Dope Ass Conversations #9: Evan Brown
AKA Dirt The Farmer
If you would have told me several years ago that I would be taking the Amtrak train from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois for a leisurely vacation, I would have probably asked you what the fuck is there to do in Springfield, Illinois?
Well, now I have taken three trips to Springfield in the last 10 months alone, and discovered that the answer is a whole lot of nothing, but that’s actually why I like it. It offers a pleasant escape from the hustle and bustle of the city where I can just sit by a lake and touch grass for fun. I wouldn’t have ever thought of visiting Springfield for fun though, if it weren’t my good friend Evan Brown, or Dirt, as he’s known in some creative circles.
Born and raised in the state’s capital himself, he always encourages his friends to visit his neck of the woods, so whenever I have the extra free time to go on a sidequest with my guy, I look for the cheapest round-trip tickets to Springfield, and we end up just hanging out, sharing stories, and smoking weed in his garden. Last week was his birthday, and to celebrate, I asked him if he would be down to share the wisdom he’s learned in his 35 years on earth.
The following is that conversation:
Q: First off, for the people who are reading this and have no idea who you are: Who is Evan Brown?
A: Evan Brown is a humble farmer and community member who had a nice, decade run of being a photographer. Working mostly on live events. concerts, advertising, marketing in Chicago. And yeah, originally from Springfield [Illinois] and living back here now with my elderly parents, just livin’ a humble life. Yeah, humble farmer. Short and simple. That's all I guess. That's how I want to be seen now.
So let's let's talk real quick about that decade as a photographer. You shot some legends, Chicago legends. That's how me and a lot of people know you–
Yeah, that is a big part of my identity.
Let’s just talk about some of those people. Saba, Smino, to name a few. Let’s start with how did you even connect with Pivot Gang in the first place?
When I moved to Chicago, that would have been June 2015, and at this time, I was already a little SoundCloud head. I was familiar with Saba, Chance the Rapper, Smino, Noname, Raven Lenae, Monte Booker... And when I moved to Chicago, like the first week or two there was a zero fatigue showcase at Schubas [Tavern]. And I went, I didn't know anybody. And I went by myself and I took photos. I was an outsider from Springfield, and I didn't know anyone personally, but I didn't have ulterior motives. I just wanted to take photos of artists that I appreciated and had no real plan or vision or anything. There wasn't even like, eagerness to connect with them or be their friends, I was just really a fan of the music. So I took photos there and I was posting them and tagging them, probably even sending the managers photos but I remember that first night, I met Saba and Raven outside and I don't think I really met anyone else that night. But that was, you know, 2015.
Fast forward over a year, I spent the next year kind of just doing similar stuff to that. Going to shows shooting, making a name for myself. But I still wasn't really close with any of those people or they weren't my friends. I was just a photographer, kind of whatever. And then I found out I had mutual friends with Smino. Dave Coresh and Kane, and Chuck, finstervelli is his instagram name... But long story short, they knew Smino because of Classick Studios. They were recording there since like 2010 or some shit back when it was in Chris's crib or whatever. And Smino, if you know, was living in Classick Studios pretty much at a certain point. I remember going in with them one day in the Classick Studios into one of the little tiny ass side rooms, and Smino played blkswn for us. And I remember him telling me “don’t leak my shit, bruh” while I was filming (laughs). So, I developed a trust with him. I'd say I got that personal connection with Smino first out of all those poeple. What happened was I was in clubs and shooting at events and parties a lot. So I really became close with [Pivot Gang DJs] Dam Dam and Squeak because they're DJs and were in the nightlife scene. So I really got super close to them in 2015-2016 with Dam especially and then Squeak later on. That first year, basically, after meeting everyone, kind of making a name for myself, I would see Dam all the time. I'd see Squeak all the time, too. So we just got a close friendship. Frsh Waters is still locked up at this point, I don't even know who Frsh is yet, but anyway, random as fuck one day, Dam Dam hits me up ‘Hey, man. Sab, needs a videographer. Like they need someone to shoot it today.’ It's for the John Walt Day fundraiser show, he had just passed that year. Saba was going around giving away free tickets to fans and they just needed someone following him around, and I made this dope ass little video.
