JANUARY 2021 Double Down on Creativity
by Mike Ferrell
Happy New Year!
We made it TopTop Studios, Denver video production company, or rather we’re making it. Either way, I’m glad to be here. The world feels chaotic right now and finding inspiration amidst doom scrolling and the latest in ‘unprecedented’ breaking news can be challenging to say the least. Finding that creative spark takes discipline and also patience. I often draw on a quote from Gregory George Moore, co-founder of Iron & Air Magazine, from his forward in Issue 038. “Produce more than you consume,” Moore writes, “many times when I’m feeling inexplicably out of sorts, if I pay close attention to that ratio of input versus output, I often find an excess of consumption.” I think about this to remind myself to take a step back when I’m feeling run down or uninspired. I’ll go for a motorcycle ride to nowhere, exercise, or spend time in nature to simply allow my mind to wander, rest. I don’t always take my own advice but it’s good to know there are levers to pull when I need help. This month’s newsletter is dedicated to creativity because right now we need art to inspire, uplift, and progress – at least I do.
Snowboards, Swedish motorcycles, and electronica. That’s a great combination, isn’t it? Well, Nick Russell, Forrest Shearer, and Nick Kalisz thought so. An early-season adventure in the Wasatch Range turned into a two-day shoot that Kalisz crafted into a 90s analog dream world of driving electric motorcycles in search of early November snow.
Watch Chasing November with Jones Snowboards and Cake Bikes.
I’m excited to introduce you to Jay Siebold. Jay is one of the first people we hired as a team. He’s an audio producer and sound engineer based in Los Angeles, CA. He specializes in on-location music recordings as well as mixing and sound design for video, podcasts, and audio documentary. He’s wise beyond his years and a great all-around dude.
Explore Jay's work including Starsapien, a recording collective he helms. They'll release their first full-length album “Streams of Conscience” tomorrow, January 15th. Siebold's music has a cool jazz vibe and is somehow both futuristic and a throw-back. I look forward to hearing the entire album.
Nicholas Maher’s You And The Thing That You Love moved me deeply. It’s about Nick Mullins, a skateboarder who once had a promising career, and then, overnight, it all changed. The documentary is well crafted and the story is incredibly inspiring. It made me think about the coming year and what I want it to be. How I want it to feel. Give it a watch, you won't be disappointed.
Let us know if you have any suggestions on what to watch next!
Here's a little thank you.
We appreciate you making it through this newsletter. To reward you for your diligence download some beautiful TopTop iPhone wallpapers created by Nick Kalisz. We hope they inspire you to create or to just get outside and wander. Download here!
Do you have a story to tell?
We're always looking to partner with good people and creative minds. So if you’re an athlete on a mission, a creative with a concept, or a marketer with an audience – we would love to collaborate with you.