We had the good fortune of connecting with Mireille Nashimoto and Phil Free and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mireille and Phil Free, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Both of us have been ones to think outside the box. Neither of us could be contained by anything conventional. Both extremely imaginative and creative by nature, it only makes sense that our projects have been an extension of the way we see the world. This world is magnificent and complex and we both imagine what is possible and have dedicated our time and energy towards what we see is possible, even if those around us doubt or want to say otherwise. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We are artists at the core, expressing through music, dance, and gathering community through a common goal of sustainable living. We live in NW Tucson on a 3 acre property. Over the last 10 years of living here, we have been transforming this place into a sustainable oasis. Permaculture and sustainable and natural living is at the core of our purpose and goals. We have created food forests, installed many water catchment systems, and have been experimenting on 1 acre of the property creating a completely off-grid community space. We have a strawbale dance studio that was built in 2016 with the help of the Steens from The Canelo Project who have been building and teaching strawbale and Adobe construction for the past 30 years. We also have a lava-Crete music studio built in 2018 with the help of Paul Schwam who has been perfecting the art of lava-Crete building for the past 30 years. Mireille teaches dance, movement and healing arts classes and rents out the studio to other teachers in the community. Phil Free is a musician and director of our band, Phil Free Band. We practice and write music in the lava-Crete studio. Phil also rents out the space to other music teachers who teach to youth. He is a guitarist and singer, Mireille is a pianist and singer. We have been able to combine our personal passions of art and music and our love of sustainable living to coexist and enhance each other on our land. As we live and breath and share our passions, all walks of life have come through our space, being able to witness that off-grid living is possible and is functional and aesthetically pleasing. We realized after many years of attempting to explain our vision to others that it was more effective to create it and show in reality what we were imagining. Being parents ourselves and having a strong desire to see the future of the planet thrive, we place a big importance of what we do on being able to reach and teach the next generation. Even if it is indirectly by simply being in this space and absorbing it or literally working as an intern by helping out on various building projects, we want to be a beacon of hope and inspiration that harmonious living is real and attainable. We are entrepreneurs and are currently building the business, Awareness Ranch, a sustainable farm and construction business. You can find their table at the Rillito Farmers market on Sundays, selling farm produce, educating the public about natural building materials and advertising upcoming building and landscaping projects. 

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to see the beauty of the desert and hike Catalina State Park, Sabino Canyon, saguaro National park. Even taking a trip up to Mt Lemmon just to show the vast range of terrain and climates we have access to, making this city quite special. Visiting the farmers markets is a must as that is where we get to see the heartbeat of our community as they are the ones who feed us. Having direct connections to those who grow food is essential. It’s a fun time as there is usually some live music there to entertain us! MSA Annex is a great place to grab some delicious food and do some local shopping at the various retail shops they have. They have a Japanese place with some of the best ramen! Visiting 4th avenue is also a must as there is a local food conspiracy co-op, local book stores, cafe’s and unique shops. Visiting the U of A campus and visiting the Arizona History Museum is a great way to enjoy the beauty of the campus and get to know our state’s history. Visiting the historic Club Congress in downtown Tucson is a great way to enjoy some nightlife and local music! 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The Canelo Project was an inspiration for creating our off-grid, sustainably built compound! It was through them we met all the key players that helped make our dream into a reality!! Thanks Athena, Bill, Oso, Benito, and Panther Steen. Through them we partnered with Himat Khalsa of Aware Architecture and Guru Das Bock.

Website: philfree.rocks

Instagram: @phil.free.band

Facebook: @philfreeband

Youtube: @philfreeband

Other: Mireille’s dance and healing business is at adanceforlifemovement.com Facebook @adanceforlife Instagram @adanceforlife

Image Credits
-Nicci Radhe of Celesteal Photography -Jairo’s Wedding Photography and More -Mireille Nashimoto

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