Meet Mario Carlock “Carlockster” | Artist/ Creative Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mario Carlock “Carlockster” and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mario, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Some people never take a risk in their life, they graduate High School, settle for a significant other that’s their second choice, do the college thing, fall into a job or career, get comfortable and have a couple kids and never truly live. Yeah, that’s not for me. That’s always waiting back in my hometown. Risk is something I’m always gambling with. I tell myself all the time, “you didn’t move to LA, to just work a job” I moved to LA to become the creative enthusiast I am today. With risk comes reward and a lot of failure stories I laugh about today. Life’s really not supposed to work out for anyone whether they choose the beaten path or stray off it for a more adventurous route. I’ve learned that with every risk comes adventure. When I made it out here, I burned the sails. This is the life I live, I create, I make art, I see everything through that lens and live it as beautiful or heartbreaking as it can be. It’s what I signed up for. If the risk doesn’t pay off, add it to the tally of thousands of failures I’ve racked up already. I’m aiming for the stars.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
A lot of my creativity and art is out of spite or a protest vote to what’s around me or what is over saturating the world around us. Instead of just talking about ideas I’m really big on just doing it. Don’t talk, just do. I’ve kinda always been that way. The path hasn’t been easy, but it definitely has gotten me a lot farther than those who are just to in their head about expressing a moment of themselves and just letting the world see. A lot of the themes in whatever I create are about breaking the rules. If it’s an art piece or a canvas, you don’t have to paint it, you can light it on fire, pour concrete on it and take a photo of it burning and maybe that’s the art. I’ve always hated rules. It also bothers me that people think I can only do one thing, when I’m reality I came from restoring cars and many other creative endeavors from my past. Break rules, break boundaries, be vulnerable, give no fucks, and piss off the purists. Now that’s art and attitude I wanna see more of.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Malibu for sure, there’s something about watching the ocean there that just settles you. Always shocking my friends with a Hollywood party and what that really looks like. Always getting breakfast at Dialog, Todd is literally the best dude in the world and it’s the best coffee shop in LA. Always love to show friends a good view whether it be from a downtown Skyscraper or Mulholland. Past that I really just kinda let them see my life day to day and that always entertains them and keeps them on their toes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I really gotta give it to those along the way who have helped me through the more rough times of my life. There are many friends who’ve pushed me to where I am today and are there during the darkest times. People like Josef Lamercier is always encouraging me to trust the process, Suede Silver has always had my back with pursuing purely great ideas and was one of the first people I met in LA. My boys like Champagne B have just always been a great friend along the journey and beyond supportive. Even my degenerate drinking buddies like Chris Graves, always are always there to celebrate life every day. I know I’m missing several people, but I’m always letting them know they mean the world to me. My friendships kinda last decades at this point. My friends are the reason I am where I am today.

Website: Carlockster.com

Instagram: @Carlockster