Throwback: Winter Magic

Winter Magic 2018 was a blast!!

Performer & Host Mirabai

By Zoser

With the lovely Mirabai hosting, her casual jokes and love for Christmas lifted the spirits of the crowd. Ran by the interns of Totem Star, the night behind the scenes went smoothly. It was a very different experience for me and rapper, Primoe, with us being stage managers. Most of our lives we’ve been the act, but to manage the acts themselves was a challenge. The constant running around made us feel like we were apart of something that we were building.

ZAG spitting truth

Luckily it wasn’t just us who were dictating where the vibe of the night went. Our DJ and Totem Star artist, ZAG, displayed his knowledge of music while on the decks. According to ZAG, “It’s always good to be a DJ because I get to dictate what the mood will be like.” Mirabai calls ZAG a “benevolent mastermind.” He even played “A Whole New World” off of the Aladdin soundtrack to make me feel like a cloud in the sky. The night was elegant and benefited Totem Star as a whole. With the many donations that we received, Totem Star will live to see many more days, and years!!!

Teaching Artist Matt and Totem Star Artist Primoe

I took one thing to heart that night. My family is more than just my mom, or my grandmother. It’s the community that brought me in when I felt alone. It’s the community that let the artist be true to themselves. It’s the community that makes us want to show what we’re all about. Totem Star will be my family for as long as I’m alive; and Winter Magic will be the biggest memory that I’ll have of them.

Totem Star Artist Zoser performing Small Worlds by Mac Miller

Video: Winter Magic

Nothing captures the magic of The Stage like being there to witness it in person, but if you missed the last one, check out this beautiful sizzle reel of the Winter Magic youth arts showcase shot and produced by Darien Brown! Features the instrumental for “M.O.M.” produced by Totem Star alumna Shakur Washington!

Special thanks to our partners and supporters Arts Corps, the Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, the Jubilation Foundation, the Satterberg Foundation, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Photos: Winter Magic

4 bands, 5 rappers, a dance crew, a DJ, 5 poets, and 6 singers lit up the amphitheater stage at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on December 4, 2015 for the second annual Winter Magic youth arts showcase. Totem Star produces quarterly showcases, this time around through a partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, Arts Corps, Youth Speaks Seattle, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. All photos by Paul Laughlin.

Justus White

Torren Anderson

The Rush

Close To The Sun

Samone Thomas

The Black Tone

The BCs

Winter Magic

Winter Magic is Friday, December 4th! Don’t miss an incredible evening of youth performances, including music, dance, poetry, and more! The youth arts showcase will be in the Amphitheater at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center from 5-8pm and is free to the general public.

Powered by partnerships with the Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, Arts Corps, Youth Speaks Seattle, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Photos: Winter Magic

Set the stage and they will come. The final open mic of the year was an all-out jam session, featuring more spontaneous on-stage collaborations than any other event we threw this year. It was the culmination of a quarter-long residency in the recording studio at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, once again in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture and its Youth Arts program.

After a tag team opening by DJ Close To The Sun and DJ Hirschurmouth, guitarist Joe Naranjo took to the stage, plugged into the Marshall, and ripped through a Rage Against the Machine cover. With the audience demanding more, Close To The Sun joined him on bass, with Noah Predko jumping on the drums. The impromptu three-piece rock band, all from West Seattle High School, jammed for a good ten minutes and set the tone for the rest of the evening. By the end of their extended jam, all the performers were itching to get on.

DJ Hirschurmouth rocked a couple new instrumentals before getting on the mic and performing his new song “Recovery” (check it out on his BandCamp page). DJ Close To The Sun followed with his own instrumentals (check them out on SoundCloud) – this was when things got really interesting. Robby Little (of The Black Chevys) started bobbing his head to the instrumentals and jumped on the bass. Co-Founder Thaddeus Turner got on the drums. Paris and Star grabbed the mics. It was the first time at an open mic where a live band performed over an instrumental track, much like how national touring artists use pre-recorded backing tracks to add sparkle to their live performances. At this point the energy shifted from a room full of individual artists silently checking each other out to a powerful collaborative community performance. It was epic.

One last thing about our guy Paris, who helped host the event. Paris understands the cipher. He lives for the cipher. It runs in his blood. He gets on the mic and by doing his thing and saying his piece, he motivates the others to join in. He’ll even get in your face (in a friendly way of course) to encourage you to spit. It’s his special way of getting folks to join the movement. Big ups to our guy Paris.

Thanks to everyone for making Winter Magic a big success, especially the Office of Arts & Culture! See you in 2015!

Winter Magic: Open Mic & Art Pop Up

Calling all (in alphabetical order) audio engineers, bands, comics, dancers, DJs, musicians, photographers, producers, rappers, singers, songwriters, spoken word poets, theatrical actors/actresses, and visual artists (did we forget anyone?):

Are you ready for some Winter Magic? The next open mic and art pop up is Thursday, December 18 from 3:30-6:30pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (see map). As always, it is an all-ages event open to the general public and guaranteed to be a great time!

For Performers:
– we provide stage, sound, lights, and backline including drums, bass, guitar amps, keyboards, and microphones
– feel free to bring instrumental tracks in any media format
– sign ups start at 3:00pm when doors open
– if you would like to pre-register, send an email to totemstarrecords@gmail.com with a description of what kind of performance you will be doing and your technical needs
– you may arrive at the venue two hours before show time if you would like a soundcheck (if time permits)

For Visual Artists:
– we provide an open space to showcase your work
– visual artists are encouraged to bring their own installation materials with which to display work
– send an email to totemstarrecords@gmail.com with a detailed description of your work and any installation questions or concerns
– you may arrive at the venue two hours before the event to load in your work and begin installation

Thanks to the Office of Arts & Culture for partnering on yet another Totem Star open mic and art pop up!

#YouthArts