Last April, Montana found itself in the national spotlight as history unfolded at the state Capitol in Helena. On April 18, first-term Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, a trans woman, rose to speak in opposition to Senate Bill 99, which would ban transition-related medical and surgical care for transgender minors. (As of mid-February, the law is temporarily enjoined while litigation continues.) “The only thing I will say is if you vote ‘yes’ on this bill and ‘yes’ on these amendments, I hope the next time there’s an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zephyr said, in reference to high suicide rates among trans minors.

Her comments sparked a series of increasingly dramatic events. After she refused to apologize, Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, barred Zephyr from speaking on the House floor. On April 24, protesters assembled in the House gallery, demanding that Regier restore Zephyr’s speaking privileges. Montana Highway Patrol officers arrested seven protesters in the House gallery (all charges against them were eventually dropped). Two days later, on April 26, the House voted to bar Zephyr from the House chamber for the remainder of the session, though she could continue to vote on bills remotely.

As those events unfolded, filmmaker Kimberly Reed began gathering footage, first from afar with the assistance of two colleagues, and then on the scene herself. Instead of trying to capture every dynamic of the story, she largely kept her focus on Zephyr, whom she first met on the bench outside the House chamber where the lawmaker had been relegated following her censure. 

On Sunday, the culmination of Reed’s work, the 15-minute film “Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr,” will make its world debut in Missoula as part of the 2024 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

A trans woman, Reed has spent much of her career crafting stories that center and explore trans identity, including her own. She directed 2010’s award-winning and autobiographical “Prodigal Sons,” as well as an episode of the HBO series “EQUAL.” She has served as an executive producer of several other projects, including the HBO documentary “Transhood.” And Reed doesn’t limit herself to the documentary form — she wrote the text for the lauded 2014 opera “As One.”

Montana Free Press readers may also recognize Reed, who grew up in Helena and now lives in New York, as the director of 2018’s “Dark Money,” which followed, in part, the origins of this publication. (Following a reprise screening this year of “Dark Money,” the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will host a talk-back session with Reed and MTFP founder and “Dark Money” subject John Adams in conversation with Big Sky Film Institute Executive Director Rachel Gregg after the film’s 5 p.m. screening on Sunday Feb. 18.)

Read along as Reed offers insights into the process of making “Seat 31,” explains her goals when it comes to telling stories about trans people, and highlights some of the footage left on the cutting room floor.

MTFP: Can you tell me a bit about how “Seat 31” came to be? Were you already in Helena when these events began to unfold?

Kimberly Reed: After making “Dark Money,” I’ve tended to keep a pretty close eye on the legislative sessions. Even though I don’t live in Montana right now, it’s still very close to my heart. I go back there all the time. My mom lives there. I saw what was happening with the session in general, and this particular issue with Zooey, which hit the national news really intensely.

It didn’t seem like it was going to subside at all. The whole episode was coming just a few weeks after the silencing of two black legislators in Tennessee, and one white legislator. It just seemed like this was a powder keg. 

[But] I couldn’t run up there to Montana right away to film things. So I took advantage of some of the connections and contacts I had working at the Capitol and I was able to line up some other people to film for me. So the first couple days were covered by Mike Clark, an AP photographer, and Justin Lubke, a cinematographer I’d worked with before. It was the first time that I’d ever been in a situation where I was directing over the phone [laughs].

It was clear that we had to move really fast to get there and cover the story.

MTFP: So when did you arrive in Helena? What are your memories of the Capitol at that time?

Reed: The Capitol is always a bit of a pressure cooker, but it was pretty clear that there was a lot of tension in that building.

The day that I arrived was the day after Zooey had the bench she was using taken, the famous “Benchgate.”

So when I arrived there were some folks that referred to themselves as the “Blue Bench Brigade” that were trying to take back the bench for Zooey.

But the main thing that happened that day was that the Senate declared sine die. It happened extremely quickly and it took a lot of people by surprise. Voting to pack up and go home created a lot of turmoil in the building as well. But I have to say that the overriding emotion that I was connecting to was the way Zooey was responding to so much of this stress and so many of these attacks. And she was doing so in such an elegant, flexible and joyful manner.

MTFP: I was wondering if you reached out to House Speaker Regier or House Majority Leader Vinton for an interview as part of this project?

Reed: No. It always seemed like the best structure for this was to center the story of Zooey, the story of a trans person, to own that point of view and not pretend like this is going to be an all-encompassing history of these events from a detached point of view. 

MTFP: I’m painting in broad strokes here to avoid spoilers, but I think it’s fair to say that “Seat 31” starts in a place of extreme conflict and ends in a place of joy. How did you approach the narrative arc of the story?

Reed: It’s a love story. And I’m betting that hardly anybody who views this will have ever witnessed a love story between two trans folks.

This was aiming towards a story about the relationship between Zooey and her partner, Erin [Reed], who was coming to town, and to do so in a surprising way, too, right? To show that love and joy and connection can grow out of these fraught moments.

So often with trans stories, the storyline goes something like, “Look at these poor people, they deserve your pity and your help and your empathy.” There’s a lot of situations in which I think that’s really true, and I wish that the larger cis, straight population was more sensitive to those issues, but that’s not all we are. That’s not the only storyline, and I’m very interested in telling stories about trans folks that center joy and love and positivity and optimism. That is Zooey’s modus operandi. 

MTFP: Was there any footage that didn’t make the final version of the film that was a particularly challenging decision to cut?

Reed: For the most part, the film is comprised of cinema verité moments — a lot of times people refer to it as fly on a wall. I also thought it would be important to film interviews with Zooey and her partner, Erin Reed, and also Rep. SJ Howell.

You see a glimpse of the interview with Zooey in the first couple shots of the film, but, you know, cinema verité is powerful, and that’s what the film [emphasizes]. Including an interview with Erin just didn’t fit within the film that we were making. And that was a hard decision to make. [Editor’s note: Erin Reed appears in the film, but is not interviewed.]

Erin is just on top of so much of this stuff and she’s such an incredible resource for so many people. If you want to follow the latest news about trans issues across the country, Erin is one of the very best resources that we have.

MTFP: Before we wrap up, is there anything you’d like to highlight about the significance of the film debuting in Missoula?

Reed: I feel like folks who live in Missoula maybe aren’t aware of just how well-regarded and respected and prestigious the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is. So to have the film premiere there is an honor. 

I also love the fact that it’s Zooey’s hometown, this kind of touching glimpse of Zooey’s life in her hometown.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: Kimberly Reed appeared first on Montana Free Press.

