Beginnings

On today's episode, I talk to actress Elina Löwensohn. Originally from Bucharest, Romania, Elina emigrated to the US as a child under somewhat harrowing circumstances. She studied acting and started performing in theater productions in New York and was hired by Hal Hartley after he saw her in play. She starred in a number of his films including Simple Men, Amateur and Flirt, and in the last 30 years, has acted in everything from Schindler's List to Seinfeld to Basquiat to A Very Long Engagement, and this is just a small sampling of her work! Most recently, Elina starred in the excellent experimental sci-fi film After Blue (Dirty Paradise)! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to musician Damian Abraham. Originally from Toronto, Damian has been playing in punk bands since he was a tween. In 2001, he formed Fucked Up with Mike Haliechuk and has been the lead singer ever since. They've recorded six albums and dozens and dozens of EPs and other recordings on labels like Arts & Crafts, Merge and Matador. Damian is also the host of the interview podcast Turned Out a Punk, which has featured many of the same wonderful guests you've heard on Beginnings. Fucked Up's latest album One Day was just released last week on Merge, and like everything else they do, it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's 13th anniversary episode, I talk to Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning TV and film writer Terence Winter. Originally from Brooklyn, Terry became a lawyer before giving it all up to move to LA to pursue a career in screenwriting. Starting on shows like Xena: Warrior Princess and sitcoms like Sister, Sister, Terry eventually became a writer for The Sopranos, which he wrote on for most of its run. Since then, he created the wonderful HBO show Boardwalk Empire, wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street, and co-created both Vinyl and the new Taylor Sheridan/Sylvester Stallone show Tulsa King, which just wrapped up its first season on Paramount+. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated comics creator Jim Zub. Jim began his comics career making webcomics starting in the early aughts, but it was with his Image book Skullkickers, which allowed him to break through to a wider audience. Since then he's written other creator-owned work for Image like Wayward and Glitterbomb, as well as numerous books for DC and Marvel including most notably The Avengers and Thunderbolts. Speaking of Thunderbolts, Jim is currently writing the latest series of that, as well as a Murderworld miniseries, a Conan series for Titan Comics and much, much more! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Alba Torremocha, Melissa Carter, and Lillie McDonough AKA the band ALMA. Hailing from all over the world, the New York-based trio officially formed in 2019 out of a shared delight in harmonizing and experimentation. Later that year, they were named an NYFA Fellow for their genre-pushing work and the following year, were awarded an Awesome Foundation Grant. Then in 2021, they released their first album MOSAIC to acclaim! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode I talk to musician and scholar Daniel Wyche. Daniel is a visiting assistant professor in Albion College's religious studies department and a brilliant guitarist - his album Earthwork was one of my favorites in 2021, and after his first appearance on the show back in episode 514, we've become friendly. As a former philosophy professor and current philosophy dilettante, I thought it might be fun to go off-topic-ish for an episode and have an actual PhD on to bounce my well-thought out yet unresearched ideas off of, but mostly to ask: is there a way out of our society's current irrational tailspin??? This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to theater and TV director Sheldon Epps. Originally from Compton, CA, Sheldon's decades-long career in entertainment has spanned both the stage and television. He was a co-founder & the associate artistic director of the off-Broadway theater The Production Company, conceived and directed the Duke Ellington musical Play On!, which received three Tony Award nominations, and was the artistic director at the Pasadena Playhouse for two decades. For television, Sheldon has directed episodes of Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Hannah Montana, Sister, Sister, and many, many more, and he was a producer/director for the hit UPN/CW show Girlfriends. Most recently, just this fall, Sheldon's memoir My Own Directions: A Black Man's Journey in the American Theatre was published - check it out! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to comics creator Cliff Chiang. Originally from New Jersey, Cliff wasn't sure of his direction in life, but wanted to give his dream of making comics a try and got an editorial job at DC/Vertigo after college. This led to drawing anthology stories and single issues which led to higher profile gigs on books like Human Target and Wonder Woman. In 2015, Cliff co-created the Eisner Award-winning series Paper Girls with Brian K. Vaughan, which was turned into a canceled-way-too-soon series on Amazon this year, and most recently, he wrote and drew the fantastic miniseries Catwoman: Lonely City, which just wrapped up at the end of October. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to actor Breeda Wool. Originally from Urbana, Illinois, Breeda moved to New York City after college to pursue acting, where she did everything from sketch comedy to guerilla theater to acting in indie films. This all led to roles in more mainstream work like Vice Principals, The Affair, GLOW, and The Walking Dead, as well as regular roles on shows like Mr. Mercedes and UnREAL. Breeda is also one of the stars of the new Disney+ show National Treasure: Edge of History, which debuts next Wednesday! