An interview with Portland’s Kim Baxter and Chris Flanagan of Fixing Stuff With (http://www.fixingstuffwith.com/).
In their words, FSW is “a web series profiling awesome people and the cool stuff they do…and the things they try to fix”. The duo is incredibly and prolifically busy—when not working on Fixing Stuff With, they operate the studio Field Theory Pictures, play music, make awesome music videos/short films of their music, work at Portland’s Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, and play more music. They are, in short, multi-talented humans. Ian Lynam tries to figure them out:
So why did you guys decide to make this series of web videos?
Kim: Chris and I had been talking for years about making artist profile videos featuring our friends. We know so many people that we think are awesome not only because of the art they create, but also because they are just great people. We didn’t want it to be a stiff, “tell us about your art while we make you nervous with our cameras and lights” kind of show. We knew that we had to get them relaxed and comfortable so that we could capture not only what they do but also their witty or funny or insightful personalities. One day we were watching This Old House (one of our favorite shows) and I thought, “how rad would it be to film our friends doing house projects”. Because in our DIY-minded music and art community, that same DIY-energy is often applied to home improvement projects like fixing a leaking roof or re-finishing hardwood floors.
The task or repair would ostensibly be the focus of each episode, but really the goal would be for the viewer to really get to know a bit about these people we really like and the creative outlets they pursue. We used my brother, Todd Baxter, as the guinea pig for the first episode. We had so much fun and it seemed like it was going to work, so we kept going. We hadn’t thought about it at first, but what has been really fun to see is how each person’s approach to their art can also be seen in their approach to home improvement and other projects. Some have a well thought out plan ahead of time, and others just go for it with absolutely no plan at all.
In our group of friends there are a lot of us that are still involved in the creative world of art and music. Some are making money from their art and others are not, but we are still figuring out time to do the things we love. Fixing Stuff With is a way to celebrate this, to share the work of our talented friends, to encourage others to continue doing creative things, and occasionally to make people laugh.
You have played in bands for years, and most of the members of those bands have been very aesthetically minded, creating design products and fine art. Where do you view the connection between musicmaking, design, film and art?
Chris: I think, in our case anyway, it has a lot to do with the kind of DIY community our friends and peers cut our teeth in. Being responsible for decisions about how our creative endeavors looked or sounded, rather than deferring to any particular standard or authority was a great learning experience. If you wanted to make music, you figured it out yourself and your friends probably helped. If you wanted your flier or album cover to look good you figured it out and your friends probably helped. And maybe you did a terrible job the first few times but again, it was an invaluable learning-by-doing experience. It may be a bit of a stretch but the connection between music, film, art and design for our peer group seems to have been that something in us was aesthetically sensitive and insisted that we express ourselves creatively and we wanted to be in control of how that outlet was going to manifest itself. And once we realized that we could do our art however we wanted it was a short leap to see that we could have a say in the way things were designed as well.
Kim: Yes, in the DIY music scene you have the opportunity to be involved in many different creative aspects. From the type of music you write/play, to deciding which songs fit together to create a cohesive album, to the artwork for your album, to the live performance. Because of this we discovered early on that we can use our creative, hands-on approach in other aspects of our lives as well. It’s been really interesting watching our friends grow up and continue being creative (even if they’re not making money directly from it). They are still making music and art, designing and decorating. They are making thoughtful decisions at their jobs, with the companies they start, as parents, as homeowners, as members of their communities, etc.. That’s kind of what our show is about. We wanted to share this with others and to take a moment to celebrate people that we think are absolutely amazing but that might not be getting positive feedback on a daily basis.
What plans do you have in the future for the Fixing Stuff series?
Chris: More episodes! Get some funding!?! We have at least two or three amazing friends waiting in the wings who we are trying to schedule for episodes right now, but we do this show completely out of pocket so it makes it hard to travel and/or spend time away from our day jobs to get the episodes in the can, so to speak. It would be so fun to be able to schedule some set number of episodes–a “Season 1” if you will.
Who are some of your favorite creative types globally?
Kim: I have so many favorites! I love Eric Bulatov, Barbara Kruger, Rodchenko, Joseph Cornell, Martha Rosler, Margaret Kilgallen, Thomas Doyle, Tae Won Yu, Slinkachu, Rauchenberg, Marcel Dzama, Anders Nilsen, Eugenia Loli.
Some of my all time music favorites include Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, Breeders, Deerhoof, The Dead Milkmen, Heavenly, Billie Holiday, The Aislers Set, My Bloody Valentine, Jonathan Richman (the list goes on and on!). I’m currently listening to R. Ring and recently went and saw Knife Pleats (Rose Melberg’s new band) and loved them!
Chris: Kim gave some great examples so this is gonna be pretty general, but I really admire creative people who just fucking go for it. I like people who know—or sorta kinda know—what they want to do and they just start doing it. They make or do things without hesitation and maybe it’s not all great and maybe it’s not even something I am into, but there is almost always something awesome in there. The effort and dedication is awesome. The important part is that they did something, whatever it was. They didn’t talk about it or worry about it or find reasons not to do it.
Can you tell this is a self-directed pep talk?
I’m unsure you guys need more ‘pep’. You put most folks to shame!
Thank you, guys! We really appreciate you taking the time!
Stay tuned for the next installment of “Huh?”, coming sooner than you think (but probably not until after the October residency at VCFA)!Buy Sneakers | シューズ
