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p1utoswrld · 7 months

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DOCTORHEWITT

I spent about a month on this project and deleted just about every previous draft of it due to the sheer amount of pressure I’ve found myself under when making such a public release. I’ve gone through so many moments of hating my work and doubting my ability to even make this work, but Hewitt has been there every step of the way to encourage me to finish this and I cannot be more thankful to him for even getting me started on this project in the first place.

I had spoken with Hewitt about my idea for a space that would allow me to bring the stories of different creatives to a range of audiences and he encouraged me to start it. After seeing him tweet some inspirational shit about creative work I decided to just go ahead and start, making Hew my first victim. With him being the inspiration behind the work, I decided it was only right for me to interview him first.

Originally this started as just a practice run for only us and maybe a few of my friends to see but with the excitement of everything I just had to make this something to share with the whole world (or the combined 40 of our friends who’d read it out of obligation). I still don’t have a true sense of direction when it comes to this project and see it as more of a space to just ramble on about my thoughts on Hewitt. I hope that’s insightful and enjoyable for you guys, and I’m so excited to share this with you all.

A few weeks ago, I made a tweet asking people to give me album recommendations since I was in the mood to branch out. Tessa led me to A DIGITAL TAR PIT, a collaborative album between Ike Offline and DOCTORHEWITT. I enjoyed the album a ton and had to delve more into the minds behind this work of art. Tess decided to get me a notice from her Hew follow on Twitter (I’m not calling that shit X), and retweeted a post I made about listening to ADTP (check out the album and their other works on Spotify <3) which eventually led to him following me and a few interactions in DMs.

I thought it was so cool to be talking to one of the minds behind one of my favorite releases this year and joked about making Hewitt my new best friend. While we aren’t BFFs right now, he has become an important figure in my life, especially regarding the art that I make. I genuinely do not think I would be writing this right now without his constant support and encouragement. None of what I say about him in this article is meant to talk him up for a good impression, I would turn this entire article into hate speech and single-handedly run his slander campaign if I felt like it, but I don’t. He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met and I could not ask for a better inspiration.

Delving into Hewitt's solo catalog, accessible through Hewitt Kraufield on Spotify, gave me so much insight into him as not only an artist but as a person. So much of his story is put into his work even if it may just seem like this jumble of sounds or random shots. There's a piece of his story in every one of his songs and videos, even if unrecognizable to the naked eye. I remember making a joke about being his biggest fan and finding my way to his alternate account of releases. I wanted to get a feel for Hewitt himself and skipped over anything with a feature. Even for a first listen I could feel the emotional weight of so many of his songs. I commented on how they felt like something you'd cry to, even Hewitt had to admit that he'd shed a few tears to his work. Usually, I'd think someone was an egotistical prick for saying something like that, but I got it. I wasn't even going through anything at the time, but every awful feeling I had ever had came rushing to the surface and I could feel myself starting to tear up. The crying wasn't even out of reliving those moments or feelings but from the peace of having gotten past it, of it all just being something to remember.

He says that he wants his art to make people feel nostalgic and eternalize the 8288 house, he does this so well and it's interesting to see the way his nostalgia takes form in his songs. Maybe I'm some weirdo freak but when I listen it can sometimes feel like I'm watching Hew's memories from inside his brain and I fucking love that.

Memories for quite a lot of the songs that I find sad as shit are often sweet. And after learning the meanings behind it I can see the moments playing out in my head like stop motion or a flip book. He told me that the 'Pocket Watch Collection' was about giving his friend Stevie a new pocket watch on every special occasion, thus creating a collection. After learning this, I could visualize the events passing with him handing her a new pocket watch to add to the ever-growing collection, another memory of their friendship being added to the others as the years passed by. I don't know why but this sense of dread comes with the build-up of this song, like there will eventually be no more pocket watches to give, no more memories to collect. This dreadful pit in the bottom of my stomach like I'm giving Stevie the pocket watches myself and watching her face change through the years as it just doesn't feel as special anymore, or it doesn't matter as much. That's just my sick interpretation of it and some window into my fears and traumas, but I like making a story out of the music.

While my story and connection to his art is the most meaningful part of this entire article, I still owe it to both you guys and Hewitt to present his story as well.

DOCTORHEWITT was never a name created specifically for artistry, Hewitt had a liking to the title of doctor and added it on to his name. The name has to be completely capitalized, doctor is to be spelled out, no dr, no Dr Hewitt, no doctorhewitt. Initially I thought the mask was supposed to be a purposeful branding move but it turns out he just hates showing his face.

8288 is the house that Hewitt grew up in and the backbone for every bit of work that he does. Growing up and gaining actual consciousness while living there left an obvious mark. He had his first experiences with music while living there, whether through shitty keyboard playing as a ratty toddler or going to gigs that his older brothers played with their bands. Hell, he even started out making fuck ass youtube videos here when he dreamed of being some big-shot director. Even if all of the memories at this house aren't the best, it's still special to him and I think so many people can relate to that. That consistency of growing up somewhere or with someone/something will permanently imprint on your psyche and affect everything you do, even if it's not consciously, even if the memories sometimes leave a sour taste.