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kurt Wagner. Originally from Nashville, TN, Kurt was an artist and musician working a day job. But through the late '80s into the '90s, his band Lambchop began to become popular, assisted in some part by Vic Chesnutt enthusiastically talking about them in the press. Since 1990, Lambchop has released almost 20 albums, most of them on Merge Records, and their latest The Bible, came out at the end of September, and like everything else Kurt makes, it's wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to writer Jerry Stahl. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jerry won a Pushcart Prize early in his writing career before taking a detour into writing erotica and for magazines like Hustler. This led to another detour writing for TV and movies, although "detour" here might be incorrect, considering this has been a large chunk of his professional career. Jerry penned scripts for ALF, Thirtysomething, Moonlighting, Twin Peaks, CSI, Maron, Escape at Dannemora as well as films like Bad Boys II. As an author, Jerry has written a number of incredible books and memoirs including Perv: A Love Story, I, Fatty, Permanent Midnight and his latest Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man's Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to rapper Homeboy Sandman. Originally from Elmhurst, Queens, Angel Del Villar II AKA Homeboy Sandman started making albums while he was in law school. This led him to leave the judicial path he was on to focus on music, and since 2007, he has recorded over two dozen albums, EPs and mixtapes, including a number of incredible EPs with Aesop Rock. His latest, Still Champion, was just released today - Deca produced it, and it is wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Bill Orcutt. Originally from Miami, Florida, Bill made films and played music in various groups before co-founding the noise rock group Harry Pussy in the early '90s with his then-wife Adris Hoyos. After releasing a number of albums and EPs on labels like Siltbreeze, the group broke up and Bill moved to San Francisco to focus on filmmaking and other endeavors. In 2009, he began making music publicly again, and in the last 13 years, has produced a number of incredible experimental albums. His latest, Music for Four Guitars, was just released back in September, and it's wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Robin Holcomb. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Robin grew up in the Bay Area and began playing piano when she was six. In 1977, she moved with her partner, composer Wayne Horvitz, to New York City and was one of the foundational members of the NY downtown art scene. Since then, she has composed works for orchestras from Portland to Philly, has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to the League of American Orchestras, and recorded albums for labels from Tzadik to Nonesuch. Her latest album, One Way or Another, vol. 1, was just released on Westerlies Records, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to artist and musician Tara Jane O'Neil. Tara cut her teeth in the 1990s Louisville music scene as the bassist of the influential post-punk group Rodan. After their breakup in 1994, she moved to New York, where she performed in a number of fantastic bands including Retsin, Ida Retsin Family, The Sonora Pine, and The Naysayer. She's also released over a dozen albums and EPs under her own name on labels like Kranky and K, and as a visual artist, she's been exhibited all over the world. In early November, The Sonora Pine's second album II will be reissued on Ryley Walker's label Husky Pants Records, and I can't recommend it enough! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to Dave Kuzy and John Roman of the prolific Pittsburgh band Microwaves. Growing up in and around Pittsburgh, Dave and John formed Microwaves with Zombi's Steve Moore, after John left the brilliant noise rock band The 1985. In the last 20-odd-years, the group has released 10 fantastic albums and EPs and undergone a number of line-up changes, though they are always grounded by John and Dave's presence. Their latest album Discomfiture Atlas invites former vocalists/bassists Steve Moore and Adam MacGregor back, and it's wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Tony Molina. Constantly juggling hardcore and pop projects, veteran Bay Area musician Tony Molina has won over fans in both camps. Since 2002, Tony has played in several bands including Dystrophy, Ovens, Lifetime Problems, Caged Animal, Violent Change, as well as his own solo work which lives somewhere between early Weezer and Guided by Voices. These albums have been released on labels like Matador and Slumberland, and his most recent In the Fade came out in early August on Run for Cover, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Katy Davidson AKA Dear Nora. Originally from Arizona, Katy has been making music for decades now under the name Dear Nora, starting with the Make You Smile 7" in 2000 on Magic Marker Records. They took a long break from the moniker after 2008's Three States, but picked it up again with 2018's Skulls Example which is one of the best albums Katy's ever recorded. Their new album, Human Features, will be released on Orindal Records at the end of October, and it's fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner Award-nominated comics writer Kieron Gillen. Originally from Stafford in the West Midlands of England, Kieron began his writing career as a games journalist, writing for publications like PC Gamer UK, Wired, The Guardian among others. HIs early comics work included a comic strip with Jamie McKelvie, which started their long and celebrated working partnership that led to incredible comics like Phonogram, Young Avengers and The Wicked + The Divine. While Kieron's works are too numerous to name, some of his best knows comics include his Uncanny X-Men run, Die, Star Wars: Darth Vader, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Loki: Journey Into Mystery, and most currently Eternals, Immortal X-Men and the massive crossover Judgment Day! