Beginnings

On today's episode, I talk to theater and TV director Sheldon Epps. Originally from Compton, CA, Sheldon's decades-long career in entertainment has spanned both the stage and television. He was a co-founder & the associate artistic director of the off-Broadway theater The Production Company, conceived and directed the Duke Ellington musical Play On!, which received three Tony Award nominations, an...

On today's episode, I talk to comics creator Cliff Chiang. Originally from New Jersey, Cliff wasn't sure of his direction in life, but wanted to give his dream of making comics a try and got an editorial job at DC/Vertigo after college. This led to drawing anthology stories and single issues which led to higher profile gigs on books like Human Target and Wonder Woman. In 2015, Cliff co-created the...

On today's episode, I talk to actor Breeda Wool. Originally from Urbana, Illinois, Breeda moved to New York City after college to pursue acting, where she did everything from sketch comedy to guerilla theater to acting in indie films. This all led to roles in more mainstream work like Vice Principals, The Affair, GLOW, and The Walking Dead, as well as regular roles on shows like Mr. Mercedes and U...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kurt Wagner. Originally from Nashville, TN, Kurt was an artist and musician working a day job. But through the late '80s into the '90s, his band Lambchop began to become popular, assisted in some part by Vic Chesnutt enthusiastically talking about them in the press. Since 1990, Lambchop has released almost 20 albums, most of them on Merge Records, and their l...

On today's episode, I talk to writer Jerry Stahl. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jerry won a Pushcart Prize early in his writing career before taking a detour into writing erotica and for magazines like Hustler. This led to another detour writing for TV and movies, although "detour" here might be incorrect, considering this has been a large chunk of his professional career. Jerry penned...

On today's episode, I talk to rapper Homeboy Sandman. Originally from Elmhurst, Queens, Angel Del Villar II AKA Homeboy Sandman started making albums while he was in law school. This led him to leave the judicial path he was on to focus on music, and since 2007, he has recorded over two dozen albums, EPs and mixtapes, including a number of incredible EPs with Aesop Rock. His latest, Still Champion...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Bill Orcutt. Originally from Miami, Florida, Bill made films and played music in various groups before co-founding the noise rock group Harry Pussy in the early '90s with his then-wife Adris Hoyos. After releasing a number of albums and EPs on labels like Siltbreeze, the group broke up and Bill moved to San Francisco to focus on filmmaking and other endeavors...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Robin Holcomb. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Robin grew up in the Bay Area and began playing piano when she was six. In 1977, she moved with her partner, composer Wayne Horvitz, to New York City and was one of the foundational members of the NY downtown art scene. Since then, she has composed works for orchestras from Portland to Philly, has been awarded...

On today's episode, I talk to artist and musician Tara Jane O'Neil.   Tara cut her teeth in the 1990s Louisville music scene as the bassist of the influential post-punk group Rodan. After their breakup in 1994, she moved to New York, where she performed in a number of fantastic bands including Retsin, Ida Retsin Family, The Sonora Pine, and The Naysayer. She's also released over a dozen albums and...

On today's episode, I talk to Dave Kuzy and John Roman of the prolific Pittsburgh band Microwaves. Growing up in and around Pittsburgh, Dave and John formed Microwaves with Zombi's Steve Moore, after John left the brilliant noise rock band The 1985. In the last 20-odd-years, the group has released 10 fantastic albums and EPs and undergone a number of line-up changes, though they are always grounde...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Tony Molina. Constantly juggling hardcore and pop projects, veteran Bay Area musician Tony Molina has won over fans in both camps. Since 2002, Tony has played in several bands including Dystrophy, Ovens, Lifetime Problems, Caged Animal, Violent Change, as well as his own solo work which lives somewhere between early Weezer and Guided by Voices. These albums h...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Katy Davidson AKA Dear Nora. Originally from Arizona, Katy has been making music for decades now under the name Dear Nora, starting with the Make You Smile 7" in 2000 on Magic Marker Records. They took a long break from the moniker after 2008's Three States, but picked it up again with 2018's Skulls Example which is one of the best albums Katy's ever recorded...

