Interview with Zander Tsadwa #2 (Zander, an American) Henry Bump, Interviewer May 3rd, 2021 St Paul, Minnesota (interviewer) and Minneapolis, Minnesota (interviewee) Conducted via Zoom Henry Bump (00:00:00): All right. Sweet. Okay. Um, today is May 3rd, 2021. It's what 5:16. I'm here with Zander Tsadwa for our second conversation. Um, it's going to be great. We're going to talk about some more community-based things today. And I figured to start the question off, um, I mean, to start the interview off, I can start the questions. So Zander, what part of St. Paul are you from? Zander Tsadwa (00:00:26): I am from most accurately and from the north end, so more at five. Um, compared to most of my friends, I lived east, but it's not quite the east side. So it's, uh, it's a bit ambiguous, you know, it's not quite as defined as like the east side or like Macalester Groveland or Highland or even, uh, like south St Paul or whatever. But, but yeah, uh, from north St Paul, I guess is what you, what say. Henry Bump (00:01:02): Okay, cool. Cool. Cool. So from north St. Paul, but now where are you currently at? Zander Tsadwa (00:01:10): 1 Currently based in north Minneapolis? Uh, I feel like I just stay in the Northern parts of places. So like even, um, where my parents are from which I'm sure you'll ask a little more about later, but they're from the Northern part of Ethiopia. Tigray so that's the funny question is I'm always, I'm always in the Northern parts of places. Um, even in Tucson, I was the Tucson I was in like north Tucson. So. Henry Bump (00:01:33): Is that Northern Arizona too, or no? Zander Tsadwa (00:01:35): Uh, no that that's not, not Tucson is actually a border town, so, um, that's the, I guess that's the only inconsistency, but yeah. Yeah, I guess I just like to stay up north. Yeah. Henry Bump (00:01:47): So what made you go from St. Paul to Minneapolis? Are you, are your parents still in St. Paul ? Zander Tsadwa (00:01:54): My parents are now in Atlanta, I guess the Metro area, thankfully. Um, yeah, so I was actually, I was born in Sioux falls, South Dakota, and that's like a really wild part about my backstory, but also kind of explain stuff for me. Um, but I was there until I was eight. It was kind of like a blank slate for me because everyone was white and everyone was like just Midwestern and like close to home. And yeah, so I didn't, I didn't understand my differences right away. I had no other reference points. It was like, it was me, my sister, and then just like, oh, just people from Sioux falls. So, and then I moved to St. Paul when I was eight and I spent the rest of my childhood there. So like I grew up in St. Paul, most of my formative years are from same, are in St. Paul. Um, that's kind of where I became like aware to the world. Right. 2 Like my own person. Um, I went college in St. Paul, so another, uh, good enough their four years and then moved to Tucson. Zander Tsadwa (00:03:07): Yeah. Went to Tucson in 2017. So my then girlfriend now fiance, um, she got a really good offer to go to the University of Arizona to get a PhD. Um, yeah. And then in the meantime, it's like, cool. Like, you'll be connected, like deeply connected to University. I can write and share like my equity work and my music, whatever, just college kids, you know, the wild cats and all that. Um, so yeah, Tucson for three years and then came back up here. Um, with, again, my, my, my, my girl got an offer to work at the U of M and then me personally at like, I think we both wanted to come back for the sense of community and I knew it would be better for my like creative endeavors to just having community. It was, I found that difficult to, to really create it Tucson, uh, making friends as an adult is hard, but I don't know. Zander Tsadwa (00:04:13): Um, yeah, that's what took, that's what took me back here. Um, and then Minneapolis, because it was a little easier to, I guess, find a, find a little place for us to rent and St. Paul was an option, but, but yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's almost like a glow up, like people. Henry Bump (00:04:31): Yeah, yeah. People who come up then once they got it, they go to Minneapolis. Zander Tsadwa (00:04:37): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's uh, and it's funny because it's not that St Paul isn't livable. It's actually, I think a really beautiful city, but like when you're young trying to do something, I feel like there's, there's just 3 more happening in Minneapolis. Um, obviously more people more companies are based here. Um, yeah, it's, it's different. So I Henry Bump (00:05:03): I remember when I came here and I went on my visit, people were telling me, they were like, you know, you marry St. Paul, but you date Minneapolis. Right. Like Minneapolis is where people, all the fun and light like limelight and stuff is whereas St. Paul is like your nice little neighborhood to settle down and Zander Tsadwa (00:05:18): Yes, yes. Henry Bump (00:05:21): So you talk about South Dakota, Arizona, and Minnesota. And you've gone from like, all these places. Are the twin cities, like the most influential that you would say on your music or Zander Tsadwa (00:05:32): Absolutely Yeah. Um, I mean, I don't want to say too much, but again, it's like my, my formative years were spent here. Um, I think the, like when I really determined what my perspective was just on myself and the world, it was here, it was, you know, the 6:40 AM bus rides in the winter to school. And because I was so far away from my high school, uh, it took almost like an hour to because I was like one of the first stops on the route. So it was like 6:40 AM, you know, seat six through eight. And I wasn't like just up front, but I also wasn't wiling in the back and I had a little, little bump in seat seven, put my knees up backpack window and just really daydream. And like, all that stuff happened here. Like, you know, becoming aware of being black happened here. Um, some of my best friends, obviously. Um, yeah, man, 4 I think just living here really shaped like what I wanted to get out of life and just knowing my place in it so easily, most, important place I've lived. Henry Bump (00:06:53): The bus. I remember we were talking about sort of where you grew up earlier and the, uh, the bus stop. And did it pick you up on Rice street ever or where was the stop at? Zander Tsadwa (00:07:02): It depended because I mean, sometimes it would change and then we also, they're kind of like two eras of me. Well, I guess three. Um, but I was, I was in college with a third one, so my family lived in so two 0 eight West Hoyt and that was like really dingy and like as hood as the experience I had, but it, I mean, it wasn't that terrible of St. Paul. It just like relative to, I don't know, people have lived in houses or, you know, didn't have like a lot of weed smoking neighbors, or the occasional gunshot. So that was like fourth through 10th grade. Um, my sophomore year we moved down the street, it was a nicer apartment. Uh, and then we stayed there. Well, until I graduated and then a couple of years after, and then my parents moved into something small before they moved to Atlanta. But yeah, I kind of like separate my experiences with those two arrows. Um, and the stops were never on Rice street but they were close though. I remember my first one was Hoyt and Albemarle. I remember that the bus driver would like shout every stop when she pulled over. She was nice. She was just like, I don't know, like mid forties, you know, well bigger kind of short, like dedicated to the job type of person. So she'd pull up like, okay, cool. It was like, it was just really memorable. Zander Tsadwa (00:08:38): Yeah. It was funny. It's funny. So yeah. Henry Bump (00:08:43): 5 Tell us, tell us a little bit about, I know that probably Rice street was probably like a big part of you and growing up around there and I listened to the song for everybody out there who hasn't got to listen to it, Rice street, boy, Rip bones.