Issue 6 - Pressure Life

Jessica 'Evil' Eye
EYE BELIEVE.
STRAIGHT OUT OF CLEVELAND
M U S I C / E N T E RTA I N M E N T / A RT S & C U LT U R E / L I F E / I N D E P E N D E N T / P R ES S U R E L I F E . C O M
PRESSURE PEOPLE
MEET THE PRESSURE TEAM
Gennifer HardingGosnell
PRESSURE LIFE
Creative Director, Owner
Chief Operating Officer, Owner
Editors
Jim Bacha
John Gardner
Amy Sokolowski
Sarah Maxwell
Ryan Novak
Art Director
Hannah Allozi
Illustrator
Aaron Gelston
With a master's in journalism from
Kingston University in London
under her belt, Gennifer HardingGosnell, is one of PressureLife's most
experienced writers, bringing her
unique perspective to every article
she crafts. Gennifer never shrinks from covering controversial or
taboo topics, but in all seriousness, she's one of the funniest people
on our staff. Gennifer considers herself to be too sarcastic for her
own good, and if you've got a problem with that she'll likely tell
you to “Piss off, mate!”
Gennifer is a huge futball (and “football”) fan, listens to way too
much music and is a fantastic cook. As a left-brainer, she values logic
and reason, but doesn't need a reason to get weird once in a while.
@gelston.design
Senior Writers
Adam Dodd
Will Kmetz
Staff Writers
Dan Bernardi
Matt McLaughlin
Kevin Naughton
Contributors
Casey Rearick
@caseyrearickphoto
Alex Bieler
Ben Diamond
Darrick Rutledge
Stephanie Ginese
Jae Andres
Brandon Lee Wise
Distribution
PMK Logistics
Casey Rearick
Self-described as neither tall, dark,
nor handsome, Casey Rearick is the
keen eye behind the lens on many
of Pressure's most vibrant photos,
striking a distinct tone in his images
that bring each subject to life on the
page. Casey's studio is located at Cleveland's own creative supercastle, Lake Affect Studios, where he shoots fashion, editorial, and
advertising photography. You can check out a showcase of his work
at www.caseyrearick.com and on IG @caseyrearickphoto.
When he's not snapping pix, Casey enjoys literature, poetry, and
film, and is of the distinct minority that prefers Ace Ventura 2 to the
original. Casey also fears moths, and will run if they near him.
Enjoying PressureLife?
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Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 3
CONTENTS
FIN D H IM
G ET CASH
MARCH / APRIL 2016
10
30
06 Good Vibrations
13
A young shoemaker makes his mark
10 Made in Cleveland
Cleveland's fashion scene is
about more than just T-shirts
06
Can rock and roll save Tremont?
26
14 Brewers Gold
Ohio’s untapped potential
in hop and barley farming
16 Eye Believe
Cleveland’s own
has her eye on the prize
08
21 Viva Dance
A downtown dance club
with a distinctly Cleveland feel
22 Hometown (Super) Heroes
Cleveland’s newest hero
of print and screen—Apama!
21
With Spring just around the corner, we thought for sure that this time Weir
would emerge from his hibernation with a renewed sense of purpose and
a strong desire to rejoin the herd, especially after our diligent reader Megan
discovered him nested away at Bonnie's Bar & Grill in our last issue. Alas, this is
not the case, and before we could tag him with a GPS tracker, Weir galloped off
into the pages of PressureLife, once again treating our advertisements like his
own personal nature reservation.
What Weir didn't take into account is that he's big game, and on the prowl
is his most dangerous predator: you, the reader. Weir is no match for your
heightened senses and unparalleled cunning, so as you flip the pages
of PressureLife with your sharpened claws, keep your eyes trained. For
your chance to win a $25 gift card, locate the elusive Weir stashed away in
one of our adverts and be the first to submit his location to @thepressurelife
(through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram). Game on!
Want to wear Weir?
26 The Curious Case
WINE
Weir is He This Time?
13 Coda vs. the Hydra
T
All win UESDAY
EVENIN
half p e bottles u
G
n
rice b
eginn der $99 ar
ing at
e
3 PM
Courtesy of EarthQuaker Devices
08 Kickmaster
DEAR FRIENDS...
½ OFF
EVERY
PressureLife.com has your size.
of the Unknown Man
Did the Zodiac killer call Cleveland home?
30 The Dyngus Among Us
Everyone’s Polish
FOLLOW US
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16
@thepressurelife
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 5
The
SOUND
FACTORY
behind. He had simply found something that he loved to do. "At no
point in that [time] did I intend to make a business out of it."
After a while, a few of us step outside for a smoke.
The sky is a grey blanket and it's just cold enough
to be frustrating. Julie tells me about the homeless guy that harvests
their cigarette butts. Then she shows me a video (she's got a bunch).
The bum is a white-hot ghost captured on infrared surveillance cameras. We watch him shake the receptacle upside down like a giant salt
shaker before he realizes the bottom pops right off. I look up and down
the streets, but see nothing stirring.
VROOM, VROOM
Jamie Stillman and
EarthQuaker Devices are Akron's
guitar pedal industry
entire operation from his basement. He leans forward and explains
in a low voice how the journey began.
Ben Diamond
When I first get there, I wonder if I have the wrong
place. I'm looking for EarthQuaker Devices, the
guitar pedal company based here in Akron. Pale bluish paint is peeling off the bricks of the warehouse. There's no logo or sign. Just some
directions for deliveries on the door. But Google Maps confirms it and
there are a few cars parked out front. Encouraged, I ring the doorbell
and I'm buzzed through.
KNOCK, KNOCK
I'm startled twice before I see any people. First, at
the sight of a dressed-up skeleton under the stairs.
Second, at a barking watchdog who sniffs me out
when I reach the second floor. His master calls
him off and I finally meet some humans.
The thing about
EQD's pedals is
that they're not
just pedals.
They're portals
to new realms
of sound.
Jamie Stillman, his wife Julie Robbins, and a
few employees are huddled around a computer,
listening to a demo of one of their pedals. Even
through the desktop speakers, the sound is burly
and the riffs are satisfying. Impressed, the group
disbands, leaving Stillman in his office, which has
impeccably clean hardwood floors and is bordered
with amps, a few guitars and some band posters. I
get the impression Stillman wears a lot of black. There's some silver
showing in his beard and he tucks more black hair behind his ears.
Stillman is the founder of EarthQuaker Devices. Since its inception
in 2005, it has become an established force in the music industry and
its products can be seen on guitar rigs and in studios around the world.
They staff just under 40 employees, ship between six to eight hundred
pedals a week, and recently moved into this 11,000 square foot warehouse—but there was a time not too long ago when Stillman ran the
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The noise started when Stillman was in his late
twenties, back home in Akron after touring with
various bands for nearly a decade. For music equipment, he was left
with "garbage gear and very little of it." He still had one pedal that he
really liked (a DOD 250 overdrive), but it was broken and he couldn't
find anyone to repair it. Without thinking twice, he looked up the
schematics and fixed it himself. At the time, he was working from
home as a freelance graphic designer and had a lot of time on his hands.
Guitar pedals became an obsession. "I started tinkering with stuff—
breaking a lot of things—and eventually I made some pedals for
friends, and they said they liked them."
RUMBLINGS
One of his friends was Dan Auerbach, the guitarist
and vocalist for local up-and-comers The Black
Keys. Stillman became their tour manager around
the same time his pedal obsession began. About a
year into his experiments, Stillman, who by then
had unloaded some pedals on eBay, produced a
fuzz pedal for Auerbach. Somebody photographed
Auerbach using the pedal at a show and posted an
inquiry on an online forum: "What pedal is this? It
sounds awesome." Stillman happened to be lurking
on the same forum and he identified himself as the
architect.
A flood of messages came through. People wanted
to know if Stillman could duplicate the pedal. From
there it was all word of mouth. At first, Stillman sold directly to individuals, but then he secured some larger dealers. He needed help to meet
the demand, and the basement began to get more crowded.
In the early days, mailmen were always asking questions. "What do
you guys make? What do you do for EarthQuakers?" If Stillman was
wittier at the time, he would have told them to watch out for a big one
on June 12. In retrospect, he might have picked a different company
name. But Stillman was locked in, never thinking too far ahead or
We go back inside and Stillman gives me a tour of the ground floor.
There are large, open spaces for storage and deliveries. They've got a
new machine for the pedal enclosures and for printing pedal designs.
In an adjacent room, dozens of employees sit at workstations for assembling electrical components. Because every pedal is made by hand,
you could technically call EarthQuaker a boutique pedal company,
but Stillman doesn't like to use that term. He acknowledges that it is
EQD'S Favorite Pedals
The Speaker Cranker:
A single knob overdrive pedal, it's
Stilman's favorite, partly because
it's maddeningly simple and
esoteric. "Anything that we've
made has come from something
that I need or want," he says. The
Speaker Cranker is a prime example. He took it from his personal
pedalboard to the production
line only after receiving a great
deal of positive feedback.
