There are many women I know that would be categorized under : INCREDIBLE - Anna would 100% be at the top of this list. Not only is she a celebrated artist in her own right, but also a dynamic and major part of what has moved the LA music scene via her Festival Girlshool. Her impact through action and ideas on the community has been great, especially for female identified artists and musicians. Cultivating Girlschool, she has helped amplify the voice of young musicians and guide them towards stepping into their power by curating a platform in the setting of a music festival, that goes way beyond the stage. To quote the Girlschool website :
"GIRLSCHOOL is a music and ideas festival with a mission: to celebrate, connect, and lift women-identified and gender-expanded artists, leaders, and voices. All are welcome."
Who are you?
My name is Anna, and I am a collector, amplifier, story-teller. I collect women-identified artists, idealists, leaders, enactors, creators, and create a space for a community and the magic that goes with it to unfold. I believe in the power of community to make us bigger, badder, and better than we are on our own. I'm also a violinist, performer, writer, and artist.
Why do you make your work?
Why do you make your work?
Girlschool is the dream community that I wish I had as a lonely woman-identified member of a male indie/alternative rock band in the alternative rock space. To me, it's also the anti-dote to the myth that to get ahead, women need to individuate ourselves from or reject sisterhood. It's inspiring to exist within a space where sisterhood is valued, is powerful, is an amplifying and exciting force, and is inclusive of the entire community. I have gotten to be creative as a musician and player for years, but now I get to be creative as an organizer and community-builder. It's a very different, very complete, very meaningful way to create.
What do you believe in?
I believe in great, and even crazy, ideas. If you have an idea that you can see so clearly it already feels real in your imagination, and you are willing to work hard, you can create something that wasn't there before. You can, and you will, create it. And I believe in irrational optimism. You have to believe—if not in yourself, then in your imagined, not-yet-real future—to achieve it.
Name one thing you say yes to?
Name one thing you say yes to?
I'll try most things once.
And one thing you say no to?
And one thing you say no to?
Envy. I think a little jealousy can be inspiring and motivating, but envy is some weak, poisonous shit.
What change would you like to see?
I'm about to give you the most fucking Miss America answer on the planet, but I'd love to see a world where out-groups have the same socioeconomic value and the same opportunities as in-groups.
Name one thing that makes you happy?
Seeing something I imagined or dreamed about come to fruition in real-deal, 3d, living color.
How would you describe your personal routine?
How would you describe your personal routine?
My routine has changed in the last couple of years, and is settling in a bit with a new cadence. But here are the four things that make me feel like a human no matter where I am in the world or how crazy everything else is:
1) Making (if possible) one beautiful cup of coffee first thing.
2) Getting real exercise every day. Yoga, running, climbing, dancing: it doesn't matter, as long as I feel spent afterwards.
3) Feeding my mind with art, community, music, reading, time with people I love.
4) Making vegetables the foundation of my diet.
What did you want to be as a child?
Oh god, people used to laugh at me so hard when I was little. I wanted to be a masseuse.
Can you remember one solid piece of advice you've gotten for the growth of work ?
Always be working. If you're between paid things, do things that you believe in for free. You never know where anything is going to lead.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Missy Elliot. Or Yoko Ono. Or both.
Who is one someone in culture that you feel is making positive and inspiring change ?
Morgan DeBaun, the founder of Blavity. Blavity the best thing I get in my inbox every day, and she is a boss.
Photo by Maria Jose Govea / @TheSupermaniak
