The Creative Curmudgeon

THE CREATIVE CURMUDGEON RETURNS! This episode's special guest is Michael Buchmiller, member of the human-and-robot duo The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra and art person for Hand Carved Graphics. Prepare to have your life changed!

In this episode, Sonny Kay and I discuss drawing, collaging, screaming in bands, writing lyrics, Arkansas, naming dogs, The Cult, Public Enemy, The Beatles, growing cacti, the meaning of life, and much more! We zero in on the creative process behind his collage "Sonoran Sandman." At the beginning of this episode, you will hear a few seconds of The VSS song "Silt, etc." You can check out his work a...

Clyde Petersen is a visual artist. He also makes music under the moniker Your Heart Breaks. He also is a filmmaker whose credits include the animated film "Torrey Pines" and the Earth documentary "Even Hell Has It's Heroes." In addition to discussing all of these things in this episode, we also talk about which Star Trek series is our favorite and why, though we also talk about how we love all of...

On this episode, Zoe Boekbinder and I discuss building houses, neurodivergence, the prison system, painting, birds, singing, songwriting, producing, and a bunch of other stuff. At the beginning of this episode after the theme song, you can hear Zoe's song "I Am Yesterday." Their work can be found at https://zeoboekbinder.com/ .

I had a lovely conversation with the Arizona drag artist Daddy Satan, during which we discussed make-up, fashion, SFX, horror, coming up with a drag name, the Phoenix drag community, activism, religion, gaming, and more.

Alyssa Giannini runs Craft or DIY, runs the venue resource website DoDIY, and is pretty cool. In this conversation, we discuss zines, zine fests, air filters, Elliott Smith, Tumblr, flyers, marketing, organzing, watching familiar TV shows in order to fall asleep, and more. Their work can be found at https://www.craftordiy.art/ .

Justin Pearson has played in a lot of bands. He's written books. He's run a record label for twenty years. He has a wonderful smile. And now he's on this podcast. Listen to us discuss dogs, yoga, breakdancing, vocal technique, bass gear, The Cramps, and much more!

In this episode, I have a no-holds-barred exchange of words with Portland-based ceramics artist Taylor Ruby Bell. We discuss whether good or bad art exists, antiquity, getting inspiration from art books, tools for ceramics, self-marketing, always feeling the need to be mentally occupied, the fact that we went to high school together, and more! Her work can be found at https://www.rubybellceramics....

In this episode, I chat with the Phoenix-based artist Bailey Christine about drawing bears, drawing geese, drawing as small as possible, experimentation, influences, artistic tools, disability, creativity during pandemics, and other stuff!

In addition to creating experimental electronic music under the moniker Dream_Mega, Joel Kyack also does all sorts of other interesting shit. Listen to us discuss discuss being a solo artist, work as play, whether art mediums matter, Rhode Island, the evils of ambition, live improv, wrestling promos, and more!

This discussion with Jay Smith is a crossover episode with his podcast "Brushwork." It's like how sitcoms in the 90s did crossover episodes. Listen to us discuss music, sign painting, horror, lucid dreams, astral projection, and much more! Some of Jay's work can be found here: https://app.signcrowd.com/company/painted-jay#

R.C. Auz îs the creative force behind the comic book series "Ratkids." In this episode, we discuss plot, panel layout, listening to your characters, drawing by hand vs digitally, self-promotion, staying childish, Silver Age comics, black metal, and much more. "Ratkids" can be found at ⁠ https://tapas.io/series/RATKIDS/info.⁠

Mary Fashik is the founder of the Upgrade Accessibility movement, is the host of the podcast "The Politics of Disability," and is the author of the soon-to-be-released children's book "Adventurous Adeline and the Back-to-School Party." We had a nice conversation, during which we discuss disability rights, creative habits, writing for children, getting a book published, RuPaul's Drag Race, Marilyn...

Let me tell you about Neil Burke. He has performed in such musical endeavors as Men's Recovery Project, Sinking Body, Born Against, Life's Blood, Landed, and many more. In addition to creating his own visual art, he has also created lots and lots of art for lots and lots of bands. It was an honor to talk to him and to discuss music equipment, overcoming stage fright, artistic influences, studio ba...

Edward Colver's live band photos, studio portraits, and album covers have made him a legend of music photography. He's also a really nice guy, and I'm truly honored that he agreed to speak with me. We discussed his cameras of choice, how he got started, how he got the attention of the early punk community, the making of the album cover for Black Flag's Damaged, why he thinks you should never try t...

Andrew Goldfarb writes, draws, paints, and performs as a one-man band under the name The Slow Poisoner. In this episode, we discuss creating juggling, playing multiple instruments at once, time moving backwards, putting corpses on display, what happens when we die, how to stay weird, and much more. His work can be found at theslowpoisoner.com .

I am delighted to present to you my conversation with the Providence-based artist Allison Cole. Subjects include using art to process the world, developing one’s own style, cats, coffee, conveying positive messages while avoiding toxic positivity, and more.

Gretchen Felker-Martin wrote Manhunt, one of the greatest horror novels of all time. It was an honor to speak to her about writing, re-writing, why we like horror, how to read Ulysses, the importance of writing exactly what you want to write, and more.

This week, I was visited by the Seattle-based visual artist Aaron Davis. Subjects include watercolors, expired film, teaching yourself technique, parenting, ADHD, the myth of needing to be an asshole to be a good artist, and much more.

This week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Christian Hell, the leader of the hardcore punk band Hong Kong Fuck You. We discussed vocal preservation, bass production, Mexico, ADHD, nu metal, sketch comedy, making music with your offspring, and much more.

In this episode, I pick the brain of poet extraordinaire Shawnte Orion. We discuss many things including favorite books, line breaks, spoken word delivery, and of course grunge music.

Paris Weslyn is a Portland-based poet who recently released her first collection, "Navel of the Moon." But what is poetry? How does it work? That's what we will get to the bottom of in this podcast.

SYA-WORD is a writer, rap lyricist, emcee, vocalist, songwriter, producer, electronic musician, and queer icon. They are also the first-ever guest on this podcast, as well as the first-ever returning guest. In this episode, we discuss their ongoing fiction serial (which can be found at syaword.substack.com ), name changes, singing, Beyonce, Golden Girls, Desperate Housewives, and other things.

NXOEED is a visual artist who hides his work wherever he goes, then gives his followers clues as to where to find it. It's impossible to walk through Downtown Phoenix without seeing his surreal, monstrous work somewhere. And yet he is shrouded in mystery, a sort of Batman of the art world. I'm honored to present our pleasant discussion, during which we talked about anonymity, stickers, not titling...

Eric Paul has provided vocals for Arab on Radar, The Chinese Stars, Doomsday Student, and Psychic Graveyard. He’s also released books of poetry, is a professor, and has a wonderful smile. Listen to us talk about writing, singing, microphones, uniforms, and much more.