Meet Spike Arreaga

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Spike Arreaga. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Spike below.

Hi Spike, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

Being a gay Latino alt rock musician checks off a lot of boxes and to this day I think I can count on my hands how many people I’ve met in that category. The people I’ve met who I do see myself in have always been incredibly inspiring and important to me. I think of tours in Raleigh and Alabama where I’ve met queer Latinx artists that either seem celebrated by their peers or completely ignored. Having conversations about this with them always recenters my focus on my crafts and staying the lane so I can be there for anyone that needs to see me take up space for them, ideally for them to fill in for me one day.
That being said, I try not to focus on this beyond that. Distractions like this tend to put your mind in a downward spiral that goes nowhere good. Instead I try to pay attention to all the things that have helped me like my bandmates, friends, gay illustrators and painters who keep me sane. I think one day I’ll look back and realize everyone was going through some sort of alienation.
Points also to the internet for connecting me to hundreds of queer artists all over the world. That’s been something unprecedented in our current times that has changed the face of the art world.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My band Natural Velvet has been working on an album release for later this year that’s been a 5 year process since we started writing and recording. That’s been my best outlet to combine all my creative skills and interests into one, including illustration, writing, video production and editing, guitar, merch and graphic design, and social media management. We’ve done a lot ourselves, especially the last 6 years.
I’m so anxious to show the video editing and direction I’ve kind of secretly been doing since last year with the band’s upcoming videos, and all the new merch ideas we’ve come up with. Were a t shirt shop that plays 30-40 minutes shows once in awhile, after all.
I’ve also been working on a comic/multimedia project called Egg Sick that I’m planning on releasing more of later this year. It’s a sort of dystopian inner city d&d meets club culture cartoon, for now at least. I can’t see too much without giving too much away.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Adaptability has been hammered into the minds of me and my friends who work in creative industries for the past decade. The social and work climates have been changing faster every day, and you have to pay attention and accept change in every moment. Acceptance has also played a massive part in my life as of late. Knowing you’ve chosen by your own accord to live and breathe the things that go right and wrong is key to keeping your head above water. Third, I started to read a lot more (heavily inspired by my partner who reads 50-60 books a year), and that’s given me so much more perspective outside my usual visual mediums, as well as keeping me focused.
I think finding concepts you’re obsessed with and can always happily return to helps keep a rhythm and style to your work without any intention, even. I also find grounding devices, like a book, a scent, a nostalgic object, etc. to help me stay focused. When shit hits the fan and forces you out of your comfort zone you can always have this things or mantras to keep you together.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

An ideal client would be someone looking for out of the box illustration, art direction or any design element based work. I’ve never been your typical MICA-Disney/adult swim/Juxtapoz kind of artist but I have a really unique style and voice I can clearly use well at this point I don’t really see anywhere else (not always a good thing for getting work!)

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Image Credits

All credits to Spike Arreaga

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