Paul Rodriguez spends a short period of his day pr4ying; not only for himself, but for his favorite band – Salem. The rest of his time goes toward concepting personal ideas into thought-provoking and sometimes dark compositions. These compositions are displayed in several forms depending on direction: whether it be through photography (his main vice), film, or installation.
Paul and I had a lil chat at 1am. Our conversation consisted of DUST, his fresh to death online magazine, his obsession with rap music, and of course, his art.
Paul Rodriguez: Hey.
Brian Vu: Hey Paul, how’s it going?
P: Just getting settled from running around. What are you up to?
B: Same same. Was just about to do some homework till you messaged me. I’m trying to catch up on a lot of work since I spent my weekend in San Diego.
P: I love north county San Diego.
B: Yeah! I always have a great time there. It gets ridiculous.
P: I WANT TO KNOW, ha!
B: I literally only remember 90% of my stay…
P: UH OH, BAD BAD. Ridiculous house parties, chill lifestyles.
B: Thanks for sending me the first DUST issue by the way! Your layouts are great.
P: Thanks, That was weird for me to make. The time.
B: Did it take a while? Have you worked with InDesign before this?
P: I had the concept to do my own magazine for a while. I used InDesign very minimally when I released my book FINAL NOTICE, so I designed everything in Photoshop first. Then, when it was done I laid it out in InDesign while figuring it out.
B: Definitely. It took me a while to get used to the software. Image placement is the most fun part in my opinion, but working with text is hell.
P: Overall, I don’t think in an InDesign way. I can come up with layouts in my head. I made DUST in the Fall. I was staying in the woods and didn’t sleep at night for four months.
B: Where does the name DUST come from? Where are you planning on taking it?
P: The title comes from a line in a song that I liked. DUST also refers to drugs. I think drug culture is hilarious. Issue 1 was definitely an experiment like most things I do are. I thought, can I do this? If I like it, I’ll do more of it. I am really into PDFs right now. I doubt DUST II will be a PDF or in print. It will make more sense if DUST II is made in Africa and is a series of t-shirts.
B: How do you decide what goes into a release of DUST?
P: I’ve spent the past few years being an editorial photographer. So this is something where there is no outside editorial influence. I’m interested in presenting work from people that I enjoy.
B: You tweeted about coming back to LA a bit ago for New Years. How did that go? And do you own a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (Paul’s Twitter profile image at the time)?
P: First of all, flying before New Years is the worst thing ever. I still consider LA somewhat of a home of mine since I spent the last 7 years there. #Hi11 was happening and I wanted to experience it with my friends. Ryan Trecartin’s installation was very much insane and erotic. He is fun. That happened, then I shopped, went to my favorite leather/bear bars, Tyler from Odd Future called me a girl, and I exploded a TV outside of LACMA with my friend Philippe de Sablet. I so want some Vibram Five Fingers / rubber toes very bad. I would just wear them and nothing else. They are very sexy to me.
B: What is #Hi11? And did you see Odd Future live?
P: #Hi11 was an installation/party/performance/lifestyle by Ryan Trecartin (and his collaborators) that took place on New Years. He brought out some of my favorite DJs. I was shirtless and cooking to nguzunguzu at some point. I did not see OF. I was on Fairfax and Tyler came into where I was. I was walking out for some reason and decided to say “What’s up”. He had two little 12 year old skater boys with him. They all had nicely fitted little shorts on. He told me “what’s up girl”, which I feel is a compliment because only guys who are friends call each other that.
B: Have you been out shooting at all lately?
P: I am working on a film I’m shooting on my iPhone. I’ve been wanting and needing to make more of a narrative type film so I started to shoot video for reference/notes. I like the immediacy of iPhone video. The film consists of: traveling around, video portraits, narrative, and performance art type work. It’s definitely a departure from my previous motion picture work, and a logical progression for me. Maybe this is my in-between work, before something more narrative in structure. I studied cinematography and have worked on larger budget productions so I used to view things with low production value as inferior. Right now I am more into idea versus resources.
B: When did you start taking photography seriously?
P: I started taking photography seriously 5 years ago in school. I’ve been taking photographs ever since I was teenager. On weird Southern Baptist church camp trips, I would make my friends do things like kidnap younger kids. The grown men would get naked with us boys so that was fun. In school I must have been such an awful person, not very nice and always harsh! I thought, how could I make money being a photographer? So I gravitated toward portrait editorial photography. I think school shows you how to make formal portraits in a spatial sense. Portraits have always been natural to me.
B: How would you describe your photographic style? And what goes through your mind while photographing a subject?
P: I think my style changes all the time, but exotic and raw.
B: I definitely get that sense, the colors in your images are so vivid.
P: Lots of things go through my mind when I take a photograph. In the past 4 months, I’ve taken very few photographs. I’m 25. I’m at the middle road of my 20s and understand my work more. Everything I’ve made in the past is just that. Photographically, I am more interested in developing concept-based work. As far as what is going on in my head, it could be anything. I spent so much of my adult life taking photographs.
P: Lil B Based God blessed me today! Very important day in my life.
B: I haven’t heard his music yet. I need to get on that!
P: OH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
B: I’ve been listening to the new Kanye West of course. Oh, and Drake. Lots and lots of Drake.
P: Yes yes, I like both. I’ve had computers breaking so my mixtape game is kind of behind. GUCCI did a new mixtape. I’m worried about him.
B: Salem couldn’t have come at a better time, thanks for getting me into them.
P: I LOVE SALEM.
B: THE RAPS IN THAT ALBUM ARE FUCKING DOPE. Nuff said.
P: Jack and John are so nice, I’ve never met Heather. I emailed John for a bit. SALEM are the only group besides rappers I am interested in working with. I always pr4y for them. Seriously Jack is sick or something. And in general they need our prayers. I’m worried about all my favorite people – SALEM, Waka Flame, Gucci, and ME.
B: Yes, worry about yourself all the time! You’re all that matters.
P: My life basically consists of making art and cruising men while listening to rap.
