The first day Jose Fresneda moved into his current apartment, he remember getting out of the subway station and hearing old blues songs being played on the street. "I realized that this was coming from a group of about 8 older black men playing informally for their friends in what looked like a run down park," he says.
"As time passed I realized that this was something of a ritual for them, they always gathered on Saturdays to have a good time and enjoy music. So when Sagmeister asked us to touch the heart of a community I knew exactly who's I wanted to touch.
This is a project that for me made me question my role as a designer, not only as someone who makes physical things, but as an enabler to make things happen. I managed to get in touch with a recording studio who took an interest in the project after a brief presentation and allowed us to take the band to record for a whole day without worrying about money. Our only goal was to have fun.
Then I cut a music video with footage from that day to one of the tracks that we recorded and finally held a screening in the same run down park where it all began.
This is a project that it's still going, as the other tracks are currently being mixed. By the time those are ready I will also bring to the guys their first studio recorded EP packaged and designed personally by me.
See Jose's video.