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VOL. 46 | NO. 26 | OCTOBER 14-27, 2026
News & Views
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Feedback ............................... 8 ADVERTISING
Lions Column ....................... 12
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Cover Story
The Fashion Issue ............... 17
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NEWS & VIEWS Feedback
salad without any commitment.” – @mgl1123, Instagram
Readers respond to U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers exaggerating his counterterrorism experience and role in the capture of Osama bin Laden.
“No way! Mikey…..lied?!?!? Who would have guessed that?” – @Burn0uts0n, X
“‘I saw the dead body of Osama bin Laden!’ What Rogers had seen was a photograph.” – Joanie Mitchnuk, Facebook “Why do Republicans lie so much?” – @Beyoncefan0, X “Usually lying on a resume gets you fired !!!” – @kevinpeck2018, Instagram “He’s a legend in his own mind.” – Sue Pearce, Facebook “Fucking everyone thinks the war SHOULD end. Mike doesn’t say how or what he’s willing to do to make that happen. Word
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“Repeated exaggerating” is another way of saying he’s lying.” – Larry Sheff, Facebook “Rogers must think Michiganders are dumb. How can anyone vote for a person like Rogers who changes his stance on an issue to try to win votes (and then will switch to the opposite view if elected).” – @michgoblue19, X “Liars Lie, just ask Trump.” – Sonya Soon, Facebook Have an opinion? Sound off: tips@ detroitmetrotimes.com.
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NEWS & VIEWS
Watching the Lions can be like watching a horror film.
SHUTTERSTOCK
Forget Halloween. The Lions’ defense is a real-life horror show
Injuries, blown coverages, and an endless stream of first downs have turned watching Detroit into a weekly nightmare. by Joel Walkowski Joel Walkowski is the author of the new book, “Honolulu Blues,” which explores Detroit Lions fandom through the author’s relationship with his father, his family’s history, and the lessons that can be found in decades of disappointment.
People need Halloween, at least the emotions of it. The feeling of slow-boiled dread, crescendoing in a spike of fear that tells the nervous system “that sense of alarm was justified” is really important. Throughout human history it kept us safe, unharmed and moving forward with our lives. It’s been a big part of human development. On the whole–our lives are much
safer than our ancestors’. The world will always be imperfect but this is the safest time period in human history. Still, the feeling of fright is a foundational and channeled it into the October holiday. Watching a villain jump out in a horror flick or running from a costumed teenager taps into this cortisol spike. The eventual realization that we’re safe provides a taste of euphoria. I understand why people spend a month replicating this cycle of dread and relief. I don’t need to. I watch the Lions play defense every week. I spent Sunday evening watching a horror film. I cowered on the couch, covering my eyes as a tiny villain hunted my beloved protagonists as I shouted unheard advice at the screen. The
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only problem is that I wasn’t watching Leprechaun, I was watching the Lions play Bryce Young and the Panthers. I might have been yelling “disguise your coverage” instead of “don’t go in the basement” but emotional mechanics were the same. I knew the secondary would be bad but nothing prepared me for this. Preparing to watch this abysmal unit and getting such catastrophic results is like putting on sunscreen before walking into an open volcano. The 2026 Lions have given up more yards than the winless 2008 squad through four games. Situation doesn’t matter, nor do down and distance. It can be 3rd and 14, 3rd and 17 or 4th and a Quarter Million. The secondary will give up the first.
Most fanbases would consider Bryce Young and Geno Smith to be average quarterbacks. I personally see them as Michael Myers. Nothing appears extraordinary but we’re powerless to stop them. Horror films also have the tired cliche of repeating the same plot as previous films as though no one learned from their mistakes. This is the third season of watching an elite offense carry a seriously impeded defense. You would think that living through these terrible circumstances would spark corrective measures but that’s not how this genre works. Another hallmark is the sequel’s copying something from the original without understanding why it works. The hook and ladder became the trade-
mark of the Goffense because it was so unexpected. Trotting it out against Carolina felt like a tired attempt to regain the lost spark; the gridiron equivalent of Annie Hall’s lobster scene1. Brad Holmes has justifiably taken criticism for not doing more to fix this unit but there are so many issues he deserves the grace of not knowing where to even begin. The secondary is the culmination of personnel, coaching, and the bad luck that occasionally visits this franchise. Poor planning and tough breaks left untreated became a blight on something that sparkles otherwise. So, Detroit, uh, enjoy your new Renaissance Center? I’m forty years old. I have never seen a Lions cornerback take away a side of the field2. It’s been so long that the last one spent his offseasons singing backup on Marvin Gaye albums. Terrion Arnold was drafted to be a lockdown corner but seeing as he is on trial for allegedly committing eight different penalties it seems like he only understood the lockdown part. I remember Terrion walking to the podium and greeting Downtown Detroit. I believed that he was a missing piece, that a Super Bowl was imminent. It wasn’t. Arnold wasn’t particularly good but his absence made an already thin positional group look like Jayden Daniels on Ozempic. DJ Reed is solid but the scheme puts him in such an unfair light