One day in late September, the singer and multi-instrumentalist Caroline Keys sent a demo recording to her two bandmates in the folk-rock trio Junior. The song, a bittersweet and bluesy waltz, was called “My Band is Moving to Butte.” The song was not fictional — later that fall, multi-instrumentalists and singers Hermina Jean and Jenny Lynn Fawcett packed up their belongings in Missoula and headed east in search of more affordable living in Butte, complicating the band’s existence.

That geographical splintering represents just one of several challenges Junior has faced over the past few years. The group formed in 2019, and soon thereafter the COVID-19 pandemic stymied efforts to record and tour. Then, last summer, Keys was diagnosed with cancer, and spent much of the past six months traveling between Montana and Memphis, where she underwent treatment.

Yet Junior persevered through the chaos and hardship. The group’s 2021 album, “Warm Buildings,” captures its knack for melodic hooks, captivating harmonies, rich instrumentation and vivid tales of Montana. The group has toured significantly to support the album. And this winter Keys returned to Montana in good health.

This month, Junior will perform the group’s first gigs since August, including a show at Pissers Palace in Butte on Feb. 3 and the Missoula VFW on Feb 10. The band’s upcoming shows will also include a rotating cast of additional musicians, including pedal steel guitarists Eric Heywood and Gibson Hartwell and bassists Clark Grant and Jeff Turman. 

We caught up with Junior for a cheery early morning Zoom chat a couple of days before the band began rehearsing for the upcoming shows. Read along as the members discuss the group’s enigmatic origins, the “talent drain” plaguing Missoula, the glories of playing in small Montana towns and more.

MTFP: Tell me a bit about how Junior formed.

Hermina Jean: We decided to start a Patsy Cline cover band with a bunch of friends for a Halloween show [in 2018], and called it Patsy Grime. It was our way of getting through a winter. We played one show. At some point I decided I wanted to go on tour in Europe, and so I needed to come up with a band. I asked everyone in Patsy Grime if they wanted to be in the band — Caroline and Jenny said yes. And then we started this band. I think we got our photos taken before we had a practice.

MTFP: So did you tour Europe?

Caroline Keys: We’re still working on it [laughs]. Junior played our first show on March 8, 2019. Then, on March 8, 2020, we played our last show [before the COVID-19 pandemic]. 

We recorded the basic tracks for our record in January 2020. There was a whole lot of space that we needed to fill, and we were able to do that remotely. I think that speaks to the staying power of this band — we’re always climbing up a hill.

MTFP? What does the name Junior refer to?

Hermina Jean: We named our band after a basset hound. He was kind of our mascot for a while. It felt like a solid, almost gender-neutral word for me.

MTFP: You haven’t played a show since August. When did Junior start to rehearse again for these February gigs?

Caroline Keys: This coming Sunday. It’s gonna be great [laughs]. I play in a couple different groups, and this is kind of the norm at this point. Bands that used to be based in Missoula are no longer all based in Missoula. I played a show with Worst Feelings and Les Duck last week. Those bands have members in Helena, Butte, around St. Ignatius, Missoula. It’s not unusual. There is a talent drain. People are leaving Missoula, and it’s not unusual to play a show where the preparation feels hurried. That’s the way it is. We’re not the only ones experiencing this.

MTFP: Is it fair to say that inversely, in Butte for example, a musical community is coalescing or growing?

Hermina Jean: With all respect to the community that’s been here a long time, right? It feels like our friends are all moving to Butte. But this community has so much built-in support and enthusiasm for live music. People really show up. They fill that [donations] hat at every show. It’s been a really good experience for me to be here and to play here. And yeah, it’s been sad to see Missoula change.

MTPF: Junior has played shows in parts of the state that aren’t necessarily cultural hubs. Do you get a different vibe when you play in smaller places?

Hermina Jean: I feel like maybe we’re more appreciated because there are just fewer artists performing. It’s not taken for granted that you’re gonna have an unending number of bands that are willing to play, and play for free.

Caroline Keys: We’ve played in Eureka and we have played at Bynum and we’ve played in Butte, we’ve played in Dillon. 

My old bluegrass band, we played in White Sulphur Springs. We were musicians in residence for several days and played shows in the schools and communities. We got invited to this old woman’s house who had boobs down to her knees. She made us lunch and played the accordion. She babysat everyone in the town, and so she had a toddler on one knee and the accordion on the other knee, and we were just playing traditional folk tunes with this woman.

How do I have the privilege to get invited into this incredibly intimate space and this small community? Music is an amazing ambassador itself. Playing music in Montana, I feel like I’m getting away with something, that I have such a rich life and that it’s not in any sort of industry city. 

MTFP: I gather you’re working on new material. Are there big shifts, thematically or musically, in those songs?

Hermina Jean: It’s been a really big transitional year and a half for this band. Family stuff and health stuff. That’s definitely shining through on these new songs. 

Jenny Lynn Fawcett: And changing relationships and changing cities. Packing up and moving.

MTPF: Can you tell me a bit about your writing process? Do you each bring songs to the table?

Jenny Lynn Fawcett: When we first started, we played a lot of songs that already had lives in other [projects], and then we performed them as Junior. So in a weird way, it felt like we were covering Stellarondo songs or Hermina Jean songs or Caroline Keys & the Lanesplitters songs. As we’ve been playing together for so long and discovering sort of our own musical sensibilities and how we collaborate, our sound has transitioned as well. I feel like this new batch of songs really feel like Junior songs in a different way than a lot of the material we’ve already recorded. But that’s cool.

Hermina Jean: We usually write our own and bring them to the group, and then we help each other come up with different parts. And Caroline and Jenny are both harmonizing geniuses, so they start figuring out the arrangements. I write really basic folk songs and I always love it when they come in and they’re like, “What about adding this little thing here?” It just changes the whole song. It makes it better. 

As much as we write our own songs, we’ve also learned how to collaborate for real. And it’s been really fun and really therapeutic. I would say we use our band as therapy pretty much all the time.

Jenny Lynn Fawcett: Let the record show that we all emphatically nodded [laughs]. We’re still trying to figure out how we rehearse and collaborate, now that two-thirds of us are here [in Butte]. To be honest, I don’t think we’ve ironed that out yet.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: Junior appeared first on Montana Free Press.

Butte hip-hop artist 2 Dolla Will is on a mission to shock, and he appears to be succeeding.

To listen to 2 Dolla’s music is to dive headfirst into a confounding torrent of pop culture references; peculiar samples of obscure doo-wop, “Feliz Navidad,” and country radio chatter; paeans to potent cannabis; sexual boasts; and proud but not exactly flattering depictions of Butte. 