I would like to say before photography, before videography, before I had a purpose in life really, I was always a people person. And I was always in a lot of dynamic environments. I didn't live a traditional life after high school, I went right into the workforce, and bopped around a bunch of different jobs working in TV. I had 20+ odd jobs in my 20s before I found photography. My point is I spent a lot of time socializing around people and building relationships with people because that's really all I had going on. And I just love doing it. So that day me and Saba hit it off, and we played basketball. And I was like bustin’ everyone's ass in basketball. And he was like, basically that day, he asked [his manager] Cristela “Can we take Evan on the Bucket List tour?” And she said “no, we had already paid this other videographer.” So basically, the first day I worked with him, he asked me to tour with him. I didn't get to go on that tour, but maybe a few months later, they flew me out to Oakland because he was recording an album and that album turned out to be Care For Me. So that was really the beginning of me meeting Saba and getting to work starting to work with him. And of course, over those tours with Pivot, I got closer and closer to all of them to the point of like, you know, brotherhood. We'd spend time back in Chicago with them often too. That touring shit really makes you a family. Anyone who's ever toured together can tell you. And yeah, I think my prior life experiences of being around a lot of interesting people kind of just made me comfortable interacting with artists that I was fans of. I'm from Springfield, right. I'm a white man from Springfield, a white 30-year-old white man from Springfield damn near at this point. I was like 27-28 and these are young, cool, amazing Black artists, and so for them to embrace me, I felt it was really a testament to my vibe, the energy I give off, authenticity, genuine spirit, no ulterior motives. I'm not here to finesse anyone or try to clout my name up. I'm just like, literally just existing a-moment-at-a-time type shit, for better or for worse (laughs).
We’re all just existing. Do you have any memories from tour you look back on with nostalgia?
Too many to count for sure of the tours with Saba… As far as unique life experiences, we performed at the Sydney Opera House. Only like the 6th or 7th rapper at the time. The other ones were WU-TANG CLAN, KANYE WEST, TRAVIS SCOTT, NAS, TYLER, THE CREATOR, and then Saba. He sold out the second biggest room at the Sydney Opera House. I feel like that was dope because it’s such an iconic building—
It was in Finding Nemo!
And it was in the Olympics [emblem] one year, and it’s just like one of those things that’s like the Empire State Building, but cooler because it’s on the opposite side of the world and you never would think, especially me being from Springfield, a fuck-up, a weed head, college dropout, a criminal, a convicted criminal. I never thought I would go overseas.
Yeah, you definitely lived a lot of lives by 35. You told me this story already but for the sake of the audience, what was the moment you decided that you were gonna do photography?
I would say there was moment of subconscious realization and conscious realization… [the subconscious moment] was– I did do DMT– and I had an experience when I was coming out of it, I was just able to focus in on something I was looking at in the room like camera. It’s hard to explain, but I zoomed in and was able to focus on some shit. The conscious moment came when I was posting photos of the Capitol on my iPhone 3 or 4. And I was posting pictures of the Capitol and just kind of cool, artsy pictures of Springfield shit that no one was really taking. And I post them on Facebook because they were just cool photos, right? And a friend’s aunt had seen this. She hits me up saying, ‘Hey, Evan, I do floral arrangements for weddings corporate events, whatever, and your photos are amazing. I would love to hire you. What's your rate?’ And I said, I'm not a photographer. She said, ‘Oh, well. You sure tricked me.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, you'll pay me to take photo?’ and she was like, yeah. I was like, I'm gonna get a camera and I hit my homie up who had an older camera and he basically just gave me a Nikon D-3100, a consumer entry-level camera. And I went deep, deep, deep, deep on the technical side of it, like a freak for like weeks and weeks and weeks and obsessed over camera. Settings and light and color and just basically took myself to college intensive class. And I just made the decision. I went and took these pictures of the lady’s flowers, and she paid me $20. But a light bulb went off in my head.
