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Collected Item: “Terra Lopez Oral History, 2021/04/21”

Title

Interview with Terra Lopez of Rituals of Mine

Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.

Kit Heintzman

Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.

Terra Lopez of Rituals of Mine

Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.

kheintzman@gmail.com

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#anxiety, #art, #artist, #BLM, #California, #depression, #dog, #GeorgeFloyd, #Hispanic, #livestreams, #music, #musician, #NativeAmerican, #pandemicpets, #partnership, #performingarts, #protests, #queer, #Sacramento, #vaccination

What is the format of your recording?

Video

In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.

Sacramento, California, USA

What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*

She/Her/Hers

What is the age of the interviewee?

35 to 44

How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*

Hispanic and Native American

Describe the oral history.

Lopez’s self-description: “I am a full-time musician, a touring artist, a recording artist, along with being a music publicist.”

Some of the things we discussed include:
Learning about the pandemic before it hit the United States and taking precautions pre-lock down.
Transitioning from a busy schedule regularly touring 8 months of the year to the feeling of a novel “2 week break” at the beginning of the pandemic, to picking up speed, making art throughout the pandemic, the waning availability of work more recently, and awareness that once touring becomes possible again it will be even more competitive. How COVID-19 amplified the marginalization of artists, and that this will be a lasting problem.
Releasing a record in September 2020 and creative problem solving in advertising it without touring.
Learning new technologies and taking on new expenses for them for the purpose of creating audience connections over Live Streams.
The decision to attend Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s murder in spite of fears related to COVID-19 and crowds.
Learning to take a holistic approach to health over time. How healthcare structures compound the margination of already marginalized people. That rising vaccination rates may change ideas about safety.
Difficulties of negotiating COVID-19 related boundaries, the practices of respecting others’ boundaries, and friendships lost along the way.
The benefits of partnership during the pandemic and access to affection. Newly bringing a dog home and how that changed a sense of purpose.
Experiences of anxiety and depression.

Other cultural references: Instagram

See also:
https://ritualsofmine.com
https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/rituals-of-mine-hype-nostalgia-review
https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/rituals-mines-terra-lopez-grief-growth-behind-hype-nostalgia

On what date did you record this oral history?

2021-04-21T11:06
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