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Laura Veirs. Originally from Colorado Springs, Laura first thought she was going to follow her family into the sciences. However, an artistic life called to her, and in 1999, she released her first, self-titled album. Since then, she has released almost a dozen more albums, become an international success, and recorded with Neko Case and K.D. Lang as case/lang/veirs. Her latest album Found Light was just released this summer on Raven Marching Band! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Emilie Rex and musician/filmmaker Rick Alverson AKA Lean Year. As a musical duo, Emilie and Rick have been making music together for a number of years, and their first self-titled album was released in 2017 to acclaim from publications like Pitchfork and NPR Music. In addition to their musical work, Rick is also a lauded indie film director, whose movies include The Comedy starring Tim Heidecker and The Mountain starring Jeff Goldblum. Lean Year's latest album Sides was just released on Western Vinyl, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to author Lincoln Michel. Originally from Virginia, Lincoln's fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Pushcart Prize anthology and his essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The Believer, The Guardian and many other places. His debut story collection, Upright Beasts, was published by Coffee House Press in 2015, and his debut novel, The Body Scout, was published by Orbit just last year! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Attia Taylor. Originally from Philadelphia, Attia is a writer and musician based in New York City. She is the founder of Womanly Magazine, a publication dedicated to providing accessible health information to women and non-binary people through visual and literary art. She is also half of the psych-pop band Strange Parts, and has been writing and releasing music under her own name since 2009. Her first full album, Space Ghost, was just released this summer on Lame-O Records! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Karl Blau. Originally from Samish Island, WA, Karl grew up in a family of amatuer musicians and at first thought he was going to be a fine artist. But by the end of high school, Karl was all in on music, and his band Captain Fathom began playing in Anacortes. It was there he met Beat Happening's Bret Lunsford and a pre-Microphones/Mount Eerie Phil Elvrum and they formed the band D+. Being part of the Anacortes music scene eventually led Karl to joining Laura Veirs' band, to working at K Records' Dub Narcotic Studios, and to write and record dozens of albums of his own since the late '90s, which were released on labels like Lunsford's Knw-Yr-Own, K Records, Bella Union, and though Karl's own recording series Kelp! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Tim McIlrath of Rise Against. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Tim grew up about an hour outside Chicago in the suburbs where he started playing in punk bands. In 1999, Joe Principe and Dan Wieklinski formed Rise Against out of the break-up of their former band 88 Fingers Louie, and invited Tim to join. Though the early days were tumultuous, they persevered and released the Transistor Revolt EP a year later. And since those early days, the band has risen to international acclaim releasing albums on Fat Wreck Chords, Geffen, DGC/Interscope and their most current album, the Nowhere Generation II EP was just released on Loma Vista in June! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Originally from Ohio, Kevin eventually ended up in Athens, GA where he became part of the Elephant 6 collective, a group that included Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and many others. Kevin's music has transformed over time, as his own aesthetic beliefs have changed. Starting off as a Kinks/Paul McCartney-esque surreal indie pop group with albums on Bar/None and Kindercore, morphing from there into electronic pop and then dance pop, the entirety of the band's output given a throughline by Kevin's psyche. Since 2004, Kevin has almost exclusively released albums on Polyvinyl and his latest Freewave Lucifer Fck is out now! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician John Ringhofer AKA Half-handed Cloud. Based now in Helsinki, Finland, Half-handed Cloud started as a home-recording project in Chattanooga, TN in 1999. Since then, John has released almost two dozen albums and EPs, many of them on Asthmatic Kitty and Sounds Familyre. He's also been a member of Sufjan Stevens' touring band, and his latest album Flutterama is out now! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to actor Britt Lower. Originally from Heyworth, Illinois, Britt's first big role was on the short-lived 2010 Comedy Central show Big Lake. This launched her into the world of being a working actor, which included a regular role on Man Seeking Woman, as well as recurring roles on shows like Casual, Ghosted, and High Maintenance. Currently, Britt stars in the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series Severance, which is easily one of the best things on TV! