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08/31/2020

OMN Legacy story: Inessa dives into the dream-state mind of Tempest Gold / audio

By INESSA // Two interviews by Inessa plus three videos with Chris Elorek and his Tempest Gold./ Originally published on August 19, 2018

While we wait for the return of music and music journaism, here's another OMN Legacy story from INESSA.

Think the artistic process should, by definition, be “messy”? Meet self-described “messy guy”, Chris Elkorek. His latest creation? Tempest Gold. What’s beneath the surface? By turns, “suffocating exhilaration”, a chance to open mind and soul, become woke.

Summer 2018 has been flying by. Time to catch up on what may have been missed. Back in June, when the weather felt cool and breezy, there was this: Tempest Gold. Chris, originally an East Coast guy, has now been in Portland for some 15 years.  We’re known for being a music-heavy town, but introductions still take time. His EP, Little Beasts,  celebrated its release on June 15th.  Now comes the dedicated work of making introductions, far and wide.  So let’s begin here.

Two conversations to check out, below. The first is truly an introduction to Chris and how it all began for him. Musically, what sparked interest, naming his project of course, his influences that range from The Clash to Echo and the Bunnymen, to Robyn Hitchcock, to Love and Rockets, the creation process itself, not just of the music, but his deep interest in video creation, which we explore in greater depth in the second piece of the conversation. By the way, Chris does have a “day job” which I think corresponds really well to his life at large. He is a counselor at an elementary school, helping students feel understood and helping, in his own way, make the world a better place.  Lucky kids, I say.

Before we get to the story behind the video for one of the songs on the EP,  “Night After Night”, check it out below, along with a fascinating look at the making of the video together with Fractal Focus.

Join Chris and I examining the vision of the video for “Night After Night” and how it all came together.

In the wide and wonderfully messy world of creativity and creation, there aren’t any rules, exactly, but there are often some tried and true methods paved by others who went and go before us. For Chris, he is busy carving out that path. Musically? There’s plenty of material to draw from…but letting the world know YOU are there? That can also be a painstaking process. Recently he was invited by KGW TV to the Tonight With Cassidy show. Here’s Chris’s segment.

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