Interview: Evita Robinson (Nomad•ness)

Nov 23

CarminelittaInterview Evita Robinson, interview, Nomad•ness, travel No Comments

Picture of Evita Robinson (evierobbie)

I can’t remember exactly how I got in touch with Evita Robinson aka evierobbie many months ago, but that was probably through a common contact on Facebook. When I discovered her blog, Nomad•ness TV and her videos, I was immediately impressed and inspired by her various ventures. For someone who had never really travelled but was aching to, this was the perfect occasion to start dreaming (again) and more importantly to make those dreams of discovering the world a reality. Fast forward to September and you’ll find me finally making that first step with my memorable trip to Chicago. When I came back to London, I found Evita had invited me to join her newly-created Facebook group Nomad•ness Travel Tribe. Even though I was nothing like a seasoned traveller, I matched the only criteria which was to have at least one international stamp in my passport and therefore accepted the invitation with great pleasure. As the group is growing in amazing proportions, I decided it would be a good idea to feature Evita here and allow her to share her vision with you all. Because this is a music blog, I decided to explore how travel and music (or arts more generally) are connected. I want to thank Evita for taking some time to reply to my question and for inspiring me on a daily basis. I already booked plane tickets for two different trips in the next two months and I have a feeling this is only the beginning…

Continue reading after the jump

First of all, for people who are not familiar with you and your ventures, could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about Nomad•ness?

I am Evita Robinson, the Founder and Host of the Nomad•ness Travel Series, as well as the creator of the Facebook Nomad•ness Travel Tribe.

Nomad•ness TV is the travel series that I started while living in Japan, once I realized that friends and family weren’t going to be able to visit me in Asia. I simply started recording my life abroad and posting it online via Facebook. I wanted to give a look into what life abroad was like, especially for a young twenty-something woman who decided to venture around the world on her own. Hence, the idea was born, and it’s evolved since inception in February 2010.

Myself, I am a New Yorker, and citizen of the world. Since graduation from Iona College in 2006, I have lived on three different continents and traveled to a dozen countries. My entrepreneurial ventures all encompass my passion for travel.

You created a FB group a bit more than a month ago, the Nomad•ness Travel Tribe and it’s taking incredible proportions. How do you feel about that and do you have bigger plans for this wonderful gathering of world travellers?

Honestly, I try not to think about the magnitude of what is happening in the Tribe too much. It’s emotionally overwhelming. Not in a bad way, in an amazing way. But I operate very much from a mental place in which I’m always moving forward, thinking of ways to make what I have better, and trying to attract the proper attention to excel the project to the next level.

My vision is massive. Collectively, it’s more than the series, more than the Tribe, it’s a worldwide movement for a demographic of people that completely underrepresented on a mass media scale in the arena of travel.

Music is often compared to travel as it helps escape daily routine, opens up the mind and allows you to discover other cultures. Are both really important for you and are they always interlaced?

I think music and travel are related in that way for sure. For Nomad•ness, music is extremely important as it’s one of the five major pillars the series was built on. Music is the Universal language; therefore I seek it out when I travel, particularly on an independent, underground, level as the entire scope of the music industry has changed dramatically over the last few years.

Picture of Evita Robinson (evierobbie)

On your trip to Berlin, Germany, you had an opportunity to interview Public Enemy. Was it like a dream come true for you?

I think being able to shoot at splash! Hip Hop Festival, as a whole was dream come true. Public Enemy was definitely on the line up for that weekend but it was music mogul packed. I shot, and got back stage to speak with not just Public Enemy, but also Cypress Hill, Foreign Beggars, Onyx, Lupe Fiasco, and Janelle Monae. I was on hip-hop overload for three days, camping out in a tent, at Ferropolis. It was an indescribable experience, and I look to go back next year.

Interviewing Chuck D and Flavor Flav was interesting because I ended up having to jump the main gate in front of the stage to get access. I talked up the road manager and he got me access to everywhere I needed, setting the interview up. I still speak with them actually. They will email me every so often about how I’m doing and vice versa. Both were full of knowledge and perspective on the status of Hip-hop around the world. And Flav gave me his artist meal ticket…that’s love.

You are very interested in arts in general, is that something you try to include in your trips, wherever you’re going?

Arts, whether walking around the Lourve in Paris or scoping the street graffiti in Berlin, is a huge part of who I am. I have ‘artist.’ tattooed on me as well as a section of a Jean- Michel Basquiat painting. Basquiat is my favorite artist. I was literally obsessed with him and his life in college. This has never left as I approach everything in my life from a creative ‘out of the box’ point of view.

What is your best music-travel related memory?

Public Enemy and Foreign Beggars getting my backstage at splash! Festival take that one hands down. Both their interviews shape how I am moving forward with my show. And there is something invigorating about being among thousands of ‘foreign’ hip-hop fans in a place like Germany. If I saw these people in the street I would have never thought them to grow up on the same music as me. So to be among that crowd, and even sleep among these tens of thousands of people was a three day high for me.

Anything else you would like to add?

Just go. Don’t think. Just go. Don’t over analyze. Just go. Whatever your passion is, just start it. Perfect along the way. Develop along the way. Just start moving, and keep on moving.

Now that you are more familiar with Evita Robinson, discover her latest video, Nomad·ness Travel Series Pilot: Berlin or BUST, which she recorded thanks to her successfully funded Kickstarter project.