Daniel Barran is a talented writer and curator, who is interested in the gamut of cultures and subcultures within the world of the arts­—specifically music, film/tv, comedy, and literature. In fact, these appear as the main sections on his newly launched digital magazine Yay! LA You may be thinking these sections sound all too familiar, but Daniel’s coverage is far from conventional, featuring articles about mental-health centered art and the craft of Tracy Piper, a non-binary, ex-circus performer, painter. Fortunately, I was able to connect with Daniel to discuss his experiences as a writer and his new magazine:

​What brought you to launch Yay! LA?
Yay! LA’s creation was largely accidental. In 2011, I had a job at an outpatient mental health center and had become very reclusive. My work was making me depressed and I wasn’t seeing my friends as often as I used to. I felt like I needed an outlet. Sometime in late January or early February there had been a group art show opening in DTLA showcasing three different street artists and somehow in the moment it occurred to me to interview all of them for a then-hypothetical website. It was a surprisingly fun experience and street art was all the rage at the time because of the documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. So I began attending lots of art openings while interviewing street artists, learning their subculture and community. I was getting to know a whole new side of me and once the initial crop of street artist profiles were released online I received a very positive response. That encouraged me to move forward and immerse myself in creative circles of all kinds. Yay! LA was designed to be an all-terrain vehicle that could take me wherever I wanted to go. But there was definitely a lot of learning on the job.    

"I’m less interested in talking with artists about their process than I am with who they are and what made them."

I see your magazine “stands to showcase a diverse, eclectic range of emerging and established talents from creative fields of all kinds.” What does that entail?
I started by interviewing street artists, then other kinds of painters and illustrators, before moving onto musicians, authors, comedians, and any kind of creative I could get in touch with. Filmmakers. Dancers. A chef one time. It was always about opening myself up to new experiences and hopefully challenging myself to become a better writer and more well-rounded person. I knew nothing about cooking or culinary arts before scheduling my interview with the chef, but it was a joy to dig deep into the unfamiliar and we had a wonderful talk. His food was incredible, too.

Do you have any writers/mags that inspired your magazine?
Not particularly. What probably inspired me the most were the podcasters I was listening to around the time Yay! LA began to gestate. I was a lonely, aimless college grad and I spent a lot of time driving around listening to This American Life and a then-new podcast called WTF with Marc Maron. I think a heavy diet of the two mixed a stew in my brain and I thought, “What if I did this?” I wanted to find a way to tell interesting stories and I wanted to be able to make meaningful connections where I could. Creating an arts & culture blog centered around profiling creative people seemed like the most accessible way to do those things.

​What sets your magazine apart from other art and culture mags?
I think since it was started as a personal blog it was very much defined by my untrained approach to journalism. I’m less interested in talking with artists about their process than I am with who they are and what made them. I want to understand my subjects’ creativity as their means to survive or thrive. At least, that’s the ideal. I’m also making a conscious effort to create a platform of strong diversity and representation at Yay! LA. Too many arts & cultures mags just feel like a paean to the wealthy, white, velvet rope crowd. Fuck that shit. We can do better.
 
With the popularity of social media, many magazines are putting out less prints or going to online only. Are you going to print the mag or offer it exclusively online?
I value print, I feel like readers still value print, and it certainly carries an air of legitimacy to have that option available. It’s also a significant investment. For now, Yay! LA only has plans to be online-exclusive, but I would definitely consider some manner of compilation or zine in the future.
 
What’s next for Yay! LA after the launch?
I’d really just love to reestablish Yay! LA as a vital brand in arts & culture coverage. In its past incarnation, Yay! LA was home to some very fun collaborations with artists and photographers. That element will definitely be carried on at some point, particularly now that we’ll be having more dedicated video content, courtesy of filmmaker Christofer Camargo. 

If you’re still as interested as I am, check out Yay! LA here. There is already a lot of great content and a lot more to come—both print and video! Check out the video below, which recaps the Yay! LA relaunch party. 

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