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comics creator Mike "Spike" Allred. Originally from Oregon, Mike began his career in comics while working as a journalist. He created his well-known character Madman in the early '90s, and since then has drawn on books like Sandman, Fables, Silver Surfer and numerous others. He co-created two wonderful series: iZombie and X-Statix, and is currently drawing Superman: Space Age and a new X-Statix series. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Casper Kelly. Originally from Burlington, North Carolina, Casper started working at Adult Swim in the early 2000s, writing for shows like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Squidbillies, as well as non-Adult Swim shows like Archer. He's co-created two series, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell and Stroker and Hoop, as well as the incredible Adult Swim infomercial Too Many Cooks. In addition to his TV work, Casper is a wonderful short story writer, and his book More Stories About Spaceships and Cancer is very much worth your time! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Victoria Park AKA Pictoria Vark. Originally from Cresskill, NJ, Victoria started playing in bands in high school and then college, eventually becoming the touring bassist for indie rock bands like Squirrel Flower and Pinkshift. A few months ago, her first album The Parts I Dread was released on Get Better Records, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to artist Steve Keene. Originally from the DC metro area, Steve wanted to be an artist from an early age, taking off on a path that eventually led him to Yale art school. But it wasn't until his early 30s that he realized what he actually wanted to do as an artist, and since then Steve has become the most prolific American painter of all time, producing more than 300,000 hand-painted works via his studio/chainlink fence cage where he paints more than 50 paintings at a time.Time Magazine even gave him the moniker of the "Assembly-Line Picasso" because of his unique mass-production painting style. In addition to his affordable mass produced paintings, Steve's also painted the album art for many indie rock bands, including Pavement, The Apples in Stereo, The Silver Jews, as well as many others, and a new book about Steve, produced by photojournalist Daniel Efram, was recently published on Hat and Beard Press! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kasie Shahbaz AKA Kisskadee. Originally from San Diego, Kasie first started playing music under the name Coyote Run. As Kisskadee though, her first release was just last year, a short EP entitled Ambient Music For Bedrooms. And her first full album Black Hole Era just came out in May on Anxiety Blanket Records, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Joe Rainey. Originally from South Minneapolis, Joe is A member of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe people and began attending and singing at pow wows from an early age, as well as becoming a pow wow singing archivist. Eventually ending up in Wisconsin, Joe began guesting with different musicians, working with people like Alan Sparhawk of Low, Bon Iver, Chance the Rapper, among many others. This eventually led to his debut album Niineta, which he composed with producer and artist Andrew Broder and which was released at the end of May on Justin Vernon's label 37d03d! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Shaun Fleming. Originally from Agoura Hills, CA, Shaun started out their creative life as a child voice actor on shows like Fillmore!, Kim Possible and Lilo & Stitch. As a musician though, they first started playing professionally as the touring drummer for the indie rock band Foxygen. Soon after, Shaun formed Diane Coffee as an outlet for their own music, and since then have recorded five albums and EPs, the latest of which, With People, was just released on Polyvinyl! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to comics writer Ryan North. Originally from Osgoode, Ontario, Ryan was on a path to a career in computational linguistics before a small webcomic he started, Dinosaur Comics, launched him in a somewhat different direction. Since then, he's become a New York Times-bestselling and Eisner Award-winning writer whose work includes the non-fiction book How To Invent Everything, the semi-fictional graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and the so-far-fictional Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comic and podcast for Marvel. He's also written Adventure Time, Jughead, The Midas Flesh and many other comics as well, and his most recent work is another non-fiction book How To Take Over The World! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to composer and singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane. Originally from Venice Beach, California, Gabriel has been making albums for almost a decade and a half, starting with his self-titled album which was released on Family Records in 2008. Gabriel comes at much of his songwriting from a conceptual standpoint - on his 2014 album The Ambassador, he used ten addresses in LA to write songs from the perspectives of characters both real and imaginary, his 2018 album Book of Travelers was based on a cross-country train trip he took, and his first concert work Craigslistlieder set real Craisglist ads to music. In addition to his songwriting, Gabriel has also been commissioned to write dozens of pieces for orchestras, festivals and theaters, and his latest album Magnificent Bird was just released at the end of March on Nonesuch Records! