Donna-Claire Chesmen Speaks on Her Writing Inspirations

Donna-Claire Chesmen Speaks on Her Writing Inspirations, Her Love for Poetry and Reading, Growing Her Career With DJ Booth, The death of Mac Miller and More.

Throughout my time freelancing for other publications, I grew to know and become familiar with some of the culture’s most talented journalists. All of the writers that I admire express their words and sentences in different styles and manners but the ultimate goal has always been to capture their audience with their ability to tell a story. If you were to make a list of some of the best music journalists in the industry today, you’ll end up with a pretty extensive list. If you made a list of storytellers, someone who posses the power of taking a topic and allowing you to see every side of that topic with a much better understanding, you’ll end up with a much more concise list. Donna-Claire Chesman’s name belongs on that second list.

From writing in-depth pieces about Griselda and Frank Ocean to completing a 52-week writing segment about the death of late rapper Mac Miller, Donna continues to express her love for the music culture with her versatile and dynamic pen. “All I know is writing, Chris…” Donna says. “I just write. I don’t think about anything when it’s me and the page.”

I had the opportunity to catch up with Donna to discuss some of her journalistic inspirations, how Mac Miller played a role in her writing and his influence on music, her love for poetry and what’s to come for her and DJ Booth for 2020.

1 - Growing up, what were some of your personal inspirations for wanting to become a writer? 

I was honestly born wanting to be a writer. I was the girl who walked around grade school with a thick notebook full of stories and failed attempts at novels. Writing was my way of dealing with the world. I have never felt a love as deep or a nourishing for anything as I feel it for writing. It helped immensely that my mother wanted to be a writer professionally back in the USSR--she just never got the chance because of the anti-Semitism. In any event, to your question, I would say my first real model for how to be a writer was Haruki Murakami. I’ve read his bibliography several times. With the new year coming up, I’ll also add I reread his novella Pinball as my first book of the year, every year, since I got the rare first English edition as a gift from my dear friend Leah. She’s also a writer and book blogger, you can find her here. 

2 - In an interview you did you mentioned that you love to read and write poetry. Was this love for reading and poetry something you gravitated towards as you got older or did you always have a love for it?

I always had a love for poetry and when I wasn’t writing failed novels, I was writing terrible, terrible rhyming poetry. I need to stress that though I had the passion for it from the get go, I was not a good writer for a large majority of my life. I don’t feel like I have some innate gift that I just tap into. Writing is arduous for me, requires a lot of mental work, and then the physical process of it can also be very grueling. But I love, man. I fucking love it. That said, it was around 2015 or 2016 that I got into contemporary poetry on a serious level. Some of my favorites in that realm are Ocean Vuong, Tommy Pico, Morgan Parker, sam sax, Danez Smith, and plenty more I am forgetting. I’ve written about each of these poets in my work somehow, because I really believe all literary mediums are in constant conversation, we just have to unearth those talks and bring them to the page in our own way.

3 - How much of an influence does reading and poetry have on your work? 

Oh, so much! I love poetry because it bends our understanding of language. There are no boundaries in poetry, in a way. When I read an amazing line of poetry, it makes me feel new emotions, and forces me to give up my white-washed understanding of how the English language operates. There are no rules, is the only rule of poetry. It’s the ultimate way to reclaim language used by oppressors. It’s a marvel. Truly. So, in my work, I try to do the same. I try to command language and reclaim it. I try to break rules and create my own. I try to summon feelings and I try to have fun with it. I try to be honest, too. That’s something Tommy Pico says often: “Is it honest?” I think I made a name for myself, because I am not afraid to share myself on the page, and people gravitate towards that vulnerability. Maybe it’s a little passe or banal, but I like to think being open about what hurts me can help someone who needs to be seen. To that end, if you’re ever struggling, I see you. I really do.

4 - Do you remember the first shot you got to write for a major publication? What was it and how was that experience for you?

I don’t think “major” is the right word for my first shot at being a professional writer. I had published poetry before I got into music writing professional, and I wrote for a time for free on a blog that I essentially ran. None of it was that great, in hindsight. The music writing. Maybe the poetry was great, I haven’t gone back. Anyway, my career truly begins when the wonderful Jeff Weiss gives me a shot to write for his website. The thing about Jeff is he didn’t have to give me a chance. He didn’t have to care about my work, and he didn’t have to work with me on it so intensely. My second piece for him, an interview with a 300-word intro, took 14 drafts to get right. Fourteen. I had an ego death. I thought I was an idiot. I thought I was making a huge mistake. But Jeff stuck by me, he helped me. We got the piece live. I’ve never gone through so many drafts of anything ever again, but the lesson was so important. It humbled me and it toughened me up. 

Like I said earlier, I was not born a good writer. I’m only a good writer because I’m open to being wrong and I want to be a better writer. I’m only a good writer because I never want to get comfortable with my work. I’m only a good writer because I’m generally hard to please, and unhappy with myself most of the time. And I’m only a good writer because I do it every single day, even when I don’t want to, and I read a lot. I’m on my 87th book of the year right now, Rivers Solomon’s debut fiction novel. Great stuff. 