The only thing more audacious than 2 Dolla’s raunchy, reference-rich music is the staggering rate at which he makes it. At age 25, he has already uploaded more than 50 albums to the digital music hosting platform Bandcamp, from the lush, country-inflected “RED BUTTE REDEMPTION” to the Jay-Z-referencing “THE BUTTEPRINT” and the jazzier “Butte Chips.” 

This holiday season proved especially fruitful for 2 Dolla fans. In December he released a bombastic full-length collaboration with the Nashville artist Lord Who titled “I SOLD CRYSTAL METH TO TAYLOR SWIFT,” as well as a shorter holiday-themed project and a handful of singles, including the diss track “YOU PROBABLY WATCH PODCASTS.” His next album arrives in February.

2 Dolla (he declined to share his given name) collaborates with a rotating cast of producers and fellow MCs. While his crew, the Blicky Boyz, all live in Butte, his tracks feature guest verses and beats produced by artists across the country.

Read on as the enigmatic rapper waxes insightful on the nature of shock value, his creative process, critics and more.

MTFP: You rep Butte pretty hard. What’s your relationship with the city like?

2 Dolla Will: I moved here when I was 7 or 8. I was in Florida before. Butte is a crazy place. It’s like the Tim Burton version of Montana.

Half the people are just walking around drunk all hours of the day. There’s obviously a bunch of meth and all that. It seems like a haunted place.

MTFP: If someone comes to visit you in Butte, where do you take them? 

2 Dolla Will: Honestly, they’re not missing much [laughs]. My favorite restaurants, pretty much all of them have closed down. Metals Bank, that’s one—go eat in the vault.

MTFP: Do your collaborators live in Butte?

The main people that I work with are in Butte. [Producer] jdmasters, we have been friends since high school. We’ve been making music together probably at least once a week. Sometimes we’ll come out with three or four [tracks] in one day. And then Yung Regis is another one. And Lil Curbstomp, who’s the third member of the Blicky Boys.

MTFP: You release so much music. What does your writing process look like?

2 Dolla Will: It really depends. Lately I haven’t been doing as much, but in 2021, I released an ungodly amount of projects. I put out 21 projects in 2021.

That’s when I first started getting beats from [producer] Iceberg Theory, too. Every time I’d send him a song back, he’d send me back three more beats. I just became addicted to that. I wanted to hear what he would send me next. 

So I’d get up … make a quick one.

MTFP: A full track?

2 Dolla Will: Yeah. It’s like my warm-up.

I would be still writing when I was at work. I was a general manager of Butte’s Jimmy John’s. I’d go on my lunch break and finish that song. After my shift, I’d come back and probably do two or three more [tracks].

And then maybe jdmasters would hit me up and be like, “Hey, let’s do something.” So I’ll go up there and do another two.

I don’t find it hard to do them quickly. After I come up with a good first couple lines, it goes pretty naturally. I don’t usually go back and rewrite stuff. I’ll usually just lay it down and then — unless it sounds like crap — that’s just the final version.

MTFP: Do all of those tracks make it onto a record?

2 Dolla Will: I don’t like to do albums longer than 15 or 16 songs. Usually I’ll have too many songs and I’ll start cutting them off, and then I’ll have another half an album. So then I’ll find a new batch of beats that fits with those and make another album.

You’ll have the main album that’s like the really, really good one. And then you’ll have another one that’s for the people that can’t get enough.

Like “Susan,” the one I just put out with jdmasters. All those songs were actually made in 2021 when we were working on “Elaine Benes.”

It’s not the polished final product that “Elaine Benes” is — it’s like the booster pack if you need more “Elaine.”

MTFP: You’ve got a track where you rap “If Gianforte can bodyslam a reporter’s face and still control the state / how the [expletive] is anything I say in poor taste?” I’d like to unpack that one.

2 Dolla Will: It’s crazy. That dude did that and was not really affected by it at all. But then for me, we got banned from a place in Bozeman just because of the anti-cop [lyrics] we have. How does that work? This dude can bodyslam a reporter, but I can’t say anything about cops in a rap. 

I really like to push the envelope and cause controversy in my own way. If he can do that, I’m just gonna say whatever I want.

MTFP: You rap about weed a lot. How do you think legalization is going?

2 Dolla Will: I think it’s awful, to be honest. They’re blowing the prices up. These corporate-type people are making all the money.

MTFP: I love the recorded voice in some of your tracks that says “Go back to Bozeman.” Who is that? 

2 Dolla Will: That’s Jeff Steitzer. He is the actual voice in [the video game] Halo. “Double kill,” “triple kill,” all the crosstalk. We paid him to say a bunch of Butte stuff.

MTFP: What do you think about Bozeman?

2 Dolla Will: I’m not a fan. It’s like Butte’s evil twin. They’re the people that get offended by the stuff I say, you know what I mean? 

MTFP: You talked about the shock value of your music earlier. What do you hope someone takes away from your music?

2 Dolla Will: Honestly, I just hope people hear it and say, “There is no way this guy just said that.” And then go back and listen to it again and be like, “This is actually really dope.” It’s a similar reaction to when I first heard Action Bronson or Big L.

I think people get misconstrued that something shocking has to be violent or messed up in some sort of way. But in reality, shock value can be me rapping insane “Seinfeld” references or saying that Michael Bay’s “Transformers” is the real “Citizen Kane.”

That’s just as much shock value as anything else I’ll say. 

MTFP: What’s your North Star, your goal with your music in the future?

2 Dolla Will: I want to take this as far as I possibly can. I want the Blicky Boys to be Wu-Tang. I want to shock everyone. I want people to be like, “Oh, 2 Dolla Will is ruining the children.”

MTFP: Anything you want to add before we wrap up?

2 Dolla Will: This is Butte.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: 2 Dolla Will appeared first on Montana Free Press.

In April, Boyne Resorts, the parent company of Big Sky Resort, announced an ambitious two-part goal: by 2030, all 10 of its ski resorts, as well as its other properties — a golf course, retail and corporate facilities and a “SkyPark” featuring a chairlift in Tennessee — will produce net zero carbon emissions. To achieve that, the company will both reduce its carbon footprint and employ offsets and carbon-capture technologies to negate remaining emissions. Secondly, Boyne expects all of its properties to generate 100% of their electricity from clean sources — i.e., wind, hydro and solar — by 2030 as well. (The distinction between the net zero and clean electricity goals comes into play because resorts use fuel sources like natural gas that they don’t expect to totally phase out by 2030.)

