Beginnings

On today's episode, I talk to musician Indigo De Souza. Originally from Spruce Pine, North Carolina, and later based in Asheville, Indigo recorded her first EP, Boys, in a friend's garage in 2016. Following another short-form release, she delivered her debut album, I Love My Mom, in 2018. She then signed with Saddle Creek, which reissued the debut just weeks before releasing the tempestuous Any Sh...

On today's special 500th episode, I talk to BAFTA Award-winning comedy writer Arthur Mathews. Originally from Navan, Co Meath, Ireland, Arthur was originally on the path to become a graphic designer until his writing partner suggested they go to London to try their hand at professional comedy writing. Since that day, Arthur has co-created the seminal comedy Father Ted, wrote on some of the best UK...

On today's episode, I talk to musician/poet/actor McKenzie Chinn. Originally from Fort Washington, McKenzie is a true triple threat. As an actor, she has appeared on Fox's Empire and The Big Leap, is a 2021 fellow in the  Sundance Directors Lab, and wrote, produced and acted in the film Olympia, which made its debut at the 2018 LA Film Festival. As a poet, her work has appeared in numerous publica...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Ramona Gonzalez AKA NIte Jewel. Born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, Ramona studied philosophy at Occidental College. She remained involved in music throughout her studies, playing in a series of rock bands with her then husband, and eventually starting her solo career as Nite Jewel. After a self-released six-song CD-R titled My CD, which caught the ear of...

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Bill Oakley. Originally from Union Bridge, Maryland, Bill attended Harvard where he spent most of his time writing for the Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, Bill took on a number of different jobs until he and his longtime friend and writing partner Josh Weinstein were eventually hired to work on The Simpsons. Together, the two wrote some of the most classi...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kath Myers. Originally from Ohio, Kath had a roundabout route into making music that took her from the world of high finance in New York all the way to living the "artist's way" in Los Angeles. Her first album under her own name, Sensitive Groups, was just released in June, and it's fantastic! This is  the website  for  Beginnings ,  subscribe on Apple Podcas...

On today's episode, I talk to modern composer Terry Riley. Originally from Colfax, CA, Terry began studying composition and performing solo piano in the 1950s. He befriended and collaborated with composer La Monte Young, and through the '60s further refined his sound. Terry's 1964 revolutionary composition "In C" essentially launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement. The piece's interl...

On today's episode, I talk to comedy writer Robert Popper. Robert Popper is a multiple award-winning writer, producer and performer. He's the creator, writer and producer of Channel 4's six-series Friday Night Dinner, he co-created and starred in BBC 2's Look Around You with Peter Serafinowicz, produced the Bafta-winning Peep Show, wrote on season 14 of South Park, script-edited The Inbetweeners,...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Joe Jack Talcum. Originally from Wagontown, PA, Joe Genaro AKA Joe Jack Talcum is the guitarist and co-lead singer of the seminal punk band The Dead Milkmen. Formed out of his home recording project dating back to the late '70s, the group didn't really coalesce until Joe went to college at Temple University. Starting with 1985's Big Lizard in My Backyard, the...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Anna McClellan began performing original songs in her hometown of Omaha, NE at the age of seventeen and has been actively recording and touring ever since. Her debut, Fire Flames, earned her an opening slot on a Frankie Cosmos tour. Through the doors that tour opened, McClellan eventually met Father/Daughter Records which led to the release of her second full...

On today's episode, I talk to writer Steve Aylett. Born in Bromley, Steve is the author of over a dozen novels, comics and collections of short fiction. He started to get acclaim for his writing with his third novel Slaughtermatic, which was shortlisted for the 1998 Philip K. Dick Award. Slaughtermatic was part of his Beerlight series, and this, along with the Accomplice series, make up the bulk o...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Lou Barlow. Originally from Ohio, Lou formed his first band Deep Wound in 1982, while attending high school in western Massachusetts. Deep Wound's drummer was J Mascis, and when that band broke up, Lou and J formed Dinosaur, later to become Dinosaur Jr. The early years of the band were acclaimed but tumultuous, and after their third album, he was asked to lea...

On today's episode, I talk to actress and comedian Michaela Watkins. Originally from Syracuse, NY, Michaela's career really began when she moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s, where she joined the Groundlings. She was cast on SNL for the 2008 season, and while she only stayed a year, this led to many other incredible roles on shows like New Adventures of Old Christine, Enlightened, Trophy Wife...