The
Rainbow Machine:
This Pepto-Bismo pink pedal can
make full on double-rainbows all
the way across the sky. Stillman
had some fun with this one. Described on their website as "a cold
digital beast made to pretend it has
feelings," The Rainbow Machine is a
polyphonic harmonic pitch shifter
that uses an accurate, but archaic
methodology. Stillman purposefully made it imperfect to release
some much needed chaos into the
world. It takes a certain kind of person and a lot of patience to wield
this one. Look! It's even starting to
look like a triple rainbow! What
does this mean?!
The
Hoof:
This is the one that started it all.
Striking this gold box with a cloven-foot will turn your guitar into
saw, a sword, or half of a two-man
band. Based on the green Russian
Big Muff (get your laughs out
now), this woolly fuzz pedal has
been linked to Dan Auerbach's
own pedalboard.
Honorable
Mention:
The Dispatch Master is a popular
reverb-delay combo pedal that
can create a lot of unique sounds.
It also pays tribute to the original
name of the erstwhile Cedar Point
coaster, The Disaster Transport.
a selling point for people in his industry, but there are other reasons
for doing things the way they do. "It would be so much cheaper and
smarter for us to farm all of this out," he says, but keeping things
in-house enables EQD to have more control over the manufacturing
process. And while he doesn't believe that a pedal made by hand is
inherently superior, there is a certain security in knowing where it
came from. "If anything goes wrong, you can call us at any point. We'll
know everything about it, we'll know how to fix it, and we'll do it for
free."
Part of being Midwestern is not noticing that you are different until
you venture out. Stillman noticed it at trade shows when he heard
ridiculous marketing strategies and product pitches. EarthQuaker
Devices has always used a clean, and simple approach to advertising: a
white background, a picture of the pedal, a brief description. Anything
extra doesn't seem necessary to Stillman and his coworkers. He laughs
because it sounds too simple: "We make a thing, and we sell it, because
we like to do it."
On a similar note, he doesn't try to overtly promote the famous artists
who use his pedals. But EarthQuaker Devices is associated with quite
a few notable names and Stillman reluctantly gives me a few: Queens
of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Coldplay, The Mars Volta, Paramore,
Sleep, Failure, High On Fire, Pearl Jam, Oasis, Modest Mouse. He
likes some more than others. Because you can also find their products
in so many studios, sounds made by EQD pedals are more prevalent
than ever, but that's not what matters most to Stillman. "The one thing
that we've done is we've actually just maintained friendships with a
lot of these big bands or little bands or any bands that we like," he says.
From the sound of Stillman's own band, Relaxer, he favors the heavier
bands, the ones that deliver a certain kind of raw power. Relaxer's
album Lasers is self-described on Bandcamp as "ear splitting, cinematic, prog influenced psych rock" and is accompanied by artwork of
a floating skull shooting lasers from its eyes.
The thing about EQD's pedals is that they're not just pedals; they're
portals to new realms of sound. They're little Pandora's boxes that
draw you in with their righteous designs and symbolism. Their names
perk the imagination: Talons, Hoof, Afterneath, Dream Crusher, The
Depths, White Light. These devices are just part of the inventive world
that Stillman and his team continue to build in Akron. They're a model
example of Rust Belt reinvention that has taken advantage of cheap
real estate and a tight-knit community to build an authentic, American-made product. Only instead of rubber, they manufacture sound.
EQD inspires loyal followers from all over who actively promote
their brand, but what about their presence in the surrounding area?
I ask Stillman if anyone knows they're here. "No," he says flatly. In
fact, he even took a quiet pleasure in shutting down the city block
so that data cables could be wired to their new headquarters. I
gather that he doesn't mind the isolation. It only means more quiet
to fill with noise.
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 7
rate skills. This can mean anything from sewing to stitching to "skiving," which involves thinning the leather with a very sharp specialty
blade. The other processes are evidenced in his workshop, accessible
by spiral staircase in the corner of his apartment. On the landing, there
are shoeboxes, cuttings, and miscellaneous debris cluttering the floor
space. A few sewing machines line the wall. Shoe molds that look like
feet from missing mannequins are stacked on shelves. Rolls of alligator,
ostrich, and python hide—dyed licorice black, forest green, and candy
red—are tucked underneath a large standing desk. For the simplest
project, the process can take 12 hours, but for the more ambitious shoes,
he can expect to put in 80 hours or more.
Kick Master
CRAFTSMAN
Jacob Ferrato's custom kicks bring
a timeless touch to the sneaker world
To own a sneaker from JBF Customs, expect a heavy fee. The cost of
materials, the number of hours, and Ferrato's level of craftsmanship
certainly warrant it, but you might be wondering, who would pay
that much for a pair of shoes? Those familiar with the sneaker world
are not phased by that question. Sneakerheads are more than willing to shell out gobs of money for new, exclusive, or hyped-up shoes.
However, Ferrato's clientele extend beyond this cliquey community.
They can be average Joes, collectors, fashionistas, or celebrities, but
they all have a few things in common: they want something unique
and authentic, they want something with a story, and they appreciate
having a hand in the creation. A recent project for Cavaliers guard
Iman Shumpert comes to mind. Iman's brother, Ahrii, developed
the concept with some sketches and it was up to Ferrato to make
sure the concept was possible and to build it. "Some people just really
appreciate hand-made goods," Ferrato says. "It's such a rarity these
days, so I think some people really connect with that."
Ben Diamond // Head Shot: Casey Rearick @caseyrearickphoto
T
he business takes care of itself. It's always been that way, which is
good for Jacob Ferrato, because he can get lost in his work. "I don't
usually know what day of the week it is," he says half-jokingly.
He may not look it, but Ferrato is a master craftsman. He could blend
right into a crowd of fellow Cleveland urbanites, although few 24-yearolds have built a coveted custom sneaker brand from scratch. Under
the name JBF Customs, he has attracted
a slew of celebrity clients and Instagram
followers. All of Ferrato's shoes are made
to order, starting at the base price of $1,000.
He deconstructs and re-imagines classic
sneaker designs with exotic animal hides
and tasteful colorways. He has even begun
to build shoes completely from scratch. Whatever the method, the
emphasis is always on impeccable craftsmanship.
Some people just
really appreciate
hand-made goods.
A good gig if you can get it, the custom shoe game is certainly a
niche one. Ferrato attributes his career to luck, but also to seizing
opportunity. Ferrato got into customizing shoes in 2008 while he was
attending Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls. At first he
tried painting, then stitching and gluing materials directly to the shoe,
but these methods didn't translate into an ideal product. Learning to
do a proper shoe reconstruction was more difficult, but it gave him
the tools to advance his craft. He found his range in college, adding
custom snapback hats with snakeskin brims to his repertoire. While
the hats were easy money, he decided to post five pairs of original
kicks online, priced at $350 each. They quickly sold out, and he
received some incentive to make more: people were offering him a
few thousand dollars for a pair. At the time he was 19, and that kind of
money seemed too good to pass up, so he jumped on it. The requests
kept coming and a spark was lit. There reached a point when Ferrato
thought, "OK, I've probably got something here."
8 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
The motivation to build the business continued when Ferrato realized
what was at stake. If he could make it a success, he could be his own
boss and determine his own lifestyle. And that's exactly what he's
done. He's amassed a huge social media following, the most coming
from Instagram with 122,000 followers. His creations thrive on social
media. They're visually stunning, dopamine-inducing shoegasms. It's
really fun to read the comments from people whose minds have just
exploded—a common response is a series of fire emojis. It's also easy
to see why JBF Customs has been such a success. Once you see a
pair, you need a pair.
Every artist has a signature and Ferrato is no different. After investing hours on a pair, he'll sometimes paint his logo (two plus signs)
on the tongue and write his tagline, "Incomparable"—because that’s
exactly what they are.
Instagram likes are nice, but for Ferrato, it's all about the craft. He's
been told that shoemaking requires the mastery of around 200 sepa-
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 9
Made in
CLEVELAND
A look at the local fashion
scene from some of its most
innovative designers
Stephanie Ginese // Photography: Jae Andres
C
leveland is known for many things: great beer and even better food, a once highly-flammable river, a rich rock and roll
history, and lovable sports teams ranging from the winning
wine and gold to the boo-worthy brown and orange. One thing
Cleveland is not really recognized for is a strong presence in the
fashion world. However, many local designers are working to
stitch up that perception and sew the city’s name into high-fashion hemlines. PressureLife caught up with three of these fashion
aficionados to find out how we can get Cleveland runway ready,
and how they plan to take their handmade designs out of the
dawg pound and onto the catwalk.
