A few weeks before the Mieux Awards, Debonair District approached me with the idea of holding backstage interviews at the event. I have followed the Mieux for years and instantly fell in love with the idea. Props to Adrihanna for pioneering an awesome award show to encourage and recognize the young talent in Florida and basing it out of Tampa – we don’t have enough of this and people like her make the art hustle so worth it out here.</div>
We spent the last few days before the event preparing our approach, securing the shooter (Arrogant Watcher), collecting the gear, getting the fits in order, and determining just how we were going to bring this all together. It was one of those things that you have to be in the moment to really prepare for.
The Orpheum in general is a pretty dope venue – lots of space and little areas to set things up. Mieux had a diverse setup with small tables in the corners of the dance floor, a pop-up shop in the far right-corner towards the back of the venue, and a red carpet with a backdrop to the left of the entrance.
Our goal was to make the interviews have that exclusive feel. Considering we didn’t see the venue before hand, it was super convenient (almost destiny) that we found a small, dimly lit dressing room backstage near the VIP room that was perfect for these interviews. Arrogant Watcher and I setup the lighting, positioned our markers and Debonair already had three interviewees lined up to get on camera.
Throughout the award show we invited attendees, nominees, and winners to come backstage and tell us more about them.
It was cool putting a face to some of the awesome Florida-based brands and collectives out there. Thanks to all who were a part of this.
Check out our interviews above. You can use the quick links below to jump to your favorite artist.
Our goal was to make the interviews have that exclusive feel. Considering we didn’t see the venue before hand, it was super convenient (almost destiny) that we found a small, dimly lit dressing room backstage near the VIP room that was perfect for these interviews. Arrogant Watcher and I setup the lighting, positioned our markers and Debonair already had three interviewees lined up to get on camera.
Throughout the award show we invited attendees, nominees, and winners to come backstage and tell us more about them.
It was cool putting a face to some of the awesome Florida-based brands and collectives out there. Thanks to all who were a part of this.
Check out our interviews above. You can use the quick links below to jump to your favorite artist.
- 0:10 – Ari Chi & Jitt Brodie
- 1:57 – MikeTheMCEE
- 2:31 – Ivana
- 4:23 – CHFRS
- 6:26 – Beyobe
- 7:11 – Proper Jones
- 7:56 – HMTWN
- 9:00 – Mike Mass
- 10:17 – Drex Carter & Chace
- 11:14 – The Hemp Club
- 13:05 – Savannah Cristina & Esaw
- 14:06 – Joshua Cruz & The Experience
- 15:55 – Adrihanna Curry – Founder of Mieux Magazine