All work — including creative work — is impossible without money. After all, time is money. Effort is money. Then add all the expenses it takes to actually work. Unsurprisingly, this site and the work that makes it possible is impossible without money. It’s a simple — and often frustrating — fact of life. So, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of years, you’d know that at the end of the month, I thank some time to thank the following folks and groups for their support:
Sash
Alice Northover
Bella Fox
Jenny MacRostie
Janene Otten
All of those folks have been generous Patreon patrons. Every and any amount really helps keeps this sort of journalism and criticism alive and ongoing. So if you’re able and willing, please feel free to check out the Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement.
Additionally, I have to thank the hardworking folks at Creatives Rebuild New York. I’m proud, relieved and humbled to be included in their 18-month Guaranteed Income for Artists program. My participation in the Guaranteed Income for Artists program has been put to good use — keeping this dream of mine going while having some of the normal financial pressures lessened a bit. There aren’t enough words to thank them — or to show them how grateful I am; but I’ll keep trying!
There are other ways you can support.
You can also support by checking the JOVM shop. I sell prints in various sizes. I also have bumper stickers. Check it out: https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com/shop
You can also support my following me on the following platforms:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/william_ruben_helms
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/yankee32879 and https://www.twitter.com/joyofviolent
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement
And you can hire me for headshots, portraits and events. Seriously, I’m available for that, too. You can click here: https://www.photobooker.com/photographer/ny/new-york/william-h?duration=1?duration=1# or you can contact me directly.
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Next month, this site celebrates its 13th anniversary. 13 years is a lifetime and a half in the blogosphere. And honestly, when I started this site, I couldn’t have imagined most — if not all — of the things I’ve experienced and covered throughout this site’s history to have ever happened.
- I’ve covered roughly 1,100-1,200 shows in NYC, with a handful of shows in Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
- I’ve covered about a dozen or more festivals, including traveling to Montreal for M for Montreal twice — in 2019 and last year.
- I’ve been a panelist at Mondo.NYC Festival and at New Colossus Festival, speaking about PR, promotion and press for indie artists, giving my perspective as a indie blogger.
- Several years ago, I made a cameo in a JOVM mainstay’s music video. It’s a very noticeable spot towards the end of the video. It was a lot of fun. But no one has called me about acting or dancing gigs. So, it’s obvious that maybe I need to stick to the day job.
- I’ve photographed George Clinton, Patti LaBelle, Snoop Dogg, Blondie, Nile Rodgers, Roky Erickson, Philip Bailey, Blind Boys of Alabama, and a growing list of legendary and beloved artists, as well as this site’s growing list of mainstays.
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With this site, I’ve managed to carve out a unique path for myself — and in the blogosphere. Because music media — and generally the media world — is an incredibly homogeneous space, the coverage that you see as a consumer and fan tends to come from a similar perspective. If you don’t believe me, look at the editorial staff at your favorite music magazine or website. It explains why certain artists, genres and styles are covered over others. But it also explains why you see the exact same coverage of the same artists, genres and styles, too.
I’ve always felt as though I wasn’t going to get a chance to break through that world, no matter how hard I tried. But there was this need to create the sort of space I grew up immersed in as a Black boy from Queens, that I didn’t see whenever I read my favorite sites and magazines — wildly eclectic, dynamic, and always connected to a larger, global perspective. Someone has to do it, right?
I’m looking very forward to what year 14 holds for JOVM. And hopefully your support will keep this thing going.