I was kinda down and out, a lost soul. I had a lot of hobbies and interests, but I was misdirected. A little rebellious in school for a kid who had a pretty cozy family life. Pretty normal childhood, American life here in Springfield, and I really had a lot of built up creativity and passion that I wasn't using until I was 25 and got into photography. So when I made that decision, it was a very intense decade. But especially those first few years I went extremely hard. So it's something that I immediately took very seriously to the point where I was like, I'm dedicating my every fiber of my being to this. So I really, I stopped watching sports, I stopped playing video games, I stopped really doing anything, any of the little time-waster hobbies I had. And I just went all the way in. I actually had my parents keep my dog when I moved to Chicago at first because I just love my dog so much. I was without my dog for like two or three years. It was really, I don't want to say grinding, but putting every ounce of my soul into photography, videography, and just trying to master it, become an expert at it and just grow off it and make a career for myself.
You mentioned you had a rebellious spirit. You feel like that might’ve been passed down by one of your ancestors? A fella by the name of John Brown, perhaps?
(Laughs) Yeah, so as some may know, one of my ancestors is John Brown. He was a famous abolitionist, ran around with Harriet Tubman, he was a wild dude.
My grandfather was a doctor in Decatur, Illinois. When he retired, he spent his whole retirement traveling around the United States to cemeteries, libraries, county buildings, etc. getting records and gathering our family history, and he would drag my dad around. So as a result of my dad being dragged around on these adventures learning our family history, he wasn’t going to the beach or any cool stuff you would do on family vacation. He was at cemeteries and shit with my grandpa. So my dad was really turned off by this. When I was growing up, it was something my dad never really told us about, or even remembered probably. Lo and behold, my grandfather kept all this stuff and, lo and behold, I was a curious, bored 25-year old in my parents basement when I came across this stuff. I found out in my grandpa’s records that we were related to John Brown, and at the time I don't know if I was super conscious of who John Brown was, but there were pictures and stories, and I was like ‘oh, yeah, I remember hearing about this guy.’ So I go upstairs immediately, ‘Hey dad, are we related to John Brown the abolitionist?’ and he’s just like ‘oh yeah, I remember that.’ I’m just like you never thought about telling us that? This is like a huge revelation to me. This is after I had, basically at the age of 13, I had a lot of issues with the school system, and the way learning was set up. I hated the fact we went to school for 8 hours and they would give us homework. I said, I'm not doing this ever, actually… I barely passed, barely graduated high school and I got good scores on tests and stuff. I'm obviously a smart, intelligent person, but I fucked up my education. I had a little rebellious spirit and I wasn't ever glorifying it at all. But when I found out I was related to John Brown, something clicked for me. I don't wanna say anti-establishment but I am anti-wack shit. I do feel like I have that in my blood, like a certain conviction. Or maybe that was passed down to me in a gene or whatever, saying ‘I have a strong enough will or conviction to basically do what I want.’ Or like, stick to my beliefs or just not be ruled by some weak ass shit.
Anyway, me fucking up my high school is not the equivalent of freeing slaves. But it is in the same spirit that once I realized that, I was like, okay, I need to do more with my life, with my purpose. I need to dig deeper and not just be a little rebellious spirit, but, turn that into action. And of course, I’m a little politics head now and I've read a lot and learned a lot and I've kind of come full circle. Obviously, you know, I’m not going to go cut anyone's head off with a bastard sword, I don't think, but it is cool to make that connection for my family and to know that there's a legacy that no one in my family is upholding, so then I'm going to take that responsibility on my own way and my own version of modern radicalism, which so far, I think is farming.
Excellent segue into my next question on farming. You got your soon-to-named John Brown Community Garden going. This is your second year as a farmer? Let’s talk about that, what made you even want to get your hands in the dirt?
