My name is Artie Cabrera, and I am a New York City native, born in 1974 and raised in Queens. When I’m not spending time with my rescue cats, I’m tinkering away on a number of creative projects. This is my story on how I became an artist, and remain inspired against all odds.

I knew that I wanted to be in showbiz from the time I found myself air-drumming along with Ringo Starr, dancing along with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, or shouting KISS tunes in our living room when I was a child, knowing that one day I wanted to be just like them—or George Lucas, or Francis Ford Coppola—or Stan Lee.

I committed to playing music at the age of fifteen at the behest of my older sister, Christina; first signing up for a drum class in high school, and joining a local Rock band in 1990 with my friends, where I picked up bass guitar and learned the fundamentals of songwriting.

I dropped out of the tenth grade to pursue music shortly after, and also after having a gun drawn on me by a classmate during an altercation in our civics class. It was the second time I had nearly lost my life before the age of twenty. The first time was when I nearly drowned at Coney Island at the age of seven—an incident my family was not privy to until I mentioned it later in life.

In my early twenties, lulls in band activity led me on an inadvertent detour into DJing and music production, and performing at the most prominent nightclubs in New York City throughout 1997-2009, having also experienced the Peter Gatien scandal and Mayor Giuliani’s nightclub crusade in real time. In 1999, Webster Hall hired my friends and I to operate their Dance label, and oversee physical distribution of their CDs and records, and manage in–store junkets. The label disbanded shortly after 9/11 due to rampant music piracy and plummeting sales. Sadly, our last in-store junket was held at the HMV store in the World Trade Center a week before the tragedy occurred.

My band and I were repeatedly warned that every record company would soon be on their deathbed by an A&R who scouted us at the time. They had just signed The White Stripes to a record deal, but passed on us. I believe that it was their way of letting us down easy.

Concurrently, my music was featured on MTV’s first reality show, “The Real World,” and I had commenced preliminary work as one of Ice-T’s producers for an upcoming album that never came to fruition.

Having outgrown the nightlife and lifestyle, I turned to writing fiction in 2009 as a way to navigate personal struggles and heartbreaks. I had no ambition of pursuing writing full-time, after having just experienced the grueling challenges of the music industry.

However, Amazon had just launched their KDP platform, making publishing directly to consumers as easy as pushing a button. Without any experience in writing a book or marketing one, I published my first post apocalyptic drama (loosely based on my life and mental health struggles), called I’M NOT DEAD: The Journals of Charles Dudley in the fall of 2013. To my surprise, the book did fairly well in sales, and the reviews were consistent in calling the story a “refreshing take on a tired genre,” as well as “emotionally-gripping.” Perhaps, it was a sign that I was headed in the right direction.

I continued my writing journey by publishing short stories, often workshopping new ideas, and learning the different aspects of the ever-changing publishing industry until I stumbled upon a concept for an ambitious sci-fi story I named Gravity City in 2017—a genre I also had no experience writing in. I was determined to explore and challenge these ideas, even if it would take me a little longer to hone my skills and find my voice.

Gravity City is considered sci-fi noir that tackles transhumanism, spirituality, immortality, and societal relationships between Man and Machine on a far-flung planet in space. This is where my inner-George Lucas kicked in.

I’d spent the better part of the COVID pandemic and 2021 researching a myriad of subject matters and writing a trilogy of Gravity City books, as well as a five-issue magazine by the same name. The books were published by Aethon Books, a powerhouse in the publishing industry, in the fall of 2022 to great success. The Gravity City magazine, despite catching the attention of Star Trek writers, notable film directors, and artists from around the world, I decided to discontinue its production due to difficulties with distribution.

In between writing books and publishing magazines, I remained active in music production and graphic design. My graphic design work led me to collaborating with a good friend and TV producer, Joel Eisenberg (Tales from the Crypt), on designing EPKs/Press Kits for a slate of reality TV properties he had written.

The first TV project I was assigned to was a pro-wrestling show created by Joel and WWE legend, Brian Blair, titled PRO-WRESTLING CHALLENGE, based on the daily hardships of becoming a pro-wrestler. Dwayne Johnson, a close friend of Brian’s, took a chance on the project and pitched it to his streaming partners, but those networks have since passed on the project, leaving it in development limbo.

I had also been assigned to design a press kit for Richard Pryor’s daughter, Rain Pryor, and a TV series she had written based on her growing up in Hollywood in the ‘70s, while also being raised by her Jewish grandparents at the height of Richard’s success. 50 Cent and Chris Rock were attached to produce, but the writers’ strike of 2023 tanked the project altogether.

In 2024, I had the privilege of having my work—my magazine and a selection of music—bundled together and included in the Lunar Codex time capsule, and on the first successful American moon landing in fifty-two years. I am officially the first Cabrera to have his art touch the moon’s surface, thanks to my publisher, Samuel Peralta, Lunar Codex, and the NASA team.

I am currently working with former heavyweight champion, Shannon Briggs, on branding and social media for the Brownsville Boxing Academy project, while also developing my own IPs, and a yet-announced Gravity City project with Ice-T.

While I’ve yet to become a Beatle, George Lucas, or Stan Lee, my drive and appreciation for their journey and success continues to grow exponentially. I hope to one day have my work share a space as great as theirs.

Thanks,

Artie