that it’s fair to wonder if the gametape was paid for by Mike Rogers. A foolish mistake submarining a promising young life is tragic but that’s the level of sadness surrounding this secondary. A year ago the Lions employed the NFL’s best pair of safeties. Today we trot out third and fourth stringers. This fall off is sudden, heartbreaking, and makes the cliffjumping scene in Midsommar look like a gentle tumble. I love Kerby Joseph. The team’s resurgence didn’t fully begin until he picked off Aaron Rodgers in Lambeau. He was a marvelous football player, a defensive home run hitter who secured wins via rare ballhawking abilities. He also perfectly fit Detroit; a guy who accepted being hated by every other fanbase because of how accepted he was here. The worst thing is how comfortable I am using the past tense when describing Kerby’s career. Joseph’s knee is a sad, lingering concern. It introduced a different kind of horror, the kind without a jump scare. You know what’s coming and spend every update hoping you’re wrong–an emotional arc similar to watching a beloved pet’s decline. You hope for more good times but a part of you awaits confirmation that it’s done. Hope for this season revolves around Brian Branch returning and bolstering the unit. Branch is a great player, the embodiment of what this team aspires to be but it’s unfair to expect a guy returning from a ruptured achilles to
immediately save a flailing defense. Branch is set up as this season’s returning hero but in true horror fashion he’s coming back when the chips are down only to realize that everyone’s already gone. The problem isn’t that these players got injured or fell from grace. We all know that the NFL unfortunately stands for “Not For Long” and it certainly seems like the team’s official response to three disparate unfortunate events impacting one positional unit is to hope Jahmyr Gibbs scores more touchdowns. The lightning rod is Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard–the city’s least popular resident who isn’t named “Illitch.” Stewarding a consistently injured defense left Sheppard without a winning move. Sometimes undermanned teams can find an advantage from disguising coverages and confusing the opponent. It’s a core reason why Brian Flores consistently gives Minnesota a great defense but didn’t seem to be a part of Sunday Night’s Gameplan. Sheppard believes that disguises must be purposeful, that there’s no point in doing it for the pure sake of it. They aren’t talented enough to play man coverage but lack the chemistry to play zone. The current defense is something out of the Saw franchise; the only agency we have is choosing how we’ll suffer. Horror is a contract. You agree to two hours of dread because eventually
the monster is defeated and the lights come up. Leaving the theater allows the nervous system to rebound and the realization that there was never any danger gives way to relief. The Lions have eliminated the relief. The lights don’t come up. There is only 3rd and 17, followed by a 22-yard completion, as cameras cut to Kelvin Sheppard holding a laminated play sheet like it might help. Maybe Brian Branch comes back and stabilizes things. Maybe Sheppard discovers a way to manufacture confusion without confusing his own players. Maybe Brad Holmes finds somebody capable of covering another human being. There are plausible ways out of this but that’s another rule of horror movies: Hope is usually introduced right before something terrible happens. People need Halloween because fear reminds us what it feels like to be safe. Unfortunately, Lions fans are still waiting for the lights to come up. ¹ Lumping Annie Hall in with horror films is fair if you consider Woody Allen’s morals. ² Dre Bly and Darius Slay were both great but sometimes gave up big yardage due to their propensity to gamble for takeaways. “Honolulu Blues” is available now from Simon & Schuster and other booksellers.
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DETROIT WEARS IT WELL For our first fashion issue since 2014, we meet the designers and stylists keeping the city’s unmistakable sense of style alive. BY METRO TIMES PHOTOS BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON
Detroit has never needed New York or Los Angeles to tell it how to dress. From Motown’s tailored suits and fur coats to sneakers and streetwear, Detroiters have long made an occasion out of getting dressed. For our first fashion issue since 2014, Metro Times introduces some of the people keeping that tradition going. Celebrity stylist, costume designer, and creative director Marv Neal curated and styled our cover shoot, featuring work by Detroit designers Harry Rich, Kenyetta Caldwell, Desmond Lester, and Antonio and Pernishia Avery of Melody of Comfort Clothing. The clothes range from evening gowns and tailored suits to hoodies and streetwear. The shoot took place in New Center, where Neal grew up and where fashion has deep roots. Saks Fifth Avenue once operated there, alongside local institutions like Washington Clothiers and Dittrich Furs. In the pages that follow, we meet the people behind the clothes and hear about the ideas, experiences, and city that inform their work. Metro Times contributor Kahn Santori Davison takes us on the journey. He also photographed the models.
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MARV NEAL WANTS DETROIT FASHION TO GET ITS DUE The celebrity stylist behind our fashion issue says Detroit has been influencing how America dresses for generations BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON
Marv Neal is a celebrity stylist, costume designer, and cre-
ative director who has styled nearly 50 magazine editorials and worked with everyone from singer Toni Braxton to rapper Icewear Vezzo to influencer Randi Rossario. Neal curated and styled Metro Times’ fashion issue, bringing together Detroit designers and looks that range from evening gowns and tailored suits to denim, hoodies, and streetwear. Metro Times: What makes Detroit fashion special and unique? Marv Neal: What makes Detroit fashion special is that we have this very southern rooted clean and elegance to us. Then we also have this city flicker kind of feel mixed in, and it’s always about looking the proper way, whether it’s in your denim or if you were dressed up. It’s just a thing that’s rooted from our ancestors and our parents and grandparents that moved here from the south.
