Arts Talk With The Johnson Brothers

The Beat is Dead, newly released solo album by Nina Diaz, lead singer of Girl In A Coma. Many albums capture the flood of introspection that comes after a life-changing experience. But The Beat Is Dead (out October 28 on Cosmica Records)—an expansive body of work that sonically references musicals, alt-metal, indie pop, new wave—powerfully chronicles Nina’s journey itself. “This album is the story of my addiction and my sobriety,” she says. Some songs were written while using, some in the infancy of going clean, some looking back months later with clarity. “It’s like I shed a lot of different layers of skin during this process.”
The Beat Is Dead, produced by both Nina and Manuel Calderon (who engineered Girl in a Coma’s Trio B.C.), didn’t start out that way. While working on new material for her band, Nina penned the rousing “Trick Candle.” As with any other Girl in a Coma song, she fleshed it out with her bandmates, drummer Phanie Diaz (Nina’s sister) and bassist Jenn Alva. “I’m the writer, but our songs really are group efforts,” Nina says. “We jammed it out, but it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t what I envisioned.” What followed were a few difficult, but ultimately supportive, conversations about Nina taking on solo projects between Girl in a Coma albums. “It was a little rough at first. People were scared—I was scared!” she says. “But I knew I just needed to do this.”

Brett Dyer was born in Dallas, and grew up in East Texas. After high school, Brett attended Kilgore Junior College for two years under a full Presidential Merit Scholarship for his talent and creativity in art. He later was accepted at The University of Texas at Tyler. There, Brett received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in painting and printmaking.
Brett started graduate school at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas in January 2003. There he received his Masters of Fine Arts degree December 2005. His major was in painting, and his minor was in intermedia arts.
Brett currently lives and works in the Dallas area, where he has been working as a full time art professor teaching courses at North Lake College since 2012. In addition to his full-time position, Brett also offers various art workshops at museums, galleries, art centers, and art events in the DFW area. Brett has been teaching in higher education since 2006 and has previously taught at El Centro College, Tarrant County College, and Collin College. Brett has won numerous awards for his teaching such as the 2015-16 Presidential Scholar of North Lake College, 2014-15 Faculty of the Year at North Lake College, the Excellence in Teaching for Adjunct Faculty Award at El Centro College in 2012, and the 2012 NISOD Excellence Award given by a national organization. 2015 was Brett's 10th year of teaching.
Brett Dyer continues to work as an artist and favors working with acrylic and encaustic paint, printmaking, photography, and collage. Brett has exhibited all around Texas; has won awards and scholarships for his artwork; and consistently exhibits in local galleries and museums. His work can also be found as part of permanent collections at multiple universities and colleges in Texas. Brett continues to create art and vows to never stop. His work is his life, and his life is his work. They would not exist without each other.

John Sheppard began his love of fiction at the age of four when he bought his first comic. The youngest of four children, his parents John and Josephine raised a happy family all of whom took on different challenges but stayed close. John has been a hockey blogger for website Around the Rink taking on subjects from a unique point of view. John loves fiction, building a story and coming back and proving something. It was why John excelled in literature. As John matured he wrote for fun, he also found an appreciation for writers like Robert Ludlum. A Graduate of the College of the North Atlantic, this is John's first book but it will not be his last.