Howls from the Abyss
ISSUE I - Nov 4th - A2GRM2 Humble Beginnings
Meet the Admins: Part 1 - ParaDox
ParaDox (formally ParaDox the Martyr, pronouns she/they) created the facebook page, "Afro-American Goth, Rock, Metal & More" as a hobby. Their goal for the page was to promote models, businesspeople, musicians, and other POC who visually represented the alternative lifestyle. "I got tired of seeing only people with pale skin whenever I looked at very beautiful gothic photos or how poorly represented black models in the goth and metal subculture were represented." they stated when asked about what inspired the creation of this project. "I was surprised to find out there was a lot of subculture communities that existed in other countries that couldn't openly express their uniqueness without fear of harassment or bullying of some level." Through networking and sharing the images they found of other models and tagging them, they created an algorithm that started a grassroot process of connecting with others. After a couple years of struggling to keep the page afloat due to mental health issues and personal reasons, they went on a hiatus from Facebook to focus on spirituality and studying herbal/indigenous medicine.
After returning from their hiatus, ParaDox dropped their former pseudonym and switched their artist name to "ParaDox IsRafil" last year to start their music career during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, they have taken their knowledge and resources in artist management to give A2GRM2 a revival, which has expanded from Facebook to other social media platforms (IG, Twitter) and launched their first official website, www.a2grm.com. Still adamant of pushing more diverse representation for POC, they plan to create a modeling agency and merch store through the website and other resources where people can connect, network, and share with one another and grow a free community of support that may not be easily accessible to others due to financial restrictions, lack of equipment, or lack of audience.
Selfie of ParaDox
/ Find ParaDox on all social media platforms @paradox_israfil (IG/Twitter) or @pdoxharleyquinn (FB/Snapchat)
// Music can be found on Soundcloud
/// To financially support either their music or their personal journey, you can also check out their Bandcamp where they update their fans on music, shows, and other personal endeavours.
ARTIST FEATURE OF THE DAY!
Entering the abyss: HANNYA CHA0$
A father, a menace, a soul of big voice and even a bigger heart, Hannya Chaos is making waves in the Memphis scene and I'm proud to have been able to talk to him (I actually got off the phone with him as I was working on this newsletter). I have been a fan of his work through being introduced through my work as a music manager and I'm so happy to see his career to continue to grow.
Quoted from his Spotify Profile
Nothing Great that was ever born in Hell ever remained. Nothing that ever remained in Hell ever became Royalty. HANNYA is Chaos in its most holy form. The growl He formed in the 6th Level, known as Memphis, has echoed across the region as a solemn and undeniable reminder of Human Strength. He shapes the demonic wails of depression, disenfranchisement and rampant disloyalty into booming anthems of a complete rebellion against normality.​Young and able, yet broken and seething, He twists the annals of His life around the chemistry of His numerous, diverse influences. He makes the dark afraid of itself. He makes Us believe that the dark is powerless against Us.
- Nez
WARZONE - YOUTUBE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO (CLICK HERE)
Here is the song, "WarZone" by Chinese Connection Dub Embassy ft. SvmDvde & Hannya Chao$ for streaming, which also available for all platforms. Within the next couple of weeks, we'll be working on creating a playlist that will be available to check out in a few weeks to help increase digital streams for our artists that we showcase here on A2GRM2. In the meantime, make sure you check out "War Zone" and expect to hear it a lot more, for this anthem speaks to everything A2GRM2 represents and advocates for: black lives will always matter.
The next newsletter will be released next week with more on the admins, including words from ParaDox and Reiko, website updates, another featured artist for the week. For now, thank you for tuning in. And as always, stay lovely, my pups!