Beginnings

On today's episode, I talk to comics creator Kevin Huizenga. Originally from South Holland, a small town of Dutch immigrants in the suburbs of Chicago, he attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is where he started drawing the influential mini-comic Supermonster. After moving to St. Louis, Kevin started the comic book series Or Else, the strip Leon Beyond with Dan Zettwoch, as wel...

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner Award Hall of Fame comics creator Jim Starlin. Originally from Detroit, Jim broke into comics in the 1970s, first as an art director at Marvel, and then moving into being an artist and eventually a writer, working on books like Iron Man and Captain Marvel. During his decades at Marvel, Jim created or co-created many of the characters and wrote many of the stori...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Julie Doiron. Originally from Moncton, New Brunswick, Julie's musical career began with the acclaimed indie rock group Eric's Trip which formed when she was just 18. While the band was only together six short years, they put out a number of albums on Sub Pop, as well as numerous EPs and 7"es, and just before they stopped playing together, Julie began to recor...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Basia Bulat. The daughter of Polish émigrés, Basia was born and raised in Toronto's Etobicoke neighbourhood and grew up listening to her mother's piano students. She attended the University of Western Ontario where she received a degree in English and began an MA in English at Western in 2006 but moved to Montreal to record "an audible memory" of her time the...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Nels Cline. Nels is best known these days as the lead guitarist in the band Wilco, but his recording and performing career — spanning jazz, rock, punk and experimental — is well into its fourth decade, with over 200 recordings, including at least 30 for which he is leader. Nels has received many accolades including Rolling Stone anointing him as both one of 2...

On today's episode, I talk to author Martha Wells. Martha has been a sci-fi and fantasy writer since her first novel was published in 1993, and her work includes  The Books of the Raksura  series,  The Death of the Necromancer , the  Fall of Ile-Rien  trilogy,  The Murderbot Diaries  series, as well as media tie-in stories for  Star Wars ,  Stargate: Atlantis , and  Magic: the Gather ing. And this...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Matthew Herd. Originally from Glasgow, Matthew is a Scottish songwriter, composer, and saxophonist living in east London. He's the Musician in Residence at Habs Boys' School and co-directs the Habs Jazz Summer School, and plays in a number of different groups. One of these is his band Seafarers, which he formed in 2013 while studying saxophone at the Royal Ac...

On the 12th anniversary episode of Beginnings taped back in December, I talk to John Linnell of They Might Be Giants! Raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts, John Linnell began writing music with his friend John Flansburgh in high school, and after playing in a number of bands formed TMBG with Flansburgh in 1982. From 1986's self-titled album to today, the band has released over fifty albums, compilatio...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Logan Lynn. Born in York, Nebraska, Logan eventually moved to Portland after a tumultuous childhood. His musical career began there when he was discovered by The Dandy Warhols. Since 1998, he's released over a dozen albums and EPs on labels like EMI and Caroline, hosted NewNowNext Music on the Logo Network, and in 2021 was named one of the OUT100 in the Perfo...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Wendy Eisenberg. Wendy is an improviser and songwriter who uses guitar, pedals, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer and the voice. Though often working solo as both a songwriter and improviser, with acclaimed releases on Tzadik, VDSQ, Out of your Head, and Garden Portal, they also perform in the rock band Editrix, and in endless other combinations....

On today's episode, I talk to musician John Vanderslice. Raised in rural North Florida, Vanderslice was forced into piano lessons as a young child, and eventually picked up the guitar and started writing songs as a teen. After moving to San Francisco in 1989, John made three records as a part of the experimental band MK Ultra, including the critically-acclaimed The Dream is Over. His obsession wit...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Robert Haimer AKA Artie Barnes. Born in Los Angeles, Robert began playing music with his friend, actor Bill Mumy, in high school, recording songs for their own amusement as Barnes & Barnes. But when Dr. Demento began playing their music in the late-'70s, they started to think of Barnes & Barnes more professionally, bolstered by the popularity of their track "...