Metro Times: You’ve talked before about how Motown Records influenced fashion nationally just as much as it did music. Can you explain? Marv Neal: Motown kind of shook up the world and had everyone dressing and wanting to dress like them. That’s kind of the argument that I have on Instagram pages with people when they say, “New York this or L.A. that or D.C. this,” and I just be like, well, the truth is Detroit had such a prominent dominance with Motown, that we had the world dressing like us. Metro Times: We shot this issue in Detroit’s New Center, in and around the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the former New Center Building, now the Albert Kahn Building. The neighborhood has a rich fashion history. Saks Fifth Avenue opened in the Albert Kahn Building in 1940, while Washington Clothiers and Dittrich Furs were longtime fixtures in the area. What did it mean to you to have the shoot here? Marv Neal: It meant everything. As a kid and teen, this was my backyard. I didn’t have to go far to shop on the Blvd at Foot Locker or at Crowley’s inside the New Center building and the dentist Dr. Pang in the Fisher Theatre or getting an outfit for the Taste Fest. That was my stomping grounds. It was dope to walk 3 blocks over and get a lil bit of action. The heart of Detroit. Metro Times: What does this particular shoot say about Detroit fashion’s current energy? Marv Neal: I think a shoot like this shows that we have this elegance where we can do an evening gown and then turn around and do denim and a hoodie. And then match our kicks to the hoodie and maybe put on a pair of Cartiers to throw that part of the niche in. It shows we can go from night to day and ready-to-wear, and all these designers that I used are from Detroit. I just wanted to show love to the people that are here, and they are our ateliers and couturiers. We have these people here — Harry Rich and Kenyetta Caldwell, Melody of Comfort and Desmond Jamond Collection. They let me pull their clothing and make this issue happen, and that’s a blessing in itself. Follow Marv Neal on Instagram at @marvneal
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KENYETTA CALDWELL FINDS LUXURY IN THE UNEXPECTED The longtime Detroit designer combines high fashion, streetwear, and a love of putting the pieces together BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON Kenyetta Caldwell is a Detroit native who has been designing
clothes for 35 years. “When I was 18, I actually worked with the tailor that used to be here in Detroit,” she says. “I worked with him on some celebrity stuff with Mel Farr, Nancy Wilson, Terry Mills; just working as an understudy.” Caldwell has designed outfits for boxer Alycia Baumgardner, worked with Detroit Denim and the Empowerment Plan, and was featured on the reality show The Profit with Marcus Lemonis. She started her brand, Creo by Keca, in 2013, initially designing handbags and upcycled and reclaimed pieces. She later moved into formal and after-five wear and prides herself on what she calls “urban lux,” a hybrid of high fashion and edgy streetwear. “My flavor is, I want to say, funky. Some people think a lot of layers is funky, but I just like clean aesthetics. I like puzzles. So the thing is, when you look at a garment, I like for you to kind of like look at it and how it’s layered,” she says. See more of Kenyetta Caldwell’s work on Instagram at @thewonderfulworldofcreobykeca.
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DESMOND LESTER TURNED A TEENAGE SNEAKER OBSESSION INTO A FASHION BRAND The Detroit designer behind Desmond Jamon Collection mixes preppy style, streetwear, and nostalgia BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON Detroit-born Desmond Lester has had a
passion for fashion design since he was a teenage sneakerhead. “I used to design Nike Air Force 1s. I would print out blanks and just draw them and create them. Then I would go to Northland Mall. Shout out to my guy D, he was an airbrush artist who would paint them,” Lester says.
This past spring, Lester designed a blue Detroit Lions-inspired jacket with a football field graphic on the front. He managed to get a few to singer Chris Brown, who ultimately wore the jacket during a series of shows on July 2, 3, and 6 with Usher Raymond. Shortly after, Lester started the Desmond Jamon Collection, a preppy streetwear brand built around quality and nostalgia. One piece is an orange-and-blue Kanye West-inspired rugby shirt with “School Spirit” stitched on the corner. Another is a navy blue corduroy varsity jacket with “Job Well Done” stitched on the back. “I’ve learned in life it’s rare as humans, especially men, that we hear ‘job well done,’” he says. “We only hear that when we’re in a casket or when it’s too late. So, this was my tribute to any person out here, that if you’re still breathing, still trying, still achieving — job well done.” See more of Desmond Lester’s work on Instagram at @desmondjamoncollection. metrotimes.com | October 14-27, 2026 21
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MELODY OF COMFORT WEARS ITS DETROIT PRIDE ON ITS SLEEVE Antonio and Pernishia Avery built their clothing brand around ’90s nostalgia, ’What up doe,’ and love for their ometown BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON In 2017, Antonio and Pernishia Avery started Melody of Comfort Clothing in Detroit with a simple idea: Clothing should feel like home. The husband-and-wife duo wanted to create something that was unapologetically Detroit. They took the city’s signature “What up doe” greeting and asked one of Detroit’s best-known renaissance men, Mario Butterfield, to design a logo. The result was “What up doe” rendered in a font reminiscent of the TV series Martin, which aired from 1992 to 1997. They put the design on their first hoodies and shirts, and it has been a signature look ever since. “Nothing says Detroit more than ‘What up doe,’” Pernishia Avery says through a laugh. “We wanted to make a premium brand that represented the D as well as paid respect to the 90s.” The couple experienced a few bumps in the road, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, they decided to rebrand. “The pandemic had us all a little confused,” Pernishia Avery says. “We weren’t
