Something Rather Than Nothing

I was visiting the ocean. The ocean always transforms me. I went to the market and faire. There I saw such fantastickal ART.  I saw animal-people and people-animals-both.  They were all the creations of someone named Holly who is Wildness by Design . So, Something (rather than nothing) is happy to present Holly! https://www.wildnessbydesign.com/about-holly/

Pamela Valfer still has my mind reeling on questions of space, time, art, philosophy and history. Check this episode out. Bonus: a lovely Kitty Craft song at the end. Valfer's statement:  "In my creative work I am interested in the politics of Space. I use a multidisciplinary approach (performance, installation, video and drawing) to reveal constructions of post-truth and our unconscious part...

Saroya Tinker is currently a professional women's ice hockey player for the PHF's Toronto Six. She previously graduated from Yale University with her Bachelors of Arts in The History of Science, Medicine and Public Health. In addition to her studies she played on the Yale Varsity Women's Ice Hockey team. Since graduating, Saroya has found a passion for educating others and using her social media p...

Originally from Austin Texas, Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist Kym Priess is a pure pioneerwoman, fierce frontwoman, adventurous musician, writer and actor.  As of late, she has specialized in creating conceptual whimsical performance art mixed with immersive, interactive rock n’ roll experiences under the name STUNTDRIVER .  The debut concept album “Saga” was released last Sep...

For the 150th Episode of the show we have the fabulous April March! In a former life April March must have been a rockier fairy than Tinker Bell and like a cat, she has already had several lives. An animator trained by Disney, she has animated for Pee-wee Herman, Ren & Stimpy, Madonna, worked on Archie Comics, assisted Spiderman creator Steve Ditko and even assisted the legendary Harry Smith w...

Episode 149 is a conversation with Renée Barasch about tattooes, art, environment, Oregon and what is important in life. "Tattooer, adventure prone, simple moments, glorious mess”    Renée was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.  She began tattooing in 2016.   Her studio in Astoria, Simply Human Art, opened summer of 2019.   Renée also tattoos with Hidden Rose tattoo in N...

Tallmadge Doyle is a painter, printmaker, teacher, and public artist who’s work reflects on issues of the environment related to climate change.  Born in New York City now based in Eugene, Oregon. She received her BFA from the Cleveland Art Institute and an MFA from University of Oregon. She has participated in over 150 national and international exhibitions and her work is included in over 3...

Joe Uehlein is the founding President of Voices for a Sustainable Future and the Labor Network for Sustainability. Joe is the former Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Union Department and former director of the AFL-CIO’s Center for Strategic Campaigns. Joe spent 35 years doing bargaining, organizing, public policy, and strategic campaign work in the labor movement. Joe also served on...

Matthew Kyle Levine is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in New York City.  His short films have won awards and played at numerous film festivals throughout North America, including the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival and the Canada Shorts Film Festival, most notably for his short film “Miss Freelance.” https://vimeo.com/matthewkylelevine  

Liz Kiger is our guest for a deep discussion of Art, Philosophy, film, photography, teaching, trauma and resiliency, LGBTQIA+Opera, and their new filmed opera - a gorgeous, modern presentation (shot in Red - Komodo - 6K) of ORFEO. ORFEO is a dazzling, energetic, sensitive story that will amaze you visually and sonically. Its release is simultaneous to this podcast episode. Find ORFEO here ORFEO Li...

David Bellino began his career as a music video director-producer for various recording artists, management companies and record labels. During this time, Virgin Records selected Bellino to direct the Rolling Stones “Voodoo Lounge” interactive media title. He continued with Virgin as a production consultant on the band’s multimedia-enhanced ”Stripped” album.   Bellino then became the cre...

PCP aka Julienne Baptist e formerly known as the guitarist and vocalist in Dirty Princess band made the decision to step away from punk rock music and step into film making. After coming together in collaboration with videographer Chris-Diana Peebles 2020. PCP created a 3 part ‘Sonic Visual’ that intertwines atmosphere, style, sound and movement to tell a story of metamorphosis and unseen forces o...

“Sparkling” mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh has been praised for her “wondrously flexible voice,” “prodigious vocal skills,” and “richly textured and strong lower register” ( Vocedi Meche ). OperaWire has praised her “vocal power,” “enchanting voice,” “velvety mezzosoprano,” and “abundant vocal and dramatic technique, with no shortage of soaring high notes and flexible roulades.” She won The...

