Beyond + Back Podcast

In this debut episode of the Beyond and Back podcast, I speak with my friend fine artist and musician Nathan Carter in his Brooklyn art studio. We're hearing from Nathan at a time when he's just spent about three years working on an entirely new project, a real departure from his previous work, and fortunately it's proving to be a success for him.  Nathan barely graduated high school, but went on to art school and then graduate school at Yale, and we discuss the natural tension between learning art theory and just making a lot of art. Nathan shares some formative memories he has about being a creative child. We talk about what it's like to have two parents who supported his creativity and believed that being an artist is a legitimate life choice. These types of experiences color our attitudes about creativity and whether or not we believe that we're allowed to be creative.  We also discuss Nathan's approach to creating, which invites some vulnerability, a healthy feeling of fear and an element of risk and recklessness. This conversation is free form and we use words that some people find offensive. You'll also hear two songs from The Dramastics that might whip you into a frenzy. So listen with caution.

How do I introduce Allison Anders? I will give you the highlight reel:  Her films include Border Radio, Mi Vida Loca, Gas Food Lodging, Sugartown, Grace of My Heart She’s received a Peabody Award and a MacArthur Genius Grant She's a loving mother and friend, a multi-faceted survivor And she's badass I interviewed Allison at her home in Pasadena, California. Before I finished setting up the microphones in her cozy kitchen, we were already having a great conversation. I gotta tell you, we get real right away — In the first few minutes, we discuss her film Things Behind the Sun, which deals with the subject of sexual abuse similar to what Allison experienced in her own life, so be advised if that’s a sensitive or triggering subject for you.   Other topics we discuss include the state of the DIY ethic, how mentorships should come about, how to connect with actors, and how she often starts a project with a question. It’s really fun talking with Allison Anders. I love her warmth, her wisdom and her humor. I’m inspired by her bravery in writing through very difficult subjects with honesty and heart. That’s a level of openness and vulnerability that leaves a lot of room for discovery.  And it engages the healing potential of creativity. Healing for her as the creator, potentially healing for the people who watch her films, too.

On a recent trip to Tulsa, I decided to find the vintage sewing machine museum my aunt had told me about. I knocked on the door of what looked like a residential home. When a man with a grand mustache answered, I have to admit I thought I was in the wrong place. But as we’ll find out, WK Binger is a unique individual. Sewing is very dear to my heart, in fact I named my company Featherweight Studio after my 1948 Singer Featherweight sewing machine. But this episode is not just for sewing enthusiasts. I invite you to slow down and listen and open your mind. This episode may inspire you to take a left turn creatively and remind you it’s never too late to learn something new. In fact, if you don’t try new things you might miss out on part of your calling. It’s about falling in love with a machine and giving back to a community. 

Kime is an accomplished painter and owns The End Yucca Valley, a vintage oasis in the Mojave Desert featuring clothing, jewelry, textiles and art. I spoke with Kime in her secret new art studio in the high desert near Joshua Tree, California.

Perhaps best known as El Vez, the Mexican Elvis, Lopez is a lifelong creator, starting in his teenage years in the Los Angeles punk scene and continuing to make art today with his latest creation, Mr. Bob and The Unhappy Hour. He is a singer, songwriter, actor, a sincere trickster. He'll make you laugh and cry. He’s calculated and spontaneous, regal, radical, and subversive, his personal is always political. He is many things at the same time.  This conversation rattled me a bit and I spent a lot of time reflecting on it. I invite you to listen for yourself, please forgive if I am more clumsy than usual, and at the end I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned.  I talked with Robert Lopez in the kitchen of his beautiful Seattle home.

Jerry Harrison may be best known for being in two extremely influential bands: The Modern Lovers and Talking Heads. He’s had great success as a music producer with bands including Live, No Doubt, and most recently Le Butcherettes, He’s been involved in film, start-ups, he’s in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, he’s maintained a creative career for over 50 years and he has a knack for knowing where to invest his energy.  In this conversation we talk about self-doubt, family bonds, ghosts, art & academia, and collaborating with large personalities. I want to thank Jerry for how present and forthcoming he was in this conversation, and I’m excited to share it with you. 

Tunde Adebimpe is probably best known as the singer of TV on the Radio, one of my favorite bands. The band was founded by Tunde and Dave Sitek in 2001 in Brooklyn and they’ve released 5 studio albums, but as we’ll find out Tunde didn’t intend to become the lead singer of a successful band. He actually went to New York for film school, but while he was there he explored all avenues to his creativity. Now, In addition to being a musician, he’s also a working actor, often collaborates with other artists, and when we spoke, he was preparing for his first solo art show at a gallery in LA.  In this conversation, we talk about giving ourselves permission to do more than one thing, how art can save lives, and how we can use our creative outlets to help process the difficulties and trauma we experience. We talked in Tunde’s garage studio, so do enjoy the sound of passing cars in the background. 

Aimee Mann began her career as a musician in the 1980s. Early on, she had a breakout hit, “Voices Carry” with her band Til Tuesday, but that experience has not defined her career. Since then she has created a body of work as a solo artist, winning Grammy Awards and nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her work on the soundtrack to the movie Magnolia. She maintains her own signature voice and songwriting style, yet she’s adept at collaborations and transitions, including a successful move from a major record label to releasing work on her own independent label for over a decade. In this episode we talk about talent versus hard work, her approach to songwriting, and why Aimee thinks it’s important to say yes. We spoke in Aimee’s home in Los Angeles, California.

Billie Joe Armstrong is best known for his band Green Day. In the past three decades since they formed in the East Bay of California, they released a dozen studio albums, sold over 85 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Having accomplished more than enough for a lifetime already, what I find fascinating about Billie Joe is that he continues to push himself creatively, adapting their album American Idiot into a Broadway show, acting in films, and just this year he debuted a new band, The Longshot, releasing new music and touring small clubs.  In this episode, we talk about the solitude needed to nurture a creative seed versus the fortitude needed to share it with the world, the benefits of encouraging others, and what we can accomplish when we keep pushing past our comfort zones.  I spoke with Billie Joe in his studio in Oakland, California. 

Paul Frank is best known as the co-founder of Paul Frank Industries, a multi-million dollar company that found success in the mid-1990s with his iconic characters like Julius the Monkey. In this first of two episodes with Paul Frank, we talk about the beginnings of his creativity, what influenced his early work, where Julius the monkey came from and the fun and the function that comes from just figuring things out yourself.