A conversation with the creatives of CapU
Kate Henderson (she/they) // Crew Writer
JJ Eng (they/them) // Illustrator
Offering 26 Fine & Applied Arts programs, Capilano University is vast in artistic expression; many different creations occurring simultaneously, where students can grow a love for their unique processes. The Courier investigates a variety of these processes, getting to the heart of our creative roster.
THE CREATIVES
Frequent headphone-wearer and second-year Jazz student Dae-Lillee Baillie-McGillivray can be found on campus listening to Vince Guaraldi and transcribing music. As a self-defined musician, Baillie-McGillivray recounts the conversation they had with their, “trombone teacher Dennis, and he said, ‘just so you know, you’re not a trombone player, you’re not a composer; you’re a musician. Even if you all of the sudden couldn’t play your instrument, you’re still a musician.’”
“When people ask me what I do for work I usually tell them I work at a grocery store. If I’m lucky, one of my friends will be around to say, ‘No, you’re fucking not, this guy’s an actor,’” says third-year Acting for Stage and Screen (ASAS) student Joey Sim, who you may recognize as Mercutio from the Fall 2024 production of Romeo and Juliet. “I wouldn’t call myself an artist, because I don’t think I have the catalogue to back that up yet,” Sim said.
Justin Cahyadi is a fourth-year Motion Picture Arts (MOPA) student who you might find microwaving (prop) hamsters in his newest film, Hamster Film. Cahyadi echoes Sim’s approach to classifying his work, usually working ‘below the line’ roles in film (roles separate from the creative development of the project), hesitating to call himself “a writer or director when [he] hadn’t made much of anything.” However, after Hamster Film, Cahyadi “feels more confident calling [himself] a filmmaker.”
THE INSPIRATION
While majoring in trombone at CapU, Baillie-McGillivray has always been engaged with music, playing instruments from piano to saxophone, and most of all, listening. “Now that I understand how music works, I get so much more inspired because I understand what they’re doing,” Baillie-McGillivray described the feeling that she, “can’t go on existing without playing” the song she’s listening to at the time.
“Inspiration hits me so unbelievably out of nowhere […] but it hits me and I run with it” Sim specifies, “it’s more like a vibe that I can’t articulate […] for Mercutio, I would literally just notice I’d start walking differently, dancing around to sexy music in the mirror, I’d be walking onto the stage shimmying and shit, and that’s when I would know it.”
When Cahyadi writes, he draws on real life experiences. “It doesn’t even have to be something insane,” Cahyadi explains, exampling his conversation with a man at an airport describing his watch, “the way he spoke about it, how much he loved his watch, the way he cares for his watches, it was a peek into somebody’s identity.” Cahyadi describes his inspiration to grow this story as “a yearning for how this could be more exciting.”
THE PROCESS
“I never really went to school with the intention of this being a job; I knew I was going to school to learn for myself, and because of that I really enjoy school,” Baillie-McGillivray shares. Their joy in the process grows when performing in a group, emphasizing respect for her medium that she’s, “so far removed from its roots,” referring to a lack of cultural connection to the Black American history of jazz music.
“I’ve heard music that makes me cry, and [seen] paintings that make me rethink what I value in art,” Sim reflects, noting that acting has opened his eyes to things he hadn’t known about himself. “When I was singing cabaret for a class, I remember as I hit the final note, I just started crying,” he explains his realization of the connection between him and his character. “Getting to feel that emotion in context, that you would never really experience, is cathartic.”
“You can take all those moments that you felt had that spark and energy, and bottle it, twist and pull it,” Cahyadi tells of the excitement of “warping reality” to stitch his creation together, while emphasizing the importance of creating with a safe crew. He uses the example of Hamster Film to explain, “I didn’t feel I needed to be a tortured artist, it’s important to create an energy that can carry through your set environment.”
THE START
“If you want to paint realism, how are you going to paint without seeing?” Baillie-McGillivray relays a metaphor each interviewed creative shared, “You don’t have to pursue an art degree to be creative. I don’t think you have to be good at something creative to enjoy it [or] capitalize off of it.”
Sim emphasizes a “just do it” mindset and trust in one’s abilities, assuring that “the one thing you need to have in order to be an actor is slack for yourself. You need to be able to get up there and be like, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll try something else.’”
“Watch so many movies. Not just movies you like; watch movies you know nothing about. Sometimes, those are the greatest films you’ll see,” Cahyadi says, sharing a metaphor of creation. “It’s like I’m collecting colours; even if you mix them all together they become grey, sure, but find your colours for your painting.” Cahyadi shares that film is “inherently vulnerable” and judgement is inevitable. “It’s extremely important to create for yourself,” he says. “If all else fails, at least you will be able to cherish your creation.”
Baillie-McGillivray, Sim and Cahyadi paint their last words respectively, the words at the heart of their art.
“The world is happier when there’s music, and when there’s creative people because we get all these incredible things.”
“Have confidence, confidence that you will be kind to yourself.”
“Go take a damn walk, talk to people, stories don’t start on the page they start in life.”