featured artist
SBVRSV .press
SBVRSV.press (pronounced ‘subversive’) is an independent editorial platform that documents the point of intersection between experimental music, digital art and critical theory. We provide blog content and press representation to niche, left-field artists who subvert conventional aesthetic and ideological models through their work.
The mission of the publication is two-fold: On a fundamental level, we aim to help experimental artists reach a wider audience through a personalized form of press coverage that does not present barriers to artists who lack name recognition, resources and/or funding. On a more abstract level, we aim to articulate the ideas implicit in a given work of art and contextualize these ideas within a broader cultural discourse.
SBVRSV.press was founded in 2016 by Griffin Martell and Zachary Gray. Originally an event booking platform, SBVRSV produced several experimental music showcases in both London and Toronto, ON but due to recent events, the focus has shifted to press and editorial initiatives. Many artists, writers and curators contribute to SBVRSV in various capacities and the platform is sustained by an indeterminate, ever-evolving network of like-minded creatives from across the globe.
If you would like to get involved, please send us a message at info@sbvrsv.press
What does success mean to you?
I tend to see success as an arbitrary metric for measuring one’s sense of self-worth in comparison to others. In my view, the most constructive way to understand success is to see it as an internally generated measurement that compares your past selves to your current self. This is to say, would your past self be happy with who you are today? Did you experience personal growth or overcome obstacles? If you can say yes to these types of questions, I would say that’s a better marker of success than saying success to me is x, y and z. Of course, you won’t always say yes to these questions and there will be times in your life when you fail. You can’t have success without failure.
If you had to teach someone one thing, what would you teach?
As a writer, I would feel compelled to teach people how to write more efficiently and eloquently. I believe writing is an invaluable skill that doesn’t necessarily come easy to a lot of people.
My cats, my partner, my friends and family, good music….you know, the usual things.
What does it mean to be original or unique?
I hesitate to give any sort of universal definition of originality or uniqueness as it is a nebulous concept and can come in all different forms but if I had to say, originality stems from critical thinking, personal reflection and spontaneous expression. To be unique is not simply to act/look different than the masses but to express oneself in such a way that is true to your inner thoughts beliefs and feelings. Being original means not censoring or filtering your persona for the sake of optics.
Of course, there’s the old cliche “be yourself” but this assumes that you are fully aware of your true self. I feel like being unique or original is a constant process of self-discovery, separating the proverbial wheat from the chaff and reflecting on what your true nature is and then acting upon that. For example, is your opinion really your opinion or were you led to think that way through external influence? Never assume you have it all figured out. You have to sort of perpetually be open to new perspectives and challenging your own ideas.
If you could watch everything that happened in your life until now, would you enjoy it?
Some of it, not all of it
