Israfel Sivad's Blog, page 2
November 30, 2020
BCS LIVE 2019
In the mid-1990s, I played in a political hardcore band called Broken Chains of Segregation. On November 30, 2019, that band and five other bands from the Richmond Hardcore Scene in the mid-90s got together to play a reunion show at Richmond Music Hall. To all of our surprise, we sold out the venue!
Today, on the 1-year anniversary of that show, OVOLR! Records has released our audio from that show as a LIVE album: St. Edward Reunion Show 2019. We called it the St. Edward Reunion Show because ...
October 24, 2020
Hours by One & the Many
Two years ago, I started a project with my friend, a musician named Frank. We were planning on releasing 10 albums in 10 years. We called the project One & the Many. Well, On October 21, we released our second album in the project, Hours. This album is more straight ahead than our first one, Forms, both in terms of the musical approach and the lyrics.
For this project, I write all the lyrics. Frank writes all the music. He also performs vocal and guitar duties. The band is rounded out with Bi...
September 16, 2020
Journey of a Thousand Miles
from Disorder by Israfel Sivad
What got me off the streets that August started a few weeks before I bumped into my mom. I’d moved in with this 21-year-old girl who was addicted to heroin. Over a decade younger than me, she’d approached me while I was strolling along minding my own business, contemplating my role during the apocalypse, and she’d asked if I knew where she could find “coke or H.”
Having spent most of the summer homeless, I was pretty sure I ...
September 8, 2020
Disorder by Israfel Sivad Review
Author Anthony Avina’s stellar review of my new memoir, Disorder. He says it’s “powerful, emotional, and a brilliant read.” Check it out:
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A truly unique memoir tells the story of a young writer who struggled with addiction and mental health, and found a way to overcome it all through love in author Israfel Sivad’s “Disorder”.
The Synopsis
Disor...
May 18, 2020
5 Burning Questions with Israfel Sivad
Writers & Words 5 Question Interview with me
As well as feature our future readers, we also wanted to check in with folks who have read for us over the last 5 years. Israfel Sivad read for us in 2019 read what he has been up to below!
What have you been up to since reading with us at Writers & Words? How has the writing been going?Well, like most of the world, Ive been on lockdown with my family. Were currently in the process of moving from Alexandria, VA to Baltimore...
February 20, 2020
Sometimes You Have to Jump the Snake
Sometimes You Have to Jump the Snake
By Israfel Sivad
It had been a dreary vacation so far. Both outside the cabin they were staying in and inside the mind he was trapped in. Two days of being trapped in a constant drizzle in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Two days of thinking about having to apply for jobs when they returned to DC. Then, the sun gilded the windowpanes’ dusty ledges as if the world itself were coming into existence for the first time. Jon looked up from the book he’d...
January 21, 2020
The Child Inside You
The Child Inside You
By Israfel Sivad
The child inside you is
waiting to be let out.
She sleeps soundly in
her swing for forever.
Her toys lay scattered. They
cross time. They cross through space.
She smiles. She opens her
eyes, and she peeks at you,
but you’re too afraid to
smile back at her tonight.
The child is peaceful.
She doesn’t need your help.
Her head is tilted to
the side. She drifts away.
The rock of her cradle
resonates in your mind.
She...
January 16, 2020
Men Never Write Poems
Men Never Write Poems
By Israfel Sivad
Men never write poems for other men.
Men don’t tell other men how they feel.
A man must keep his emotions locked
away from all the world… unless he’s brave.
A softness exists in our masculinity,
one I never knew I possessed along with you.
It takes time to open up, to trust and unfold,
but you proved to me: to feel is okay to do.
We have nothing to fear from what’s inside. We need
never be circumspect with what we reveal
to the world beyond our...
January 11, 2020
Yes, I’m Being Followed by a Moonshadow
Yes, I’m Being Followed by a Moonshadow
By Israfel Sivad
Perhaps it was only by chance she was listening to Cat Stevens as she walked home that day. Shortly after she rounded the corner off Sherman Ave and onto Georgia, she noticed a gray and white cat with a little pink nose sitting in the flowerbed of a building at the corner on Quincy. The cat was staring at her. She didn’t know cats all that well. She was allergic to them, but she loved them anyway. Recently, she’d become obsessed with...
December 30, 2019
Broken Chains of Segregation: LIVE!
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In the mid-1990s, I played in a political hardcore band called Broken Chains of Segregation. On November 30, 2019, we performed a reunion show with five other local bands from back in the day at Richmond Music Hall. This is the full video.
