Chaos and Creativity

In 1977 I was third in line for the first showing of Star Wars on its opening day at the Coronet theater in San Francisco. It was the first time I had ever seen people line up for a movie. The atmosphere was incredible. A movie the studios anticipated would do little business was on its way to becoming a cultural phenomenon. At twelve years old, Star Wars had radically changed my life by introduci...

It’s a classic Kimi and Lou episode of best laid plans. They start by talking about how professional creatives are now digital janitors to AI slop, then quickly get lost in the woods talking about Universal Basic Income, Phoebe Waller Bridge’s Flea Bag and myriad other topics loosely tied to the main topic. “Loosely” is doing a lot of work in that previous sentence. Mentioned in This Episode  Flea...

I’ll admit to having a ridiculously pedestrian perception of classical music artists. Pianists specifically. Call it lack of direct exposure, or maybe too much Bugs Bunny when I was a kid. Or maybe, maybe, maybe it’s the awe I feel when I watch a pianist play with a supernova-like intensity that I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced. Is this envy? Insecurity? Probably a blend. My next guest, classica...

We’ve all been there. Stuck in traffic, running late, woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Caught a mood from somebody else. Barista didn’t quite get your morning coffee right. And what started as a crap moment begins to seem like a crap day, a crap week, a crap life. You. Are. Spiraling. You know you might pull other people in with you. What happens next? In this minisode, Kimi and Lou share the...

If you look at map of Los Angeles, you’ll see where I used to live on Kittyhawk Avenue is in close proximity the airport. There was a hide-a-key near the back door. If you knew me, or knew someone who knew me, you were welcome to stay— on the couch if I was in town, or in the bedroom if I was out of town. If you stayed more than two nights, compensation was a bottle of wine or bourbon. That includ...

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon. I’ve just arrived home from another sophomore day at a new high school I started attending only a few weeks earlier. Melding into this new society as an outsider isn’t going poorly, but it has its challenges. On the turntable of my father’s hi-fi is the just released album Moving Pictures from Rush. The opening song Tom Sawyer , a song about individualism, pers...

In this week’s minisode: Lou offers to write a treatment for a screenplay with a spectacular premise and a really good story. Kimi randomly gets cast in a short film and is relieved when it gets canceled. Drawing on decades of experience as creative professionals, Kimi and Lou share how to ask the right questions when given the “opportunity” to work for free, when trade feels like a valuable excha...

Until I met three time academy award nominee Tom Myers, it never crossed my mind that a blank page to a writer is total silence to a sound designer. That something as subtle as a dog barking in the distance in a movie is as intentional a choice as the more conspicuous murmuring of a populated cafe underneath the dialog of actors in a scene. The deeper Myers and I dug into what he does for a living...

Close your eyes. Listen. Which sounds are soothing? Which ones drive you up a tree? Currently, outside my house there’s a mocking bird that’s making me a little crazy. But in the distance the sound of a freight train whistle is eliciting feelings of happiness. No doubt because of an experience I had around trains when I was 12. Bring that train sound two miles closer, it would probably annoy me to...

Big changes are afoot at Chaos & Creativity, as our long time producer and good friend Claire Duncan moseys down the road of life to her next big thing. We wish her nothing but the best. Lest Kimi and Lou be left alone too long without supervision, we’re excited to announce the arrival of our new producer Cheramie “CJ” Johnson. We’re also thrilled to welcome Alexandra Covey to the podcast edit...

In this episode, Lou shares about a do-it-yourself project that flopped, revealing that 1) acoustics is an art form, and 2) he's terrible at acoustics.  So Lou and Kimi talk about which skills are worth learning as creative professionals, and what's important to delegate out. Reflecting on their younger years, they wonder what happened to the time and energy they once had to learn new sk...

This week on Chaos & Creativity , we’re joined by photographer and visual artist William Waterworth. His work feels like scenes from an old film — dark, cinematic, and full of emotion. We talk about why he prefers shooting out in nature instead of a studio, how literature and art inspire his photography, and why he looks for real character over the “perfect” model. We also get into film vs. di...

