Various Things

For many years now, World of Mirth has been an iconic part of the Carytown neighborhood, here in Richmond, Virginia. packed full of curiosities for minds of all ages, it's existence has brought both continued life to Carytown, and excitement to any whom enter it's location. And For the past decade of it's existence, Thea Brown has been the woman charged with keeping those shelves stocked with fun...

Gritty City records was started in 2011, by emcee, recording engineer, and label owner, Jono aka Johnny Cigs, as a place to make music for him and his friends. Part record label, part recording studio, over the past six years, Jono has led the Girtty City label on to release over 25 albums, and double that in singles, bringing their brand of hip hop to market, and representing a community of produ...

When I first heard Fan, it was because he had contributed a verse to a song I had done with label mate, Ben FM. I was floored by the verse. Not because of the technicality of it, and not because he had the best worldplay, though his wordplay is good. But rather, because it had some special quality. A very special quality. After talking with him today, I realize that quality is what you call 'soul'...

Todays interview is with Abby Davis. Abby is a creative, but you could also call her an artist, craft maker, musician, and teacher, to name a few things. She documents her craft works on her blog, Crafty Lady Abby, teaches classes for Richmond's ART 180, and sings with the space-punk band, League Of Space Pirates. I had a great time talking with Abby and learning about how she approaches life and...

Todays interview is with Nathan Stickel. Nathan is a punk, a cook, and a rural working class white southerner living in the City, here in Richmond, Virginia. For a while you could find him working at the Flying Brick during open hours, and nowadays, working with the local chapter of Jericho, a group working to help support political prisoners inside the United States. I've known Nathan for a few y...

Today we are talking with Musician Alison Self. I saw Alison perform a few years back and was amazed by both her talent and her songs. She plays a type of music which could be described as 'Old Time', but also has a new-ness in her lyrics and approach to subjects that makes her songs both refreshing as well as fun to listen to. You can learn more about Alison at her website, and check out her musi...

Liz Canfield is a sound artist, zine maker, teacher, and community organizer here in Richmond, Virginia. She teaches as an assistant professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, at Virginia Commonwealth University. One of her main focuses has been working with people incarcerated in the Richmond City Jail. It was great to sit down with Liz and talk about some of the projec...

Todays interview is with Chris Boarts Larson. Chris is an artist, a photographer, who, with her zine 'Slug and Lettuce', doccumented hardcore punk in New York City and Richmond, Virginia, building something of a community through the zine throughout the 90s. Today she is working on a new photo project. It was exciting to talk with Chris and find out her opinions on things happening today, as well...

Todays' interview is with Noah Scalin. Noah is a an artist whose work requires him to wear many hats. He's a professor at VCU teaching future graphic designers how to find their own ethical voice, He runs the design agency Another Limited Rebellion, he's written and published a few books on some of his art projects, perhaps most notably his book 'Skulls' and his 'Skull-A-Day' project, and on top o...

Todays episode is with Ben Snakepit. Ben is a musician and artist. As a musician he has played with the bands Shit Creek, Shanghai River, MODOK and J Church, currently playing with the band Ghost Knife. And as an artist, has created six books of his comic series, "Snakepit", the latest of which is titled "SnakePit Gets Old". He also does a column in Razorcake. I first met Ben years ago when he liv...

Todays episode is with Greta Brinkman. Greta got started playing music in the early punk and hardcore scenes of Pennsylvania and Richmond, playing with bands such as 2000 Maniacs and Unseen Force. She then went on to become a touring musician, playing bass with the Debbie Harry Band, and Moby, as well as working as a studio musician in NYC. She now lives back in Richmond, and plays with the band D...

Today's interview is with Jeff Grant. Jeff got started playing in bands in the mid 90's as the drummer for the Richmond punk band Target For Agression. He then went on to play with a continual assortment of bands, including taking up guitar and vocals to play with the band Pink Razors, the band Food, and now his most recent projects, The Sands and Full Sun. Along the way, he moved to Bloomington I...

Today's interview is with Ben FM. Ben is a rapper from Richmond, Virginia, was the co-founder of the Hip-Hop duo Luggage, and since I met him in both of our early teens, a very bright and confident person that likes to make other people think with his art. In addition to new solo music he has planned to release, he also is working with others to bring a united banner to the Richmond Hip-Hop cultur...

Todays Episode is with Andrew Necci. As long as I've known Andrew, he has been writing, whether in his zine "Nothing Is Cool", lyrics for his band Tri-State Killing Spree, or currently, as the Editor-In-Chief of RVA Magazine. In fact, his writing is how I got to know him, when he interviewed my 15 or 16 year old self for a zine he was doing, back in 1995 or 96. So when I started doing these interv...

Today's episode is with Boston Punk Rocker and 'Recovery Worker', Craig Lewis. Craig grew up in the punk scene in Boston, and in his early teens, began being diagnosed with various mental health disorders and put on drugs to treat them. But it wasn't till much later in life that Craig got with a good therapist and realized, He had none of them. That in fact, much of the anguish he was suffering wa...

Ed Edge is a community activist and paramedic in Richmond, Virginia whom dedicates his time to running a variety of non-profit organizations designed to help the economically poor people of the City Of Richmond. He has funded these works through his own pay as a paramedic and living simply, as well as through for-profit business he has also run, such as Cafe Verde, a series of food carts, and the...

Megan Osborn is an activist, artist, author, and my spouse. She founded Mindful Liberation Project, a group advocating for those with mental health issues, founded FOIA For Change, using the FOIA process to gain insight into how organizational policies regarding dealing with folks with mental health issues, co-founded Something Something Press, a distro of radical mental health books, zines, and l...

Susan Longest is an academic, photographer, advocate for LGBT rights, and also my sister. She has a PhD from the University Of Chicago, and her specialty is evolutionary biology. She is currently an assistant professor at Colorado Mesa University, and works with various other organizations. In this interview, Susan shares her passion for evolutionary biology with us, offering an understanding of h...

Mo Karnage is an activist from Richmond, Virginia. Mo has been involved in Radical activities in Richmond, as a member of the Wingnut Anarchist Collective, hosting Richmond Food Not Bombs, working with the Central Virginia Food Bank to host it's Mobile Food Pantry in Southern Barton Heights, and working with various other causes and organizations in the City. Mo also runs Karnage Creations LLC, do...

Kieran Wagner is an amazing photographer from Richmond, Virginia. Before taking up photography and making truly awesome photographs, Kieran was an Audio Engineer, making recordings with a roster of artists that you are most likely familiar with. Kieran is a craftsman, putting a focus and dedication into the things he does that is truly inspiring, whether it's behind the lens, the mixing desk, or r...

Dave Brown has been involved in the punk and hardcore music scene since his teenage years, both as a fan, and with running his record label, Vicious Circle Records. He recently released his first book, Adult Crash, a photo book taking inventory of the photos he took over the years, of the bands that meant a lot to him. Now, in addition to being a parent of three kids, he is working on his second b...