When our close friends, the multi-talented Bambi Here and Baz Here, moved to the The Historic Core in downtown LA in 2011, my husband and I were watching. We visited them regularly and liked what we saw — a burgeoning arts scene and the renaissance of a once blighted city. When we made the move, in 2013, we landed across the street from our urban heroes, and have witnessed their evolution into legend.
Bambi and Baz have their fingers on the electric pulse of DTLA. Here’s a look into the lives of this dynamic duo. — Alexis Rhone Fancher
9 am. Bambi is awake. Time to meditate. Time to make coffee. Time to shake off last night’s whiskey. Pours a cup of coffee for Baz. Walks into Baz’s room. Oops! Damn. Looks like he’s not alone – again.
Oh dear.
What will they do today? Well, what any odd couple might do — Baz will grab his camera, while Bambi makes the toast (probably burns it). Time to immortalize this guy who has visited Baz for one night with a photo shoot. And this is just what happened today.
Baz and Bambi, two lonely hearts, moved in together four years ago completely oblivious that they would make a family and marry their art (it’s true, they even had a ceremony – Bambi wore a veil). They live in DTLA and while not the first to create a hive here, many in the artists and writers community have followed those two whack jobs (including Alexis herself).
Here’s the thing – take Baz, a handsome, gay, thirty-something – double his age and you get Bambi – a gorgeous sexpot on the hunt for something real – as she always says, “I’m only here for the art.” (Well, maybe she should stop frequenting all the DTLA gay bars.) Yup – these two are weird. Since their arrival, their creative partnership has exploded into music, photography, literary journals, poetry, performance art, and plenty of nonsense. But enough about that…
Take a look at Baz’s new photographic series below, with Bambi assisting:
Bambi Here III
Baz Here IX
Redline
Ann Harper Reed
The music is always alive in the loft. … we say so is Baz’s newest album. It’s an exploration and celebration of owning who you really are. Bambi collaborated on the lyrics and all of the photos and artwork are from the mind (or should we say heart) of Baz. Cool, huh?
… we say so
Click here to listen or purchase on iTunes
Bambi is a poet. She often wakes up in the middle of the night dreaming of words. Ever since her move downtown, the words began cobbling themselves together under the urban moon of Los Angeles.
WITHOUT CAGES
3 am
my darkness is standing
behind the moon
and a woman weeping
in a far away loft
perhaps that is me
I must sit up
abandon my feather pillow
for the wisdom of the night owl
countless are the years I wailed
with street dogs howling
for no stranger are we to pain
sniffing for leftover love
but I am old now
and the oldest weave kingdoms
into dreamscape without bullets
trembling death and/or
tomorrow’s ghost
*
SEEING THINGS
late afternoon I was thinking
I was seeing things
my right eye was growing
black threads writing code
in the corner of my periphery
I was beginning to imagine
flashing science
and a season of wandering
opening and closing my eyes
three times three
in order to find the setting sun again
the black threads were still there
on my eyeball
wanting me to dance with spiders
and hair nets or telephone wires
each of us makes a deal with death
and my universe of pain will not be found
on the sidewalk curled up into the cold
with only sound for warmth
considering that
I decide to offer my right eye
to a blind man so his entire dark
will become threaded with webs
and he could learn to walk without feet
between light and shadow
*
TYPING AT 2 AM
unable to sleep
I turn on the fan
listen to ocean sounds on repeat
the dog howling
in the backseat of an empty moon
is alley-bound
old footprints scatter
arrive wind-weary
and climb into the black ink
of my gypsy love letters
causing me wild, deepening
laughter
this, I believe, is progress
Bambi has two books of poetry on Amazon. Guess who did the cover art?
The Wonderment of Saint Bambi
Banging Against Incomprehensible Walls
Check out Baz on YouTube. Here is one from the new record:
Together Baz and Bambi publish books for poets and writers. Also they create a literary journal named FRE&D – For Readers Edification & Debauchery. Here is the Amazon link:
FRE&D
Baz Here
Bambi Here
See Bambi & Baz in December:
REDLINE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Sunday, December 13 @ 6:30 pm
Baz will be singing Christmas songs with Derek Jameson and Valerie Rose Curiel.
Bambi will be a sexy elf and emcee.
A benefit for “Toys For Tots.”
Redline DTLA
131 E 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Go to the Redline site
Banner photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher all other images by Baz Here