5 - I remember my days of freelancing and during my time doing it, I found it difficult at times to balance writing for multiple publications simultaneously. Was this ever an issue being that you’ve penned for so many major sites?

All I know is writing, Chris. I’ve always been a good worker. It’s probably my OCD and my Bipolar II, and my family trauma, all coming together to give me the requisite skills to balance early mornings and tons of deadlines. Every day I wake up at six in the morning, make coffee, and get to writing and answering emails, and editing. The next two weeks, I’m dedicated to a very important writing project which I hope to bring to life sooner rather than later. But that’s really all there is to me, man. I just write. I don’t think about anything when it’s me and the page. I’m not even sure how I write, it just happens. And I lose memory of it happening, sometimes. I’ll reread pieces and have no memory or idea of how I put them together. In that way, I think writing is this magic excavation of self.

6 - You’re the Managing Editor for DJBooth, in my opinion, one of the most respected music publications out there. How did you manage to get on board with them? Secondly, what are some of your main responsibilities as the Managing Editor for the site?

So the DJBooth story is great. Tyler, The Creator’s Flower Boy leaks in 2017. I hear it. I think, “Wow, this reminds me a lot of myself,” in regards to his coming out. I go to bed and have a dream I am freelancing a piece for DJBooth about how Tyler’s coming out story is my coming out story. I wake up around seven from the dream, roll over, write a pretty shabby email to my EIC, Z, and roll back over to go to sleep. I wake up to a greenlight. He told me he would be proud to run the piece. I write in my parents’ backyard before going to this beach town with my buddy Tyler. I don’t think anything of it, other than “I hope Z likes it.” I didn’t really know how to gauge my talent. I still don’t. I just hope. Anyway, Z loved the piece, and so did Twitter. So that’s how it began.I was Senior Writer alongside Yoh before I was Managing Editor. It all just kind of worked out. I can’t tell you there’s some path I followed or some great lesson. In truth, I am incredibly lucky the stars and my privileges aligned the way they did. A lot of people work harder than me, and they won’t get the opportunities I do. That’s the broken system we live in--all I can do is use the power I have to try and balance things out in my corner of the internet. That said, I have to say, I would be nothing without Yoh. The amount of times I’ve called him crying, tense, or excited and he’s fielded my emotions… Yoh is my rock in some many ways. The best part of DJBooth, by far, has been knowing Yoh and having him in my corner. He’s a generational talent, but he’s also got the biggest heart.

As for being Managing Editor, it’s name is what it is. I manage the writers, I edit their work. I take a lot of calls. I do a lot of email. I try to make myself available to the writers. Sometimes, all a person needs is five minutes on the phone. I just want to be the best resource and tool I can be for the writers. I just want to give and give, and see people succeed at what they love.

7 - DJBooth continues to deliver compelling content day in and day out from the op-eds on the regular to the engagement you guys have created on social media. Why do you think the brand has been able to stand out?

I’ll borrow from Yoh’s playbook here: DJBooth stands out because we are the conversation. We don’t just attach ourselves onto conversations already happening, we spark new ones. Too, we aren’t afraid to get personal. For me, I think that’s our biggest differentiator. We are willing to get into the nitty gritty of all our feelings, and people like that. People want to connect with people, and our writers, our storytellers, they give them that human touch. Everyone is just a person, and I think a DJBooth personal essay really embraces humanness in a special way. Plus, our writers just crush it. They’re airtight. I love their work. I love working with them.

8 - Outside of your talent to speak your mind in some of your most thought-provoking pieces, you captured a lot of readers hearts and eyes with your Year of Mac series. How much of an influence did Mac Miller have on you as a person and as a writer? Secondly, can you explain some of the impact that Mac had on the industry that others may not be aware of. 

I think it’s all in the series, man. Mac Miller made my life what it is. He’s the artist of my life. He helped in along every step of the way, and he continues to help me now. As for his industry impact, there’s nothing people aren’t aware of. Mac Miller’s light was so bright. I think Syd said this to me, but there’s nothing people don’t know. Mac was so loving and so open, everyone knew him for who he was. And who he was, was a sparkling person.

9 - We’re currently in a new year and a new decade but what are some things you look at from the past year or the past decade that you can say you’re proud of? Anything that you regret?

I’m obviously most proud of Year of Mac, but as far as regrets… I regret not getting myself mental health help sooner. Living as long as I did without medication was a big waste of my time. I lost so many years of my life to my Bipolar II, and I could have felt a lot better a lot sooner. On the other hand, I think I needed to be the exact person I am right now to have been able to help myself in the way I did and the way I am. I believe in the universe, you know? I believe things manifest when you work towards them in constructive ways. I wear a kabbalah bracelet. I make wishes. All of that said, I just wish I took care of myself sooner. But I did, in the end, and that’s what matters.

10 - What’s next for Donna-Claire Chesman? What can we expect to see from you in 2020? What can we expect to see from DJBooth?

More. Just more. I’m doing this interview between writing pieces. I’ve written two this morning. I want to go for a third. I just want to write, man. I don’t know how to explain this hunger I have for the work. I hope it never goes away. It’s the best part of my life, it really is.