Take us through your design process. First, I definitely research. Even
though I don’t like to look at what other designer’s are doing when I’m
working, it is important to know what’s going on and what the trends
are—take a few that you like and then incorporate them in your own
way. I have to find my inspiration before I even start designing. I won’t
even sketch anything until I’m sure of what the inspiration is. Then, I
find the fabrics I want and order the swatches offline. It sucks that in
Cleveland we don’t have any really good fabric stores. Jo-Ann Fabric
sucks. Then I move onto drawing, painting, and rendering my figures.
Next I do the muslins on the figure, and finally get to actually making
the piece: the fun part.
Jevon Terance
She puts pieces together that no one would ever think would make sense,
but she just has crazy style. Also, I don’t look at anything fashion related
when I’m searching for inspiration. If you look at other designer’s work,
you’ll subconsciously design what you’ve been seeing. I like to go outside
of fashion for inspiration.
Danielle Pusateri
"I just want people to not be afraid of fashion, and to
be more adventurous. Just put it on."
Danielle Pusateri, the fiery fashionista, is a 2013 Kent State graduate
who started out majoring in graphic design, but decided to switch lanes
into fashion design after attending a campus fashion show. After graduating, she designed a men’s line for Xhibition, a local art and fashion
gallery, but she later jumped ship to Forma Apparel Manufacturing in
Beachwood, where she is currently helping to design their kidswear line,
Orgava. To gain a more in-depth look in Pusateri’s supreme aesthetic,
check out her fashion blog at danni-p.com.
What inspires you? I like utilitarian. I personally wear a lot of men’s
clothing. I like baggier fits, but that can still be sexy. There’s this German
film student on Instagram whose style I just love. She goes by @majawyh.
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Do you feel as though you take inspiration from being here in Cleveland? Yeah, for sure. I can’t always afford to travel, so my boyfriend and I
always like to check out the really cool thrift stores here in Cleveland. We
just went to Flower Child yesterday, and to Sweet Lorain. I run a blog, so
I’m always trying to find cool places around the city to shoot the photos.
What kind of impact would you like to make on the local fashion scene?
It’s always the same thing here. You see girls all dressed pretty much
the same. I feel like the men are a little bit further in the fashion scene
here. I want to be able to inspire people to be more creative with their
looks and more comfortable with trying new things.
What would you like to see more of on the local fashion front? I just
want people to not be afraid of fashion, and to be more adventurous.
Just put it on. People around here should have more confidence. If you
like it, wear it.
You’re designing for other lines currently. However, if you were to
start your own line, what could people expect? Lately, I’ve been leaning more towards women’s wear. I like men’s wear, and my style is
very androgynous, so it’s always been easy for me to flip-flop between
the two. Definitely, women’s wear first. I like men’s wear, but it’s just
more expensive to make.
"People don’t usually put two and two
together that I make glam dresses."
Jevon Terance, named after its creator, is the chic, yet edgy fashion-forward line out of Lorain, Ohio. Growing up, Terance was more about the
basketball court than the runway, but he took a drastic turn when he
began to learn the art of sewing. Taking most of his inspiration from
the legendary Air Jordan sneakers, Terance began creating elegant
women’s and men’s pieces based off of the shoe. He currently owns and
operates a boutique in the heart of Lorain right next door to the historical
Lorain Palace Theatre. With over 200 runway shows and a showing at
Paris Fashion Week in 2015 under his black, leather belt, Jevon Terance
is a local fashion force to be reckoned with.
Tell us about the Jevon Terance brand? My brand started in 2007. I
design both women’s and men’s clothing, which most designers don’t
do. It’s really cool for me because it makes me more diverse. My pieces
are everyday wear on a high-end scale.
What makes your brand unique? Like I said, being a women’s and
men’s line, I feel, makes me unique. Also, I have a good eye for
prints and different fabrics. I like to take challenges with working with different fabrics. A lot of designers don’t like to change
the settings on their machines, so they’ll work with just knits or
cottons. I like to show those diverse fabrics and go searching for
different things. I also design my own fabrics and patterns, so my
pieces are definitely one of a kind.
What inspires you? I actually got into fashion through basketball. I used
to sketch sneaker designs in elementary school, so I kept up with that.
You know, I love Michael Jordan and I wanted to work for Nike. After
high school, I moved to San Diego and fell in love with fashion there—
everything was a little more high-end than where I had come from—so
I started teaching myself how to sew. The Jordans still inspire me. I
design a lot of my dresses based off of those shoes. When the Jordans
drop, people know the exact date and they’ll wait out in the cold to get a
pair. I call it the “Jordan Effect.” I want to have that for my line.
How do you see yourself in the world of fashion? People don’t usually
put two and two together that I make glam dresses. I really love when
I’m networking with people and telling them that I make dresses and
men’s wear because, being here in Ohio, people just assume you make
T-shirts, which is fine, but you know, I’m doing some real stuff: buying
fabric, cutting, and sewing. I love that I surprise people.
What are your thoughts on the local fashion scene? I like what’s going
on here. I like Yellowcake and ILTHY. ILTHY inspires me to make
better T-shirt designs for my T-shirt line. Anyway, I think Cleveland
is really good. A lot of people count us out, but we’re so close to New
York. There’s always something going on with fashion, especially when
it starts to warm up.
What’s next for you? I’m building my next big show, which will be called
from “Lorain to Paris.” I had to do a collection based off my visit to Paris.
I’m working on doing maybe another Fashion Week in the fall. Just
more branding, branding, and branding...
Dawn Fox
"The imperfections of handmade make it look more quality
versus now when items are mass produced."
Dawn Fox is a personal-style trailblazer and a walking work
of art. A graduate of Virginia Marti College, she had hopes of
opening a shop in Lakewood, but when those plans unfortunately
fell through, she began to craft pieces on the side while working
other odd jobs. She then took a job as a pattern maker for a local
company, which allowed her to gain a lot of experience and to continue to harness her craft. However, she left the position after she
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 11
began to feel stifled—as so many creatives do—and continued
to work on her designs on the side. She’s made custom dresses
for friends and family, such as her sister-in-law’s wedding
gown. She now puts all of her design efforts into her own Etsy
store, which features one-of-a-kind accessories and designs.
You can follow her on Instagram at @fuchsshoppe and shop
her Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/FuchsShoppe.
CODA vs. the Hydra
Matthew McLaughlin // Illustrations: Aaron Gelston @gelston.design
Tell us about your designs. My designs are heavily influenced
by a lot vintage. I like men’s wear, such as military pieces and
cowboy-inspired looks, for the ladies, but with a twist. I want
to make sure it’s still feminine. Very vintage inspired, because
I like the handmade look. Back when people used to make
their own clothes, I think the imperfections of handmade
made it look more quality versus now when items are mass
produced. They just look cheap to me and lack character. I try
to stick with things that I like. I have a weird style, and I like
to mix a lot of different pieces.
Do you feel as though you take any inspiration from being
here in Cleveland? Um, yes. I mean, I definitely get more
inspired to get my ideas out there because I feel they’re so
different from what you see in Cleveland. The city itself, I
know, is not high fashion and people sometimes will look
at you weird if you wear something that’s even a little out
there and creative. So, it does inspire me to get my pieces out
into these kinds of areas in hopes that people will at least be
willing to try it out.
What are your thoughts on the local fashion scene? You don’t
see a whole lot of unique styles. I do definitely appreciate that
the Cleveland area does have a lot of vintage shops. I love that.
I meet a lot of people that either buy vintage or they have their
own stores. I think that there’s a lot of hidden talent here. I
know people from going to school at Virginia Marti that have
some really great ideas; it’s just a lot of Cleveland fashion goes
back to the basics. You know, they sure do love their T-shirts.
It’d just be cool to see more people venture out of the box.
What would you like to see more of on the local fashion
front? I always like that when you look at old photos or movies,
you see the men all in suits. The women are all in dresses. I
know that it’ll never be like that again, but I think it would
be cool if people could tie more things like that into their
daily wardrobe—something as small as even wearing a skirt
with a T-shirt or combining those ideas. Anything to look a
little more classic and classy and get everyone out of those
PJ pants. It would also be great to see more fashion shows. I
know there’s Cleveland Fashion Week and other events, but
even a small show in a storefront, or to throw a show for a
good cause.
12 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
N
ot too long ago Chef Dante Bocuzzi decided to open his
fourth enterprise, this one on Professor Ave in Tremont.
Tucked down in the basement, Coda is a low-ceilinged,
red lit little music venue, with a square footage less
than your average one bedroom and a bar the size of a thimble.
Around about 600 BC, Hercules kicked the shit out of the Hydra.
And ever since then, he’s been wandering around picking on anyone
he thinks he can handle. Now, he’s got his eyes on Coda, the new
kid on the block.
