Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 8, 2010
Young professional making the most of his life
David Laprad
Stratton Tingle is the Web content administrator for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. He’s also an independent musician, a freelance filmmaker and a civically-minded individual who mentors students and commits vacation time to volunteer work overseas.
- David Laprad
With eight years of dreadlocks hanging off the back of his head, Stratton Tingle doesn’t look the part of a Web content administrator. At first glance, one might think he’s an independent musician, or a freelance filmmaker, or someone who’s seen more of the world in his twenties than most people see in a lifetime. But the truth is, he’s a Web content administrator for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce.
Tingle, 27, is all of those other things, too. But between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, people can find him at his day gig.
“When I was freelancing, I wasn’t able to focus on the things I wanted to do artistically because I was always trying to earn my next paycheck. That was stressful, so when a friend who used to work here told me about this job, I applied for it and they hired me,” Tingle says.
During the other hours that make up each day, and on weekends, Tingle concentrates on his dreams. His current pet project is his work as a member of an electronic band called Prophets & Kings. The group has recorded an album and is putting together a live concert experience that will explore the relationship between music and video in a unique way.
“Instead of doing an improvised soundtrack to a film, we’re going to do an improvised film to a soundtrack. We’ve written the songs and we’ve shot a bunch of video, but we don’t know what’s going to happen with the video. The music will determine that as we play.
“We can set up the video to change when we speed up, slow down or change keys. A tempo change might make the cuts faster or bring up a different clip, for example,” he says.
While the concept sounds unique, there’s little about Prophets & Kings that’s conventional, including the music.
“Our instruments go into this ridiculous supercomputer that takes the sounds we make and does things with them that are a bit nontraditional. We play guitar, drums and bass, but that’s not what you’re going to hear,” Tingle says, smiling.
Tingle received funding for the live performance through a MakeWork grant in 2009. Through the MakeWork program, CreateHere supports the efforts of artists living and working in the Chattanooga area.
When Tingle isn’t busy plugging information into a Chamber database or feeding sound triggers into a supercomputer, he’s working as producer on a full-length documentary about Black Friday. The idea behind the film, he says, is to discover the humanity in the biggest shopping day of the year.
“We want to explore the concept of gift giving in America. How does it impact our lives? What will people go through to get the perfect gift? What does that fulfill? We’re going to have eight to 10 camera crews out there on Black Friday,” he says.
As producer, Tingle is handling the logistics of the project. Once the movie is done, he and the director will submit it to film festivals and try to secure an online release through outlets like Hulu.com and Netflix.
The documentary will not be Tingle’s first movie credit. As a teen growing up in New Orleans, he played guitar, consumed hours of MTV and dreamed of making his own music videos. During his senior year of high school, he took a video broadcasting class and discovered he had a knack for what took place behind the camera.
When the time for college rolled around, Tingle’s mother forced him to visit Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, which she had attended. While he was there, the dean took him to the art department, where the school was preparing to launch its film production program.
What Tingle saw blew him away.
“It never occurred to me that someone could earn a living making movies. So I went in with the idea that I’d learn to make my own music videos,” he says.
Tingle excelled at the program, and during his time at Southern Adventist served as second assistant director on “Secret of the Cave,” a children’s film shot in Ireland. He also did a number of freelance projects for the McKees, including educational videos that took him to Israel and Egypt. After graduating summa cum laude in 2006, he decided to stay in Chattanooga and work as a freelance filmmaker.
He current passion, however, is music. Prophets & Kings intends to release their recording on USB drives and would like to take their live experience on the road. Although putting together a tour would not be easy, Tingle has a track record of making things happen. He also has a deep well of optimism sustaining him.
“I’ve always wanted to make popular music for a living. When that’s your goal, there are a lot of ways to be let down, so you have to either stay optimistic or jump in the river,” he says, laughing.
Although Tingle has a lot of personal goals, he’s far from self-serving. While attending Southern Adventist, he took part in a missionary program that sends students outside the country for one year. He spent his time in Zambia, Africa working for the United Nations World Food Programme.
“It was awesome. It was the first time I’d been exposed to another culture. The experience gave me a lot of confidence in humanity. It also made me want to pursue things outside my comfort zone. Life is richer and more fun when you branch out from the things you’re used to doing,” he says.
In addition to serving on the missions trip, Tingle is a volunteer music production teacher for an afterschool program in Brainerd and has mentored Hamilton County students on financial responsibility. He also spent his vacation in April of this year helping to rebuild a school for orphans in Port Au Prince, Haiti.
In light of his creative and volunteer endeavors, it’s no surprise the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga has nominated Tingle as one of its Young Professionals of the Year.
“YPAC members are energetic and excited about this community. I found myself in alignment with their way of thinking, so I joined the organization,” he says.
Tingle seems to thrive within a positive atmosphere. Even when speaking about his job at the Chamber, he expresses gratitude for the support his co-workers have given him.
“I’m the Web content administrator. I’m not the guy who typically meets with investors and attends ribbon cuttings, but they encourage people like me to get involved. As a result, I’ve gotten to know a lot of people around town,” he says.
Tingle has made a lot of friends and associates outside of work, too, as he’s involved in a dizzying array of activities, from taking ballroom dancing lessons, to helping a local band with an upcoming album, to participating in the Chattanooga Flash Mob dance in front of the Tennessee Aquarium in September. The YouTube video of the performance has attracted over 57,000 hits.
When Tingle, who’s single, has down time, he likes to exercise, see independent films at The Majestic and take trips on his 1981 Honda motorcycle.
Although Tingle’s mother had to force him to check out Southern Adventist, he says wild horses couldn’t drag him away from the Scenic City.
“Chattanooga is awesome. There’s so much going on here. There are two filmmakers in Prophets & Kings, and there’s a reason neither of us are in L.A. We don’t like L.A. We love Chattanooga,” he says.
And Chattanooga loves Tingle, dreadlocks and all.
To see Tingle’s handiwork online, visit www.chattanoogachamber.com. To hear three selections from the upcoming Prophets & Kings project, search for the band on Facebook and MySpace.
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