Robby Owenby
@roaming.robby on his front porch hiding his busted hand and cigarette
-Theatre-
I wish I was sharing the audio of this interview. Those who know Robby know that he is a passionate person, a fast talker, a cusser (my favorite trait in a person). He is a man of action and big emotions.
Talking to him on the tiny front porch of his home after not seeing him in person for months, however, I can hear in his voice the new found calmness that reflection and certainty have brought him. The massive set of deep-toned wind chimes in front of us ring out as he talks about the physical and mental cleaning he has been doing in the wake of covid and #blacklivesmatter. You can really get that from the audio. But you will have to deal with just getting the words.
Interviewed 6.5.20
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Casey: How are you?
Robby: I'm doing good. You know, I'm actually doing really well, all things considered. I've had a lot of time to do things that I've been putting off, like my yard work and stuff like that. What I've learned about myself is that I really have to be busy and that kind of lowers my anxiety levels. So I've been able to do all the stuff in my garden, but I've also been able to start work with AARF (Atlanta Artist Relief Fund) which is something that's really given me a lot of purpose. And then I've learned three new apps with the Adobe suite. So like it's all things that I'm going to be able to use moving forward. So it's been nice.
Casey: Mentally, have you had more up days or more down days?
Robby: I would say it's been an even mix. I think that usually my up days are really up and my down days are really down. But thankfully, I've been kind of living in the middle because I, again, know that I'm in a much better situation than a lot of people. I am not wanting for food. I'm not having to worry about where my rent payment is going to come from or my utilities. So like, I've been able to kind of navigate that in such a way that I'm staying grounded and staying thankful.
Casey: How's your family doing?
Robby: Good. I haven't been able to see my family since maybe February or maybe right at the beginning of March. My grandmother lives alone and she pretty much raised me, she and my dad. And my dad has passed, but my grandmother is doing well. She's a little sick right now, but she's on some medicine. She and I both have really bad allergies and she's stubborn like I am and doesn't go to the doctor when she needs to but she's doing good. I call her probably every day. But I wish that I could be up there with her especially with everything going on now. I still have to go to the store and I have to go and do things and be around people. And with the protests going on right now. That's something I feel very strongly about so I am out there. Thankfully, my aunt sent me an N95 mask. She works in a hospital and she sent me and my grandmother both one. So I wear that all the time. But like, it's just not a risk that I'm willing to take to go see my grandmother when I know that I've been putting myself into situations where I could be exposed. But my family is doing well overall. Like, my aunt works in a hospital, so she's been able to stay busy. Her husband works for the military as a civilian, so he's been busy. So overall, things are good for my family. That's good.
Casey: So what else have you been doing in quarantine? Your yard looks great. You've been cleaning a lot.
Robby: I've been cleaning. My room looks really good. My room was a disaster before this started. And I watched Tidying Up on Netflix and I'm like, "I'm doing this right now." So I got - there's still a big mound of things that I'm waiting for Salvation Army to start accepting again. But I got rid of so much and I've added some plants to my house and I've started meditating, which has been really nice. Headspace is offering a really awesome promotion right now, essentially a year for free for people who have been adversely affected by Covid-19, so I'm taking advantage of that. And it's been really good. I've only been doing that for about two weeks now, but especially as our world keeps changing, we need to stay grounded as much as we can and find that source of positivity and power inside us. So that's been a really good tool for that. So, yeah, I'm just trying to stay busy, stay active.
Casey: And it sounds like you've been able to do it. What do you miss?
Robby: The thing I miss most is consistent human interaction. I'm one of those people who thrives when I'm around other people, a lot of my joy is pulled from the connections that I share just sitting down with someone like yourself and just talking and seeing somebody eye to eye and not being a screen in front of you. So I just miss people. I miss the work that I do as an artist. I mourn that there's so much uncertainty when it comes to our industry right now of - “When are things going to come back? How is that going to look?” I've been really trying to stay on my grind trying to get a job. As of this week, I'm up to four different places that have been like, "Yeah, I think we're going to hire you." And then at the very last minute have had to kind of backtrack.
Casey: And these are arts things are these are normal...?
Robby: Two of them were inside sales and all of them were great companies that I think I could really have done really well in. But, you know, that's just where we're at. But it's gonna come back and I'm staying positive through it because, again, I'm in a very good situation for the most part. Buying this house was the best decision I've ever made financially because it has given me the freedom to take a breath because I have two roommates that are thankfully also in a good situation. I never had to worry about them not being able to pay rent or utilities. So we're good. We have a house full of artists.
Casey: I love that. I bet that makes quarantining not quite as...
Robby: It's not quite as painful.
Casey: Do you have any new routines or new rituals or new hobbies or habits that you acquired during quarantine that you want to take into the post quarantine world?