When the Hydra slides down the steps and into the subterranean
music space, one of his heads is definitely headed to the bar. There
it finds a decent selection of craft beers, shitty domestics, a few
cocktails, and enough fernet to
satiate an army of bartenders. Now
thoroughly distracted, Head One
is gonna be held up for a while, as
it works it’s way through a Doctor
Funk #2, a beautifully balanced
drink with just the right amount of
Absinthe. In the meantime, Head
Two wanders up to the front to
take a look at what’s going on with
the crowd. Looking at the graffiti
mural behind the stage, he mutters
under his breath “fucking yuppies.”
But, when he actually looks at the
show calendar and notices upstart bands like Duo Decibel, Fever
Child, and Bullfighter, along with some decent touring acts like
Farnsworth, and some local favorites like The Suede Bros, Head
Two has to concede that it’s a pretty legitimate venue.
The funniest fare
being a grilled
cheese sandwich
with spicy
Cheetos, cooked
in a waffle iron.
As Head Three heads towards the bar, it realizes that One is now
trashed and hitting on one of the bartenders, and Two is engaged in
a heated discussion about whether or not punk is dead on the other
side of the room. Three's also gotten a little hungry. The food menu
is pretty small, all bar food with Bocuzzi flair added. The funniest
fare being a grilled cheese sandwich with spicy Cheetos, cooked in a
waffle iron. After Three munches pleasantly on the bizzaro bites, it
has decided that One, who now can barely talk and should probably
stop shooting Ferraris with that guy in suspenders, should probably
go home. The Hydra stumbles out of the basement, not quite sure
why he was there in the first place, but pretty sure he will be back.
PressureLife Magazine gives Coda 85 out of 108 poisonous fangs.
Know the Enemy:
The Hydra is a many headed, ancient beast, known for smelling like
garbage, having poisonous fangs, and insisting that you’re a fashion punk.
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 13
BREWERS GOLD
in recipes. Although U.S. hop acreage has increased nearly 52%
over the last three years, hop availability is sporadic at best, and
hop contracts are almost entirely consumed by established breweries. And on the other end, distributors are
blackmailing smaller breweries to purchase
their surplus malts in order to get the hops
they want.
Of the 45,000+ acres of U.S hops harvested for industry use in
2015, only 50 were from Ohio, with the overwhelming majority
coming from the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. harvested nearly
3.1M acres of barley in 2015, and Ohio isn’t even on the list of
growers. But with Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati making
big splashes in the beer scene, an existing farming infrastructure
and favorable climate, Ohio has the potential to be a big name in
hop and barley farming. The current revitalization of heirloom
malts and hop and barley growers expanding outside the Pacific
Northwest and upper North America offers the perfect opportunity for farmers to take the plunge. The shortage of supplies due
to the craft beer boom has brewers looking to local hop and barley
growers, piggybacking the local resources movement. With our
society is fixated with 100% local ingredients and 100% local beer,
it doesn't get much better than that.
While malts aren’t quite as difficult to get
your hands on, the majority of barley used
in beer making comes from the European
Union. And in North America, Canada
doubles the output of barley compared to the
U.S. Of the entire world’s harvest, a mere 22% is for industrial use,
including malting and beer making. This hasn’t gone unrecognized, especially by farmers from the U.S. who are noticing stern
federal regulation of hops and barley from growers overseas with
loose regulations. Aside from the big players in barley farming
(Montana, North Dakota, and Idaho) states such as South Dakota,
Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota have all seen increases in
seeded acreage over the last year. The same can be said for hops.
Some growers in Ohio have already begun to take advantage of
this shortage. According to the Ohio Hop Growers Guild, there
are nearly 40 small Hops farms stretching from Toledo to Cincinnati. The potential is so great, The Ohio State University and
the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center hosts
an Ohio Hop Conference and Trade show to help growers and
anyone else interested in growing learn more about the product
and industry. And while there aren’t farmers who grow barley
alone, some grow it alongside other small grains such as wheat,
oats, and corn. It may never gain the same traction hop farming
does since Ohio has been and will continue to be a large producer
of wheat, but Ohio is well on it’s way to becoming a sustainable
grower and producer of some of the nation's best craft beer!
From Backyard to Bottle
Will Kmetz // Illustrations: Aaron Gelston
A
ccording to the Brewers Association, there are now 4,000+
breweries operating in the U.S. to date, opening at an astonishing rate of approximately 1.8 per day. Colleges and universities
are creating programs dedicated to the
science of brewing, and many are calling it
quits on their established careers to choose
the brewery life instead. With many of these
breweries already rooted in the community
and even more vying to make it big, opportunity seems to be a glass half empty. But you
don’t have to brew in order to cash in, and
that’s exactly how farmers across the nation
are viewing this cultural and economic boom.
As an epicenter to the craft beer trend in the Midwest and a recognized farming state, Ohio has the potential to capitalize.
With an existing farming
infrastructure and favorable
climate, Ohio has the
potential to be a big name
in hop and barley farming.
There are four main ingredients in beer: water, barley, hops, and
yeast. With this extraordinary growth in breweries, resources
are at an all-time low. Of the four ingredients, barley and hops are
of particular interest. A shift from intensely bitter to flavor and
aroma packed beers means nearly doubling the weight of hops
With the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho) at the
forefront, states such as Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana,
New York, New Hampshire, and Maine are all taking the leap in
the hop growing game. A name you don’t see on either of those
lists is Ohio.
HOW TO: Grow your own hops in 5 easy steps
01.
Obtain rhizome of desired hops to be grown. You can find these at your local home
brew shop when in season (spring). Keep the rhizome moist and refrigerated until
the soil is ready for planting.
02.
Spring is planting time. Choose a location with southern exposure to sun and
plenty of space (~20 feet) upward or horizontally for the vine to grow. Dig a hole
about 1-2 inches deep and plant the rhizome horizontally. Allow ~5 feet of space between
each rhizome. Frequent, but short waterings work best. The soil should never remain dry
for extended periods of time.
14 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
03.
String a trellis system up directly behind the rhizome. This can be 8-10 feet
depending on space constrictions or up to 20 feet tall to allow the vine to grow in
subsequent years. After the vine has reached about a foot in height, choose the hardiest
vines (2-3) and prune the rest. Now wrap these around the trellis in a clockwise motion
and prune subsequent vines from the base of the plant.
04.
The first year will establish the permanent root stock, called the crown. This can
survive deep freezes so don’t worry about the dieback on the rest of the plant. You
won’t get much flowering growth in the first year. Try to focus on maintaining the vine
structure. In years two and three, you will begin to see substantial gains in flowers, which
are your harvestable hops cones.
05.
It’s time to harvest (Aug-Sep)! You’ll know the hops are ready when the aroma is
most potent. Test by crushing a cone in between your hands and giving it a whiff.
Mature cones should be plump and begin to dry only slightly. Pick only the cone, leaving
behind leaf material. Cones that are brown and slimy are no good. Dry your harvest
thoroughly either by air or dry heat. They’re ready to use! Most home grown hops are
used for flavor and aroma, as the potency (alpha acid %) is mostly unknown. Enjoy!
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 15
EYE BELIEVE
E
JESSICA 'EVIL' EYE
C
andles are glowing with soft, warm light. The hotel room
is full of luxurious pillows. The “Ambassadors of Comfort”
were here and missed no pertinent detail. Fight week is
extraordinarily intense and draining mentally, emotionally
and physically. After months of training, days in the gym
and more lean protein than any human should have to
consume, a tiny bit of indulgence is all any man or woman
would want. After all, the end game is to mentally morph
your mindset to beat the living shit out of someone with absolutely
no remorse or regard for their well-being.
Fight Eve. After weigh-in, the real preparation begins, the mental
prep, the “rituals” that get you into your game. This is where you will
observe a scene straight out of a slumber party every chick has ever
been to: one girl is sitting on the couch, pounding a jumbo size bag of
M&M's while her bestie braids her hair. The monumental difference
16 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
Jessica Eye hasn't
just cleared her own
path, she’s pioneered it
Sarah Maxwell // Photography: Casey Rearick @caseyrearickphoto
between these two events? These are not your typical, bullshit Kim
Kardashian pig-tails, these are badass, trademark war braids. These
intricate braids are part of a mental preparation that sets everything
into motion for the next day. It is time to tighten up everything. It is
time to transform mentally and physically from a hometown Cleveland hottie to a warrior renegade. It is time to convert from Jessica
Eye to Jessica “Evil” Eye. The Woman Behind the Evil. “Never judge a book by its cover” they
say. Fuck that! I judge everything by its damn cover, and you’re lying
if you say you don’t as well. Eye could make the toughest badass guy
piss his pants and quiver in fear--she literally knocked a bitch’s ear off
before--all while enigmatically attracting him. But Eye completely fits
the saying, she is not the type of person who wants to be a pull-quote
or meaningless headline about muscles, this incredibly tough (physically, mentally and emotionally), but poised woman has something to
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 17
THE BATTLE FOR QUEEN:
Eye vs. McMann
Once upon a time, Eye (UFC ranked #7)
trained with friend and Olympic Medalist
turned MMA fighter, Sara McMann
(ranked #6). They thought it was a great
opportunity for the two, in different weight
classes, in different divisions, with different
strengths and weaknesses, to elevate their
games. Eye asked McMann to train with her
prior to her 2013 Bellator debut. “I beat the
crap out of her every day she was out here
training. I blew her knee out. I put her down
the one time,” Eye reminisced.
