Narrative Travel Report by Talon Ducheneaux

Date of Travel: November 13th, 2019 - November 17th, 2019

Location of Travel: Spokane, WA

FPF Attending: Talon ShootsTheEnemy-Ducheneaux (Artist and consultant, pictured left, below)

Objective: Residency, site visit and meet with community partners

Purpose of Trip:

Narrative Description:  As soon as I flew into Spokane, on November 13th, I was greeted by James Just Jamez Pakootas at the airport. We began overviewing what the next few days would look like. James was sure to gauge whether I had specific preferences or areas of training in any of the software in particular that I wanted emphasized during the workshops. After that, we immediately entered the studio and began planning the album/project that would be worked on during the residency and what the goal for the end product would be. With assistance from T.S. the Solution and his lesson/workshop on album/studio time-management techniques, we organized a graph on a whiteboard. Mapping out every song aspect that needed to be completed, our initial goal was to record an album with 17 songs included. This provided me with a great deal of perspective on how to better organize how I am actually creating and working on material in order to maximize creativity and ensure completion of projects.  

Various artists were in and out of the studio, collaborating with us on the album and learning about the cultural history behind the project’s theme. Two photographers and a film crew came to document some of the process. Until about 3am each night of my stay, the energies flowed in and out of the studio. We made a total of 22 songs featuring producers and recording artists listed above. Throughout the process, T.S. the Solution, Darby Meegan (DJ Spicy Ketchup), and James taught me various aspects of how they professionally record and produce music. This included hands-on courses in working with Logic Pro DAW software, microphone placement respective to the artist recording, sound acoustics and studio environments, mixing audio tracks in Ableton DAW software, and overall studio etiquette/preparation for artists and producers. Most beneficial to me, as someone who runs a studio open to all ages, was how to maintain leadership roles in a studio and how to properly and appropriately enforce studio etiquette amongst artists/visitors/etc., while still maintaining an open and creative space.

While recording and producing the album, constant networking took place between myself and the artists - and also between themselves too, which was awesome to be a part of. It felt like a real community of artists was created during the residency. The Counting Coup Media film crew recorded video and conducted interviews with myself, James and T.S. Everyone in attendance was kept well fed and taken care of by Ravina Pakootas who cooked all of our meals throughout the residency in order to maximize productivity. The residency also opened itself up to the youth, and we were all lucky to have involved several Native artists around the ages of 16-19 in the album and in the studio.  This facilitated multiple levels of mentorship and the passing down of knowledge and values in music.  Artists like Tony Louie were extremely instrumental in empowering the youth with confidence while they shook off any nerves they had about recording. Again, this helped me a lot, as someone who runs a studio working with youth recording artists. First-hand I was able to see how James or T.S. might handle something like creative control and ensuring that we don’t put out hurtful or divisive lyrics while maintaining a balance of creative freedoms. Recording sessions spanned from 10am to 12pm start-times and ended from 3am-6am each night. Nobody was really pressured to do this, it was just that everyone was excited to share the energy and finish the goal that we had set for ourselves.  

By the day of my flight, everyone had already shook hands, hugged, had the last heart-to-hearts, and wished each other farewell. Something we had watched together one night of the residency was “Dreamville Presents: REVENGE Documentary” where the collective of artists had 10 days to record their album. It was about a community and collective of artists that formed. The fun energy you could see happening and all the ins and outs of the relationships. This residency felt like that. We had little time to record a very lengthy album full of songs that tugged at each of our souls for each of our own reasons. Choosing to make this project about the trickster, Iktomi, I sort-of expected something powerful to happen and test us, but the medicine that came to each of us was unparalleled to anything I’ve ever experienced before, and the rise to the occasion and talents of every artist, photographer, videographer, or cook was even more awe-inspiring. Reflecting back, I feel like everyone has something they offered me to learn from and to feel blessed with. It was a hard, but productive trip. And as I began to land in Pierre on my way back home, I feel like I felt iktomi let up a bit. Like he gifted us release after being so vulnerable in the music we all created together.

If I could do this residency/trip more often, I 100% would, and already plan on returning to collaborate with the artists again sometime. Because on a very personal note, I honestly never thought any of this would happen in my life. Growing up on the reservation as an aspiring artist/producer, I never would’ve fathomed that I’d one day live out my fantasies of working in an amazing studio with amazing artists and people for as long as we did. Thank you so much for that opportunity.  

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Results of Meeting / Required Follow-up:

All of the songs are recorded, but there are a few out-of-studio artists whom we would like to include on the project, so we are currently doing outreach to those artists right now. T.S. the Solution is currently mixing/mastering the album. James Pakootas is currently and will be providing mentorship in the marketing/promotion process and how to appropriately release the album/singles. In total, we have 24 tracks featuring over 10 artists for an album to be entitled “Traveling the Multiverse with Ikto.” The album name stems from stories of Iktomi, the trickster spider taught in Oceti Sakowin ways of life. Iktomi is a spirit that plays many tricks on people, he teaches us what not to do, how not to be. Alongside this, the multiverse aspect aims to allow all collaborating artists, voices, and listeners to have their individual views, opinions, and beliefs; as all Indigenous people experience these struggles differently at different levels.