Eloquently, so.

Travis Impel – Poet - @sir_groove_ - "memoirs of a nomad"

I chose to put Isaiah Rashad on in the background for Travis’ interview. As Isaiah is one of Travis’ favorite artists, it was inevitable that he would pop up as an answer to one of my questions. And of course, he did. Travis claims he was trying to avoid this from happening. Although, it's easy to recognize how those favorite artists transcend into your own art. Isaiah’s newest album, the House is Burning, coincides with Travis’ process in poetry. Easily digested, but with so much depth. The album is playing in the background as I write this, in hopes to dive into the core of Travis’ inspiration.

What happens for this inspiration to occur is music. Travis finds insight from musical artists, and their words in their music. His work, in turn, brings out the sensitive side of himself. The goal is to evoke emotion within people who read his work. Mainly, for people to relate to something on paper, through words. Derivation of eloquence from lyrics is how this works. Enjoyable reading/listening stems from writers who make it sound good. It’s not all about making it 'sound' good though, it’s making it feel good as well. Another innovative source of pure feeling through text, is the Tao te Ching. The Tao, is a classic written Chinese text that is a fundamental building block of Taoism, and one of the most influential works of its time, and Travis' mind.

When you allow yourself to ignore the judgements, expectations from people, and overall fear of expression, you find peace within the act of putting yourself and your work out there. It is beyond response. Travis’ ‘response’, in a sense, was his first audio book. In this response to opening and expressing, he learned to trust the process. Now in the two-year (so far) process of his second R&B mix audio book, he is taking his time, trusting the process and not reaching any deadlines for himself. The overall goal for Travis, is to make his art his whole life. To remove current inevitable responsibilities that provide for him and his family-- and have his art, his spoken word, do all the providing. "People do it, all the time. I know it's possible", Travis' plan shines through into perspective as we walk back from our photoshoot. Although it requires effort and time, living your life the way you want to live it should be the 'inevitable responsibility'.

Now I’m listening to Travis’ second inspiration, Dijon’s ‘Absolutely’. The raw expression of vulnerability. Pure eloquence…