We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wayne Moots. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wayne below.
Wayne, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Absolutely by accident! My attitude towards life has always been “fuck it, I’m just going to do it and see what happens”. Ever since I was a kid in rural Kansas I’ve been excited by new opportunities and encouraged by my mom to try to things. Because of my open mind, I’ve jumped so many chances to do something interesting and potentially a lot of fun. I guess I just kept trying new things until I found a few things that I’m good at but also bring me a lot of joy and rewarding experiences/memories.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
More than anything I guess I’m an emerging event planner. This journey all really started in the summer of 2018 when I decided to run my own temporary basement show venue. It was only around for a couple months, but I teamed up with my mate Shaun, who founded Manor Records, to help me book the space. I’d already known him for a couple years at this point and had been establishing myself as a supporter of local musicians. By the time he asked me to join the label in 2019 I was friends with a lot of musicians and always trying to go to every show I could. During my time with the label I learned how to book shows and venues, organize a festival, establish professional connections, write reviews and most importantly to trust my own opinions.
This is when I started to conceptualize my own organization, what purpose it might serve, my goals and motivations, etc and in January 2020 I founded Palace Parties and began organizing its first event. Local music has always been a big part of my life since moving to Kansas City in 2014, but this is around when I really began to lean into my queerness. So, when I made the decision to start my own project I decided to center it around supporting my local LGBTQIA+ community. Since then, Palace Parties has organized themed parties, educational events, fundraisers and more all with the same goal in mind.
Since then I have also started several new projects. Some of them didn’t last very long, like my holiday cheese ball service called Cheesy Wayne’s, but they’ve all been an exciting continuation of my journey of self-exploration and celebrating my community. More recently I’ve began a new project called Art Box. The mission is to organize twice-monthly one-day only art gallery pop-ups in the back of a rented box truck. My goal for Art Box is to not only celebrate all thee talented artists here in KC, but to also make local art more accessible and exciting. You can stay up to date with ARt box in instagram (@artboxkc). In addition to Palace Parties and Art Box I’ve been conceptualizing my first few collections of artistic works inspired by human anatomy and boredom/overstimulation.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Networking has probably been the biggest thing to help propel my projects. I’m generally a pretty friendly person and love talking to/meeting new people and hearing about what everyone is working on. A large part of my creative process is bouncing ideas off the people in my community, an example of this is I love bringing my notebook with me to my main couple bars throughout the week. Curious people will start a conversation by asking what I’m working on, or maybe I’ll start by asking a total stranger what their thoughts about something are. I also have friends who are more introverted or shy than I, so I would suggest bringing an extroverted friend with you to networking events or finding an online community where you can send feelers into about something you’re working on. I’d also suggest making your face familiar at many of the happenings in your industry, for me that meant going to as many local band shows, parties, galleries and exhibits etc. but for you that could be something totally different.
Next I would say trusting yourself is huge. That doesn’t mean you can’t productively self-criticize, but if people are interested in what you’re doing or thinking its because those thoughts and actions are valid and these people think they’re interesting. Getting frustrated and tearing yourself down is kind of just a part of the process when you first start anything. the self-doubt can be crushing, but if you can figure out what to do with those feelings in a way that works for you, you can learn to be self-critical in really productive ways.
Lastly, just remember not everything has to be groundbreaking or the beginning of a whole new cultural movement for what you do to mean something. A large part of what I do through Palace Parties is themed parties. I don’t know if any of the themes I’ve come up with have been groundbreaking, but I still know from those who attend that what I do is important and relevant and helps to better our city. Once I had a themed party where only 9 guests showed up. Failure is a part of the creative process and even if your ideas don’t change the way we live, they’re still allowed to exist. Also, who knows? An idea that sounds boring to one person may totally inspire someone else. Art, like life, is subjective and differing opinions don’t mean wrong opinions.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest obstacle for me has been financing. I should have spent more time learning how to and applying for grants. The vast majority of what I do is supporting artists, performers and creatives of all kinds, and I often forget my projects can’t continue to exist if they can’t afford to. Art Box isn’t very expensive to operate and I split the cost of the rental with the artists, but finances has been a major stressor with Palace Parties. When I first started doing themed events I was working at a bar who actually paid me to host my events there, then I had access to a free space to operate in, but after both of those opportunities the cost for these events went up quite a bit. I’m definitely more of an artistic-minded person than a business person, but I also I’m still learning to accept help when I need it. Life is a journey of (hopefully) never-ending education and growth, so I hope this is something I can eventually learn how to manage better.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @champagnewayne.gay
Image Credits
Art Box and Palace logos are my own design, the portrait of me with a brown backdrop is by Zach Bauman, the drawing is from Claryvoyances and the one of me with the mic and in the gold blazer are from Missing Piece Photography