On today's episode, I talk to musician and Professor of Religious Studies Daniel Wyche. Daniel is a Chicago-based guitarist, composer and improviser. Working with a wide range of physical preparations, extended techniques, and pedal instruments, his solo recorded work and live performances are characterized by long-form structured improvisations. Both by himself and with a number of collaborators...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Jack Cooper. Originally from the Fylde Coast, Jack began playing music professionally in the early 2000s, where after signing to Twisted Nerve Records, he began playing with musician Jim Noir. From 2009 to 2018, Jack played in two bands - Mazes and then Ultimate Painting - releasing a number of albums as well as some solo records, and in 2019, he formed Moder...

On today's episode, I talk to actor Rebecca Gibney. Originally from Levin, New Zealand, Rebecca grew up the youngest of six children, and after a somewhat tumultuous childhood, eventually found her way into acting. She first acted in shows like Zoo Family and The Flying Doctors, and in the 1990s starred in shows like Snowy and Halifax f.p. Without going into her full IMDB, Rebecca continued to sta...

On today's episode, I talk to musician René Kladzyk aka Ziemba. Originally from Michigan, Rene is an El Paso-based musician and writer. As a journalist, she works for El Paso Matters and frequently reports on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. She is also an advocate for music industry reform and creator of the Future Music Industry (a compendium of music industry orgs run by women and non-binary people...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Stewart Bronaugh. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Stewart has been playing music for a majority of his life. Professionally, he played for many years as a part of Angel Olson's backing band, and on his own, he's been recording as Lionlimb for over a decade. They released their fantastic first EP Turnstile in 2016, and since then have released two more g...

On today's episode, I talk to actor Brent Jennings. Originally from Little Rock Arkansas, Brent got his start acting professionally in the New York theater scene of the 1970s, both on and off-Broadway. From there, he became a working screen actor appearing in films like Witness, Another 48 Hrs., and Moneyball, as well as TV shows like Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, am...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Cedric Noel. Montreal-based artist Cedric Noel has spent the past decade creating music informed by his unique worldview: He was born in Niger to Canadian and Mozambican/Belgian parents, spent his upbringing around the world, and is currently based in Canada. During this time, Cedric has released a number of critically praised full-length albums, EPs and coll...

On today's episode, I talk to comics writer Ram V. An author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India, Ram V's comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated comic series, Aghori. Since then, he's written a ton of great comics including Paradiso and Blue In Green for Image, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr for Boom, Grafity's Wall for Dark Horse, Swamp Thing, Justice League and Cat Woman for D...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Patrick Shiroishi. For years, Los Angeles-based saxophonist and composer Patrick Shiroishi has been playing music in numerous bands and ensembles crossing a number of different genres. These include groups such as Corima, Upsilon Acrux, Nakata, In the Womb, Oort Smog, as well as many others. Patrick also records solo under his own name, and this includes his...

On today's episode, I talk to musician and actor Katelyn Tarver. After getting her start performing in prestigious talent competitions as a child in Glennville, Georgia, Katelyn moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She promptly made her TV debut with a recurring role on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush, then began independently releasing her music whil...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Buzz Osborne. Originally from Morton, WA, Buzz founded the rock band Melvins in the early '80s, and in 1986, C/Z Records released their first EP Six Songs. Since then, they've released over 40 more albums, EPs and compilations on record labels like Alternative Tentacles, Sub Pop and Ipecac Recordings, and while never achieving mainstream success - if that's e...

On today's episode, I talk to cartoonist Keith "Keef" Knight. Starting with his K Chronicles in the early '90s, Keith has been a professional cartoonist for almost three decades. In that time, he's started two other series - (th)ink and the Knight Life - and written almost 20 books of cartoons. Keith has been syndicated everywhere, won awards like the Harvey Award and was named one of 2015's Histo...

On today's episode, I talk to musician David Thomas. Raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, David is one of the founders of the short-lived but influential punk band Rocket from the Tombs, who split up after about a year, with some members going off to form the Dead Boys, while David founded Pere Ubu. While David would record on and off with the self-described avant-garage Pere Ubu over the next 40 ye...