Today’s interview is with Joshua Mocle. Joshua is a returning BIMA Community Educator. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Concordia University, worked in radio for several years and now teaches audio and video at The Gann Academy in Waltham, MA.
1) Where is the coolest/most fun place you’ve exhibited?
Probably the most fun I have ever had doing anything, let alone working artistically, was my four years working at CJLO 1690AM in Montreal. I hosted a punk/alt rock show called “The Kids Are So-So” and I loved that every week I got to showcase and support the artists that inspired me to an entire city that was really receptive to it. Plus I got to meet and pick the brains of some of my favorite musicians, and that was pretty awesome.
Runner Up: Performing Andrew WK’s “Party Hard” at BIMA 2010.
2) What were you like in high school?
I think I spent all of high school locked somewhere in the middle of “cripplingly timid” and “annoyingly boisterous.” I was the artsy kid that was always involved in some play or another and had a video camera strapped to my arm for four years straight. I was also that random kid that always carried empty notebooks around just in case an idea would strike at random. I’d like to think that this experience trained me well to be that random adult that carries around half-full notebooks full of silly ideas.
3) What are you most excited for this summer?
4) What inspires you?
I’m a firm believer that good art begets more good art. The times when I am truly inspired to create the most are when I hear a song that I can relate to, or see a movie that makes me laugh, or a dance performance that makes me cry, or a read a book that makes me question something about myself. We all create art for different reasons, and the art I love is no small part of the reason why I put pencils to paper, open my laptop or pick up a camera every day in order to continue along the path that others before me built.
5) What is one challenge that faces you in your work?
To be completely candid, I don’t keep my stories in the incubator long enough. I am always so excited to share what I’m working on that I let people read unfinished stories or hear incomplete songs or see unedited footage and every single time it takes some of the excitement away from working on the story itself and usually results in the project STAYING incomplete. Sharing your work with others is probably the best part of creating art, but you need to make sure it is ready before you do since once it’s out there, it usually stays out there.