"We are going to ride this ship to
the end. We will do it with gold
around our waist. We’re going to
do it here in Northeast, Ohio."
A few years later, as McMann prepared
for her UFC debut, she asked Eye to join
her to return the favor as she was facing
Sarah Kaufman. Eye obliged and all was
well in the MMA world, until two weeks
later when Bellator cut Eye, getting rid of
their women’s division. The UFC wasted no
time and immediately picked her up and
Eye was moved up a weight class, putting
her directly in competition with McMann.
The once seemingly pleasant rapport
quickly turned icy when many of Eye's calls
and messages lobbed at McMann went
unreturned. Eye tried everything to reach
McMann, but when she didn't hear back, a
feud was born. When McMann ending up
dropping the fight against Kauffman, Eye
picked it up, making a serious entrance onto
the UFC stage by kicking ass.
These two will meet again soon when Eye
and McMann reunite in the octagon. “So
here we are three years later and it looks
like we will get to settle it mano y mano
in the cage. I guess the way two women
should settle it,” Eye said.
say. Refreshingly, her message is about Cleveland and why everyone
needs to pay attention to this burgeoning city we all live in (were born
in and never left) amongst other empowering adages.
When you are from a small town in the Midwest, you do not often
hear success stories motivating you to change your entire path and
direction. That lack of a clear set role model did not stop Eye from
charging down her own path, as she always knew she had more in
her. No part of her less than picturesque upbringing and life was
going to stand in her way from turning herself into the role model
that the city was lacking. Careful though, she refuses to assign that
type of moniker to herself. “I am able to give people the ability to find
strength in me. There is not male/female diversity anymore. For me
to be called a role model, that is something that someone else has to
give to me. It is important. I hope they can accept me in my mistakes
and my successes and show you that no matter who you are, you
can succeed.”
To achieve the high-level notoriety and success that Eye has realized
quickly and furiously, she has not only had to clear her own path, but
pioneer it. She focused solely on her hometown of Cleveland support
and was determined to make sure people not only knew her name in
fighting, but knew about women fighting. As Eye prepared for her
first fight, the organizers handed her a stack of tickets. Most people
would look at this as a daunting, meaningless task, but instead she
“sold them hand and foot.” Not only did she want to prove herself as
a legitimate force to be reckoned with, she also wanted to prove that
there was a space for women’s fighting, and it mattered. Her sales
pitch was direct and fierce, just like she is: “I’m going to sell you a story
that you are never going to hear again. I am Jessica Eye. I want to be a
mixed martial artist, you might not have heard of me yet, but maybe
if you buy this ticket you will be onto something before anyone else.”
Ultimate (Fighting) Squad Goals. Keeping good company and surrounding yourself with a supportive net is important for all the pieces
of the puzzle to come together. Beyond the “Ambassadors of Comfort,”
Eye’s inner circle has been with her from the beginning. Eye noted
that among them there is an immense “sense of togetherness" that
"is so heartwarming and you can feel every inch of that.” She has
everyone she needs from “Murse,” a friend who literally holds her
purse when needed; Marcus Marinelli, her coach; Shannon, her
personal braider; and Greg Kalikas, her manager.
More details to follow on PressureLife.com.
Eye says that Marinelli is the father she never emotionally had. He
took a leap of faith on her. “I earned his respect. It was probably the
first time I ever felt I earned a man’s respect. It was one of the more
addicting things in my life.” When Eye executes in training and sees
how happy it makes her coach it motivates her and pushes her to
go harder.
The same goes for Kalikas, who has been by her side before she was
even a fighter. He stuck by her and gave her a chance. Eye explains,
“Stepped onto the mat, he was there. Stepped onto the octagon, he was
18 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
there.” Eye continued that Kalikas told her, “We are going to ride this
ship to the end. We will do it with gold around our waist. We’re going
to do it here in Northeast, Ohio.”
Female Tough, Male Tough. You would expect people (read: bros) to
be a bunch of assholes and dismissive about taking a female seriously
in such a physically tough sport, but Eye has never truly come up
against gender diversity boundaries. Men and women are treated
as equals and train right along one another in the gym. You will see
men and women fighting and kicking one another’s ass on any given
occasion during those long hours training. The media picking up on
female driven athletics has helped close any, no matter how small,
gender gap that once separated the sexes in athletics. Eye explains,
“You are really seeing women outshine men in sports.”
EYEBelieve. Eye is no stranger from channeling inner-strength into
creating momentum. “Self-belief is a hard thing to have,” she says. In
today’s current climate, self-value, worth and belief have plummeted.
It is an epidemic of a bunch of people who feel like shit about themselves, mainly because they are told they should.
This self-rooted confidence is what moved Eye to create her own
clothing line. “I wanted to sell a lifestyle, wanted to sell a belief. It is
about more than me. E.Y.E is about self-assurance,” Eye describes.
She whipped up a few shirts and they immediately sold out in one
night. Her hope was that when people were wearing the motto across
their chest, it would help them believe in themselves, help them find
their own self-assurance, help them find their own voice and help
them move towards their passion the way her self-reliance did for her.
“The world needs more of believing in something happy and good out
there. It is so easy to get caught up in something negative. We all need
to refocus and find that one thing,” Eye elaborates.
Eye wants people to feel strong when they wear her shirts, feel
proud of themselves and their roots. That is why she continued her
foray into fashionable monikers with “Straight Outta Cleveland.”
Though obviously a play on "Straight Outta Compton," Eye still
owns the rights to the slogan, so I would think twice before trying
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 19
to use it, beyond the obvious that you are legally not able, she could
obliterate any of us.
STICKERS!
Shit Talking. When it comes to the entertainment aspect of fighting, throwing shade and calling out your opponent has become
part of the game. A lot of competitors will play up the banter to
try and sell the fight. Eye’s fans don’t care if she talks shit about
the other fighter or not, they want to see her fists. They want to
see her destroy someone “Street Fighter” style.
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the spectrum is fellow fighter Bethe Correia
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A STICKER ART
ANTHOLOGY
BY FILMMAKER
ALEXIS DEFORGES
IN COLLABORATION WITH
PRESENTED BY
A F I V E E P I S O D E S E R I E S F E AT U R I N G I N T E R V I E W S W I T H
SHEPARD FAIREY / DAVE KINSEY / DB BURKEMAN / CJ RAMONE
ABOVE / BIG FOOT / ERIK FOSS / EL TORO / SERGIO VEGA + MORE
M A R C H 2 6 | S T I C K - T O - I T. C O M
| Issue 6
Viva Dance
Heriberto Perez and Rebecca Sweet,
decided to open the studio there.
Industrial elegance at downtown dance studio
Kevin Naughton
Eye had to sack up
and swallow her
pride to get past this
part of her career.
4" Circle White Vinyl / 2 Colors
20 PRESSURELIFE
Celebrating One Year
Eye and Correia were once set to fight on the
same bill in Pittsburgh, but Eye had to pull
out of the fight. Correia took the opportunity
to tell her Twitter followers that Eye pulled
out of the fight so she could pursue acting
and Hollywood. There was a reason Eye did not move forward with
the fight: her team had her back, as they always do, and asked her
to pull out of the fight.
Big Girl Panties. Eye is coming off a losing streak, but not just any
losing streak: decision losses. Decision losses might be the worst for
a fighter to handle since it basically means the referee decides one
fighter lost and it is all up to his/her opinion. Eye said she would have
rather a KO than have to have the fight left to opinion. She calls those
years the hardest years of her life, she has always been a winner and
been at the top. If she was not riding high on the top, she wondered if
she was doing the right thing with her life by fighting. She begged to
get onto the Pittsburgh card to pull herself out of the slump, but her
team asked her to trust them and turn it down. OK, Bethe?
Eye had to sack up and swallow her pride to get past this part of her
career. She needed to fall back in love with her training and dieting.
She needed to transform back into the gladiator, until finally she
was ready to take on another fight. When she fell back in love with
her training and discipline, “the heart she created on the inside
started showing on the outside.” This is what makes her dangerous.
