BARR, the acronym used by Los Angeles-based Brendan Fowler for his solo projects, has been likened to both a rapper and motivational speaker for members of today's independent art and music scenes. Speaking conversationally and hyper-emphatically over sparse, sometimes jazz-tinged drumbeats, he incants a frank inner monologue that might induce discomfort, embarrassment, and empathetic identification — all at once. "The point is to relate and have it relate-able, but at some point it is not about you," Fowler muses amid softly discordant piano strains on his newest album (released on 5RC and Doggpony). Indeed, his performances embody public exercises in self-referentiality aimed at building an inclusive, do-it-yourself creative community.

Playing a hodgepodge of venues from the Kitchen, where last October he was booked with Khaela Maricich (of K Records' the Blow), to LA punk club the Smell, Fowler is part of a growing set of young artists focused on the intricacies of communication itself, regardless of medium. His milieu includes Tracy + the Plastics, Providence-based Lucky Dragons, and Le Tigre's JD Samson, with whom he and Sarah Shapiro form the slightly more traditional musical ensemble New England Roses. Fowler also recently expanded into print, collaborating with Ed Templeton and Aaron Rose to launch ANP Quarterly, a free arts magazine featuring articles, photographs, and interviews with the likes of Ian MacKaye and Raymond Pettibon. As BARR remarks with characteristic candor on his new record, "Maybe a magazine is the best way to talk about people and shoes and problems — larger problems..."

By Sarah Kessler for ArtKrush