The aims appear particularly daunting for Big Sky, the largest of the Boyne properties, and the one that currently produces the highest carbon emissions of all the company’s resorts, according to its own publicly available data. 

The plan arrives at a crucial moment for the ski industry. Experts contend that the ski season will shrink dramatically as a result of the ongoing climate crisis, even as ski resorts including Big Sky plan to construct more buildings and expand skiable terrain in the years to come.

Amy Fonte has served as Big Sky’s in-house sustainability specialist since 2021 and played a central role in crafting the company’s emissions reduction strategy, known as the ForeverProject 2030 Master Plan. Now, as she sets out to oversee its implementation, she has her work cut out for her.

In her role, Fonte spearheads an array of initiatives designed to slash emissions. Under her purview, Big Sky has begun to use renewable diesel in Big Sky’s equipment, scale up composting, keep real-time tabs on emissions, take advantage of renewable energy credits, and advocate for climate-friendly legislation.

Read on as Fonte — an avid skier, despite originally hailing from Florida — outlines her strategy for reducing emissions, the obstacles Big Sky faces on its path to net zero emissions, her reaction to the Held v. Montana ruling and more.

MTFP: Can you explain the distinction between net zero emissions and 100% clean electricity?

Fonte: Net zero carbon emissions means that however much carbon we’re putting out in the atmosphere, we’re [also] taking it away.

The first part of our net zero goal is to reduce emissions as much as possible before we purchase offsets and invest in projects like planting trees or revegetation projects of grasslands and regenerative practices that help pull and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

And so clean electricity is part of that goal. As we move away from fossil fuels, we’re going to become more electrified. But that requires the electric grid to also be cleaner; we’re not just going to flip over to electricity and support everything being powered by coal. We want more renewables on the grid, more clean energy, so when we plug in our equipment it is truly cleaner.

MTFP: According to the ForeverProject plan, Big Sky has the largest carbon footprint of all of the Boyne resorts. Why is that the case?

Fonte: We have both the largest consumption of fuel and power now, and we’re also projected to have the largest [consumption] in the future. We’re the largest of the Boyne resorts in size and in skier visitation. We have a lot of terrain, we have a lot of grooming, a lot of lifts.

Our grid in Montana has a good portion of renewables, but it still has a heavy portion of coal and methane and fossil fuels providing power. A lot of the Northeastern resorts are seeing business-as-usual [projections] to have a much smaller footprint in the future because their electric grids are getting cleaner much faster.

All of our resorts are projected to grow, but at Big Sky we have a lot of new buildings going up and our new tram opening up this year.

MTFP: The ForeverProject plan accounts for more snowmaking in the years to come. Is that because of the impact of climate change, or other factors?

Fonte: Snowmaking has multiple facets to it. There is an uptick because we are increasing the acreage of snowmaking. We had a pretty large expansion last year. It is in part because, in mitigating the effects of climate change, we want to ensure that we can open regularly and stay open. And part of that is just making sure there’s connectivity on the mountain.

MTFP: You mentioned that you’ll use carbon credits to achieve net zero emissions. There’s been a lot of critical coverage of them and whether the market actually works recently. How do you ensure you’re sourcing effective credits?

Fonte: The 12 “Big Moves” that we’ve outlined in our ForeverProject definitely have a sequential order. Balancing moves — which consists of purchasing renewable energy credits or offsets — is last. It’s something that we honestly haven’t researched a whole lot yet.

They are always a component of [getting to] net zero, because eliminating your energy consumption to zero is very, very difficult. You get rid of all the big hog equipment and you get rid of the buildings that are inefficient and you’re operating the most efficiently that you can, and yet you still use energy.

I imagine we’ll start looking at that closer to 2028, as we approach that 2030 goal. I always think that local or regional projects are better than foreign projects. The Western Sustainability Exchange is an organization that helps ranchers with regenerative agriculture [Note: WSE provides a carbon credit marketplace among its services]. 

The other thing is renewable energy credits [also known as “renewable energy certificates”], which we have purchased to offset our electricity consumption. For every one megawatt of energy that we use from non-clean sources, we’re purchasing one megawatt hour of energy from clean sources. And so that’s something we have been doing since we started with our lifts in 2020. It’s been operations-wide since 2021. 

MTFP: How do you track emissions at Big Sky?

Fonte: We are currently working on improving our data analysis tools. We have a dashboard where I input our electricity usage data, our propane usage data, our gasoline and diesel usage data. It’s how we come up with our greenhouse gas inventory every year. The sooner that data gets entered into this dashboard, it’s easier to see when you have large spikes or large decreases, because you’ve implemented a project. 

We’re scheduled to get smart meter infrastructure [from NorthWestern Energy]. That will definitely help with the development of that data visualization. 

MTFP: Can you explain how renewable diesel works?

Fonte: It’s a newer product. [Unlike with biodiesel], it goes through a hydrotreatment process. There’s less water content in the fuel when you burn it. And so, chemically, it actually is the same as petroleum diesel and it burns much cleaner.

There’s about a 60% reduction in the emissions when you combust it, that’s the estimate we were given. We’ll hopefully test that this season. It’s also just cleaner for our maintenance team that is cleaning this equipment in the shops or running improvements on them. 

MTFP: Big Sky reported that it currently diverts 30% of food waste from landfill to compost. How can you increase that percentage?

Fonte: Currently we only compost pre-consumer waste; all of our food and beverage outlets are composting. And now our team members have access to composting at team-member housing. 

We use YES Compost, out of Belgrade. They actually do vermicomposting: they feed the compost to worms and get a really rich soil product that then they give to farmers in the region.

We could definitely potentially in the future expand to post-consumer. [But] with so many different people from all over the world coming to Big Sky, it takes a lot of signage and education of what can and can’t be composted.

MTFP: I saw that during the 2023 Legislature you publicly opposed (the ultimately unsuccessful) House Bill 643, which opponents argued would have de-incentivized residential solar systems. Are there other bills or policies that you’ve addressed as well?

Fonte: We definitely advocate for sustainability in our state policy, as well as local and community policies. We recently submitted public comment on NorthWestern Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan. 

We definitely want to see more renewables in the electric grid. We supported the Inflation Reduction Act. We wrote to our senators about that. We’ve supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, [too].

MTFP: Before we wrap up, what do you think about the Held v. Montana ruling? 

Fonte: I think it’s amazing. Actually, one of the plaintiffs worked for Big Sky Resort as a ski instructor.

The fact that it happened at all was a huge step toward climate change progress across the world. The fact that then the judge ruled in favor of the youth plaintiffs is another victory altogether. We definitely need to hold our state agencies accountable and our governor’s office accountable to really consider climate change and consider sustainability. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: Amy Fonte appeared first on Montana Free Press.

