Evan Flory-Barnes is a Seattle musician. When he walks into a club, say, The Seamonster Lounge, he is greeted by dozens of people, often being affectionately called “The Mayor”. He plays double bass in jazz groups, hip-hop groups, rock groups. He has a charming smile and cares deeply about the city of Seattle, where he was born and raised. The Monarch Review had a chance to catch up with Evan and ask him one super-important question.

Jake Uitti: What do you think Seattle needs to recognize as it begins a new era of influencing the arts on a world stage?

Evan Flory-Barnes: Seattle must recognize, own and celebrate its quality on every level as a city of creativity, innovation and individual self-expression. This has to be done free from irony, self-deprecation and unhealthy and immature ideas of competition. Seattle is coming into its own self-hood and actualization. It is coming out of a period of prolonged adolescence, academic agoraphobia, reverence for self-sabotage and the dismissal of success that fuels the tired crabs in the barrel mentality. I look at the success of Macklemore as a very positive thing and I believe that the embrace of him whether you dig his music or not on the community level is essential to everyone’s possibility in whatever successes they dream of. His fans here clearly embrace him but I believe this city’s creative class should embrace him as an avenue of possibility, even a study in self-branding and creating a depth of relationship with your audience. To me, it reveals a type of complicated laziness from those who want to reduce his impact and contribution to the world stage as mere appropriation or commodity when an artist’s two most successful songs are about marriage equality and thrift shopping. This speaks to radical changes that are happening in our cultural mainstream that our region brings into the forefront. I believe that the progressive bubble in our city can often dismiss things that have significance on a larger stage and in doing so we devalue and ex-out our very unique, necessary and groundbreaking perspective to the discussion. This is why artists do well when they leave the town. A unique voice is cultivated and then its uniqueness is amplified and appreciated. Why not just amplify and appreciate it HERE.

But then there’s always the question of how? Before I elaborate on the how let me share what I feel is possible in this city. I believe that Seattle can/is becoming an Artistic Cultural Community unprecedented. An environment in which the public and private sector, artists, audiences, curators and venue owners co-create an environment that buoys all artists independent of genre or discipline. Sound like a utopia? Maybe. But utopian visions often attempt to erase individuality and personal distinction. I feel in this environment the convergence of unique and even divergent perspectives is key.

But more important than the convergence of perspectives is creating as many performances, presentations, workshops, discussions, gatherings that both show and tackle ignored questions as well as illuminate the idea that everything we need for a flourishing artistic/cultural community is already here. There is no lack in talent, skill, imagination and space in Seattle. Last year the town spent close to half a billion dollars on the arts. We have more millionaires per capita than anyone in the country and I believe that a shift in the mentality of artists, musicians, curators and venue owners needs to move from scarcity to the idea of abundance. From hoarding to collaboration and a healthy and fun sense of competition with the overarching intention of showing off that the Seattle Artistic/Cultural production is of the highest quality at every level and in doing so it will become the city’s chief attraction, export and identity.