ESL a/s/l?
a WIP multimedia project
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ESL a/s/l?
CREATIVE DIRECTOR • WRITER
‘ESL a/s/l?' is an interactive memoir and documentary about underground music communities during the early Internet, spanning the mid-’90s to the early ‘00s. Told alongside my childhood story of being a latchkey kid raised in rural Wisconsin by strict immigrant parents, I was also routinely bullied and teased for being one of the few non-white students in school. “a/s/l?,” a shorthand for “age/sex/location?” was used to quickly decipher who we were chatting with before profile photos was a tech feature. Notice how there’s no “r” for race — I was safe from judgement, scrutiny, and shame for being “different” when I was online.
I eventually find my people, my voice, and my power in America Online chat rooms and music-centric social networking sites like Insound, Track Star Records, Makeoutclub, and Lipstick & Cigarettes while seated in front of a computer resembling a clunky 1980s TV. I discovered bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Cap'n Jazz, and Team Dresch through snail-mail buddies who crafted custom mixed tapes complete with cover art and handwritten tracklists — my gateway to new music before Spotify and other streaming platforms and algorithms would suggest what I should listen to. There was a thrill and heartfelt sentiment in the organic discovery. As my music collection grew, my relationships with once-”faceless” friends deepened.
‘ESL a/s/l?' incorporates themes of racism, sexism, social isolation, cultural identity, and relationships through the personal lens of someone who's lived offline and online. Logging online was my antidote to loneliness and I want to time-capsule this special era in cultural history in music and technology through my and others’ stories to capture the zeitgeist of the Internet in its nascent form. The Internet’s coming of age was also my coming of age.