The Land. This is Home. There is finally hype around our city and
Eye wants to bring the UFC home. When the UFC is in town you
can feel the energy from the fans, it swarms the city, its builds up
the city. “That is what I want to do. I want to build it up when I am
back in a contender spot,” Eye says. Eye has no plans of leaving
Cleveland, no matter the circumstance and options that come her
way. “Cleveland is always with you. You’re home. Your roots always
come back to Cleveland. Cleveland is here, Cleveland is home, I
won’t leave..ever.”
Amsel first encountered the space
while he was exploring the halls outside of Negative Space gallery, where
a friend was hosting an open mic
night. “I saw these big glass doors
that were unlocked, so I walked in
and checked it out,” he recalls, “and
it was this huge, beautiful place with
this amazing view of downtown.”
He quickly contacted Perez and
Sweet, both of whom were already
successful dance instructors, and
they too fell in love with the place
upon seeing it.
The one-year anniversary party,
slated for March 19, is going to be one
of the studio’s biggest events yet.
In addition their own performers,
Viva Dance will showcase dancers
from studios across the city. Elevated,
the popular Cleveland-based hip
hop dance group, are among those
scheduled to perform.
With open dancing, drinks, and
appetizers, the party sounds like it’s
not one to miss. If you can't make it,
however, worry not: Viva Dance plans
on celebrating many more years
of being a truly unique and stylish
dance studio.
Since overcoming the initial challenging task of building out the
space from a vacant, cavernous space to the stylish dance studio
it is now, Viva Dance has been holding dance classes with a wide
range of styles. “We have instructors for all different styles, whatever
you are looking for,” Amsel points out, and you don't have to have a
background in dance to join in, either. “We have progressive group
classes. All of our level one progressive classes are complete beginner
[classes].”
A
good dancer is recognizable in any setting. Whether it’s the
star of a big-budget musical or a hungry artist performing on
the street, most people instinctively know a talented dancer
when they see one. The setting of the performance, however,
and what it says in tandem with the music and the choreography,
tends to get ignored; it’s a rather puzzling, undeserved snub for
such an integral element to the artform.
“We really focus on lead and follow, and not just patterns, so you can
go out and dance with anybody and have it work,” Amsel explains.
“Some places just focus on patterns and you can really only dance
with other people from that type of studio.” That’s handy, because in
addition to the classes, Viva Dance regularly hosts parties and performances for dancers of all skill levels. Their popular weekly events
have a much different feel than events at other
studios: “Most studio parties feel like a dance
studio practice session,” Amsel explains. “Well,
our parties really feel like you’re no longer at a
studio. You’re at a club.”
Bare brick walls and remnants
of heavy machinery give the
wide, high-ceilinged room
a distinctly Cleveland feel.
Not so at the Viva Dance studio. Situated
on the top floor of a repurposed factory, the
atmosphere is strikingly different from most
studios. “A lot of studios are boxes, you know?”
observes Parker Amsel, co-owner and dance
instructor at Viva Dance Studios. “This studio
is—well, I don’t even know how to describe
this.” Shani Mayer, a world-renowned Zouk and Kizomba dancer, gave
the studio some high praise after a visit: “She said this is the dopest
studio she’s ever seen,” beamed Amsel.
“Industrial elegance,” as Amsel whimsically put it, actually describes
the space quite nicely. Bare brick walls and remnants of heavy machinery give the wide, high-ceilinged room a distinctly Cleveland feel, not
to mention the absolutely stunning view of downtown through a
windowed wall that spans an entire section of the studio. The space
is truly remarkable and is the main reason Amsel and his co-owners,
West Siders tend to view the East Side as some
sort of impenetrable labyrinth that begins as
soon as the numbered street signs change from
“W.” to “E.” However, located at 1541 E. 38th St. in the Asian Town
Center building, the studio is more than easily accessible. “It’s actually not that far to get to, because we’re right off the freeway,” explains
Amsel. “You can get here from East, South, West, you know? It’s
really easy to get here, actually.”
Wherever you’re from and whether or not dancing is your thing, Viva
Dance is a stunning location worth seeing for any Clevelander. And if
you can somehow manage not to have a good time dancing in a room
like that, I'm sure there's something good on television tonight, too.
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 21
(SUPER)
Hometown
HEROES
Local filmmakers
and comic
creators bring
their latest
creation to
page and
screen.
Adam Dodd
F
aster than Kenny Lofton, more powerful than a keg of
Great Lakes Blackout Stout, able to leap Terminal Tower
in a single bound—it’s man, it’s beast, it is Apama! After
an ice cream truck driver dons an ancient and talismanic
costume he finds in the woods, he unleashes the savage and
mysterious powers of the
mythic cryptozoological
beast, the Apama. What
follows is a spirited trial
of errors and an engaging
coming of age for a hero
in training set in our own
backyard. With immense
prints scaling the window
fronts along Superior and
Prospect avenues, local
writers, Ted Sikora and Milo Miller, introduced this cryptic
creation to many downtown commuters after they teamed
with South American artist, Benito Gallego, to create the
legend of Cleveland’s resident superhero.
We wanted to take what
was the best of the old
comics, but we felt we had
something different to say
in the superhero genre.
One does not have to turn many pages in Apama: The Undiscovered Animal, an anthology which collects the first five
issues of the comic in a single paperback, to spot the numerous shoutouts to The Land. Whether it’s someone grousing
about the “punks on Tremont,” a panel featuring a “stately
Rocky River manor,” or a character in the background of
a diner lamenting LeBron’s shooting performance, Apama
owns its hometown love. “I never wanted this to be a ‘rah-rah
Cleveland’ book,” Sikora explained. “I think The Drew Carey
Show did that. Cleveland has a brand. There is an authenticity
to it. It’s a hard working mentality that is just woven into
everything I’ve known growing up.”
22 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 23
PRESSURE PICKS
UPCOMING SHOWS TO SEE
Hopsin
March 26 // Odeon
LUNCH, HAPPY HOUR, DINNER
Meatloaf
March 30 // Hardrock Rocksino
Tom Segura
March 31 // Hilarities
Steve Byrne
April 14 // Hilarities
Surrounding Cities
April 15 // Beachland
Sinbad
April 15 // Hardrock Rocksino
Platform Concert Series
April 16 // Lake Affect Studios
Santigold
April 19 // House of Blues
Filter
April 22 // Agora
Brian Jonestown Massacre
May 4 // Beachland
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
May 7 // House of Blues
Blue October
May 15 // House of Blues
Apama was first conceived in 2001 during the writing of Miller’s and Sikora’s independent film, Hero Tomorrow. Apama was
originally the fictional creation of film’s protagonist, also a comic
creator. After failing to get his
work published, the film’s protagonist assumes his own character’s
identity after his girlfriend fashions him a costume. As Sikora
explained over the phone, “It’s if
like Stan Lee’s girlfriend made
him a Spider-Man costume and
Stan Lee, in trying to understand
his creation, decided to run around
as Spider-Man at night and starts
fighting crime himself.” Hero
Tomorrow was well-received and selected for screening at multiple film festivals including the Cleveland International, Fanstasia,
and Montreal. The film’s success would prove the inspiration for
Sikora’s next project.
Cleveland has a brand.
There is an authenticity
to it. It’s a hard working
mentality that is just
woven into everything
I’ve known growing up.
In a very meta moment, Sikora and Miller did in real life what their
cinematic counterpart could not when they created the very comic
that failed to gain publishing in their film. “We spent so much time
thinking about that idea in the film,” Sikora explained, “that we
realized there was a lot of layers that we could riff on. We thought,
‘Wouldn’t it be fun to do the book that was just in his head, if our
main character could have just got his book published?’”
After the first volume was well received, it did not take long for
Sikora to realize the advantages of keeping his ideas on the page
rather than the screen. “We had so much fun making the comic,”
he admitted, “as much or more so than the movie, that we just kept
going and found the comic book experience to be so liberating
because whatever you dream up goes right on the page and you
don’t have to worry about budget or location and actors and all the
headaches that come with making a movie. This is just a total joy.”
Joined in art by Benito Gallego, Sikora made a conscious decision
24 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
to draw a parallel between his works and that of the pulps
he read as a child. A trained eye will note the similarities in
Apama’s art to that of comic legends like John and Sal Buscema
and John Romita. To this end, Sikora was sure to offer credit
where it was due during our interview. “What I like about
Benito,” he gushed, “is that he is so pure to the story. There’s
humor to it and authenticity. People don’t look like fashion
models, they look like real folks.” When asked how he balanced
honoring the nostalgia that inspired him as a child while still
remaining relevant to modern readers, Sikora responded, “We
wanted to take what was the best of the old comics, but we
felt we had something different to say in the superhero genre.
We didn’t want to do something that people had seen before.”
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If the evolution from a fictional comic portrayed in the film
to an actual comic in our reality had not enough layers to
unravel, Sikora and Miller have just begun the process of
securing financing for the creation of their next feature film.