Danny The Destroyer (crazy name dude), a friend Hew made in 2012 after moving from the 8288 house, gave Hewitt his music taste and his first introduction to production. 2012-2014 were his years of exploration when it came to music and life overall (the terrible teens). The youtube channel was still running strong but Hew was slowly finding his way into online communities of artists and figuring out what music he fucked with. The public place his work was feature was in a few ads for a longboard company under a sponsorship that lasted from 2015-2017. Hew spent a few years bouncing around between his own releases,producing or organizing events for local artists, and being a manager. In 2022, he joined Private Network Club alongside artists like Awkward St8, Ike Offline, Thiago, Prison and Mac.

Around the Southwest Florida underground music scene Hew has been a bit of a ghost. For such a young person he's done so much in the scene, even if most people don't know about it. Being this faceless figure, many people had no idea who he was or what he did until he would mention it, and that was pretty rare of him to do. Ike admits he didn't even know Hewitt made beats up until recently. From organizing shows to even just talking to people, Hewitt has been responsible for so many of the connections made in the 239 underground scene and, even though he doesn't care about the credit or recognition, not many people know he's the reason behind a lot of this. Finding out how much recognition he lacks was a bit frustrating but it's just a reflection on his character. Seeing the creative scene down in SWFL thrive is one of his top priorities and he'll make that happen through any means.

Hewitt can honestly be described as none other than a jack of all trades, he used to do management for a bunch of artists down in SWFL, organized shows, shot music videos and produced for people and now he's at the stage of making vocal tracks. This start in making vocal projects is the biggest step Hew has had to make in his career so far and I couldn't be more proud of him. As of right now 'THE UNKNOWN' featuring Awkward St8 is Hewitt's only claimed public vocal track (there's something he did ad-libs on floating around SoundCloud, we're not getting any of the details for it). Surprisingly, putting out 'THE UNKNOWN' wasn't that big of a deal and now serves as the proper foundation to the bigger project. He's been working hard the past few years to get over his insecurity around his voice, solidifying his eventual full length vocal project as something incredibly special to those around him.

Speaking of those around him, I reached out to a few friends of his to add a level of authenticity to this article. Hewitt speaks very fondly of all of his friends and I had to check and see if he was lying about them or not. All of them were honestly so sweet and helpful with their own kind words and input. There's a lot of love for Hew amongst his friends and with the way everyone talks about him, he genuinely seems to be a good person. As everyone gave me their stories about Hewitt I noticed almost all of them had the same consensus, they wouldn't be who they are without him. There's a lot of praise amongst his peers and it's heartwarming to see so much positivity and love around such a genuine and kind person.

Getting back into the artistry side of things, I wanted to leave off with my thoughts on a few more of his projects.

On Christmas Eve of 2020, DOCTORHEWITT and Wakizashi (born dead) dropped a 17 track collaborative album, The Same Four Walls. A lot of the context you'll need for this section can be found on tealcheese. I can't find any lyrics outside of 'Forest Painting', and can't hear for shit so there won't be any lyrical deep dives, but I could write you a novel off the vibes alone. I listened to the album on loop while I wrote this section and I can honestly say I hate how well they captured the feeling of being stuck. Hewitt puts so much emotion and hard work into each thing he puts out and when you take the time to actually pay attention as you listen it gets to you. I felt trapped and unable to focus the whole way through, I could feel the energy draining from me. So much of the emotion put into this was now on me and I just couldn't bare the weight of it. This album is the feeling of not going anywhere personified. That claustrophobia from being in one place for what can feel like decades and all the thoughts that come with it. If you're not in a good space right now, don't listen to this, go have fun with A DIGITAL TAR PIT and spare yourself the insanity, but come back to it. This album is a true work of art and a beautiful experience to go through.

Hewitt likes to make depressing shit. In a video uploaded to his instagram captioned, 'where did the time go', we follow the journey of Hew making his way to New York, or something like that. Without any real context to what the fuck is going on the video is confusing to watch but everything is beautifully shot and put together. This is yet another project of his that weighs heavily emotionally. My favorite shot is the one from the rear view mirror. Hewitt stares into it and the drops of rain give this effect of crying. The only feeling I can really attach to this is that of moving on. The move isn't permanent but it still hurts to be leaving something you've grown to love behind. It reminds me of the last summer I spent in Louisiana. I was always going to go back and visit again at some point but this was the end of my extended stays through the summer. In the car ride back to Houston I remember staring back and tearing up because it felt like I was losing such an important part of my youth. I still go back and get to see those family members fairly often but it just doesn't feel the same.

In all of his projects there is copious amounts of heavy emotion that goes into every bit of it. For someone like me, insanely mentally ill, it can feel like reliving every bit of your trauma all at once or even just specific bits of it but I think this is a good thing. All of the work that he puts in to trying to eternalize 8288 and his upbringing is paying off incredibly well. While everyone might not resonate with the exact meanings behind the work people can still understand it and connect it back to their own emotions and memories. While I am so proud of him for finally getting to a place where he is comfortable with his voice to start releasing vocal projects, I think I might prefer just the soundtracks. Being void of lyrics gives you this clean slate to put all of your own words and thoughts to it, the interpretation is completely up to the listener. At the end of the day, whatever Hewitt decided to put out I'll be here to support, no matter how insane and emotionally torturous it may be.

I'd like to give a special thank you to Stevie, Gavin, Adin, Wakizashi, and Ike Offline for their contributions to this article. Another thank you to Des for graphics and Ro for all of the editing work.

DCOTORHEWITT

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