You can now listen to SRTN's interview with painter Gerald van Scyoc ! From GvS: "I work in a Photorealist/Surrealist style. I like to do work that provokes a strong response from the viewer. Most of my paintings consist of collaged public domain photos. I rarely use live-models. I like to combine well-known symbols and tropes in my paintings mixed together in new and not-well-known combinations....

It was an immense pleasure to meet and speak with Plains Cree/Filipinx activist, model and video creator Haley Robinson . Haley is from Treaty 7 territory and we spoke about art, creativity, identity and the immediacy of video content to explore questions of identity. You can also connect with Haley's work and causes here:  https://linktr.ee/og.robinson10

If you got your sweet hands on a copy of 'Santos Sisters' I know that you want to know where such a wonderful piece of art (a comic for 'Generation X') came from. I got the answer. Artists Greg Petre and Graham Smith join the show to chat about comics, art, philosophy, Taylor Swift, proclivities and predilections. They describe that "One day while combing the beach, the Santos Sisters discovered a...

Susie deVille is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build wildly successful businesses by rediscovering their creativity and leveraging the power of their true nature. An author, coach, and entrepreneur who built and sold a highly profitable real estate firm, she has been researching innovation and creativity since 2005. She is the founder and CEO of the Innovation & Creativity Institute and t...

In this episode, Ken Volante speaks with Kimberly Laberge and Cory Fitzsimmons from Wisconsin. This episode is a nice way to connect with two talented directors and actors as they create their version of Things I know to Be True for production in April 2022. Kimberly Laberge is a teacher, stage manager, director, and critic based out of the Milwaukee area. Kimberly has worked with area companies i...

Jeff Ostler is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Oregon. He is the author of The Lakotas and the Black Hills: The Struggle for Sacred Ground and Surviving Genocide: Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas . This conversation delves into the Lakota Sioux, resilience, genocide, the art of teaching, responsibilities in teaching history and...

As a tenor specializing in 21st century repertoire, Jonathan Blalock created over a dozen roles in world premieres with companies including the Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, the Center for Contemporary Opera, Fort Worth Opera, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and UrbanArias. In 2019, he was featured in the new opera recordings of Paul’s Case (by Gregory Spears) and the Grammy Award winning Fanta...

Of the Suquamish Nation , Calina Lawrence was born and raised within her ancestral culture at a time during the reawakening of the teachings of the canoe and the Coast Salish way of life in the Pacific Northwest.  Her vocal journey began at a young age when she was first introduced to the songs of the canoe, the land, and the Lushootseed language. While lending her voice to the preservation o...

In this special episode, Melissa Oliveri guest hosts an All-Minnesota episode of Something (rather than nothing) with guest Sally Mars! Sally Mars is a writer and photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her work appears in numerous journals including Kalliope, Talking River, Elysian Fields, Illiterate, Scheme, Shots, Reflex, The Rake, Churn, Whistling Shade and in the hardbound collection Se...

This episode features guest host Rachel Lally (SRTN Episode 41 and Guest Host on SRTN 67) and Artist Daryl Parson. Embracing an eclectic existence across Europe and beyond, Daryl Parson has taken to countless creative endeavours over the years. Most notably tackling bass duties for epic doom metal veterans Solstice (UK). A band whose bludgeoning riffs and astute lyrics have inspired both musical p...

I hope you enjoy this short episode featuring spoken word pieces by  Greg Clifford (Episode 81 guest) and Geoff Finan (Episode 66 guest) and listen to a teaser/reminder to catch The Skylark Bell Season 2 by Melissa Oliveri (Episode 94 guest) Thank you for supporting the show, its artists and their creations. https://www.youtube.com/@gregcliffordmusic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XHpH57TSB...

SRTN's visiting Philosopher, Jakub Ferencik is back! We first heard from Jakub in Episode 60. Since then, Jakub has written another book (!) entitled Beyond Reason: Why We Fail at Understanding Each Other.   Our discussion here ranged through many issues but focused on the primacy of reason as an arbiter of truth. Jakub and Ken engage in a lively conversation that is timely but steeped i...