On today's episode, I talk to bass guitarist and record producer Melvin Gibbs. A native of Brooklyn, He has been called "the greatest bassist in the world" by Time Out New York magazine and was last year's winner of JazzTimes Magazine's Critics Poll in the Electric Bass category. Melvin's wide-ranging musical resume includes membership in bands ranging from the no-wave of Defunkt to the avant-jazz...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Isobel Campbell. Originally from Glasgow, Isobel's musical career began with the acclaimed indie rock group Belle and Sebastian. She played cello, keyboards and sang in the group, and after five hit albums, she left the band to pursue a solo career as The Gentle Waves. She kept The Gentle Waves moniker for a few albums, afterward deciding to record music unde...

On today's episode, I talk to Tony Award-winning actor and musician Michael Cerveris. Originally from Huntington, West Virginia, Michael got his start acting in the early '80s downtown scene, and his career has flourished from there. As a theater actor, he's won two Tony Awards, one for playing John Wilkes Booth in Stephen Sondheim's Assassins and the second for his role in Fun Home. Beyond the of...

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner-award winning comics creator John Allison. John started creating webcomics in 1998 with Bobbins, a series which ran on the early webcomics portal Keenspot. When Bobbins ended, he followed that up with Scary Go Round and then Bad Machinery. In 2013, John pitched a spin-off from Scary Go Round, Giant Days, to Boom! Box, a newly formed imprint of Boom! Studios for...

On today's episode, I talk to Grammy nominated musician Bonnie McKee. Raised in Seattle, WA, Bonnie had been singing and writing her own songs from a young age, and as a teenager was signed to a label and moved to Los Angeles to record her first album. While critically praised, the album was commercially unsuccessful, and after a while, Bonnie began a second career as a songwriter for artists like...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Trevor Kampmann. Born in Naperville, IL in the early '70s, Trevor began making music under the name Sea Saw in the early '90s on the indie label Simple Machines, after that recording as hollAnd. Aside from releasing over 12 CDs and DVDs under the hollAnd moniker - many of them on TeenBeat Records, he has worked on countless recordings for bands such as Explos...

On today's episode I talk to musician Peggy Seeger. Sister of Pete Seeger (the great-grandfather of USA folk revival) and partner of the late Ewan MacColl (theorist and practitioner of UK folk revival), she has carved a special niche for herself in both these countries. Trained in both classical and folk music, her experience spans 55 years of performing, travel and songwriting. A multi-instrument...

On today's episode I talk to musician and TV writer Clay Tarver. Clay first came to prominence as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the Boston hard rock/punk band Bullet LaVolta in the late 1980s. They recorded a few records for Taang!, RCA, and Matador Records before disbanding in 1991. He then formed Chavez with Matt Sweeney, Scott Marshall and James Lo, and they released two incredible album...

On today's episode I talk to musician Matt Sweeney. Originally from northern New Jersey, Matt started playing in bands in high school with his first group Skunk, who released two albums on Twin/Tone records. In the early '90s, he formed Chavez, which went on to release two incredible albums and an EP on Matador. When the band stopped playing together, Matt became a sideman touring with GBV and Bon...

On today's episode I talk to comedian and actor Jana Schmieding. Originally from Oregon, Jana cut her teeth performing sketch, improv and characters at the Magnet Theater in New York City. After moving to Los Angeles in 2016, Jana started the Woman of Size podcast, which she hosted until 2019, and most recently, she writes on and co-stars with Ed Helms in Peacock's newest sitcom Rutherford Falls,...

On today's episode I talk to musician Bob Nastanovich. Born in Rochester, but raised in Richmond, Virginia, Bob spent the early part of his life playing tennis and listening to punk rock. While attending college at the University of Virginia, he met his future bandmates Steve Malkmus and Dave Berman, and the three formed the band Ectoslavia with future Yo La Tengo member James McNew. After college...

On today's episode I talk to musician Jamie Stewart. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jamie played in a number of bands as a teenager, including a parody band and a Bauhaus cover group. However, he didn't really find his voice until he formed Xiu Xiu in his mid-20s. The  release of the band's first album Knife Play on the Kill Rock Stars imprint 5RC cemented their style, but it was with 2004's Fabu...