Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Rucker
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hola Hola,, I’m Jeffrey Rucker / “Chaos1.0”, a creative from Dayton, OH. One of my favorite aspects of existence is the ability to bring our thoughts and expressions to life through art. I’ll always do my best to never take that for granted. Over the years, I realized how much life responsibilities, societal expectations, and our own doubts can hinder us from finding that childlike exploration that is creativity, especially if we’re not seeing financial gain from it at the moment. It feels good to paint a picture, make a song, finish a project, etc. It’s cathartic.
Since high school, I’ve been releasing music. I was also in drama club. I like to capture moments in time and the feelings around them. After about 7 years of making music now, I’ve learned to appreciate “where I’m at” more instead of focusing on not yet being where I want to be. So many moments pass us by when we get stuck in our heads. I try to stay present for them.
Currently, I’m in my senior year of college at Cleveland State University. I major in film. For the past four years, I’ve been focusing a lot of energy into film acting, my studies, and assisting the community where I can, but before graduation comes this spring, I promised myself that I’m going to complete every project and activity that I’ve wanted to do while I’m here, having the experience.
I spent a lot of my time pretty low-key. Aside from a solid feature run, I haven’t released new music in a few years. That is until about a month ago when I put out my new album “Kayo’s Voyage” with Hidden Renaissance, a virtual community of aspiring artists from around the world. It’s available for streaming everywhere and it contains many different colors and textures of sounds. The piece as a whole is a love letter to trusting the process of collaboration. This album would not be anywhere close to what it is without getting to work with the many hands involved. From producers to engineers, everybody was really cool and helpful. We were very to happy to see that in the first week of the release, the album hit 50,000 streams on Spotify. I’m used to low numbers, but it was so cool to be able to see that people out there really are resonating with my art. I also got to work with Ausi Yuen from Tulsa, Oklahoma to help bring some music videos for the album to life. Visuals for “spaceship” & “meteor” are out now on YouTube.
Now I’m shifting gears and preparing to direct my student thesis film titled: Crossfaded.
Logline (Brief): “When a social drinking freshman and a weed-pedaling senior get trapped in the basement of a fraternity party, the two strangers cogitate exploring each other’s world for the first time in their lives.”
I’ve been workshopping the script for a few months now and we’re scheduled to start shooting at the end of February. I’ve acted in over about 30 short/student films while being here and have even gotten to be an extra on a few feature films like James Gunn’s new Superman. However, this will be my first time directing and being completely on the other side of the camera. So far it’s been a fun challenge and I’m learning a lot. I already highly respect crew members of films because they almost thanklessly bring the atmospheres that we see to life. Now though, I have a deeper respect for them because I see how much energy and coordination goes into making cinema work. I’m having fun and it’s keeping me on my toes.
I’m also interning for Cleveland, OH’s Short Sweet Film Festival at the moment. So 2025’s been pretty busy so far, but it’s the kind of busy that I’ve always hoped for.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I will say that I’m grateful for how each step continues to lead me to the next. However, it’s not always the smoothest time. The doubt of my creative capabilities, the imposter syndrome of me wondering if I deserve a good thing, and the seemingly endless shortcomings of everyday life are all some of the elements that weigh me down, much like everyone else I would think. However, I do my best to keep the homies from drowning inside their own heads. I appreciate that there are others who do the same for me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I guess I could say that I specialize in the performing arts. Discipline-wise, I’m all over the place. I make music. I act. I write. However, I wish to be better at things that I’ve never dared to try, like directing a film and animation. All in all, being able to say that I’ve already created so much makes me happy. Among all of the art that I’ve created, regardless of the mediums, there’s a collective growth that I’ve gained from them all. With all of these shared experiences, my artistry is actively finding its voice, in real-time, and that is huge to me. I’m not sure if I can pin down my own style on things just yet, but I definitely love to paint a full picture, however I can. Some of my friends say that they admire how authentic my creativity feels. I just like to acknowledge what I sense.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
To be honest, I’m not quite sure off the top of my head. One of my favorite childhood memories though might be when my mom said that I could paint on the walls in my bedroom. I sketched and painted Sonic the Hedgehog, Dexter, myself, etc. It made my room feel unique, to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/chaos1x0
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaos1.0
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/Uzf7bKWIkak
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/PrVVboHFtjx1iNuJ7
