Meet Clifford Nicgorski

We were lucky to catch up with Clifford Nicgorski recently and have shared our conversation below.

Clifford, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

My experience has been that I don’t encounter a lack of creativity if I am always being honest and open minded about my perception of myself, reality and my view of the world around me. If you hold on too tight to the things that you believe or your perception of “the way it should be/the way things are” you are restricted in what you have the ability to access creatively. What if you create a beautiful piece of art or stumble across a wonderful philosophy that contradicts everything thing that brings you comfort in this chaotic world. Could you still engage with it? It seems like you have to be willing to challenge everything that you think you know in order to create something new and maintain an unbiased perception of your environment. As long as I do that, I always have an abundance of inspiration.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Born in Los Angeles CA. In 1981. I watch a lot of television. I always have. I spent most of my school years at home left to my own devices. My older brother was in school and both parents worked. A True Southern California Latchkey kid of the very early 90’s living in the San Fernando Valley. I Used to watch a lot of old shows like Taxi, I love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Andy Griffith, Dragnet ect. Of course The Twilight Zone was a Favorite. Since I can remember I used to watch scary movies with my mom and Late night comedy with my dad. Carson, letterman and Conan were regarded as hero’s in my home. In 1992 I saw twin peaks on tv despite being a little young to watch. That’s when I started learning about David Lynch and his art. My Mother was always very helpful and would encourage me to be creative. If I had an interest in someone creative she would learn about them and make it “our thing”. So we would talk about Lynch and try to figure out what his films meant. She always made the things I cared about seem so special. School never ended up working out for me and I was raised Jehovahs Witness so I didn’t celebrate any of the holidays with the world around me. I always felt like an observer of society and never a true member. Even to this day I have never felt taken in or accepted by religion or the secular society. The thing I love about creating art wether it’s Film, music or a painting, it’s that you can start creating with only the tools you have around you. I never had the means to buy expensive cameras. So I just started filming with my phone. I could never afford laptops or expensive music gear. But I grabbed the cheap acoustic guitar I could afford and started writing songs and playing shows. That turned into recording at amazing studios with great musicians and touring the country opening for some of my favorite bands. You can hear our music on all streaming platforms under the name (The Sleeping Ghost) Ultimately I found Andy Marshall. He’s an incredible musician, singer songwriter, producer not to mention my creative partner for life and one of my dearest friends. These days I am focused on writing and directing a series of short films for my growing production company that goes by the name of ‘Anythingman Productions’. (Search YouTube) As of Now there are four films and production has begun on the fifth. These films are driven by Sci-fi, horror, Philosophy and comedy. I also score the films with all new original music.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

ADAPTABILITY . Sometimes you want to start a project but people cancel last minute or something that you thought you could count on falls through. We need to be flexible and figure out how to get things done regardless. Most of the time being spontaneous pays off in ways that you wouldn’t imagine.
BE ORIGINAL. Try to incorporate as many personal details as possible into your art. The deeper you dig in to your own experience the more interesting your work becomes. What may seem mundane to you might be fascinating to others. For instance, when I was 11 years old my dad bought this expensive Batman costume and would wear it around the house. One night he was wearing the costume and started yelling at the news that was on the television. It was a normal occurrence in my household but completely bizarre when I used it in a script.
FINISH WHAT YOU START. Complete your projects in a timely manner. Don’t over edit. Especially when you’re working as a new artist. You get better by making the next one. Do your work the best you can and move on.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecliffordnicgorskishow?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@anythingmanproductions?si=cPt7Jo8QW2ZVa60Q
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1vaeH5HzCnm4FoAWZtFKwD?si=N9ahx5O-SNa1Qbnu5O4SYQ

Image Credits

Clifford Nicgorski