Robby: I do actually. I think one of the biggest ones is my work with Atlanta Artists Relief Fund. It started out of necessity obviously, our mission has always been to serve artists in their time of need. And right now we're offering unemployment services, as far as navigating that, we're not professionals or anything like that. But like, Bridget is incredible. And she has put together a team that's really well versed and what all of that mumbo jumbo means on the Department of Labor. So we're offering that, we're getting food to people that just kind of need a break or need to not have to think about dinner tonight. That's just as valid. So like that work has been really, really fulfilling. And it's something that we have been talking about since day one of how is this organization going to look after quarantine? And it's absolutely something that we're going to continue on. So like, I'm really, really, really proud of that organization and the leadership there.
But on a personal level, I've talked about it a little bit, but cleaning my house. It sounds so silly, but there is a certain level of joy that comes with waking up in a room that you feel is full of life and joy and is not cluttered. And is not just burdened with things and things and things. So like that's been a really cool journey for me, like the Marie Kondo approach. It's liberating and anxiety-inducing all at once, but it's something that like, I've still got a lot of work to do there. I come from a family of - I'm not gonna call us hoarders, but we're hoarders. So it's a challenge, but it's been really nice.
And then you know, with the Adobe Suite stuff, I've really enjoyed learning to produce videos and learning some of the principles of graphic design and things like that. So that's definitely going to be something that I take with me after this.
Casey: Do you think you'll keep meditating after?
Casey: One hundred percent yes. I mean, again, I've only been doing it for about two weeks. I keep telling myself that the information says that there is no wrong way to meditate, you just do it, you are present, and you have to forgive yourself if you don't feel like you're getting anywhere because it's a skill. It's something that you are practicing. And it's something that you are getting better at. And two weeks in I can say that's absolutely true. I mean, I can see a difference between day one and day fifteen. And I can't wait to see what day 3000 looks like.
Casey: You're still creating. We talked about how you're developing these skills which is great. How have you found the motivation to create during all of this?
Robby: Well, I think it's just such an intrinsic part of who I am. It's unavoidable. So even before I started learning After Effects or anything like that, it kind of was born out of necessity because I was like, “I want to produce something. I just want to sing a song and put it out there or whatever, because I feel like I need that.’ And I know that my grandmother, if I would make her a CD, she would just listen to a CD of me singing. So this is something that I know that she will enjoy. So it's just such an intrinsic part of who I am. It was just the natural thing to do; to continue to create and to navigate what that means now. Because there's no certainty of what our industry is going to look like in a month or in two months. I know that the Alliance is thinking about their first show back being a virtual show, like a part of their main stage season that is essentially a Zoom. So I want to be prepared for that. And I want to be able to be a part of what this is looking like and our healing process as we move forward.
Casey: It sounds like you're also being drawn to stuff that isn't necessarily theatre.
Robby: Yeah. I have a background in on-camera work as well. And some of my really good friends are incredible filmmakers and I've always just kind of admired that. But also, I just kind of like to learn things. And with YouTube being such a wealth of knowledge, why not? There's just so much that you can learn and honestly, it's a time killer. Some people like to play video games, some people like to lay on the couch and just watch Netflix with their dog, which I also love. But for me, I feel like the thing that stimulates my brain is when it's learning something new. I could literally type into YouTube right now, "How do I make flames come out of my cat's eyes after effects" and I can learn exactly how to do that. It's so specific and you can learn anything. It's really cool.
Casey: So kind of to sum up, what do you think you'll take out of this experience, including the stuff from this last week?
Robby: Yeah. That's the big question. I think the last week is really what we all should be taking out of it. And I'm sorry that it's taken a pandemic for us to have the manpower. But many of us are out of work right now. Many of us can be out raising our voices and showing our support and showing our distaste for what's going on in the world in a really "boots on the ground" kind of way right now. And I think that's exactly what we need.
So I think the biggest thing that I'm going to be taking out, I guess, is two things. I'm going to be taking away my meditative practices because what I'm really finding over the course of this past week is I've got to have that balance because so many of us right now, there's a lot of hurt and a lot of anger and a lot of desperation for our black brothers and sisters who have been enduring this trauma for literally 400 years. And then there's a lot of shame, too. It's like, “Why haven't I been able to articulate the things that I'm able to articulate now? And what does that say about me that I wasn't doing it before? And how do I come to terms with that? And how do I move forward with that? How do I be the best ally and advocate that I can be?” And then so all of that going on, for me at least, I need that meditative practice to kind of get back and deal with some of those complex emotions.
And so I think those are the things that I'm gonna take away is like, we have to be good to ourselves and we absolutely have to do what's right for our world and for our brothers and sisters at all cost.