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner Award-nominated comics writer Kieron Gillen. Originally from Stafford in the West Midlands of England, Kieron began his writing career as a games journalist, writing for publications like PC Gamer UK, Wired, The Guardian among others. HIs early comics work included a comic strip with Jamie McKelvie, which started their long and celebrated working partnership th...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Laura Veirs. Originally from Colorado Springs, Laura first thought she was going to follow her family into the sciences. However, an artistic life called to her, and in 1999, she released her first, self-titled album. Since then, she has released almost a dozen more albums, become an international success, and recorded with Neko Case and K.D. Lang as case/lan...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Emilie Rex and musician/filmmaker Rick Alverson AKA Lean Year. As a musical duo, Emilie and Rick have been making music together for a number of years, and their first self-titled album was released in 2017 to acclaim from publications like Pitchfork and NPR Music. In addition to their musical work, Rick is also a lauded indie film director, whose movies incl...

On today's episode, I talk to author Lincoln Michel. Originally from Virginia, Lincoln's fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Pushcart Prize anthology and his essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The Believer, The Guardian and many other places. His debut story collection, Upright Beasts, was published by Coffee House Press in 2015, and his debut novel, The Body Scout, wa...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Attia Taylor. Originally from Philadelphia, Attia is a writer and musician based in New York City. She is the founder of Womanly Magazine, a publication dedicated to providing accessible health information to women and non-binary people through visual and literary art. She is also half of the psych-pop band Strange Parts, and has been writing and releasing mu...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Karl Blau. Originally from Samish Island, WA, Karl grew up in a family of amatuer musicians and at first thought he was going to be a fine artist. But by the end of high school, Karl was all in on music, and his band Captain Fathom began playing in Anacortes. It was there he met Beat Happening's Bret Lunsford and a pre-Microphones/Mount Eerie Phil Elvrum and...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Tim McIlrath of Rise Against. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Tim grew up about an hour outside Chicago in the suburbs where he started playing in punk bands. In 1999, Joe Principe and Dan Wieklinski formed Rise Against out of the break-up of their former band 88 Fingers Louie, and invited Tim to join. Though the early days were tumultuous, they persev...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Originally from Ohio, Kevin eventually ended up in Athens, GA where he became part of the Elephant 6 collective, a group that included Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and many others. Kevin's music has transformed over time, as his own aesthetic beliefs have changed. Starting off as a Kinks/Paul McCartn...

On today's episode, I talk to musician John Ringhofer AKA Half-handed Cloud. Based now in Helsinki, Finland, Half-handed Cloud started as a home-recording project in Chattanooga, TN in 1999. Since then, John has released almost two dozen albums and EPs, many of them on Asthmatic Kitty and Sounds Familyre. He's also been a member of Sufjan Stevens' touring band, and his latest album Flutterama is o...

On today's episode, I talk to actor Britt Lower. Originally from Heyworth, Illinois, Britt's first big role was on the short-lived 2010 Comedy Central show Big Lake. This launched her into the world of being a working actor, which included a regular role on Man Seeking Woman, as well as recurring roles on shows like Casual, Ghosted, and High Maintenance. Currently, Britt stars in the Emmy-nominate...

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comics creator Mike "Spike" Allred. Originally from Oregon, Mike began his career in comics while working as a journalist. He created his well-known character Madman in the early '90s, and since then has drawn on books like Sandman, Fables, Silver Surfer and numerous others. He co-created two wonderful series: iZombie and X-Statix, and...

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Casper Kelly. Originally from Burlington, North Carolina, Casper started working at Adult Swim in the early 2000s, writing for shows like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Squidbillies, as well as non-Adult Swim shows like Archer. He's co-created two series, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell and Stroker and Hoop, as well as the inc...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Victoria Park AKA Pictoria Vark. Originally from Cresskill, NJ, Victoria started playing in bands in high school and then college, eventually becoming the touring bassist for indie rock bands like Squirrel Flower and Pinkshift. A few months ago, her first album The Parts I Dread was released on Get Better Records, and it's great! This is  the website  for  Be...