In yesterday’s municipal elections, the residents of West Yellowstone spoke loud and clear: They still do not want pot shops in town.

According to Gallatin County election results, 240 West Yellowstone residents voted to keep an existing ban in place, while 128 wanted to overturn it. The ban applies not only to retail stores, but grow operations, manufacturing facilities and other related businesses. 

In Yellowstone County, the small town of Broadview voted 41-7 to similarly prohibit marijuana businesses within its borders.

In 2020, residents of Gallatin County — where West Yellowstone is situated — voted in favor of cannabis legalization. Per subsequent legislation passed by the 2021 Legislature, any county where a majority of residents supported legalization had a green-light to permit recreational sales. Any county (or town within a county) could also vote to ban sales.

In 2022, West Yellowstone did just that. During that year’s local elections, 219 residents voted in favor of a measure to ban recreational cannabis businesses; 194 residents voted to continue to permit sales.

This November’s re-vote was fueled by a belief that the language in the original ban ordinance was confusing. 

“I looked at how they wrote [last year’s measure] and I thought, ‘Well, that’s not very understandable,’” former mayor Jerry Johnson, who spearheaded this year’s re-vote, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. 

Currently, Lone Peak Cannabis’ outpost on Targhee Pass Highway — which operates out of a converted shipping container — remains the closest cannabis retailer to West Yellowstone. 

Per state law, residents can again attempt to reverse the ban next year.

The post West Yellowstone votes to maintain ban on cannabis business appeared first on Montana Free Press.

MISSOULA — Stephanie Land is nothing if not brutally honest. 

In 2019, Hachette Books published Land’s first book, “Maid,” an unflinching account of the emotionally and physically demanding years she spent raising her daughter Emilia as a single mom in Port Townsend, Washington, while cleaning houses and aspiring to study creative writing at the University of Montana. The book resonated with readers across the world: former President Barack Obama named it one of his summer reading picks that year, and in 2021 Netflix released a serial adaptation of the book; 67 million households tuned in that year alone. 

Yesterday, Nov. 7, Atria/One Signal published Land’s second memoir, “Class.” It picks up where “Maid” left off, a decade ago: Land has begun to settle in Missoula, and is working toward her degree and her dream of becoming a writer. Yet she continues to face an onslaught of obstacles. She writes bluntly of the tedium, the grind of homework, and the challenges of putting food on the table for Emilia in a poorly uninsulated Missoula apartment.

And then, in her senior year, Land becomes pregnant with her second daughter, Coraline. She isn’t sure who the father is, and one former romantic partner, afraid that it’s him, becomes abusive toward her.

As she trudges toward her degree, anger courses through Land: at a byzantine bureaucratic system that keeps her down, at emotionally stunted partners, at some of her professors, whom she depicts as self-absorbed and hurtful.

There’s nonetheless a good deal of levity in “Class,” too. After her isolated years in Port Townsend, Land describes leisurely hikes with friends, dates, and parties downtown. Land’s fondness for Missoula — and what occasionally feels like its bygone bohemian past — shines throughout “Class.”

In our conversation, Land brings her candid approach to bear on a wide range of topics: the complications of writing about people in a small town, why she decided to write so frankly about her sex life, her battles with anxiety on book tour, her dream creative writing program and more.

MTFP: You make a few references to seeing live music in “Class.” Did you see any memorable concerts this summer? 

Stephanie Land: There were so many shows this summer. The most amazing show I’ve ever seen was boygenius. I had the opportunity to hang out backstage with Jason Isbell [at Kettlehouse Amphitheater]. Jason has become a mentor with wading through the scary stuff that comes with the general public being allowed to say whatever the fuck about you on the internet. He reminds me to speak my truth and that an honest story is the most important one to tell. 

I don’t really get into new stuff very often. I still have the same Iron & Wine playlist. [Bands] like the Postal Service I’ve listened to hundreds of times over the years. I used to listen to them when I was cleaning houses. 

I wanted to put so much more music in [the book]. It sounds weird, but music was my friend. It was there for me, because I was so isolated and alone a lot of the time. I had an iPod nano. I still have it.

MTFP: You write about the Missoula bar/venue the Top Hat in “Class,” from a time before it was refurbished. Did the vibe feel different then?

Land: It was just so dirty and dank. In the entrance next to the bar was a pool table. We would go there for family-friendly Fridays and there was a sea of kids. It was just chaos. I would lose Emilia every single time and then I would find her and she’d be kneeling on a stool at the bar, talking the bartender into more cherries for her Shirley Temple. No shoes on, and her feet are just black. I loved that place.

MTFP: Despite the rising cost of living and housing in Missoula, I try to stay optimistic that it can remain a place that fosters community and be accessible. Do you feel similarly?

Land: It’s really hard for me to be optimistic about anything these days as far as accessibility and who is able to live and work [here]. When your housing exceeds the wages of the people who make all the other work possible in your town, then you’ve lost everything, I think. I watched it happen to Port Townsend over the years, and every time I go back there it’s worse.

I’ve watched a lot of really good people move to the other place down the road that starts with a “B” that we’re not talking about, ’cause we don’t want it to ruin it. [Note: Land is referring to Butte].

MTFP: Speaking of housing, did you tangle with the Montana legislative session this year?

Land: No, but a couple of weeks after the “Maid” series came out [in October 2021] and I was losing my mind, I desperately made this post on Facebook, because we needed to get the exterior shell of my writing shack built. I thought, if you build it, the book will come [laughs]. 

Zooey Zephyr responded and came over. So that’s how I met her. We were all sitting around eating pizza and I mentioned that someone had just texted me about a legislative position that was opening in my area, that I should run for it. I said, “that is not good for my personality,” and [she said], “I’m gonna run for that.” It’s been really amazing to watch her and what she’s doing. I’m a huge fan.

MTFP: Just to clarify, the plan for “Class” came together pretty shortly after the “Maid” series launched?

Land: Yes. I signed the contract in January of 2020. And it was a very different book. Nobody wanted to buy my second memoir. And so we decided on this really heavily reported book about the housing crisis and homeless people. I was going to spend a lot of time with homeless people in different parts of the country. And I kept telling my agent at the time — I have a different agent now, mostly because of this situation — that I’m not a journalist. I don’t know how to do any of this stuff. I don’t know the ethics involved, and I don’t want to take up people’s time like this. Their time is like the most valuable thing that they have. 

But we sold it anyway, because I was just told it was what I needed to do.

