One day, I was playing with an app that gives deeper insights into instagram, and it hit me that 5 out of 5 of my all-time most liked by followers pictures were my “selfies”! Mind you, I had this account since 2011 and post a lot of different photos! Original art, original music, cityscapes, events, you name it, but nevertheless, nothing can compete in popularity with a good “selfie”! The more I looked, the ickier it felt. In school and out, I was surrounded by kids with many MANY artistic talents, but it seemed like a clever use of light and instagram filters, will bring you a lot more appreciation from your peers than creating an original piece of art you lost sleep over.

Yes, it disgusts me to use instagram “likes” as a measuring tool, but in all honesty, for the Generation Z, social media DID become an all-in-one “meter-of-value”. The number of followers you have on every network, the number of likes and comments you get, is what the majority of my generation is checking to find people to look up to, and we need to just accept it and work with it.

Surely, it feels good to feel beautiful and appreciated for your natural (or filtered :)) beauty once in a while. But, at that moment, I felt the urge to focus on revealing the beauty that lays beneath the skin level, the beauty of a vulnerable artistic soul. People become so much more beautiful when they let their walls down and open up about their creative endeavours!

So I decided to build a website to showcase young artists’ through their passions and aspirations! To give them an opportunity to feel connected, supported, loved and recognized for what they love to do most. Whether it be writing or singing or acting or hip hop.

Everyone deserves a chance to walk up to the podium, look out into the darkness and tell the world about their art. EX LOCUM is here to support young artists, to give the spotlight to those who deserve it, but haven’t gotten enough of it yet. I’m not an attention-seeker (at least, I hope I’m not), I’m not here to get famous, or make anyone else famous. I simply believe that everyone deserves to get acknowledged for what they love to create, and hopefully find others that love it, too, and bond over that. I want to help creative young people to believe in themselves and grow appreciation for others who choose to go through the soul-wrenching struggle of “making art”. That’s the general outline

I’ve been contemplating this idea for a while, until one day, I shared it with a friend of mine. Without missing a bit, he told me that I should do it as video interviews. It would help the audience to actually SEE the artists not just read about them, and – in this industry – I suppose, that’s what people are going for. This was the moment when all pieces fell into their rightful places. So thanks to my friend’s advice, I now work primarily with video when it comes to young artists’ interviews.

Doing the interviews has been an amazing experience so far! Getting to see people’s eyes light up as they talk about what they love is a unique pleasure. Moreover, it’s incredibly energizing and inspiring! Seeing the support they get and sometimes the connections that are made, fills me with joy. On EX LOCUM, the interviewees get a few minutes on camera to just be themselves, and let others see them in a most genuine way. I feel like people my age are constantly putting up walls, trying to protect and hide the things they love because they are unsure or embarrassed and don’t know what people would think about them. I want to celebrate people’s passions, not hide them.

Naturally, the very first interview for EX LOCUM was with the boy who helped me to define the idea. He’s a rapper and goes by the name “Imperial Chambers”. The interview went wonderfully! It was filled with confusion, a million takes, and many technical difficulties and yet, it was still wonderful! We both had a passion for art, and we were doing something about it! Imperial Chambers has his own rap group – Rhetorical Intentions – and they do concerts every couple of months. We talked about that, too. He was charismatic, intriguing, and made my job (as interviewer) easy. At the end, I realized that this is going to be good, and I should’ve started it a lot earlier.

The teaser trailer below shows how it all began —

Now, it’s been almost three months since the launch of EXLOCUM.com, the team has grown, and I’ve already had the opportunity to interview over thirty young NYC artists. Some of them I met through friends, some of them I’d known for a majority of my life, and some of them reached out to me. EX LOCUM is probably one of the best things I’ve ever had the chance to do, and I hope it helps people.