thinking, what can we do to show love for our city? Just to try and get us back to feeling good and that’s what made us rebrand because we wanted to come up with a line to go with our signature shirt.” Melody of Comfort Clothing now offers nylon shorts sets, crewneck sweatshirts, and jogging suits. “We have a new t-shirt that is called the Core Four,” Antonio Avery says. “It’s kind of reminiscent of the classic Bugs Bunny Tasmanian Devil shirt from back in the day that everybody had, but we incorporated it with Detroit’s four sports teams on the front.” “Eventually we would love to have our own space where we can not only have our brand, but open up space for other local brands and also, maybe have like on the weekends where we can have people come do music spoken word and art. So that’s like the ultimate goal,” Pernishia Avery says. See more of Melody of Comfort Clothing on Instagram at @melodyofcomfort313. metrotimes.com | October 14-27, 2026 23
HARRY RICH FOUND HIS CONFIDENCE THROUGH FASHION The self-taught Detroit designer turned an early interest in modeling into a career creating custom gowns and suits BY KAHN SANTORI DAVISON 24 October 14-27, 2026 | metrotimes.com
Harry Rich is a self-taught fashion
designer born and raised in Detroit who initially pursued modeling before pivoting to designing high-end custom gowns and suits. He launched Harry Rich Clothier in the mid-2010s, and in 2024 he was a finalist in the Hatch Detroit competition, which gives small businesses a chance to win $100,000 toward opening a brick-and-mortar location in Detroit, Hamtramck, or Highland Park. “Growing up, outside of my neighborhood and my community, I was a shy guy, not too
confident in myself,” Rich told Metro Times in a 2018 interview. “But putting stuff together … my confidence grew. With designing clothes you have to be really comfortable with who you are. Today, I don’t feel like nobody’s greater than me, nobody.” See more of Harry Rich’s work on Instagram at @harryrichclothier.
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MUSIC
Detroit-based indie-folk singer-songwriter Ohly celebrates the release of his second album.
KRIS HERRMANN
Christian Ohly is finding his way back to the light
The Detroit singer-songwriter embraces a new perspective on life, music, and success with his sophomore album, “Light Again.” Jeff Milo “That sha-la-la had a lot of intent behind it.” There’s no sarcasm in that. Christian Ohly wants you to be a part of this, a part of the song, a part of the performance. The intent is that we’ll all experience something memorable. Together. Next weekend, Ohly is inviting you to sing along, literally, figuratively, and probably even metaphorically, too. The Detroit-based indie-folk singer/songwriter is hosting an album release party for his second full-length, titled Light Again, Friday, Oct. 23 at the Magic Bag
in Ferndale. Ohly wants the night to be momentous, as any artist would, but after working his way more broadly into the Michigan music scene for 10 years, this feels like a pivotal moment for a potential breakout. At the end of the day, though, Ohly just wants you to walk away with not only the melody stuck in your head, but also the words. “I worked with Dan Zott (of Jr. Jr.) on this record,” Ohly said. “And he gave me the advice that when someone hears a song, they should leave it with a clear message. That they hear it for the first
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time for just those three minutes and know, instantly, that it’s a song about being in love or about longing for your hometown or about missing someone or about making a mistake. That really spoke to me. It’s a simple thought, but something I didn’t appreciate until more recently.” Ohly’s songs have “...always been very expressive,” he admits, “and driven by my feelings. But over the last few years, I’ve put more discipline into songwriting, and challenged myself more, musically, tying it back into the experiences I’ve been going through.”
Could We Rewind? Ohly grew up in a musical household near Rochester, the youngest of six kids. His parents were in a traveling choir, and he was playing piano at a young age. “And I was always singing,” he exclaimed. As he got older, his voice deepened into the baritone you’ll hear all across his catalog, resonant and gently boomy. Then he saw indie/Americana outfit The Head and the Heart perform live at the Royal Oak Music Theatre when he was 16, and that was that. He was hooked, incurably, on songcraft. He
couldn’t stop listening to the band’s songs, and the obsession drove him to get a guitar. Once one of his brothers taught him enough chords to get started, he started going to open mics and wrote his first song at 18, recording his first self-titled EP with another Rochester-area luminary, producer/musician John Katona. Ohly noticed how good songwriting can stop you in your tracks and freeze a moment in time. During his formative years, he kept noticing this powerful feeling when he went to see live shows featuring artists like Fleet Foxes, Mumford & Sons, and The Head and the Heart. And yes, you can consider them all influential on the cathartic, nerve-steadying, strummy swoons of Ohly’s melodic, heart-on-the-sleeve confessionals. Especially those sweet three-part harmonies. And how they can entrance you, even if they only last 10 seconds, therapeutically blocking out any of those persisting exterior stressors that have been eating at you and locking you into a charmed focus. Ohly’s discipline is to always chase that feeling, that moment. “...that special 10 seconds where you have a beautiful harmony,” he said. “That’s made me want to keep working at it, to see if I can create that moment based on something I wrote.” You can hear that on a song like ‘Rewind,’ full of touching vocal intonations that go from tender to tremendous, with fuzzy guitars building into cavernous “oh OH oh oh ohhhh’s…” All while unpacking vulnerable lyrics that don’t over-adorn or make a mess with metaphors–he simply sings “I’m not ready, yet…” and asks, just before one of those “special” crescendos…, “could we stop time…?” And it hits home.
