I met up with public relations senior Talib Abdullahi (called ‘T’ for short) at Caffé Medici. When I walked in, expecting a handshake at arrival, he greeted me with a high five instead. Embarrassingly admitting that I have never been to Caffé Medici, Abdullahi laughed and jokingly told me that he goes there a lot just to hang out (although he assured me that the coffee is great). Just by being around him you can tell that he’s a laid-back guy who could be friends with anyone; multiple people he knew would walk by, approach him and then exchange high fives. How cool is that? He organizes, promotes and books events while loving every minute of it. After chatting with him and finding out all that he has done, there’s no wonder why he does this kind of work.
Growing up
Abdullahi works at The Parish, a live music and special event venue, as a talent buyer and coordinator. Exposed to music for almost all of his life, he hopes to work in the music business and promote unknown talents.
“Both of my parents were pro jazz musicians. My mom played around Houston and ended up being the director of the jazz music festival there,” Abdullahi said. “There would be 20,000 people in the crowd and I would just be backstage. I hung out with the tech guys and got to meet a lot of the artists. I was a little kid then, but I kind of just grew up with that kind of environment.”
“Ransack Repertory”
Along with two of his buds Jon Cook and Taylor Kirk, Abdullahi started an organization called “Ransack Repertory” on campus that he said was dedicated to “UT students who wanted to produce theatre projects that were more dynamic than what they can do at UT.” Alongside that, they created a magazine called the Raw Paw consisting of art, photography and poetry from local artists.
“Most of the people who are featured in the magazine are people whose music is the main thing they do,” Abdullahi said. “They just happen to also draw and write poetry. So it’s a place to put stuff that they create that wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
“The Skank Family Collective”
Abdullahi is also currently working on a project called “The Skank Family Artist Collection,” a collective of local artists who have a passion for what they do. Starting in 2009, he said it was more of an accident than anything else. They decided to build a stage in Abdullahi’s backyard and just started setting up shows and promoting them. The Skank Family Artist Collection is made up of down-to-earth people who just love to make art and music. “It’s a lot more wholesome and laid back,” Abdullahi admitted.
He described the collective as a “big web of people.” They are all friends who came together to collaborate and to hang out; some were friends from way before and some became friends through other friends.
“We didn’t have a set plan but it just formed really organically. After a while, we took it more seriously and just made the shows into bigger ones,” Abdullahi said. “Some of the bands started by practicing in my living room. Now they are selling out really big venues, and it’s only been three years” he adds.
One event they did was a benefit show at Spider House to raise money for families in Bastrop who were affected by the fire outbreak last September. All the money raised went to the American Red Cross of Central Texas Disaster Relief.
Some of the bands in the collective:
Marmalakes
Little Lo
Mother Falcon
Shakey Graves
The Sour Notes
Milezo
Mary Ann & The Revival Band.
You can hear a mix tape of the bands in the collective by following this link: http://skankypossum.bandcamp.com/
At the end of our conversation I asked Abdullahi if there was anything else he wanted to tell me. He smiled and quickly laughed after replying, “I like cats.” If you ever see him, I’m sure he’d give you a high five; I quickly found out that he likes those too.
His favorite artists of all time:
Simon and Garfunkel, Daft Punk and Marmalakes
If he could be any celebrity in the world:
He told me Dennis Anderson. Yes, the professional monster truck driver! After seeing a video of him, you’ll understand why.