THE DRAFT: 5 PERFECT THINGS FROM E.R. FIGHTMASTER
THE DRAFT is RUN-A-MUCK’s Friday list of everything we think is perfect — the shows we binged, the songs on repeat, the objects we’d never redesign, the ideas and experiences that don’t need improving. This is culture without revision — no edits, no notes.
E.R. Fightmaster — queer model, actor and musician — just released their debut album, Tolerance — a full-length project that tackles the messiness of emotional growth (Watch “Glide”). They know perfect music — here’s everything else they think is perfect.
[01] DOSTOEVSKY
Don’t leave, hear me out. I used to avoid the Russians because I thought that “reading Dostoevsky” was how white men let me know they thought they were Mensa even though they failed the test. But a queer friend of mine recommended him to me last year and I said, “Okay, fine.” Crime and Punishment? I truly have not read a more enlightened takedown of the incel movement. Dostoevsky writes about the vicious entitlement of mediocre men in a way that would have made my gender studies professors clutch their carabiners.
[02] HAVING SIX UNFINISHED BEVERAGES AROUND ME AT ALL TIMES
Something sparkling and full of ice. An undrinkably hot tea. A jug of water so heavy I can’t lift it to my mouth. A lukewarm Diet Coke. Something called something stupid like BRAIN BUZZ that is supposed to help me calm down, but tastes too much like Robitussin to achieve its intended effect. The idea of a dirty martini.
[03] “WEREN’T FOR THE WIND” BY ELLA LANGLEY
Proof we need more altos in country music. Not sure what she put in this song, but I can’t stop listening and it’s been helping me run an absolutely perfect mile.
[04] BIRDING, ESPECIALLY WHILE ON TOUR
We’ve been driving back and forth across the country for a month, and I’m often in the car for 16 hours at a time. I’m bird-watching so hard. Today we were driving through NorCal on our way to Bend, Oregon and I saw some commotion under the lip of the overpass. Suspended from the cement were perfect little mud bird houses. Those are fuckin Cliff Swallows! I immediately registered my sighting with the Merlin App and continued on with our drive. Birding is like playing Pokemon Go, but for people who give good head.
[05] THE JAMES TURRELL EXHIBITION AT MASS MOCA
James Turrell has been asking his audience to reimagine light since the ’60s. On the East Coast leg of our tour, my drummer April suggested we hit MASS MoCa and check out Turrell’s long running exhibition there. We went from room to room and were bathed in light that seemed so textured we kept reaching out to touch it — a cool reminder that light does not just illuminate other things; light is.
Justin Moran is a creative director and the editor of DRAFTING W/ RUN-A-MUCK. He knows perfect culture — here’s everything else he thinks is perfect:
[01] QVC ON TIKTOK LIVE
To me, this is peak camp and the perfect background noise for my morning work. I like to fantasize about what it’d be like if I were shopping for my silly little suburban home — loading up on tomato-shaped stoneware for the kitchen island and ghost-shaped candles for the annual Halloween decor flip. If the QVC hosts say I need it, who am I to argue?
[02] “HANDLE” BY RAVYN LENAE
Ravyn Lenae’s artistic growth over the past few years has been a treat to witness, and “Handle” signals her biggest leap forward yet. The latest single from her third studio album, Blue Island, arrived alongside a dance-forward music video choreographed by Akira Uchida. More than anything, the song feels like a major creative unlock for Lenae.
[03] ONCE UPON A COCONUT
This is my version of dessert — and luckily, nearly every New York bodega stocks it.
[04] DONAHUE’S STEAK HOUSE
The future of Donohue’s is uncertain, with the decades-old institution currently set to close at the end of the month. Known in my world as Dirty D’s, it feels like stepping into an era when you could pull up to a Manhattan bar alone for a stiff cocktail without competing with a crowd of TikTokers who recently discovered it on their FYP. I already have a reservation booked for one final baked potato.
[05] 15-MINUTE NAPS
I pride myself on being able to fall asleep anywhere, at any time. I wouldn’t be able to juggle as many projects as I do without my daily 15-minute naps — sometimes several in a single day. Working remotely has turned them into a secret weapon. They keep me sharp.