Another Who’s Gone Through It Ohly’s only a few months away from 30, which, sure, adds more urgency to make a record that’s going to connect with a lot of listeners, but also means he’s just got that much more to say. “I feel like there’s so much searching that you do in your 20’s,” Ohly said, “and maybe my older songs were kind of deep into that same kind of searching.” The last few years, though, he said: “I’ve learned so much and experienced so many things, so what do I want to return to and what do I want to leave behind?” That reflective, yet existential question, was something Ohly unpacked and explored in various ways, across the 10 earworm entries on Light Again. “And maybe I find some of that light and maybe that feeling of home inside of where I want to land.” Even in his early 20’s, Ohly was never navel-gazing, but more so looking up, either skyward toward untold possibilities, or maybe even literally glancing upward at his surroundings, as he did
on his breakout song “University,” where he’s appraising his lackluster apartment and poeticizing a rickety ceiling fan, already winsome, endearingly so, with early-onset nostalgia. He said the new songs have moved past coming-of-age vibes; now, he’s investigating. “I’ve tried a lot of things; I’m chasing a dream, but if none of that was on the table, would I still be writing songs–would I still be recording? I’ve tried to figure out what songwriting gives me or does for me… Hearing ideas in your head and forming them into a song–then putting it down in a studio and hearing those ideas come to life is some of the most fulfilling independent work I’ve ever experienced.” Independent work means indie, and being an indie artist means to hustle. “I look back several years,” he said, “to when you’re 24 and playing a concert, it can be easy to get all your friends around that same age to come out and make it feel like a party. I focused on that social aspect of it all, people having a good time, in those earlier days of live shows, but that’s just not sustainable for artists. I think all artists learn that, and I’m just another who’s gone through it.” It can feel like work, even when it’s still art. “I’ll always have that drive to sound really great and put on one of the best live experiences that I can. Being in a room full of people who’ve been looking forward to something, and creating that experience for everyone where you hear the three-part harmonies and you hear the drums kick in and everything hits–that’s a big motivation for me and something I always strive for.” But he admits that “...it’s insane right now…” for working indie artists. “Every creative out there on the internet is either trying to figure out how not to be exhausted or they’re burning out from not being able to cut through the noise. Something I’ve had to remind myself is that there’s not one route to having that big break.” The discipline is to just stay focused on the music, he said. Otherwise it’s just untenable, for your art and for your sanity, to spend seven days a week, nonstop, strategizing some way to get a mass amount of people to freak out about your music.
I’ll Be Here Another way to stay focused is to put your phone down and return to your influences, even the latent ones. “My dad used to play James Taylor and Cat Stevens a lot, but it wasn’t until three years ago that I finally dove into those classic folk artists.” This rediscovery, Ohly said, “renewed my hope and made me reconfigure what kind of benchmark I can be setting: I just have to write a song that I am truly excited to play–whether it’s a crowd of five people or a crowd of
100.” The benchmark became: “I love this song–it’s fun to sing, and I’m proud of the lyricism.” End of sentence. Check. Done. Start the music. “On The Map” is a song that’s fun to sing, because its chorus is adorned with “Oh-la-sha-la-la’s” that hook in immediately. “I was thinking about Van Morrison’s ‘Glad Tidings’ when I wrote that. So many of the songs I play over and over by artists like these have simple choruses, but then you listen to the verses and the bridge, and there’s so much detail and depth and mindfulness…” Dan Zott, who also came out of Rochester in the early 2000s with the literate indie-pop ensemble The Great Fiction and later found success with Jr. Jr. with Josh Epstein, connected with Ohly to help produce Light Again. “Danny had played such a big role on this record,” Ohly said. “He made me think about what makes a good song, about how an album should be shaped with slow songs, upbeat songs…” He said he could feel and see, in action, how Zott had clearly been that type of relentless indie artist who put in the requisite “10,000 hours,” and in some cases “100,000 hours” to hone their craft. That fun single came from another aching anxiety Ohly had to quiet, but it also tied into a sense of hometown pride that manifested from his creative linkup with Zott. “So many hardworking artists who see some success decide to move to Nashville or L.A. because it just makes sense. But for me, after 10 years of learning and growth and getting better at songwriting, I luckily still happened to be living here in Metro Detroit–a place that Danny Zott still calls home–so it just felt like fate that we were able to collaborate at this time, that it was at the right part of my journey where I had songs that were worth taking to someone like him.” “But I’ve listened to a lot of Michigan artists who want to take that leap to Nashville, or to L.A., or wherever, and make things work. But something that’s excited new listeners is finding a local musician and realizing, ‘oh, he’s STILL in Michigan!?’” Ohly’s ‘On The Map’ has buoyant jangles and shining sha-la-las; sure, it’s fun to sing and fun to play. But it’s also a song about how endurance breeds resolve, how resolve can render perspective, and how perspective then defines success. All the indie artists sticking to their roots here are helping to put Michigan on the map, even if they don’t know what comes next, and even if they don’t know what the best part of their story is… Yet.
