We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful SATORI CIRCUS. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with SATORI below.
SATORI, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
i think for the most part i learned to do what i do by doing. i didn’t have a manual. didn’t have a mentor. didn’t have a school or books to learn from. it came from within me. i knew i wanted to head down this path and brought everything i liked as a child, learned in art school, enjoyed from bands i was in, film, Buster Keaton and even sports i played as an amateur and in college…wrapped it all up and took a chance. 36 years later as SATORI CIRCUS…i never looked back! speeding up the process…a good question, but rather irrelevant for me. i think because i really never put a time frame on what i wanted to do or where it would take me. did i want some sort of success as a younger man, sure. who didn’t or doesn’t? but i realized early on in my SATORI CIRCUS career, that i was going to do what i wanted and take all the bumps and bruising along the way. it’s how i’m built and how my folks taught me. you got to be tough if you want what you want and expect setbacks and take them head on!
skills i’ve never really thought about. i always approached things as DIY. whatever i wanted to create, i just thought of how i wanted to get to where i wanted whatever i was working on. have i developed skills along the way, sure. i’ve learned how to sing better as i’ve aged. i love smaller audiences to feel and see the energy i put out there and what the audiences give back. and i’ve gotten quicker on my feet – meaning the improv aspect.
no real obstacles have stood in my way to learn more, other than me myself. but i get along with myself pretty well and understand myself. but obstacles of any size, possibly along the way perhaps slowed me down a bit, but i always figurted out a way to go through them, over them, and through them!
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.
SATORI CIRCUS was born in the late fall of 1988, out of a need to carry on what i had started in the early 80’s with bands and art school. i was in a group called Fugitive Poetry, from 1983 to 1986. we were arty punks and our musical styles were all over the place. initially there were two of us, that turned into three, then four. the other co-founder was Rick Maertens. we met through a group of mutual friends and started hanging out and discussing music…which lead to making. we paid our dues for sure, and then in spring/summer of 1985 we released an album titled ‘Colours of the Poet’ on the local Detroit scene. later that year we had more and more gigs coming at us, which felt great! but, since we were playing out a ton and the same basic setlist, we felt we were getting bored or becoming stale to our audiences…mostly to ourselves! so we wanted change and decided to try other forms of presenting our music. we thought of David Bowie, and avant-garde theatre and really, anything that was around us and inspired us. and we opted to start pre-recording our music, then performing/singing live with costumes. we noticed not too many on the scene were doing what we decided to jump into. we were cutting our teeth on cool spots to perform and reaping some good recognition in a little detroit hometown. the Rick got sick with bone cancer. so we jointly decided to call it quits for Fugitive Poetry. during the next two years from 1986 to 1988, Rick’s fiancee, me and hospice took care of him, and during this time he encourage me to continue somehow, but to move forward. during this period i started writing and creating ideas not sure where i was going to end up. Rick was my sounding board during these two years. gave me great insight to my work and suggestions on what to do in certain areas. thus SATORI CIRCUS was starting to form. by september/october of 1988, i had my first gig as SATORI CIRCUS. since then i have had hundreds of performances. here in detroit, nyc, chicago, new orleans, pittsburgh, l.a., new mexico…everywhere, even in canada. its been a crazy journey that i have loved every second of the way. and Rick has been there the entire time!
being this performance artist in detroit, during a time when no one was really doing circus things, or fire, or acrobatics, even side show stuff, i stood out. not because i was this gifted individual, but i think because i never gave up. which i had done plenty of times in my youth on things i thought i liked and wanted. i never gave up because it brought me happiness inside to do what i wanted and bring the things i learned and loved along for the ride…mix them all together and be SATORI CIRCUS. so within my artform i utilize aspects of music, poetry (spoken and sung), film (overhead projectors, loops, video), theatre, slap stick, character studies and lighting schemes. i never set out to be an international artist, just wanted to tackle my world, the world i was living and creating in of the detroit i grew up in. almost 36 years later, i think i’ve arrived. through my art and perseverance i’ve received awards, articles have been written on me, i’ve been in a few publications, i’ve worked with tons of local photographers and last year a gentleman named Mark Finnell wrote and directed a documentary of me titled ‘Being Satori Circus ~ A Performance Documentary in Five Acts,’ which has been touring the documentary film circuit. i plan on never stopping unless i can’t think of anything else to create, but that ain’t happening…haha. i’ll keep moving forward in a zig-zag. its a great life!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
for me, it’s the chance of having a conversation with the patrons/audience after a performance, to hear what they liked or didn’t like of the performance. hear what they thought a piece meant. hear what it did to them…how it made them think…feel. the cheering and applause are wonderful too, but it’s also being able to see their faces. seeing those expressions on their face during a particular moment in a piece, or when i catch them…makes it all worth it! and being able to do it as long as i have…going on 36yrs and i’m pretty sure there’s another 20 in there.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
my journey into my art is more of a mission. a personal mission, that some get and others scratch their heads. i never stated it was a mission, but i refer to it as a need. a desire deep down for the need to create…and keep creating. keep going! being an ADHD child there were so many interesting things for my eyes and heart to gravitate towards. and a lot of those instances, many of those instances, were short lived. i was everywhere and into everything, but the main things that kept my attention were sports (baseball, football and hockey) and the arts. as i got older, sports started falling by the side and i let my art making take full control – art school, rock and roll bands, punk bands, music, film and photography, dance, avant-garde theatre. by the time i was in my mid 30’s i figured it out. i realized my brain and body weren’t built for suit jobs/professional jobs, but for the life that my art would take me. have there been struggles? absolutely. road blocks, of course. but to me those things will always be there, no matter what road you take. the key thing is to never give up and to knock down walls and doors. and if you do go through those obstacles, the world is that much sweeter on the other side, because you persevered and took what life gave you on the chin, dried your eyes, took a deep breath and maintained your course!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.satoricircus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satoricircus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/satori.circus
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/satori-circus-b0543817
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/SATORI_CIRCUS
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/SATORIcircus
- Yelp: https://www.facebook.com/SATORICIRCUS1988
Image Credits
1. Rick Bielaczyc
2. Brett Lawrence
3. Spilt Sugar
4. Rick Bielaczyc
5. Jeff Belt
6. & 7. Brett Lawrence
8. Cowboy Dave
9. Brett Lawrence