And then the pandemic hit and I couldn’t be a public speaker anymore, obviously. And so the advance money got me through that year. But I couldn’t write anything. I had four miscarriages in 2020. The kids were home all the time. It was not a good environment for writing, especially stuff that you don’t know anything about. 

And so when the Netflix series came out, I had a Zoom date with my editor [Julia Cheiffetz] and my new agent, Mollie Glick. Julia said, “Write whatever you want. It can be a memoir, I don’t care.” No one had said that to me before, ever. It was so great to have that freedom. I knew immediately what I wanted to write about.

It was based off of this essay that I published through the “New York Review of Books” in 2017 called “Portrait of the Artist as a Single Mom.” It was just about college and fighting to be a writer and go to school to be a writer despite being incredibly poor and how frivolous and selfish that felt for me to do.

It took me a long time to really grapple with what I was going to include and what not, if I could write around the fact that I didn’t know who [Coraline’s] father was. Because a woman writing about her sex life, especially a poor single mom, you just don’t do that. That’s just not something women are allowed to do freely and write about.

[Around that time] I read Melissa Febos’ book, “Body Work.” A third of the book is writing about sex. I got to that part and I was just like, I don’t even have to read this. I’m not gonna write about that. And then I was like, but what if I did?

I [told my editor], I think I’m going to approach all of this from a place of empowerment. I felt pretty good about myself and I was having fun. It was Hot Single Mom summer [laughs]. One of the things she told me is that a woman enjoying her body is the most dangerous thing in the world.

I started writing the book at the end of July, the beginning of August ’22. I handed in the first draft by mid-October.

MTFP: I know some of the names have been changed, but I was curious how you navigated writing about some really awful things people have said and done to you in a place as small as Missoula?

Land: I knew it was very likely that I would run into people who are in the book at, like, the Good Food Store.

[Regarding] the people I did not write warmly about, the only thing that you can do is tell your story and tell it in a way that is not gossiping. As long as you are telling the truth, then they can’t really argue with that. People might get mad, but I am also legally vetted.

I really did try to write very compassionately about the people in town who propelled me forward and really allowed me to take up space in the physical classroom with my added bonus student, a 6-year-old. And I wanted to really capture some moments of Missoula and how beautiful it was back then.

MTFP: If you could design an undergrad creative writing program, what would be some foundational parts of it?

Land: College does not teach the business of writing. I had no idea. So much of being a writer is administrative work. You are your own business, you’re your own brand. You are your accountant and your tax person and your health insurance. Hounding people to pay you, it’s just maddening.

Money is almost not even talked about, it’s like a dirty word.

As far as classes, it would be so easy to do them online. It would be easy to do a more intensive format where it’s an all-day class for four or five Saturdays, more evenings and weekends.

As soon as people start considering the fact that maybe a fourth of their class has a full-time job and they are not a 21-year-old whose parents are paying for their dorm, you can really get creative and think about the needs of your students.

I wouldn’t have graduated college if my professors wouldn’t have allowed me to bring my kid to class. There just would’ve been no way. Just considering the possibility that there might be someone in your class who is in their thirties and has a family at home could open up a lot of conversations about how to make things more accessible.

MTFP: How do you prepare for a book tour? 

Land: You don’t. Going into the “Maid” book tour my agent at the time instructed me to say yes to everything. Whatever they ask you to do, just do it. And so that meant waking up in a new city, going to a morning local TV show and going back to the hotel and doing three or four interviews. And then doing a book event that night where I would read a little bit of the book and then open it up for questions. They were questioning my decision-making and who I am as a person. Nobody wanted to know about my writing process. And then wash, rinse and repeat, get on a plane, go to a different place. 

Whenever I tried to talk to people about what was going on, they didn’t want to hear about it [and would say], “Do you know how long I’ve tried to get my book published? I don’t even have an agent. You’re so lucky. Just be happy. Just enjoy it.” Success has been the most isolating thing that’s ever happened to me. I lost good friends because they were jealous of the success and didn’t think I deserved it or that I had worked hard enough for it, or that I hadn’t struggled enough. I don’t know. Writers are catty. 

I joke that my path to success was paved by panic attacks.

I ended up in the ER a lot because I was kind of in a permanent dissociative place and just kind of checked out.

So this time it’s like, let’s mitigate this [laughs]. I came into it with some knowledge about myself and what I need. I need someone to physically walk me through a crowd from one place to another. I have two assistants to handle stuff like that, to basically advocate for me. This time, I feel like I’m actually able to talk about the fact that I have an anxiety disorder and a lot of the things that I deal with internally that I’m very medicated for.

This whole process has just been scary. I’m writing about stuff that people are really not going to like. I’m also really angry in the book. And people don’t like women who are angry, or people who are angry, especially marginalized people.

But I had the clout, and the platform, I guess, to be angry. And I knew that a lot of people can’t tell the story that I did.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: Stephanie Land appeared first on Montana Free Press.

Though it runs less than 20 minutes and its action is largely confined to a single set, the new Disney+ short film “The Roof” succeeds in telling a story that encompasses generations and demonstrates the power of familial history to shape self-understanding.

The film — which was released for streaming Sept. 29 as part of the Disney+ Launchpad series — follows an unnamed two-spirit teenager (Phoenix Wilson) as they arrive at the home of their Northern Cheyenne grandfather (the iconic Wes Studi) in the town of Lame Deer, as the latter hammers away on repairs to his leaky roof. Though the two initially appear to have a fraught relationship, we soon learn of the powerful history that binds them. The film, directed by Alexander Bocchieri, follows Wilson’s character as they learn more about their grandparents’ lives; it culminates in the teen’s embrace of their own identity at a joyous impromptu powwow featuring fellow two-spirit dancers.

For screenwriter W.A.W. Parker — who goes by Adam — the material is deeply personal. The film, he explains, reflects his relationship with his own Northern Cheyenne grandfather, as well as his experience growing up as a two-spirit person in Montana. (The term “two-spirit” can be employed in several ways; Parker uses it as an umbrella term “for Native LGBT queer and trans Indigiqueer people to refer to themselves across Native cultures and languages.”)

Beyond “The Roof,” Parker — who currently lives in Los Angeles — has also published a novel, The Wasteland, with Harper Jameson, and written a TV pilot called “The Baron” that has been lauded by GLAAD and the Indigenous List. 

Read on as Parker discusses his family history, highlights his unconventional approach to casting for “The Roof,” and explains how recent advocacy in support of two-spirit people on the Northern Cheyenne reservation has sparked his interest in moving there.

MTFP: What are some films that stick with you from your childhood?

