19 March 2009

Going Second is Going Places


When I am talking to students and their families about what it means to choose art school and deal with the constant tension of "doing what they love" versus "being able to make a living" I try to hit it head on. The fact is that you may have to doing one thing to pay the bills so that you can have the freedom do to what you are driven to do. Sometimes this resonates with them and sometimes it doesn't but the longer I am at Otis the more certain I am of this idea. We have a lot of very successful alums some of whom are making a living by doing what they love and others who do something else in order to attend to their passion in life.

Then there's Josh Alfaro who is doing a bit of both. A graduate of the Communications Arts program (and former Admissions office Intern), Josh is the Art Director at Emm Studio, which has developed an impressive client list that includesboth "big" names (Sony, Pioneer) and boutique operations (Green Dot Films, Space Magazine).

Emm's success is great to see but its Josh's burgeoning music career that is grabbing the headlines. As lead vocalist of the Salt Lake City based group Going Second Josh and his band mates have been receiving great reviews including recent write ups on Salt Lake's CityWeekly.net and In Utah This Week, which praised their release Wake Up saying- "Local boys Going Second could teach a class on pop/punk songwriting. They've got all the right moves -- the verses are crunchy, the choruses are big, and the vocal harmonies are tight throughout."

Going Second is playing gigs in and around their home base in preparation for a full blown summer tour. If you are in the LA area you can catch them at Molly Malones on April 15th and you'll find extensive coverage of their performances on YouTube.

*Image of Going Second from CityWeekly.net

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