Beginnings

On today's episode I talk to musician Thao Nguyen. Originally from Falls Church, VA, Thao began playing music as a young teenager, but it was with the release of her first album Like the Linen in 2005 that her actual career began. Her next album We Brave Bee Stings and All, her first with the Get Down Stay Down, was released on Kill Rock Stars to general acclaim, and since then, her albums, whethe...

On today's episode I talk to Eisner-Award winning comics creator Rob Guillory. Born, raised and currently based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Guillory is most known for his eight-year run on Image Comics' Chew. The book went on to achieve much success, winning two Harvey Awards (including Best New Talent for Guillory), two Eisner Awards, and has been translated into a dozen or so languages. Rob is curr...

On today's episode I talk to musician Jimmy Flemion. Jimmy and his brother Dennis began playing music together in the late '70s in a number of different groups, eventually forming the band The Frogs in 1980. Since then, the band has vacillated between cult status and mainstream success, championed by such musicians as Billy Corgan, Kurt Cobain, Beck and Eddie Vedder, and releasing albums on labels...

On today's episode I talk to playwright and composer Michael R. Jackson. Originally from Detroit, Michael holds a BFA and MFA in playwriting and Musical Theatre Writing from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He wrote book, music, and lyrics for the musicals White Girl In Danger and A Strange Loop, which received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in 2019. A Strange Loop be...

On today's episode I talk to musician Dennis Callaci. Raised in Upland, California, Dennis has bounced around Southern California his entire life.  He runs the legendary indie record label Shrimper, noted for bringing forth the earliest recordings from Amps For Christ, Woods, Franklin Bruno, Lou Barlow's Sentridoh, The Mountain Goats, Dump, and a few hundred other releases over the course of the l...

On today's episode I talk to musician Anna Burch. Originally from St. Joseph, Michigan, Anna began touring with her band Frontier Ruckus at the age of 18, and eventually went on to play in the Ann Arbor-based Failed Flowers. But it wasn't until she was almost 30 that she started to write and record her own music. Her first album as herself, Quit the Curse, was released by Polyvinyl in 2018, and he...

On today's episode I talk to musician Jeff Parker. Originally from Hampton, Virginia, Jeff has been playing music since he was 8-years-old. Eventually ending up in Chicago, he became a member of the experimental post-rock group Tortoise in 1996 and also co-founded Isotope 217 and The Chicago Underground Trio. He's worked with everyone from Meshell Ndegeocello to Smog, and has released six solo alb...

On today's episode I talk to Nika Nemirovsky AKA NIIKA. Born in Uzbekistan in the wake of the USSR's dissolution, Nika and her family immigrated to Chicago when she was very young. Her music reflects being at the nexus of a number of different cultures, both on her 2017 EP Honest Dancing and her debut album Close But Not Too Close will be out May 15th. This is  the website  for  Beginnings ,  subs...

  On today's episode I talk to comedian and actor Larry Hankin. Originally from Long Island, Larry got his start doing stand-up in Greenwich Village as a contemporary of Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen. After moving to Chicago and joining Second City, he and a number of other improvisers formed The Committee in San Francisco. Larry is one of the most well-known character actors in Hollywood, and tryin...

On today's episode I talk to actress Sarah Bolger. Originally from Dublin, Sarah started acting at a young age, and since then has been in many films and television shows. Early in her career, she starred in Jim Sheridan's Academy Award nominated film In America and she received a number of critics association nominations as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role. Other films...

On today's episode I talk to musician Jamie Drake. Based in Los Angeles, Jamie has been making music for a long time, though only released her first album When I Was Yours in 2010. She's performed in the Off-Broadway folk musical Lonesome Traveler and collaborated with everyone from Ed Helms to Moby to Tim Robbins. Her latest album Everything's Fine was released late last year, and it's great! Thi...

On today's special 10th anniversary episode, I talk to musician Stephin Merritt. Stephin is the founder and primary songwriter behind the band The Magnetic Fields. Started in 1991 in Boston, the band has released 11 albums including the three-volume 69 Love Songs and his most recent 5-LP collection 50 Song Memoir. In addition to The Magnetic Fields, Stephin also performs in The 6ths, The Gothic Ar...