W.A.W. Parker: My top two films growing up were “Amadeus” and “West Side Story.” I would watch those two films basically on repeat, and do the same to this day. 

As a kid, I was definitely drawn to the character of Mozart, who is this flamboyant character who was different from everyone else. Growing up, I felt different, too. Even though it’s not a literally queer character, he’s a character that goes against what is expected of him at that time and thrives in it.

MTFP: How did you end up collaborating with Disney on “The Roof?”

Parker: Launchpad basically did an open call for scripts, and mine was chosen for season two. They produced six at the same time with mostly the same crew, shooting around Los Angeles.

I wanted to make it regardless of whether or not they got involved, but I’m so glad that they did. They allowed us to make the film that we wanted to make. And the film is better for their involvement.

I wrote it based on my relationship with my grandfather. A couple of years ago he had a stroke. He was 93 years old. I got the phone call: “Hey, if you hop on a plane right now, you might be able to speak to him one last time, but you also might just be coming home for the funeral.” Very luckily, he had a relatively miraculous recovery, and I actually got to spend a few days with him.

My grandpa was born on the Northern Cheyenne reservation and was sent to boarding school as a kid. It’s the only thing in his entire life that he would never talk about. And growing up, I wish that I had heard about the history and legacy of two-spirit people in my tribe. So I wrote this between conversations with him, thinking back to the times I was sent to stay with him as a kid, and wishing it was the conversation I had with him at a much earlier age.

MTFP: Did you have a hand in the casting process? If so, what was that experience like for you?

Parker: I was very lucky that [director] Alexander Bocchieri said that he wouldn’t take the job if I wasn’t involved in the project. That was just the beginning of a lovely collaboration, from casting all the way through the final sound edit. That was very dangerous for him to say, because generally speaking, writers aren’t involved at all these different levels of the process. He really stuck his neck out.

With casting, it was an intense search, because we wanted to cast as authentically as possible. It was really important for us that the [teenage] character be Native and the character be two-spirit.

It was also really important to me to do outreach with the tribe as well. Facebook is one of the best ways to do outreach on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. But then, Alex, producer Blake Pickens [and I] all went to Lame Deer on the Northern Cheyenne reservation where my parents and family live to do some in-person outreach, at the junior high high school, the elementary school. We played basketball in open gym talking to the bros, basically telling everyone to get the word out as much as possible that we’re making this film and that we’re looking for somebody to play this lead character.

We didn’t have anyone Northern Cheyenne audition while we were casting, but we were extremely lucky to get Phoenix Wilson, who is just a phenomenal actor and a phenomenal person, delivering such a delicate and powerful performance. He’s actually written a book with his mother called “Phoenix Gets Greater” about what it’s like growing up in a loving and supportive Native family. 

We lost our grandfathers around the same time, and Phoenix said that the [film’s] relationship with the grandfather was like his relationship with his grandfather. A few friends have said the same as well.

Once we cast him, we were able to introduce him to the tribe as well. Phoenix is Anishinaabe, and we wanted to introduce him to the Northern Cheyenne people.

We brought him to the Chief’s Powwow in Lame Deer in July 2022. I gave a speech. We did a community feed. We had an honor song, and we were able to honor a few people in the community who were really helping us as well.

Afterwards, somebody who was Northern Cheyenne two-spirit did audition, but unfortunately they were too old for the part. But I was glad that they did find out about it in the end. I look forward to hopefully working with them at some point in the future.

MTFP: How did you connect with Wes Studi?

Parker: We sent him the script along with a personal letter detailing how we thought he would be good for the project, especially since he has such an ability to deliver layered performances that can infuse humor into a situation. Not a lot of people allow him to show that side of himself. In a way, it was a nice full-circle moment, because his first film, “Powwow Highway,” was shot in Lame Deer, and he remembers the community fondly.

MTFP: You filmed “The Roof” in Los Angeles, right?

Yes, that’s right. Even though we don’t establish that it’s Lame Deer, the implication is there, by saying it’s a Northern Cheyenne teenager and [using] the Morning Star symbol [at several points in the film]. 

It was really important to me that we used digital extensions of the scenery: the trees in the background of the vista of the grandfather’s house [are taken] from pictures that Alex took of my grandfather’s house in Lame Deer. 

It sort of made my year when, after a screening, [actress] Lily Gladstone said it looked like Lame Deer.

MTFP: Why did you title the film “The Roof”?

Parker: The roof is the thing that protects the home and everyone in the home. I wrote them literally repairing a roof to give them something physical to work on together that also represents the larger home that they have together that they also need to repair.

MTFP: Were there significant changes between the original script and the final product?

Parker: Yes. The major thing that changed after it was greenlit was the final sequence. We decided to take this two-person, one-location film and add a whole bunch of people to it: more Native people, more Indigenous people, more two-spirit people, so that as many people that wanted to be involved are on the screen as possible [in the pop-up powwow scene].

I hope this film adds to the efforts that people are already making in my tribe, and that more people see what is possible when you fully love and accept people into your family and community.

This past summer, the local college, Chief Dull Knife Community College, had their second annual two-spirit Pride event. Growing up, I never thought that I would see a two-spirit Pride event on the reservation. I was so happy to attend that. And also this past summer, the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council passed a very sweeping resolution in support of two-spirit tribal members, especially the youth.

It makes me so proud to be a Northern Cheyenne tribal member. I grew up as a kid who’s different, in rural Montana. When I was this character’s age, Matthew Shepard was murdered. Growing up, rightly or wrongly, I had the narrative in my brain that if I wanted to live, I needed to leave. And it’s only in seeing this love and support from the community that I’ve even opened up the idea for myself of what’s possible, of moving back to be even more involved in the community.

MTFP: Do you visit often?

Parker: Absolutely. Usually a couple times a year. My grandpa moved back when I was a kid. All the big family events, holidays, summers would be spent down in Lame Deer. About 12 years ago, my parents moved to Lame Deer. My dad actually came out of retirement to be the superintendent for the Lame Deer school system. Until this past spring, my mom was the elementary music teacher at the school as well.

MTFP: Have you encountered any misconceptions about two-spirit people that you think would be helpful to highlight?

Parker: In Western thought we tend to take a lot of words and literalize them, as in, “Oh, every Native tribe thinks that there are people that have literally two spirits in them.” Some tribes may believe that, but it is an umbrella term for Native LGBT queer and trans Indigiqueer people to refer to themselves across Native cultures and languages.

MTFP: What’s coming up next for you?

Parker: Right now I am rewriting my next screenplay and writing my next novel, and always procrastinating on one with the other one. But more than that, I’m really happy to be mentoring a couple of two-spirit writers. And I would love to mentor even more.

