Somewhere inside of me, I have always wanted to be a rapper. I learned very early on that this would not be a viable creative option for me through countless attempts of freestyling with friends or in the shower.
That is until I met DJ Diesel—Shaq was late to the party.
DJ Diesel is a 37-year-old Bar Mitzvah MC and aspiring rapper who lives with his mother in New Jersey. He likes to make beats, rap, and wear wife beaters. He also loves kosher delis, smoking cigarettes in his car, Pauly D, pastrami sandwiches, Icehouse tall boys, walking with a little pep in his step, and his beloved Osiris shoes. His iconic look revolves around orange and has no shame in wearing the same thing on repeat. He’s unapologetically himself and reaches for the moon in all that he does.
DJ Diesel is singular. He has a specific quality to him that doesn’t go unnoticed. I admire the comfort he has in basically any situation. He just goes about his day and walks the line between getting into trouble and not—harmless, oddly charming, and respectful of others.
His debut single, COLD CUTS put him on the map. But unfortunately, his virality stopped him from producing another beat in the last two years. I have a feeling I’ll see him again soon.
Last night in Artist Assembly’s fourth meeting since its conception, 19 artists discussed the role of alter egos and personas in their practice. Much to my chagrin, my audio recorder died during the meeting and didn’t save any of the conversation.
You win some, you lose some. It’s all a learning experience.
I learned about using alter egos in my Concepts class in college after being shown Jayson Musson’s alter ego, Hennessy Youngman, in a series titled “Art Thoughtz.” Give it a watch.
One of the Assembly members was talking about her corporate work and the amount of distress it causes her to have to abide by their rules and be someone she isn’t. Whether we know it or not, we all put on a different face for work in some way. When I worked as a videographer for a digital marketing company in Denver, I was more introverted than I was in real life, kept to myself when I was at my desk, churned out media projects like butter, and then left. Not for any reason, I just didn’t want to stand out too much and I knew I wasn’t going to be sticking around for that long.
Most artists in Los Angeles (and the rest of the world) work full and part-time jobs that have nothing to do with their art practice. Photographers who work in advertising, painters who work in restaurants, actors who manage coffee shops… Think about the person you are at work versus the person you are with within your art practice. Maybe you’re the same, maybe you are not, maybe you don’t see a difference. Many of us are the last example.
Servers in restaurants talk in different voices with their guests, telemarketers speak in more authoritative tones when trying to scam you out of money (there’s this nuts documentary on the biggest telemarketing scam ever on HBO—I highly recommend), the list of examples goes on. As small as it may seem, these little changes in character can help us significantly in allowing us to be more successful in our goals, as sinister as some of those goals can be.
What interests me about alter egos is the aptitude to become objectively better at something just by playing into the idea we have in our heads. If perspective is everything, what happens if we change our perspectives to align with a larger goal? What if we make the larger goal the opposite of what we want? In anything, it’s important to consider the other side and what perspectives are held in any scenario to further the impact of our mission.
What if we create a character like DJ Diesel to allow a version of ourselves to flourish? I did that. In fact, it was my art final, rather, it was DJ Diesel’s art final. It might sound childish to correct myself, sometimes even others when referring to him because he is not me and I am not him. But we both exist in the same vehicle, which is this body and that is what connects us.
The throughline of this idea is that alter egos, personas, characters, whatever you’d like to call it is a viable option to allow different sides of yourself to become free of judgment. Lean into your biggest insecurity, wear a mask, create a new identity, and start a brazen movement on social media. The only thing stopping you is yourself, so try being someone else.
David Bowie had Ziggy Stardust.
Eminem’s Slim Shady.
Daniel Dumile had MF DOOM, DOOM, Metal Face, and King Geedorah
Lucy Schwob (who the hell is that?) created Claude Cahun early on in her career as a photographer.
Jean Michel Basquiat was SAMO.
Eli Bucksbaum uses DJ Diesel.
These aliases are used to communicate all kinds of different messages and can be used as a tool to further our artmaking, make us more comfortable in the workplace, and/or allow us the room to learn about ourselves in a robust approach.
I’m laughing to myself as I’m considering making the title of this “Don’t be yourself” which is both hilarious and complimentary of this piece. Add it to the list of contradictions in artmaking… quite possibly my favorite idea to explore in the creative act and pops up in my writing in abundance.
It’s unavoidable, humorous, and truthful.
As always, thank you for being here,
Eli, Studio MAXIMA
ARTIST ASSEMBLY
Unfortunately, there will be no recording of Artist Assembly #004 tomorrow as my audio recorder died during the discussion.
The next meeting will be September 18, 7:30pm-9pm.
Reach out to me on Instagram or shoot me an email if you want to learn more or have any questions.
Luved the read.
One of my favorite topics to talk about, great read!