to the world at large. I believe it is every human’s responsibility to make the world a little bit better for the next person, not to chase profit. One is antithetical to the other.

As long as the determining factor for success is “how much money will this make” we will continue to make things for money. But, when you sit down and watch that movie you love, or hear that song that perfectly encapsulates your emotions, or see that painting of a square that inexplicably makes you weep, you aren’t thinking of how much money it made. You’re thinking of how it affects you, you’re thinking of how you feel. allow artists to focus on these things when they are creating as well.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Many artists don’t think of ourselves as “artists”. The title comes with much assumption and connotation. I didn’t even realize i was an artist until i had been called one enough times. All i know is I’m a normal man with an uncontrollable compulsion. If i don’t act it, i begin to lose grip with myself. There’s been plenty of times that I’ve cursed that compulsion because the rent was late. “I’m done with this! I’m going to get another factory job and just collect my check and be stable!” It never works. The compulsion always finds a way back. It’ll slither into my dreams, my relationships deteriorate, i soon find myself screaming to drown out the inevitable whispering of my muses. We’re not “artists” because we want to be. We’re artists because that’s what’s we are. Just like you’re a lover, or you’re a mathematician, or you’re an explorer. That thing thats always in the back of your mind, that thing you always want to do regardless of how much money you make… This is who we are and it goes against our humanity to fight against it. But, because art doesn’t always equal money but money always equals success, we’re forced to sacrifice those things. That said, i don’t believe there’s a such thing as a “non-artist”. Parenting is an art-form. engineering is an art-form. Speaking is an art. The sooner we realize this, and stop thinking of artists as aloof eccentrics playing pretend, the sooner society will be more conducive to people being happy with themselves.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Cannon.XYZ

Image Credits
Brian Campbell (photographer) Andrea Hardesty (photographer) Kael Ngu (illustrator) Agie Al Canedo ( illustrator)