Drew Davis lent Daniel Guaqueta a video camera in the summer of 2007. It was an innocuous arrangement, Daniel wanting to record footage of his band’s tour, but it marked the first exchange of ideas and resources that would eventually inspire the two to produce The Code.
Their conversation at that point was as philosophical as much as logistical. Besides their need for equipment, manpower and a website, they also discussed their ideas of media and art.
The Code is the name Daniel and Drew gave to the abstract, creative voices in which people communicate. This process of communication connects meaning to the languages of art. While each person’s code has its own timbre and pitch, The Code remains a language common to all people, unlike speech, which is restricted to the languages of particular regions and cultures. Thus, Daniel and Drew hoped to provide the codes of Southern artists to audiences far beyond their own regional borders.
In practice, The Code is a music show broadcast online that features regional artists, meaning anyone producing music and art between Memphis and New Orleans. Drew and Daniel saw a void in the exposure such local artists could garner. While there are numerous fine publications and venues that cater to traditional artists playing historically Southern music like Blues, Country and Zydeco, other bands influenced on a wider landscape weren’t offered as broad an audience. The Code’s mission is to be an advocate for any and all regional talent that seeks a wider voice, including both the traditional and nontraditional. For some it may serve to widen an already established audience; for others it may offer the audience they couldn’t find in their hometowns.
In connecting with others from the community including Clay Hardwick, a handful of committed volunteers, and the good people at PEG, Jackson’s public access studio, Daniel and Drew launched the first episode of The Code on Dec. 1, 2007. This and their second episode feature musicians only, but The Code looks forward to expanding into all types of media, including visual artists and writers.
Modern media technology is providing Southern artists with a rich texture of influences. In turn, it is important that the world can access the input only Southern artists can provide. Hopefully, this effort will be added to the many others that work toward establishing the whole South as a powerful voice in the global arts conversation.
Daniel Guaqueta - Executive Producer & Director
Armed with 10 years experience in radio and music research… WUSM as world and jazz music director, and producer of Radio Fondren & Mundo Melodia, on a local Jackson radio station WLEZ, Guaqueta brings a knowledge of thousands of genres and styles of music found around the globe to his latest offering, The Code. 15 years in the music industry as leader of the experimental music group TTOCCS REKARP, and original member of Questions in Dialect, QiD has also placed him in line of today’s rock music scene, having toured with Mute Math, Circa Survive, Mae, and Discover America. Guaqueta takes it further with his participation in modern dance performances and classes, where he has provided real-time compositions with electronic devices and various instruments for classes and performances for the University of Southern Mississippi Dance Department and Belhaven College Dance Department. Daniel’s passion for music is evident in all his endeavors. He understands that being an artist in the South is an uphill struggle. He believes that art has to be integrated into people’s lives because they may not necessarily reach out and take it themselves. Being born in the United States and raised in South America has brought Guaqueta an appreciation for unique cultures and a hunger for variety in his artistic pursuits. He brings a smorgasbord of musical tastes and interests to The Code. Daniel has interviewed at many music conferences, including South By Southwest in Austin, CMJ Music Festival in New York, and Hyperfest in Albuquerque, picking the brains of musicians like Minus The Bear, Jenny Toomey (co-founder of Simple Machine Records), The Bad Plus, Paul Pena, Thomas Mapfumo, Mike Watt, Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, and Jim Thomas of The Mermen. “One thing I truly believe is that you can’t live your life going to places that will give you immediate results. You have to do it for yourself; you have to contribute,” he explains. “Why go to New York to do a world music show? Do it here and have an impact, make changes.”
Clay Hardwick - Creative Director
Currently he is a Senior (Digital Art Major, Spanish Minor) at Millsaps College, lives in Bellhaven, and obsesses over light. He made this large understatement about himself. Clay is one of Jacksons most promising creative forces. Now at 22 years old he has successfully developed his own freelance graphic design and production firm called “echomech Creative.” Some of his clientèle include the Eudora Welty Foundation, the historical Fondren district, and Mississippi Museum of Art. He creates digital & visual art as well as experimental video. He shot and produced his first narrative short, “Teal Optical.” He has worked in live/post video, stage lighting, & general A/V since high school years and has also been the Technical Director for a live TV broadcast on WAPT Sunday mornings at Galloway UMC. Clay is currently working on a production internship at MS Public Broadcasting for “Between The Lions,” and many more programs. Finally, with energy that only a young passionate artist can claim, he founded mixedCore, a community for young urban artists, see mixedcore.com. You can view more information on his website.
Drew Davis - Producer
Drew is the tech hero of the group. He still helps maintain the video sharing website he built at Ourmedia.org. But the scope of his work has grown to include The Participatory Culture Foundation, Metavid, Annodex, and The Onion Router. He’s an evangelist for Have Money Will Vlog, Creative Commons, and The Electronic Frontier Foundation. And he’s not going to let anything stop him from making mass media an interactive playground of knowledge and imagination where the only rule is, “you can’t say you can’t play.” If you think he’s a bit too passionate about media, keep in mind that he’s just blazing a better way. To see where he’s been, google papyromancer. To ask him a question, log on to Freenode; he hangs out in #cc and #wikinews. He loves this Jean Cocteau quote; “Film will only become art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.” And lives to make that day arrive sooner.
Joseph Williams - Chief Copy Editor