It’s people who live outside of L.A., so it’s Zooms and phone calls.

MTFP: Before we wrap up, what’s been your family’s reaction to watching “The Roof”? 

Parker: It’s been wonderful, and I can’t be thankful enough for the family that I have. I’m sure it must have been a weird experience for them, seeing so much of my grandfather in this movie, but it’s also not him. 

My reaction from my family has just been that they feel so happy that he’s been honored in that way and that the story is being told, hopefully, with care for both him and the teenage character and the community.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: W.A.W. Parker appeared first on Montana Free Press.

From his Netflix standup special “The Spatial” to his out-there TED talks to his tenure as bandleader for “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (a gig he left earlier this year), the musician and comedian Reggie Watts has never shied away from his relentlessly oddball persona. His live performances regularly combine live vocal looping, an array of singing voices, multiple spoken languages, improvised jokes and more — the sum effect is an absurd, perplexing and singular brand of humor. Watts’ recorded music is no less zany.

Although he currently lives in Los Angeles, and tours around the world, Watts cites one particular place as the source of his weird and wacky self: Great Falls, Montana.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Watts will release his first book, the memoir “Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again.” The book — which he co-wrote with Christopher Farah — documents his youth in the Electric City and his experience as a biracial person there; Watts’ father, a Black American Air Force serviceman, and his mother, a white French woman, met in France before moving to Montana. The memoir subsequently follows Watts through his punk-inspired adolescence and his departure from Great Falls at the age of 18. By turns thoughtful, impassioned and kooky, the memoir serves as both a love letter to Great Falls and Watts’ family and a snapshot of his own playfully eccentric personality.

Read on as the artist digs into the process of writing his memoir, why he keeps current on gun culture, his takeaway from the censure of Rep. Zooey Zephyr, his fascination with artificial intelligence and more. 

A tour will accompany the book launch. Watts will perform in Bozeman, Missoula and Great Falls later this month.

MTFP: How did writing “Great Falls” go? Did it flow pretty naturally?

Reggie Watts: For the most part, I just went back and tried to remember as much as I could. I got to ask friends about stories and corroborate things that happened, and I interviewed my mom.

I got to revisit eras of time that I forgot about and look at photographs from those times. It was a cool adventure in re-experiencing.

The approach was to create the skeleton, fill in as much information on a timeline as possible and then just start to fill in the [smaller] lines. I had wanted it to be a little bit more scientific. It didn’t necessarily play out that way.

MTFP: What do you mean by “scientific”?

Watts: If I could, I’d work with artificial intelligence and give it general times when these things happened, and then have the artificial intelligence do investigations to find the exact times and correlate those things. I’d love to fill out my timeline and create, essentially, a cybernetic memory of my life.

MTFP: Did anything about writing the book surprise you?

Watts: I’m surprised that I finished it [laughs]. When you’re working in a new medium and then you finally finish something in it, it feels slightly underwhelming but also slightly unbelievable. It’s such a long process. It’s not like finishing a song. It doesn’t have that bang. [It’s not like you] put the period on the last sentence and you’re like, “Yes!”

MTFP: When you perform in Montana, does it feel different from performing elsewhere?

Watts: I try not to get too political. The last time I was in Great Falls, I talked about gun rights. I was trying to talk about sensible gun safety measures, and how they’re actually in favor of people who are pro-Second Amendment because they create more of a responsible populace with firearms. Surprisingly, people were chill about it. 

There’s a lot to be said [for] when they hear it from somebody from their own state, even if I don’t necessarily look like most people there, and even though I live in Hollywood and they could say like, [in guttural voice] “You’ve been infiltrated by Hollywood.” I don’t really get a lot of that. I’m pretty grateful for that. 

MTFP: When you visit Great Falls, where do you like to go?

Watts: I try to support all the local businesses. Al Banco is world-class coffee. [Co-owner Jake Zuidema] is a genius. His brother [co-owner Jesse Zuidema] is a genius baker. It’s a deadly duo. The Block sandwich shop is really good. 

There’s a great game shop [Let’s Play] where you can schedule time to play Dungeons & Dragons.

We have an indoor shooting range [Highwood Creek Outfitters], which is really cool. I’ll go and just shoot targets. I try to keep up with gun culture, because I want to have a credible voice in that zone. I love going in there to practice my, “Hey guys, what’s going on? What’s this, a Smith & Wesson?” “Yeah, that’s from the 1800’s.” I like being able to be geeky and talk shop with those guys. It’s just a good way of paying respect.

Great Falls is a great place where you can hang out with the weirdos, hang out with the gamers, hang out with the leftists. I’ve had guys who work at Scheels or something come up to me in the gun department [and say], “Don’t tell anybody, but I’m a liberal” [laughs]. And I’m like, be loud and proud about that, because who cares? Do you treat everybody really nicely? Do you treat everybody equally?

But anyways, I try to visit, and just keep in touch with everybody. 

MTFP: I saw that you voiced your support for Missoula Rep. Zooey Zephyr during the events surrounding her censure earlier this year. What’s your takeaway from that situation?

Watts: I think we’re essentially having growing pains with the internet. I can only attribute it to corporate forces [that] try to rile up people over things they don’t need to be riled up about.

Someone says, “I’m transgender.” Who cares? Are you really good at policies and do you care about your constituents? Great. Awesome. Moving on. But of course, in these modern times [someone will] retaliate against it. It’s just very disappointing. I don’t appreciate the hardships that she has to go through, but at the same time, it gives her more fire to stand up for what she believes in. There’s no substitute for sincerity.

We’re going to have to figure out a way to get out of our five-year-old fear-based mentality and recognize that we’re all humans that are going to try to help each other out the best that we can, hopefully. I don’t know if that’s going to happen willingly. I think that AI’s gonna have to do that for us. 

MTFP: How would AI do that?

Watts: [AI] can make decisions independent of emotion. It can be very helpful in overcoming those differences [between people], which are silly. The things that people fight over and argue about are generally other people’s ideologies that they’re just repeating. I think artificial intelligence can help cut to the chase.

It will be thousands and thousands of times smarter than an individual human being. And we’ll be able to run scenarios, different probabilities right into the future and come up with better decisions that benefit the most people if it’s used in that way. 

MTFP: Reggie, is there anything you want to add, about your memoir or otherwise, before we wrap up?

Watts: My goal is not to get more people to move to Montana [laughs]. This is not a “Yellowstone” attempt.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The post The Sit-Down: Reggie Watts appeared first on Montana Free Press.