quasimatt
Bushwick, Oklou, Addison Rae, quasimatt's feet
Today’s guest is quasimatt, an internet intellectual and provocateur living in Bushwick.
Stat sheet
💼 Occupation: None.😎
🏠 Neighborhood: Bushwick
🌎 Origin: Owatonna, MN
💪 Notable work: it’s not abstraction it’s literally just lying || i lost my cube || quasimatt pride 2021 collection
🪜 Socials: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok
So how’d you end up here, doing this interview?
I met Kevin on Twitter.
Editor’s note: After a brief Twitter repartee we became friends in the ~real world~.
Let’s check in with where your head is at right now. What tabs do you currently have open on your phone?
The lyrics to a song I’m obsessed with right now.
Merch for the local strip club.
Some music that’s not available on streaming.
The Wikipedia page of a bar my friend was telling me about last night.
Two tabs with the Google doc I’m using to answer these questions.
How about the Platonic form of quasimatt—what people, places, or activities make you feel most yourself?
I act differently around new people than I do with people I’ve known for a long time. I feel most myself when I hang out with someone I’ve known for a long time and someone I just met, because it forces me to reconcile the process of presenting myself to someone new with my history. I also feel most real when I’m traveling. Being in a new place is one of the few times when desperation is socially acceptable. I’m allowed to go to a city and try really hard to meet people, but if I do that in the city I live in, it can be embarrassing.
What do you do in your spare time?
Lately I’ve been picking up hobbies and then almost completely abandoning them within a month: skateboarding, playing footbag, slacklining, playing Scrabble.
What makes you forget about checking your phone?
I feel like in order for me to not check my phone I have to be so active that I literally can't: running, playing footbag, skateboarding.
Wind it back. What’s your favorite memory from the past year?
Last fall I was on a new friend’s rooftop in Bed Stuy. There were just three of us and we blasted The 1975’s I’m In Love With You on the rooftop and danced and sang. I had a moment of euphoria accompanied by a realization that I had stumbled into a solid new friendship that I knew would be meaningful.
Now fast forward. What are you most looking forward to in the next month?
Releasing the inaugural episode of a new podcast.
Time to get weird. What’s the weirdest thing you believe?
Dishonesty is the root of all interpersonal problems.
Back to normie questions. What’s your dream job?
Extremely famous provocateur.
What work of yours are you most proud of?
I used to do media analysis that was like 90% a joke but also could be taken seriously. I was really proud of those pieces but I’ve since erased them from the internet and therefore from existence because the things I’m most proud of are also the most embarrassing.
What are two goals, one personal and one professional, that you have for the next year? For your lifetime?
I'd like to ensure my primary income stream doesn't rely on me being me. I'd like to develop a skill that is valuable regardless of who has it so I can do whatever I want without worrying about my personal life negatively impacting my income. Personally, I'd like to orient more of my friendships around making stuff together. My goal for my lifetime is to be who I want and do what I want and get what I want, but I don't want to be more concrete about it because I'd like to be open to my desires changing.
Last few questions, focused on mapping your socio-creative world. Who are your creative inspirations?
Groups of people who perform their friendships are fascinating to me. In high school I would follow the every move of Young Klout Gang and the people in that orbit on social media. They were way ahead of the game in many ways. The idea of performing friendship was thrust into popular culture with BROCKHAMPTON and the rise of influencer houses. I look up to people who perform their friendships in interesting ways and are able to frame them honestly even when doing so doesn’t make them look good.
What creative scene or movement are you most excited about right now?
I have recently been missing the art scene in Holešovice, Prague, where I used to live. There are a lot of cypherpunks and people who really care about privacy and technology and make interesting tech art. I used to linger DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, which is kind of like the institutional locus for art in that neighborhood, and was exposed to some of what was going on in that scene through being there so often. I met some people who had strongly-held fringe political beliefs and a lot of money to throw parties and show off their art.
Also most music scenes that are downstream of Drain Gang and PC Music.
Who’s the next big thing?
Shed Theory feels important right now. I also follow this 23-year-old on Twitter named Roro (@fuglibetty) who's a brilliant cultural oracle and I wouldn’t be surprised if they destroyed New Zealand society and/or became the most important critic or tastemaker of this century.
If you could have a sleepover with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Send the last pic in your camera roll, no context.
Wow! Okay, who should we have on next?
If it can be anyone, get Roro to do it (fuglibetty on Twitter). If you want a New York elite, I'd like to see what Leander Capuozzo is into right now.
quasimatt’s List
Five (+1) recs for right now
📺 The Show About The Show. This show demonstrates how incompatible honesty is with Our Society.
💿 Galore by Oklou. This is literally the best album released in the past decade or possibly ever. Listen while riding the train alone in the rain and looking out the window.
📚 literally show me a healthy person by Darcie Wilder. It's like Twitter in the 2010's but also a tragedy.
🍻 Copper Kettle Bar & Restaurant in Sunnyside. Sometimes you just have to go to an esoteric location and get a mediocre $8 espresso martini... It's about the vibe.
📍 Maria Hernandez Park. The central plaza of Maria Hernandez Park is so buzzing with activity that sometimes I feel it's the center of not just the park, but the universe.
😳 Embarrassing yourself. Get into it! Better to be embarrassing than boring.
Want more? Go follow quasimatt on his socials above. To collect the quasimatt TMI trading card, find him IRL and ask to scan.