On today's episode I talk to TV writer Josh Siegal. Originally from Niskayuna, New York, Josh took a non-traditional route into TV writing, but that route led to some amazing jobs on shows like Viva Variety, the original UCB sketch show, Crossballs, Monk, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Great News and currently The Good Place, which is in the middle of finishing up its final season on NBC. Thi...

On today's episode I talk to musician Alexandra Levy AKA Ada Lea. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Alexandra was on the path to become a professional competitive skater, but the end of her skating career led to an artistic one as a painter, visual artist and musician. Her debut album what we say in private was released last summer on Saddle Creek, and it is incredible! This is  the website  for ...

On today's episode I talk to musician Mikal Cronin. Originally from Laguna Beach, CA, Mikal's been playing music professionally for almost a decade as a member of bands like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Shannon & the Clams and many more. He also has been playing bass in Ty Segall's touring band for the past 8 years. On his own, he's recorded four albums: Mikal Cronin on Trouble in Mind Reco...

On today's episode I talk to pianist and composer Alexandra Stréliski. Raised between Paris and Montreal, Alexandra didn't set out to make music for a living, but after a long night of the soul, so to speak, dedicated herself to writing and performing. In 2010, she recorded her first album Pianoscope and late last year, her latest album Inscape was released on Secret City Records. In addition to t...

On today's episode I talk to comics writer Magdalene Visaggio. Born in Long Island but raised in Richmond, VA, Magdalene has been making comics for over a decade, but it wasn't until 2016 that she began to garner acclaim thanks to her series Kim & Kim, which netted Magdalene both an Eisner Award nomination and a GLAAD Award nomination. Since then she's written a number of great comics including Et...

On today's episode I talk to musician Patrick Stickles of the band Titus Andronicus. Originally from Glen Rock, New Jersey, Patrick started Titus Andronicus in 2005. Since then, the band has garnered a great deal of critical praise and commercial success. Their first three albums were released on Troubleman and XL, but starting with The Most Lamentable Tragedy, they've been part of Merge Records....

On today's episode I talk to musician Cara Beth Satalino of the band Outer Spaces. Originally from the small rural town Pittstown, NY, Cara has been playing music since she was young. She moved to Athens, GA after college and formed the band Witches, a fantastic punk trio which put out two 7"s and a full-length record, Forever, and a few years later formed the band Outer Spaces. As Outer Spaces, C...

On today's episode I talk to musicians Lætitia Tamko AKA Vagabon. Originally from Yaoundé, Cameroon, Lætitia and her family immigrated to the US when she was 13. While she graduated from CUNY with a degree in engineering, a chance event led her to playing music full time. Her first album Infinite Worlds was released in 2017 to general acclaim, and her latest album, the self-titled Vagabon, will be...

On today's episode I talk to musicians Jeff and Steve McDonald of the band Redd Kross. Originally from Hawthorne, CA, brothers Jeff and Steve started playing music together in 1978, in a band called The Tourists while both were in middle school. A few years later, they changed the name to Red Cross (and eventually Redd Kross), and since then have released seven albums and a number of EPs. In addit...

On today's episode I talk to actor Punam Patel. Originally from Florida, Punam took a circuitous route to the world of acting that eventually led her to performing with Second City in Chicago. After moving to Los Angeles, she booked her first major role in 2015 in the ABC Family sitcom Kevin From Work. And since then, she's acted in Adam Ruins Everything, Alone Together, I Feel Bad, as well as man...

On today's episode I talk to musician Alexander Noice. Based in Los Angeles, Alex is a composer, guitarist, producer and bandleader who has toured the world performing with many notable artists from Charlie Haden to Art Ensembles of Chicago's Famoudou Don Moye. From 2008-2013, he led the highly revered art rock/punk trio Falsetto Teeth, and in 2016, he released his first solo electronic album call...

On today's episode I talk to author and TV writer Jim Gavin. Based in Los Angeles, Jim's fiction has appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Zoetrope and many others. His book of short stories Middle Men was published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster, and the TV show he created, Lodge 49, just debuted its second season on AMC. This is  the website  for  Beginnings...

On today's episode I talk to musician Dre Babinski of Steady Holiday. Originally from the Los Angeles area, Dre is a singer, songwriter, violinist, and guitarist. From the mid-2000s on, she played in a number of bands including Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, Miracle Days, Hunter Hunted, The Elected, and more. In 2015 though, she started her own project Steady Holiday, and since then, has release...