Do you have to choose between being cool and being rich? In this episode, we talk about what it feels like to be creative right now. There’s so much content everywhere, and it can feel like you have to turn everything into money. But does that take away from what makes something cool? We get into whether art is really valued today, how social media has changed things, and if you can actually make...

In this episode, Kimi and Lou sit down with Annicka Ekvall, a Swedish-American DJ and producer making major waves in the minimal melodic house scene. Closely associated with Insomniac, Annicka has performed on the world's biggest stages, including EDC, Coachella and Burning Man. She joins us to discuss the magic of staying grounded while playing for thousands and why her newest role, being a...

How do you handle criticism when you are deeply connected to your work? In this episode, Lou and Kimi talk about what it really feels like to receive feedback as a creative. Whether you are an artist, producer, designer, writer or entrepreneur, learning how to take criticism can be the key to growing your ideas and your confidence. Creatives often become emotionally attached to their work, which c...

In this episode, we talk all things music, DJ culture, and the creative process behind electronic music with rising DJ and producer Kieran Kerwin. Before the interview, Kimi shares exciting news from tour. She has officially joined a new band in France called Painmagazine , so be sure to check them out. Kieran is not only a talented electronic music producer and DJ, he also created the intro and o...

In this mini episode, Kimi and Lou talk about why staying organized is honestly one of the most important parts of being a creative professional. When you're juggling multiple projects, ideas, and deadlines, having some kind of system makes everything way more manageable. They share what’s actually worked for them over the years, from simple habits to tools that help them stay on track and no...

In this episode, we talk with Michael Alan Ross, photographer, author of Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rods , and longtime creative professional. Michael shares his journey from a 25-year career as a musician to becoming a respected photographer after landing a singing role in a Ford commercial that introduced him to photography. We explore the world of Porsche Outlaws, where Porsche models are c...

We’re kicking off the new year with some exciting announcements and big things ahead for the Chaos & Creativity universe. This year, we’re thrilled to introduce a new podcast hosted by Sabrina Sarl . Mothers of Creativity spotlights women who make a living through their creative work while also navigating motherhood. Becoming a mom can change everything, and this series explores how creative w...

We’ve made it to our last episode of the year and the season one finale. To close things out, Lou and Kimi are sharing 12 things they’ve been loving lately. These are things that have inspired them, helped them slow down, or simply made life a little better as creatives. This is our version of the 12 Days of Christmas. No endorsements, no sponsors. Just books, shows, tools, and ideas we genuinely...

Kimi and Lou explore the different “characters” we step into throughout our lives — the versions of ourselves that show up in different moments, relationships, and creative seasons. They talk about the parts of us that live quietly inside, the ones that guide our choices, and the ones we grow out of. Lou shares what he’s learned from writing a stage play and how storytelling forces you to meet all...

Join Lou and Jeff Burkhart, award-winning writer, bartender, and columnist for the Marin Independent Journal , as they dive behind the scenes of Tale of a Barfly . Inspired by Jeff’s bestselling book Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender , Tale of a Barfly is a story of life, love, and cocktails. It’s a riches-to-rags journey that reminds us all of life’s greatest t...

Kimi and Lou are back with their well-deserved opinions in this week’s minisode or what we’re now calling bitchsodes .  When Amazon quietly erased guns from classic James Bond posters, it sparked a bigger conversation about censorship, revisionism, and the strange urge to “remaster” the past. Why does art keep getting sanitized? Does censoring a movie poster really help anything? Lou and Kimi unpa...

Lou heads to London to chat with Joe Ingham , an award-winning producer and filmmaker who works in development and production across both the UK and US. Joe has helped bring projects to life with Amazon, BBC, Sky, Channel 4, Paramount, and more, and his films Baby Lies Truthfully and T he Microcosm . In this episode, Joe breaks down what “development” in TV and film actually means, taking an idea...

In this mini-episode, Lou and Kimi talk about YouTube running AI filters over videos, without creators asking for it. Has AI ever automatically edited your content? What does that mean for creativity? YouTube is one of the biggest living archives we have, but if AI starts changing our work, are we actually moving backward? Things are already at the point of overproduction, and social media feels e...