EMPLOYMENT System Engineer - Testing Technology, Brose North America, Auburn Hills, MI. Engr, dvlp, test on test benches, integrate, validate, &deploy using LabVIEW, TestStand, &NI DAQ tools automated test eqpt for Brose mfg plants in Americas/Europe/Asia Regions, incl. hydraulic/pneumatic test eqpt (control opening/closing of fixtures); servo test eqpt (validate motor performance); electronics &reflashing LabVIEW-based test eqpt (for ECUs in brush/brushless motors); robotic test syss (ABB/Siemens robots to control assy lines); &LabVIEW appsbased EOLTs to validate end of line cmpt electrical performance, to ensure overall reliability, durability, &safety of Brose mechatronic door modules, door syss (tailgates, frunks, window regulators, latch/e-latch &radar-based syss), seat syss, &motor drives incl. Cooling Fan Modules, ABS, Drivetrain Actuators, &Electric Oil Pumps. Define &implement test reqmts &specs based on customer &internal standards. Bachelor, Mechatronics, Robotics, Automation Technologies Engrg, or related. 24 mos exp as Engr or related, engrg, testing on test bench, &deploying using LabVIEW, TestStand, &DAQ tools, automated test eqpt for plant, to ensure reliability &safety of automotive cmpt or sys, or related. E-mail resume to Jobs@brose.com (Ref#909).
Ohly - Album Release Party - Fri. Oct 23 The Magic Bag - ft. PHABIES, The Rusty Snails metrotimes.com | October 14-27, 2026 29
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FILM
La Rossa Ruin was created using various AI modeling tools. She will host the event.
REGINALD TIESSEN
Film
From Muslim horror and black metal to live film scores and burlesque, a new festival celebrates the strange and supernatural. By Steve Neavling Detroit’s Devil’s Night has long been synonymous with darkness. A new immersive, multi-arts festival wants to give that darkness a screen, a soundtrack, and a stage. Running Oct. 28-31 at the Senate Theater and Brooklyn Detroit, Devil’s Night Detroit pairs screenings with live scores, performance art, and experimental cinema. The lineup includes local horror filmmakers, a Muslim horror program, and a documentary about a Norwegian feminist black metal band whose members started out without knowing how to play their instruments. Festival operator Reginald Tiessen also wants to make room for films created with artificial intelligence. In a five-page manifesto, he lays out why the festival will consider AI-generated and AI-assisted work, and what it expects from the people making it. “The medium does not determine the merit. The work does,” the manifesto says. The festival opens Wednesday, Oct. 28, with “The First Reveal” at the historic Senate Theater in Detroit. The night spotlights Detroit-area horror filmmakers, with screenings including Vincent Vente’s “Infernus,” Doc Col-
ony’s “Sleepover,” Ken Amlin’s “Texas Road,” FeNyx “Psyche” Noel’s “Terror & Tease: The Electric Spookshow,” Natalie Rainhard’s “12 Hour Labour,” and Brett J Lawrence’s “All Souls Day.” All proceeds from opening night benefit the theater. The festival then moves to Brooklyn Detroit for two nights of Blood & Black Velvet. On Thursday, Oct. 29, the University of Michigan’s Global Islamic Studies Center will co-present Halaloween, a program of Muslim horror exploring folklore, spirituality, and the supernatural. Tiessen, performing as destroyxbeauty, will also join Victor Ghannam of the National Arab Orchestra for “Those Between Worlds: A Jinn Dreamscape.” The two will improvise a score combining electronics with oud, qanun, and Arab musical traditions as images of jinn and shadows play onscreen. Founding Bauhaus member David J will discuss the films, books, surrealism, and occult imagery that influenced his work during an intimate Q&A hosted by Windsor’s Dark Pages Horror Book Club. He will also perform live scores for French Grand Guignol horror films from the Severin Films archive. Performance artist Mila La Machina and DJ Wraith round out the night.
Friday’s Blood & Black Velvet program brings back David J, Tiessen, and Mila La Machina, along with Ara Topouzian. The lineup also includes Detroit multimedia project QUEENFX, a screening of work by German music and film project Mater Suspiria Vision, violinist Erin Zuchniewicz as Violina Vampira, and performer Lia Love. Costumes or formal dress are required both nights. On Saturday, Oct. 31, Brooklyn Detroit will host a Detroit-exclusive screening of “Hex,” Maja Holand’s 2026 documentary about Witch Club Satan. The film follows the Norwegian black metal trio through its first three years, connecting the musicians’ story to Norway’s history of women persecuted and executed as witches. Later that night, Mila La Machina’s “Kink Kabaret” closes the festival with Halloween-themed burlesque and performance art from artists across the Midwest. Costumes, formal dress, or fetish attire are required. The festival’s willingness to consider AI-generated films comes with some conditions. In the manifesto, dated July 18, Tiessen argues that filmmakers have long experimented with how they make
moving images, from painting directly onto film and manipulating videotape to using computer-generated imagery and footage from phones and video games. Generative AI, he argues, should be judged by what artists do with it. That doesn’t mean a technically impressive image is enough to earn a screening. “We know what AI slop looks like,” the manifesto says. “Endless spectacle. Familiar aesthetics endlessly recombined. Technically impressive images without authorship, intention, consequence, or point of view.” The festival says it wants to see evidence of human decisions in the writing, directing, editing, sound, and other elements of a film. It is particularly interested in artists who challenge the technology, expose its flaws, or combine it with older filmmaking methods. Filmmakers are expected to be transparent about substantial use of generative AI. The policy also rejects deceptive impersonations, exploitative uses of identifiable people, false claims of authorship, and synthetic footage deliberately presented as a real person’s actions or statements. Tiessen applies the same argument to more familiar methods. Shooting on Super 8 doesn’t automatically make a film good. Neither does using the newest technology. “A beautifully generated image is not necessarily cinema,” the manifesto says. “A thousand-dollar camera does not make someone a filmmaker. Neither does a prompt.” The full schedule and ticket links are available at devilsnight.org.