This one based on the larger-than-life exploits of Apama. For
those keeping score at home, that will make Apama a feature
film character based on a comic character that is based off a
comic that is featured in a movie based on that same comic
that never existed in the first place. Still with me?
Sikora and Miller are just coming off of a fun and successful
residence at Cleveland’s recent Wizard World Comic Convention where they signed copies of their comic and film and
hosted a feature panel spotlighting the process of bringing
their creations to the silver screen. Currently, they are busy
finishing the colors on issue seven of the ongoing Apama
comic series, while Gallego works the pencils on issue ten,
both of which will be included in the next collection, soon to
be released. To get a copy of the film, Hero Tomorrow, or your
own edition of Apama: The Undiscovered Animal, which collects
the first five issues, visit www.apamanation.com as well as their
Facebook page. Check in regularly for updates on the release
of the comic’s second collection of issues coming soon and the
forthcoming Apama motion picture as well!
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 25
Adam Dodd // Illustrations: Aaron Gelston @gelston.design
T
he old man kept to himself. He said little and was seen less. He
had few friends and even fewer possessions. With the doors
and windows locked, several days had passed before the overripe stench coming from his apartment became unbearable
and the landlord was forced to enter. The old man’s body was face
down in the bathroom. His hand still clung to the .38, it shell casing
not far apart. A week of decomposition in the dead of summer left
the scene a fetid travesty. Responding officer, Joe Truczak, had to
wait to enter until gasmasks and respirators arrived. The Eastlake
police report cites “thousands of maggots were on and around the
body, mostly the head.” With no apparent next of kin to claim the
body, the man whose identification read ‘Joseph Newton Chandler,’
was cremated. As Officer Truczak explained over the phone, “For
a gentleman who lived that identity for so long there was no reason
at the initial point in the investigation to feel that he was anybody,
but Joseph Newton Chandler.” The original case report ends with,
“…apparent cause is suicide. Case closed.”
…Until it wasn’t.
The Curious Case of the
UNKNOWN MAN
“A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don’t make no difference
who the guy is, as long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick."
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
26 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
It was not long before peculiarities began appearing in the case.
When police interviewed Mike Onderisin, an estranged co-worker
that Chandler listed executor of his will, he remembered Chandler
as a man of distinct peculiarities. An electrical savant, Chandler
fashioned headphones that broadcast white
noise to drown out the rest of the world and
breaker boxes that changed the channel anytime commercials ran. The man had lived in the
same one bedroom apartment since 1986 and
yet had next to no possessions. “Very mundane,”
Truczak remembered, “very few personal items
in the residence. Hanging in the closet he had
very few articles of clothing. It’s almost like
someone barely lived there.” Onderisin, like the
rest of the world, assumed Chandler to be little
more than a queer old man, whose only crime
was a painfully isolated existence. It was not until a cursory search
into his social security number revealed that his alleged identity
traced back to an eight-year-old boy who died in a Tulsa, Oklahoma
car crash on Christmas Eve, 1945. The man who committed suicide
in 2002 was an imposter and had been living under the lie since
he relocated to Cleveland in 1979.
trail. He paid for everything in cash. He kept to himself and made
little associations from the day he materialized in Cleveland in 1979,
seemingly from nowhere, until the day he ended his life. Aside
from a partial lifted from an ashtray, no prints were recovered from
the scene or the body, which had been cremated shortly after its
discovery without taking DNA evidence or performing an autopsy.
It was not until a cursory
search into his social
security number revealed
that his alleged identity
traced back to an eightyear-old boy...
“He could be anybody,” explained US Marshal, Peter Elliott, when
I met with him at his downtown office. “People that assume other
people’s names and live covertly for a number of years under
that name and went through all the cautions he did are usually
someone on the run.” Elliott added, “I think when it’s all said and
done its going to be someone who’s been on the run for something
significant.” Whoever the man was, he was careful not to leave a
By the time local police realized the simple suicide was anything but, any potential evidence had
been lost or damaged. This includes the murder
weapon that, “due to condition and manner in
which weapon was stored, any fingerprint evidence would have been destroyed,” according to
an Eastlake police report. John Doe had a home
computer, which, as stated in the same police
report, “was accidentally dropped, broken, and
discarded when property was being moved.” Elliott lamented,
“The computer was lost which would have been great for us. We
would have been able to find some stuff on that.” Reluctantly, Elliott
considered, “If they would have thought he was someone else I
think they would have put more effort into trying to find more
fingerprints.” Officer Truczac shares Elliott’s concerns, sharing, “If
there would have been questions regarding his identity then there
would have been more done at the initial point.”
Two years after his death, Onderisin grew impatient and filed
an official complaint with Eastlake Police Department in order
to determine any of John Doe’s potential heirs. Lieutenant Tom
Doyle’s formal response read in part, “This investigation has
consumed many, many man-hours, but is noncriminal in nature.
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 27
fabricate a past so geographically tied to the one you’re attempting
to escape, that is, unless you’re modeling your life as a different Joseph
Chandler all together.
Stay with me, because here’s where we go down the rabbit hole…
Although we desire to provide closure to some family’s mystery
and to return property to family members nothing is occurring,
nor is anything anticipated with this case.” His explanation was
similar when we talked, “I was making a case to the judge that
we don’t have any standing in this case, the city of Eastlake. It’s
taken up lots of time and it’s going nowhere and it’s a civil matter.
It doesn’t involve us. It doesn’t even have an allegation of a crime.
I can’t speak for the Chief of Police, but I
know that there is no interest in it. They
don’t have the time or interest to pursue
something that is just a great curiosity.”
Born in 1950, there was a third Chandler, a Joseph Nelson Chandler
living in San Rafael, California at the same times as the Zodiac murders. (For clarity’s sake, we will refer to this third man as “Nelson” for
the rest of the article.) While Nelson is innocent of any such crimes,
Zodiac and/or John Doe may have been someone he worked with or
lived near. Consider that after crossing the San Rafael Bridge into the
rest of California on the I-580, San Rafael commuters enter California
proper on the I-80. This inevitable stretch of freeway for anyone living
in San Raphael either leads or links to Vallejo, Bencia, Napa, and at
its furthest, Modesto, all sites of Zodiac’s murders. One of the maps
the Zodiac mailed to police, known loosely as the “Mt. Diablo map”
was a road atlas map of the San Francisco Bay, which, he alleged, led
to one of his victims. No bodies were recovered, but we now know
the Zodiac used road maps prominently featuring San Raphael
and the nearby freeways that linked from
there to his crimes. Our John Doe’s alleged
work history also sees his employment near
another two California crime scenes of Zodiac’s, Lompac and Riverside, during the very
stretch of time.
Perhaps most sensational
is the possibility he and
the Zodiac Killer, the serial
killer who stalked southern
California in the late sixties
to the early seventies, are
one in the same.
Since the mystery began, there has been
no shortage of theories. Perhaps most
sensational is the possibility he and the
Zodiac Killer, the serial killer who stalked
southern California in the late sixties to
the early seventies, are one in the same.
As unlikely as it may seem, when I
asked Marshal Elliott if he ruled out the
potential, his answer was immediate and
without reproach, “No, not at all. We have
not ruled anything out, including that.”
A photo of John Doe, with his physical
appearance regressed to how he would have appeared in the late
seventies, finds striking similarities to the infamous police sketch
of the Zodiac Killer. The two share similar glasses, male pattern
baldness, knobbed chins and the same distinct bent bridge to their
noses. At five foot seven inches, John Doe was distinctively shorter
than an average man. Nearly every report given to police had Zodiac
at the same height. Elliott mentioned during our meeting, “What’s
going to rule out a lot of people is their height.”
Mia Marcum, the Ohio director for the Doe Network, which works
to identify unknown persons, said as much when she wrote to
the Eastlake police while they were still investigating. Although
much of what John Doe claims has to be considered dubious at best,
Marcum drew light to his listed previous work experience which
places him in California at the same time as the Zodiac. Even if
his work history was fabricated, it would seem counter-intuitive to
28 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
After reviewing what straws I could grasp,
a theory emerged. After fleeing California,
the Zodiac and/or our John Doe would be
looking for an alias. The Tulsa crash of 1945,
which was featured in several papers, would
have drawn his attention. It was common
for children in rural areas at the time not
to be automatically registered with social
security. The child’s death would leave John
Doe with an opportunity to exploit. But more
importantly, the boy shared the same name as another man in the
area, his possible acquaintance, Joseph Nelson Chandler. Was this a
means to hide in plain sight? Any superficial look into his connection
to California in the late 1960s would only become muddied when
invariably confused with Joseph Nelson Chandler from San Rafael.
It should be noted, if even circumstantially, Nelson and the child also
shared their name with the lead investigator who failed to apprehend
the Zodiac’s personal hero, Jack the Ripper. Ripper was favored by the
Zodiac and even mentioned in his notes. Additionally, a non-existent
emergency contact given by John Doe, “Mary Wilson," also shares
her name with another English serial killer of the same era. The
odds would be too great to pass up for a mind as bent on patterns and
riddles as the Zodiac’s.
