I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 to make my dreams come true as an independent artist and musician. I immediately immersed myself in the local art and music scene by performing at open mics, going to music shows, and checking out art galleries. While at these events, I took photographs to capture these special moments and struck up conversations with many artists and musicians to find out what they were about. As a newcomer, I felt there was not enough media coverage of the up-and-coming and lesser-known artists and musicians that I encountered. I wanted to help increase their exposure and expand their audience by sharing work that inspired me. This motivated me to create the first issue of Bang Magazine in 2013. As a labor of love, I spent countless hours editing pictures, compiling interviews, and operating an old-fashioned printing press to produce thousands of copies of the magazine–just so I could gift them to everyone I met who was interested in discovering local art and music. After releasing a printed issue each year until 2016, I transitioned into making video interviews of some artists and musicians featured in the magazine. All throughout 2017, I recorded, edited, and released the first series of Bang the Kitchen on YouTube. I then decided to merge Bang Magazine and Bang The Kitchen into a single online platform and launched Bang The Bay. Here you will find direct links to featured artist and musician interviews, reviews, photographs, videos, websites, music, and artwork. If you would like to support the mission of this project, donations are greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Lee Austin Hoffman,
Founder of Bang Magazine, Bang The Kitchen, Bang The Bay, and Elegant Trash
https://www.facebook.com/BangTheBay/