Picture the Renaissance. Now replace the tights and smallpox with flannels and beat up MacBook Pros, drop it in a pubble, and there’s Seattle. The place where all-but-average folk come to surround themselves with people just as driven as they are. While disturbingly scented allies and futile horn honking can be experienced in any reasonable city, what makes Seattle Seattle is the atmosphere of inspiration and the people who breathe it in. With streets filled with art shows, live and local music blasting from taverns and office buildings filled with tech startups, there’s always some sort of masterpiece waiting to be unveiled.

But it’s tough to be productive without the right workspace - where would King Lear have been penned if Billy Shakespeare’s roommate was blasting music all day? Where would Leo Da Vinci have gotten his iced, double-shot nonfat vanilla latte?

Conundrums like these are why culture needs coffee shops, and nobody does coffee shops like Ballard; the Florence to Seattle’s 16th century Italy... And nobody does Ballard coffee shops like Assembly.

At Assembly, our goal is to create an environment where artists have room to spread their wings and work, while being able to enjoy some of life’s finer caffeines. But something we’re also interested in is the background noise - what’s the soundtrack to a hard day’s work? What’s happening to inspire the work being done? How does one unwind after touching up their latest masterwork? We decided to hit up some of our not-so-regular regulars about their work routines, how they operate in the heart and soul of Seattle, and how their community serves them and their projects. Every coffee shop has its regulars - we just talk about it more.

Miles Tucker | Video Editor & Portraitist

If you grew up in a small town and got an itch for the big city, you have something in common with Washington’s own Miles Tucker, a video editor and portraitist, who was “Originally from Whidbey Island but grew up in Stanwood”, and now thrives doing video editing and photography for Amazon, a small local company you might’ve heard of, as well as his work own on the side:

“My favorite projects so far have been my artist portraits within amazon as well as my own artist portraits on the side with photography.”

Or, to give an idea of someone who absolutely immersed themself in the Ballard community, look at folks like Doug Fuchs, a now local illustrator/designer and head of The Point studio. “I grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, PA”, he told us. “It took a couple of visits to Seattle before I came across Ballard and knew it was the place for me. I connected with the community here although it took some time to build given the pandemic. One day I'd meet someone who ran a sail design company and the next a musician. They were unlike me in the best way, but were all passionate and driven toward something.”

Then there are those like Aria Bird, CREATEUR magazine founder and editor, who grew up around the arts but needed that splash of rain - “I grew up in Los Angeles, the mecca of people trying to make something of themselves. I didn't realize it at the time of course, but I was constantly surrounded by amazingly creative people to observe and learn from”.

Having grown up around the arts and artistic people, Aria strives to do her part in keeping culture alive and well by spreading the artistic word through CREATEUR. “Years later I've made my way back to immersion again, but in a new world called Seattle. Here, with my business CREATEUR, I've discovered this opportunity and fascination once again to engage with creative humans and learn from them. But this time instead of them raising me, with hope, we raise each other.” CREATEUR is a magazine you can find on the web, it’s intent being to give some exposure and even some financial support.

Support is the name of the game when you’re trying to get your career going. Even if it’s in a different field, meeting someone with drive can awaken one's own. Especially for someone like Doug, who’s been able to find his people.

“When someone has a show, they all show up. We've even begun a creative night biweekly (it's called Farts & Crafts) when everyone brings something creative to work on together. They challenge me to think about ways we can interact in big and small ways.”

If you ever need some kind of animation/illustration work done, Doug’s the one to call. He keeps up with the “current trends and technologies”, and he has that special mid-western brand of “hard-nosed realism”, making him a reliable pick. If you need any proof of his ability, just look at Point Studio’s crowning achievement, a series of landscapes done for Stanley’s logo, Stanley the Bear. “The concept was that their logo, Stanley the Bear, was on an adventure to explore endangered environments and share what he learned with kids. I had to work closely with engineers as they built and tested the CAD designs.”

But you obviously can’t spell Ballard without “music.” Fact checking aside, it’s an integral part of the cultural ecosystem. That goes for our creatives. For some, like Miles, there is none playing while the magic happens, but it is instead used to inspire, even if he’s more on the visual side of things.

“I honestly don't listen to any music in the background when I create, I more so look for music I am going to use to help with the narrative.”

But what if you’re not one for the sounds of silence? Maybe you like to have a sort of white noise going on, something to help you get carried away with whatever work you have going. Take Doug, who likes some sound to help him concentrate:

“I think the only music playing in our apartment right now when working is a local band, Racoma. They're mellow and it's so easy for me to get into a flow state and lose track of time when they're playing.”

And then for someone like Aria, you may “start in silence.” And then from there you get a tune stuck in your head, then get totally and completely lost in the sounds, even going so far as to have a music video playing in the background.

“I’m a visual learner,” she told us. “So less so the music and more so the music videos, their instagram, their fashion and overall style, the photoshoots they do. It's the entire vision that inspires my work and what I decide to try out wearing, or doing my hair or makeup differently, down to the attitude I want to try on for the day. Every aspect is an opportunity for inspiration.”

It’s our goal to make sure creatives like Doug, Miles and Aria have an environment where they can work and be as productive as possible. We’ll have some clean (enough) tables, some good chill music going, and you better believe that there’ll be coffee to sip on. We figured we’d ask our three regulars about their coffee journeys.

While it’s usually Seattle coffee shop law that a coffee order can’t be under three syllables, Miles is a rule breaker. Since day one he’s preferred to keep it simple with a latte, and sometimes a mocha with oat milk. On the other end of the spectrum we have Aria, who’s been around the block: “Mocha's. Then Vanilla Latte's. Then Vanilla Soy Latte's. Then Sugar Free Vanilla Soy Latte's. Then I got a Nespresso machine and all hell broke lose.” Doug’s a Cortado man, which tracks - nothing says “hard-nosed realism” like some Farts ‘n Crafts and Cortados.

Anyone could tell you that no two artists are the same, but what’s interesting to us at Assembly is how their individual processes differ. Some work in silence after being inspired by a tune, others immerse themselves in it fully while they work. Something the Ballard community has in common is that the artists here are, in some way, inspired by one another. An essential way for people to get better at something they love is to surround themselves with people who love it just as much. And for an artist, Ballard’s a perfect example. We’d love to hear from more of you. What are you listening to? How does it inspire you? Shoot us your playlists! We at Assembly want to know how music affects your day to day.

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