Crysti Couture

It’s been a quiet last half of 2012 for me. I expect it will stay that way for the most part when it comes to my personal life on Social Media. Mainly, I’ve been too busy actually enjoying life with my son, work and my boyfriend who happens to think that Social Media is one of the worst concepts in human thought. I, for one, strongly disagree.

On a different note, I’ve realized my worth and aim to use my skills for promoting El Paso as a cultural mecca. I tried doing this a few months ago by starting a little organization called ‘CREATE! El Paso’, which was supposed to originally be a service and coalition for artists and musicians that would allow them to network and get benefits by being a part of CREATE. Unfortunately, that endeavor was squashed out rather quickly by members of other local art groups; the first Creative Coalition actually sent me threatening text messages, the second one wanted my ideas as his own and said that my organization would compete with his and consequently, would be detrimental to the artist community as a whole.

Though both groups were full of collective shit and CREATE didn’t work out as I planned, I continue to be a part of the cultural renaissance that El Paso is going through in other avenues. Right now, I’m proud to be working with some of the best organizations in the city – Fusion Magazine, El Paso Times, El Paso Locavore, EP Jazz Exchange and LoftLight Studios. I hope to continue building that web of support in 2013; we need to continue to uplift each other!

As far as what I’m working on right now: I’m finally getting started on a larger article for El Paso Times on the flourishing jazz scene here. I’m also finishing a piece for Fusion Magazine about a hip-hop group called ‘RARE Individuals’. Both pieces should be out relatively soon.

It’s been a while since I updated the readership on my latest work, so here it goes:

• I’ve been recording a weekly podcast for a little while now called ‘The 915 Voice’. It first started out as a news and events show, but quickly cut the news part out, as it seemed to drag on too long. Now, it’s just events and music and I like it this way; it keeps things short and fresh. The show can be downloaded here on the blog, on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher Radio, Mixcloud and PodOMatic. The show has recieved support from After 5ive Magazine, One Nation Under House and El Paso Locavore.
• I wrote a review on a mini-festival that SMG Events and Disco Donnie Presents is throwing in the winter-time now called ‘Audible’. This year, they brought Deadmau5, Chris Lake and Audrey Napoleon to the Convention Center. I was getting over a cold, but I had a lot of fun nonetheless and my honey joined me in the festivities, so that was great too. I also got to write a pre-show article on Audible for Fusion Magazine, so it feels like I was really immersed in everything.
• Also, got to interview local radio personality Glenn Garza for Fusion Magazine. That was fun; I’ve been listening to him on KLAQ, the local rock station for such a long time, I never imagined that I’d actually interview him and get to talk about the radio industry!
• I’ve done a few other things too. I took the pictures for this post on New Years Day while killing time before the festivities with my beau. You can check out what else I’ve been up to by visiting the ‘Resume’ link at the top of the page or by clicking on the Behance icon on the left of the website. I try to keep those as updated as possible…never know who might be interested in my work!

Happy New Year to all of you! Always remember to surround yourself with great things and even better people; AMAZING things will follow!

Related articles

• Imagining a better El Paso, 10 years from now (elpasotimes.typepad.com)