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CULTURE Savage Love Quickies by Dan Savage
Q: I’m a bisexual man who’s new to
Seattle. I was just invited to my first sex party by some new friends. The problem: I’m training to be a teacher and my therapist thinks this could be problematic for my career. I am now considering backing out to the party and stopping all related activities. My question: How far do you think this adjustment should go? Should I embrace priestly behavior or say “fuck it” and live my life?
A: Teachers are held to a double
standard. While teachers, like other people, are allowed to have sex lives, we expect teachers to keep all proof that they’ve ever had, might ever have, or might ever want to have sex off the internet. That’s an impossible standard for modern adults to meet, given that most relationships get their start online. Still, so long as you keep online presence is PG13 — so long as new Seattle friends aren’t planning to livestream this sex party or post pics and videos after — you’ll be fine… probably? P.S. With apologies to Inigo Montoya: You used the expression “priestly behavior.” I do think it conveys what you think it conveys. P.P.S. If men and women didn’t come out decades ago — if there weren’t people willing to say “fuck it, I’m going to live my life” back when saying that meant you could lose your apartment, your job, your freedom, or even your life — we wouldn’t have the rights we do now. So. P.P.P.S. This letter writer hasn’t been in Seattle long and he’s already invited to his first sex party — looks like the Seattle Freeze is dead, huh?
Q: Should oral be included when
adding up your body count? I say no (straight man), wife (straight woman) says yes.
A: So, you walk into your living room and your wife is on her knees sucking your best friend’s dick. Is your wife cheating on you? If you can honestly answer that question with a “no,” then you don’t have to include oral-only encounters in your body count.
Q: The reelection of Donald Trump,
the Pelicot trial, and now Cornell gang rape — how the fuck am I supposed to fuck men anymore? A threesome with two men is my ultimate fantasy and now it feels like I can never take the risk. If homosexuality was a choice, I’d choose it. What is a straight woman to do?
A: While they’re not all Trumps,
Pelicots, or Cornell frat boys, for your own safety you have to assume that any man you’re interacting with — sexually or otherwise — could be a Trump, Pelicot, etc., until you’re as certain as you can be that he’s not a Trump, etc. (“Not all men, but always a man.”) And if you do decide to have that threesome, do it with a friend of yours, not a friend of his, and do it sober.
Q: I’m a straight and I love pegging
my boyfriend. I don’t think it makes him any less straight. My girlfriends disagree.
A: Your girlfriends don’t get a vote.
P.S. I hope your boyfriend enjoys it too.
Q: Long-time listener! A few months
back, over the course of several shows, you casually used the word “dint.” This is a very uncommon and rare word usage in the United States — and yet you’ve used it at least twice in less than a month. I learned the word in the Episcopal church choir many decades ago, but rarely any other time. Can you tell me how it became part of your vernacular this year?
A: I don’t know when that particular
four-letter first entered my vocabulary, but it wasn’t this year. This is from a column I wrote more fifteen years ago: “A gay male football fan who says, ‘Sorry, lady, I’m gay,’ is going to be believed because no one is secretly straight — and some gay men are going to find him more attractive by dint of how straight he seems.” And I go on to use “dint” again in the very next sentence. (Em dashes are being cited everywhere as evidence that a writer is using AI.
36 October 14-27, 2026 | metrotimes.com
That column from fifteen years ago has eleven em dashes in it, and I have emails going back thirty years from editors begging me to use fewer em dashes!)
Q: I’m a happily married woman with four children, married over fifteen years. We have a very healthy sex life. My husband goes down on me every time before we have sex, which his great, but I want him to toss my salad. I want to experience this is at least once but I don’t know how to broach the topic. He joked about it once and I said “you could do that” and he looked shocked and said “it sounds like you actually want me to.” I obviously should’ve said “yes, I actually want you to” but I was afraid he thought it was gross. How can I get my husband to want to do this? Even better, how can I make him think it was his idea? A: There are no magic words
A: We live in a target-rich environ-
ment where old dildos are concerned — so, the first billionaire, federal agency, or rightwing news site that came to mind is probably the right one.
Q: My husband quit smoking ten
years ago. He recently started again and tried to hide it from me. This has me wondering what else is he might be hiding. He started doing different things in bed. Good things, things I enjoy, but different. Do I just enjoy the change or do I assume that he’s learned these new tricks from someone else and he’s keeping an affair from me too?