Year two at this spot, but I’ve been dabbling for some time before that. I struggled with my mental health always, like a lot of artists and a lot of people in this generation, most people I think. One thing I know helped me is obviously being outside and also doing things with my hands, being dexterous and that can be playing video games or that can be climbing a tree or throwing a baseball or anything. It just feels good to be doing something with your hands. And something like growing food, it's just so makes sense on so many levels. It aligns with so many of my values and goals. Everyone needs fucking food, right? But for me, also another thing about my family, my grandpa on my mother's side was a farmer. He was a train conductor, a coal miner but also a farmer. Very young, I remember seeing the plants he grew and how proud he was of all the stuff he grew. That's another thing that no one in my family is doing that I want to kind of re-ignite. I want to get reconnected with the land. I have family that are gardeners or hikers, outdoorsman, but I want to take it to the next level and really spread that passion and desire to connect to the land, which I feel like everyone has. I want to tap into that for my friends and the people around me that are super disconnected, even someone like yourself. Not saying that you're disconnected, but living in Chicago, it’s much harder for people in that city to access nature like that. So it's important to me to spread that passion to my friends and try to make a little movement here in Springfield, at least for more of a connection to the land, land stewardship, and growing food for people that need it. I do have to admit, I love the fact that it's going to feed people but that is not the primary thing for me. I'm not going to pretend like I'm some white savior out to feed everyone. I am gonna feed people, but really my main passion comes from being outside doing things, growing things with people unironically. It just feels good. It feels like what humans are supposed to be doing. It aligns with my soul, my character, who I feel like I truly am, and to just add one more thing to that decade in Chicago– going super hard was incredible and enriched my soul and built me up as a person in so many ways. But I did get off track with my priorities and I did get into a state of needing to be overly political with the freelancing, and trying to maintain clients and achieving clients and having the right relationships and so much of freelance photo video stuff does come down to that and I struggled to maintain that and I got really burnt out on it. So transitioning now to what I'm doing with the gardening stuff is really just much more aligned with who I am now at this point in my life, and it just feels right.
You also work with mentoring kids here. Always looking out for the community.
Yeah, one thing I feel even I was missing from a healthy, stable-ish household here is more mentorship, more community, more culture, more people that are showing me different ways of life, different options, alternative paths in life besides go to college and get a degree. It was either that or the trades, or become like a cop or fireman or military. There’s so much more than that in the world, I felt that the time I spent in Chicago building myself up in the experiences I did have high-level jobs, a lot of character growth, I felt I needed to get more involved with the kids here in Springfield. I was already connected with this amazing org called The Outlet here, and I already worked with them in the past before moving to Chicago. They work with boys from single-parent households, and do an amazing job. So I been with them, hooping, teaching them photography, and taking them on trips to HBCUs, camping trips, job training, just amazing stuff the Outlet does. So I figured to just latch myself on the train they already had going and contributing what I can. Again, it aligns with who I am now. I’m 35 now and don't have a wife or children like a lot of my peers. So I just pour into the kids I do have a relationship with and kids in my community. They’re helping me as much as I’m helping them. It enriches my life as much as it’s enriching theirs, if not more.
Any final words you want to share with the youth?
You know, I love interviews, but I do feel like this question does give so much bad advice so often. I could say some general stuff that’s kinda headass, but ignore anyone trying to advise you to lean into super-grind culture, but also don’t play into anything that’s super unproductive. I think there's a balance in life of basically accepting the awful realities of society that we live in and also [improving] the immediate material conditions of us and the people around us. I think there's a balance that we all need to find as far as our frustrations with the world, our anger or sadness, and also our pacifiers, our optimism or hope. We need to find a balance in that and I think we could have a dope ass society with little fucking farmer, tinkerer inventors with solar power and fucking dope ass shit like renewable water and food sources. We can have a cool ass society if we really embrace balance in that spirit. And you know, I am a little extreme myself in many ways but I do think that if I could give advice to kids, I'd say find that balance in life in all of the things that you do, and I think you'll be you'll have a sustainable, productive, long happy life and create beautiful things with the people around you. So that's what I think. Also don't listen to podcasters.
Bonus questions
What are your thoughts on Karl Marx?
He was a smart dude, he was a wild boy. He was a man of his time, so like many of us, he was a walking contradiction. Flawed in many ways, but a brilliant man whose writings are more relevant than ever as many would say. Him and [Friedrich] Engles really had some fuckin’ prescient points that they really thought long and hard on. So I commend them for thinking so hard on some shit and then writing it. Smart dude.
Any Communist or otherwise radical literature that you would recommend?
I’ll go starter level. I read this great book especially if you have this angry, upset energy with what’s going right now, espeically with the genocide campaign Israel has been doing in Palestine. There’s a book by Mariame Kaba and I’m failing to think of the other author [Kelly Hayes], but it’s called Let This Radicalize You. I would say for anyone with an itchy radical spirit, and is struggling with where to put their energy and their time and how do they make change in this world, I think Let This Radicalize You is an amazing newer book that I encourage everyone to check out and support the amazing women that wrote it.