What we do know as fact is that John Doe made his first known
appearance under his new alias while requesting a “copy” of his birth
certificate (that of the actual Joseph Newton Chandler) to be mailed
to a dilapidated shack in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1978. There, he
then used the fraudulent certificate to obtain a social security card.
The Rapid City Journal has local Detective Tom Senesac looking back
in retrospect, “The fact that a forty-one year old man was requesting
a social security card should have sent up a red flag at the time."
A year later, John Doe settled in Cleveland and lived the rest of his
life in obscurity until he ended it all on June 24, 2002. Curiously,
eight years earlier, on the same day John Doe would commit
suicide, Nelson died unexpectedly at age 44 in 1994. This is the
same year our John Doe stops receiving social security benefits
after switching his work to that of a contracted employee. Was this
done in fear of drawing attention to a social security account which
would have had the actual benefit contributions of one man (John
Doe), the listed work history of another (Nelson), and the registered
numbers of a dead child (Tulsa Boy)? Elliott informed me that in
1994, John Doe told his friend, Bob Onderisin, that unspecified
people “were closing in on him” and that he would have to “lay
low for a while." There is a period of time during that year that, to
this day, is unaccounted for in his records.
Eight years later, on the very anniversary that Nelson died, our
John Doe locks the doors to his apartment and eats the barrel of a
.38. Was the date significant to him? Had the years alone and the
recent diagnosis of advanced rectal cancer left him looking at the
date as an enviable swansong to exit on? Is that why the day after
is blacked out with an “X” on the calendar found in the apartment,
as if he knew that the 24th held an inescapable terminus fated for
both men? Was the parallel one last riddle for the Zodiac to leave
behind, a symbolic tip of the hat to the man who’s life he adopted
for so many years?
I relayed the theory to Marshall Elliott. “It has me looking at certain
things in a new light,” he offered. His answer was non-committal,
but better than the tinfoil hat for which I assumed I’d be fitted.
After a subsequent search, Elliott could not confirm John Doe’s
alleged California work history and conceded that particular
Zodiac angle would need more conclusive evidence to move forward. Even still, he encouraged me not to give up the ghost. “I have
something else I want you to look into,” he suggested. “There were
some unsolved murders in East Liverpool in the seventies that
might be interesting to the case.”
To be continued...
Look out for part two of The Curious
Case of the Unknown Man in Issue 7 of
PressureLife.
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 29
PRESSURE Music Reviews
Alex Bieler
99¢
Santigold, Atlantic
THE DYNGUS AMONG US
One of the world's oldest and oddest holidays is near and dear to Cleveland's heart.
It’s hard not to dance when you listen to Santigold. That’s a particularly
impressive statement from me, a rather large man whose chosen
form of movement at a concert is what I call the “restless leg syndrome foot bounce.” Still, I
couldn’t help but (awkwardly) sway and bop to the beats on the Philadelphia-bred musician’s
latest album 99¢. Apart from a couple of tracks, the vibe of the album is sunny, bouncy, and
just plain fun, so when she sings, “Rip it up, I’m having a good time,” you can’t blame her.
Santigold alternates between ‘80s synthpop goodness on “Rendezvous Girl” to the rock-pop
jam of closing track “Who I Thought You Were.” Even when the album’s sonic sugar rush
slows down, there are treats to be had, as “Run the Races” is a lovely comedown after several
bangers. If you’re looking for a good time, you’ll certainly get your money’s worth with 99¢.
4/5
Heaven Adores You Soundtrack,
Dan Bernardi // Illustrations: Brandon Lee Wise @brandon_lee_wise_art
B
Elliott Smith, Universal
uried away on your calendar is a little holiday called Śmigus-Dyngus, taking place annually on the Monday after Easter. Originally the day was observed in Poland with a series
of absurd rituals in honor of Easter and the end of Lent, but after a heavy influx of Polish immigrants to America, the revelry was imported, toned down a bit, and given the half
as silly name of Dyngus Day. Six years running, Cleveland is hosting a massive Dyngus celebration, so if your St. Patty's hangover has finally worn off, this is another great time to
party- Polish-style. This year, I propose we do this Dyngus right and resurrect a few of those retired traditions alongside the new ones. Better bring a towel.
Each year Cleveland coronates one special local Polish lady
with the title of Miss Dyngus. If you can make a pierogi,
dance the polka, and know how to fashionably sport a babushka, you've got a
fighting shot at that Kielbasa Crown and sash. In the past, however, Polish girls
got less-than-royal treatment on Śmigus-Dyngus, which translates to “Wet
Monday.” The guys would find a girl they fancy and affectionately dump a bucket
of water on her head. Girls could retaliate with water and crockery (yes, they
threw plates), or offer the boys painted eggs to avoid a drenching. Bring back the
splash this year, and when your crush figures out why you drenched them on a
cold spring day, they may be smitten by your amorous gesture. And if they're
clearly not into you at that point, just claim it was for ALS.
WET MONDAY
Super soaking the object of your affection isn't the
only way to participate in the more romantic side
of Dyngus Day. In fact, it used to be much more violent than that. Boys would take
pussy willow branches and whip the legs of their love interests, occasionally with no
warning, and girls would strike back the next day. In 2016 the tradition has not fallen
by the wayside, so bring the pussy willows: equal lashings for all. And when you're
done, don't throw out the branch. Blessed pussy willows were once considered good
luck charms, granting their bearers health and prosperity. Some even claimed they
had supernatural abilities, such as preventing lightning strikes. Unfortunately in this
case, they do not prevent the sting of a good leg whipping.
WIND IN THE WILLOWS
30 PRESSURELIFE
| Issue 6
One of the highlights of the modern Dyngus Day is a
colorful parade that marches down Detroit Avenue,
showcasing beautiful Polish garb, polka, and piwo. If you haven't tried piwo, you'll
love it. It's beer. But at the dawn of Dyngus, the parade was a totally different beast.
A procession of noisy boys would frolic through town, using a live bird's squawks to
announce their presence. One lucky bro would dress like a bear wearing a bell on his
head, trolling for gifts from the townspeople, before he was ceremoniously dunked
in a nearby pond. This year, it may be a perfect excuse to hit the streets with your
friends and cause a ruckus in the city. If the neighbors don't reciprocate with food
and presents, you can shame them for being culturally insensitive.
I LOVE A PARADE
In the olden days, songs were sung to accompany
many of these wild traditions. As a more poetic
departure from the aforementioned holiday abuse, the boys would also take to
the rooftops and speak in verse to declare their intentions for the day, while girls
would rebut in verse in an attempt to shoo their pursuers. I picture it like a hostile
version of Grease, only with more sauerkraut. While it would be quite the change
of pace, if you're not up for conversing in iambic pentameter this holiday, join the
revolution and hop on the polka bandwagon. Any seasoned vet will tell you that
on Dyngus Day, one polka dance is mandatory, and after a little more piwo, you
may actually enjoy the upbeat rhythm of that blaring accordion you usually hate.
As they say, “Everyone's Polish on Dyngus Day!”
EVERYONE'S POLISH
It’s been over a decade since Elliott Smith died, but a new collection
of music is trying to help people get a new look into the life of the
influential musician. The soundtrack for Nickolas Rossi’s documentary Heaven Adores
You features several alternative takes on some of Smith’s memorable tracks, as well as a
couple of private recordings provided by family and friends of the late singer/songwriter.
Tracks like “Hamburgers,” “Don’t Call Me Billy,” and closer “I Love My Room” show off a
goofier side to the man known for “Miss Misery,” making for an intimate experience with
a man that we’ll never really get to truly know. Even if you haven’t seen the documentary,
this soundtrack is a must for Elliott Smith diehards and an intriguing new perspective
for those who are only familiar with the idea of Smith as a moody singer/songwriter.
4/5
Painting With,
Animal Collective, Domino
There’s plenty of the usual weirdness on display on Painting With,
something that’s pretty apparent from the start thanks to album
opener “FloriDada.” The track bounces around with gleeful abandon, propelled forward by
a million little details combined into a bed of whirrs, thumps, and robotic noises. “FloriDada”
sets the tone for the album, a weirdly catchy combination of elements that come across as
playful. Tracks from Painting With aren’t going to carry the same weight as previous tracks
like “My Girls,” a song that rightfully earned the band plenty of fans. Instead of a steady,
shimmering buildup, these tracks are wobbly numbers that feel patched together, which
isn’t always a bad thing. When the formula works, it comes across as a fascinatingly odd
construction. When it doesn’t work, it’s just odd. At the very least, it’s an interesting ride.
3.5 /5
Issue 6
| PRESSURELIFE.com 31