A: If the possibility that your hus-
band doesn’t bother you — if you’re toly — and if you’re enjoying the new tricks (who wouldn’t?) and can tolerate the smoking (I couldn’t), you don’t have to choose between enjoying the change and assuming the affair.
— there’s no spell that will make your husband bring up eating your ass again, there’s no potion that will make him think eating your ass was his idea — which means you’re gonna have to use your regular, non-magical words and do the regular, non-magical thing of asking for what you want. That’s how the magic happens. P.S. A friend into piss told his boyfriend that he “stumbled over” some “freaky piss stuff” on social media and his boyfriend nodded and said, yeah, guys into piss are freaks. They only found out they were both into piss when they ran into each other at watersports party a decade after they broke up. My friend made a common mistake: he brought up his niche sexual interest but framed it negatively so that he could deny interest if his partner reacted with disgust. Which his partner did —but his partner wasn’t actually grossed out, he was just mirroring my friend’s negatively. It’s possible the same might’ve happened when your husband brought up tossing your salad. So, don’t ask your husband if he was joking when he brought up tossing your salad — he might say he was even if he wasn’t — and instead tell him you weren’t joking when you said you wanted him to do it.
A: Even if you can’t control for catching feelings — if you’ve caught feelings for every man you’ve ever fucked — you can control for being able to do anything about those feelings. You’ll obviously wanna do this guy you feel safe with and find attractive; you’ll also wanna find a guy who’s into the idea of fucking a woman in front of her husband. So, choose a guy who’s happily married himself and/or lives far the fuck away. Then even if you were to catch feelings for him, during your first fuck, he’s not going to leave his wife to be with you (probably) and/or move to the city where you live (most likely) to be closer to you.
Q: You once told readers where to
Q: Forgive me if you’ve already
send their unwanted dildos. I got two new ones and have one old one that I want to get rid of. Where should I send them in 2026?
Q: How was your Folsom? Did you
go?
A: My Folsom wasn’t because I didn’t — maybe next year!
Q: My husband wants to watch me have sex with another man and I’ve come around on it but I’m worried about catching feeling for someone, which I do pretty easily when I’m fucking. Game it out for me?
thought of this, but would the opposite of a DADT arrangement — “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — be a DTDT arrangement? DTDT: “Do Tell! Do Tell!”
A: Welcome to the lexicon DTDT! Q: I’m attracted to a friend of my husband. Like, dripping wet attracted. Feral and chemical. Never going to act on it, have a great sex life with my husband, we are monogamous. Nothing is ever going to happen. I can keep this to myself, right? A: You should keep this to yourself
unless your husband is a hardcore DTDT cuck. But you’re free to get wet around this guy, masturbate about this guy, and to think about this guy while you’re having sex with your husband.
P.P.S. Practice saying this in front of a mirror until you can say it convincingly: “I don’t love this but I do love you, so I’m going to drop this.” Then drop it.
Q: My girlfriend moved away and we
want to maintain our intense sexual connection in her absence. We have occasionally dedicated ourselves to intimate appointments during video calls. What do you suggest to make them more dynamic and original? Mix in a little light power play: on your next call, one of you gets to turn off your camera off while the other performs on one video call; on the call after that, the other what to do on the next video call, etc.
Q: I’m a lesbian and my girlfriend of
a six months is married to a man. They had kids before my girlfriend realized she was gay. They made a “joint decision” three months ago to stay married and live under one roof until their kids are out of high school. (I put “joint” in quotes because I was not consulted.) They still share a bed, although they do not have sex, and their youngest won’t be out of high school until 2035. I find this unacceptable. My girlfriend’s relationship with her ex is amicable while ours is increasingly characterized by conflict due to a “joint decision” I was excluded from. This is crazy, right?
A: Here’s the crazy part: Your girl-
friend and her husband aren’t legally bound by the decision they made to continue to cohabitate while they coparent, and they might change their minds long before 2035. So, if you could lovingly register your discomfort and then defer to your girlfriend and her husband about what they think is best for their kids — if you accepted their current living arrangements as the price of admission — you might be in the picture if and/or when they revisit this decision. But if you continue to be a source of conflict in the near term… if you keep fighting with your girlfriend about this… you’re gonna be long gone when they do finally decide to get a divorce and move into their own places. P.S. Short version: STFU and this will probably work out the way you want it to! P.S. If you expected to be consulted about a decision like after twelve weeks — if you expected to have a say at all much less an equal say — your expectations were extremely unreasonable.
Q: I’m a self-identified bi woman who has no romantic interest in women, but LOTS of sexual interest in women. Do I qualify as a bisexual person? A: Yes. Q: I’m a straight woman who loves watching gay porn and I really want to watch two (or more) men fuck in person. There is a gay bathhouse in my city. Can I go? A: No. Q: I’m a guy who likes to suck a cock.
Can I still identify as straight?
A: It’s rude to talk with your mouth full.
Q: What was something you dreaded
trying but instantly loved?
A: When I was 15? Men. When I was
25? Sushi. When I was 35? Snowboarding… and that’s as far as we’re going to go. Not because I stopped trying new things at 35, but because I can’t share those things without telling on my husband and my boyfriend, neither of whom enjoys being told on.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@ savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love metrotimes.com | October 14-27, 2026 37
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