Emilio Chavez's Pulaski Mix
The world is more or less back open, and if you want to know where to find us. We’ll be hooping at Pulaski Playground with Emilio Chavez.
Emilio is a multidisciplinary artist from Seattle, who’s currently based in Brooklyn. He made his name shooting music videos for up-and-coming artists in Seattle such as SIQFUX and Mackned, but has since pivoted to working in the commercial world. Recent clients of his include Stray Rats, The Good Company, Salomon X Better Gift Shop and Timberland X Alife. We met Emilio playing basketball, and believe us when we tell you he should be a high draft pick on your pickup team. He sets hard screens, gets boards, and will hit at least 3 bank shots per game. Emilio Chavez is the Dennis Rodman of video work. For his archive of music videos, check out his YouTube channel, and to see his commercial and experimental work, go to his Vimeo page.
Emilio Chavez’s Pulaski Mix is now streaming on Post Up Radio
Continue reading for our interview with Emilio, some stills of his video work and a full track list for his mix.
What influence did growing up in Seattle have on your visual style?
Seattle’s a city with a small music scene, so there’s not a lot of big productions. That challenge pushed me to work harder to make simple things look bigger in music videos.
Your early work included doing videos for infamous Ballard rap group SIQFUX, are there any stories from that time period that stick out?
When they started to get linked up with Chris Travis, Xavier Wulf and guys from Raider Klan. We did a few shows with them, and it was a special time. We grew up listening to their music, and it was exciting to have those guys show love to what we were doing. Another part of it that was special to me was being able to build with people I grew up with so closely. There was never a master plan for big business, James and Guala were just friends of mine who did music, I was taking pictures and shooting videos, and we put some designs together for a clothing project. It was all super organic.
You’ve recently pivoted to doing more commercial work for brands like Timberland and Salomon. If you could pair a music artist and a brand, then shoot the video for a campaign, what would the collaboration be?
The first artist that comes to mind is MIKE, and I wouldn’t even want to do some big crazy thing. I’d want to shoot a campaign for him and Full Court Press, something that already exists and is natural. Doing a shoot for a bigger brand is cool, but often times it’s overproduced and I won’t have as much room to play and be creative.
Talk to us about what graffiti culture means to you.
I feel like it’s just a family for me. A lot of the people that I call my close friends or my brothers are all from this community, and I wouldn’t have met 80% of the people that I see on a daily basis without it.
What are “The Boppers”?
The Boppers are a sports team based in multiple cities. Seattle and New York. East and the West, the Seattle Boppers and the Brooklyn Boppers.
Music to cook to: Outkast - Aquemini
Music to drive to: Gunna - WUNNA
Music to work out to: Lil Yachty - Michigan Boy Boat
Music for a cocktail hour: Anything by Sade
Music that’s a guilty pleasure: Anything by Elliott Smith
Music to Post Up to: Anything by Knxwledge
Emilio Chavez’s Pulaski Mix Track List:
454 - LATE NIGHT
Donnie & Joe Emerson - Baby
Cdot Honcho - Mhm Mhm
Waylon Jennings - Luckenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love)
MAVI - Self Love
Bktherula - GANGO
Madball - Down By Law
(Unreleased)
Larry June feat. Black C - Organic Work
D. Savage - Pill
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Ponderosa Twins Plus One - Bound
(Sandy) Alex G - Southern Sky
Mooski - Track Star
Niqqaralph & Gunior The Godfather - Still Focused
Navy Blue - 224
Brent Faiyaz - Been Away
Kali Uchis - Your Teeth In My Neck
Funkadelic - This Broken Heart
Juicethegod - Faygo
You can follow Emilio on Instagram, and you can find his work on his website, YouTube channel and Vimeo channel.