Maddie
An Interview by Sara Ghassemzadeh
All Photography by Jon Del Real
I can’t remember the exact year I met Maddie…
…probably at a punk show in 2016. Since then I’ve had the privilege of watching her truly grow into herself. Maddie Calderon is the bassist of Sabrina is Not in This Chat and Thank You Congratulations, owner of clothing brand, Good Sport, and a multidisciplinary artist. She carries an energy that is bright, exciting, and unapologetic -- everything from her sound to her clothing is one of one. Recently, I got to chat with Maddie at a photoshoot in Pasadena.
Tell us about yourself!
To start off -- I’m a proud mother of one four legged weirdo. I’m currently a part-time student working towards who knows what but I’m focusing on graphic design and at night I work at a venue in Downtown LA. I enjoy exerting energy in the healthiest ways possible, creating collaborative art with friends, and finding new ways to share my vision with the world. I’m also a horrible perfectionist but I’m working on it though!
I know you explore various mediums of art, what's been your focus recently?
Recently I’ve been super into collaging. I’m trying to force myself to be making/upcycling clothes at the same time no matter what art form I’m stuck on, so I try to incorporate whatever my latest endeavor is at the moment, whether it be poetry, collaging or painting!
What inspires you?
I don’t think I know quite yet to be 100 % honest with you, or at least I don’t think I've found my big inspiration. I'm inspired in a lot of little ways by people I meet, art I experience, and moments of kismet. I feel like my purpose is to share the importance of empathy, and I guess I'm inspired to do that through art in every form.
How has moving to LA influenced you?
LA definitely made me feel the need for empathy more than ever. I have a love/ hate relationship with it here. All metropolitans can be desensitizing and sometimes dehumanizing and that bothers me, but this is also a great place to start your message and to be heard by a large group of people. . . and just all around be inspired, as well as finding groups of people that share your passions.
Musically, where do you see yourself headed?
Oh man, I'm not too sure. I'll always make music, I'm in 2 projects currently [Sabrina is Not in This Chat and Thank You Congratulations] and that's all I can squeeze in at the moment, but I've been making some silly iPhone beats and that's an area I would like to dive into more!
I've seen your growth with Good Sport, could you tell us about the drive behind that? What are your goals with the brand?
I’m absolutely obsessed with clothing. I love finding good fabric and scoring vintage prints, but usually they aren’t in the most flattering shape so this really all started with me altering clothes to make them into what I want them to be. People would comment on some of the stuff that I’d wear and I figured I'd start making things in other styles and sizes. At the time I had been reselling vintage for a year or so, and I slowly started working my original stuff into the rack and now it's mainly my originals. When I first started out, I was printing on blanks I'd get in the fashion district, but I didn’t feel good about not being sustainable. I started printing on thrifted clothing and ultimately loved it 10 times more cause now all my pieces were 1/1. My goals moving forward would definitely be to collaborate with artists and get consistent with it on a daily level. I would love for it to support me in a big way, and that's definitely what I'm working towards.
What are your goals for the new year, the new decade?
Right now my goals are to get through school and make at least 50-100 new pieces. If I could get a website going by the end of the year that would be tight as fuck. . . but I’m not gonna hold myself to it quite yet. As far as the decade goes, I hope to have a bachelors finished, maybe in Humanities. And I've been thinking a lot about getting my TEFL so I can teach Spanish in Colombia and live out there for a bit. The goal would be to get Good Sport to a consistent and sustainable state online and maybe just base myself there!
What does this transitional period mean to you?
Honestly, my whole life has been a transitional period, ends and beginnings of years kinda blur for me. Right now I'm finding my ground in a new living situation and making it work for me. School has been a big thing I didn’t see myself getting into anytime soon, and I'm really looking to get my health on some next level shit! Inner peace is what I'm striving for these days.
What advice would you give to the artist that's just starting out?
Just keep making shit and finishing it, thats the big thing, FINISH. You're probably going to make a lot of bad stuff and there is so much to learn in all the bad. You can't get good until you’ve been bad. My biggest issue is not wanting to finish things because I don’t like how they look half way through -- perfectionism is not your friend. I'm trying to relax a bit and just create and finish whatever it is. Practice being in the habit of doing it everyday. If being an artist is something you want to do as a profession, if it's strictly a hobby -- let it come when it comes and let it be peaceful. It all depends on your intentions.
Anything else I should know about you?
I fucking love life, shit times and all. It's a crazy thing, and I feel honored to be in it.
You can find Maddie on Instagram @good._.sport and on Depop as @goodsport. You can also reach out at goodsportprints@gmail.com