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner Award-winning comics writer Kelly Thompson. After graduating with a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design, Kelly began her career as a novelist, penning two books in the early 20-teens, The Girl Who Would Be King and Storykiller. She soon began writing comics with some creator-owned series through Dark Horse and Boom, as well as on the IDW series Jem & The Holograms, among many others. This led to writing for Marvel, where she's written many critically acclaimed and well-loved books including Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Deadpool, Uncanny X-Men, Rogue & Gambit and Hawkeye, among many others! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Kathryn Calder and Mark Andrew Hamilton. Kathryn and Mark have been making music in different bands for years. Kathryn is a member of The New Pornographers, has released three albums under her own name and was in the indie pop group Immaculate Machine from 2003 to 2011. Similarly, Mark's primary band since the mid-aughts has been Woodpigeon, who have released over two dozen albums and EPs since their formation. After a chance meeting in the hallway of a recording studio, the two vowed to form a band together one day, and in the late 20-teens, they did just that! Their first self-titled album was released in 2018, and their latest Parade was just released last week on Oscar St. Records! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to rapper, academic and politician Mariah Parker AKA Linqua Franqa. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mariah wears many hats. As an academic, they earned their master's in Linguistics at the University of Georgia in 2017 and are currently a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at the University. As an activist and politician, Mariah ran for and won county commissioner in District 2 of Athens, Georgia. And as a rapper, they've released two wonderful albums, Model Minority in 2018 and their latest Bellringer, which was just released on Ernest Jenning Record Co., and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Carey Mercer. Originally from Okanagan, British Columbia, Carey formed the band Frog Eyes in the early 2000s out of the ashes of his former band Blue Pine. From 2003 until 2018, they wrote and released almost a dozen albums and EPs on labels like Absolutely Kosher and Dead Oceans. And in that time, Carey also released a number of solo albums, as well as with the supergroup Swan Lake featuring Destroyer's Dan Bejar and Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug. In 2018, Frog Eyes disbanded, but four years later they are back with a new album The Bees, which is out on Paper Bag Records, and as usual, it's fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer and actor Andrew Farmer. Originally from Florida, Andrew is a recipient of the 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant, and his work has been produced at The Museum of Modern Art, Ars Nova, Playwrights Horizons Downtown, Joe's Pub, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Walker Space, Theater Aspen and The Yale School of Drama. As a podcaster, he hosted the long-running Forever Dog podcast Scary Stories to Tell On the Pod, and as a TV writer, he's written for Miracle Workers and the forthcoming animated show Praise Petey. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Dan Erickson. Originally from Olympia, Washington, Dan earned a Masters in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School before moving to LA where he worked a number of day jobs and journeyman writing jobs for places like Super Deluxe and things like Spike's Lip Sync Battle Pre-Show. In 2016, his hourlong pilot, Severance, became the first TV script ever included on The Bloodlist, an industry list of the best unproduced scripts. This led to a meeting with Ben Stiller's production company, and eventually the show Severance, which is easily one of the best of the last decade. Its first season on Apple TV+ is just wrapping up, and it's already been renewed for a second! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to actor, writer and improviser Lennon Parham. Born in Marietta, GA, Lennon was acting from a young age, but it was when she moved to New York and started improvising at UCB that her career began in earnest. Performing on a number of house teams at the theater, Lennon eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she booked a regular role on the sitcom Accidentally On Purpose. Since then, Lennon's been a working actor, has had recurring roles on shows like Veep and Lady Dynamite, has had other regular roles on shows like Bless This Mess, and co-created and co-starred in two fantastic shows Best Friends Forever and Playing House. Currently, Lennon is part of the cast of the HBOMax series Minx, airing now! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to rapper Rollie Pemberton AKA Cadence Weapon. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Rollie began rapping as a teenager, and released his first mixtape Cadence Weapon Is the Black Hand at the age of 19. He released his first album Breaking Kayfabe just a little later, and since then he's released four more albums, all of which were nominated for Polaris Music Prizes, with his latest Parallel Worlds winning the award in 2021. Rollie was also named as Edmonton's Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2011, and today, the deluxe edition of Parallel Worlds is out via MNRK Music Group! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

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 well as his acclaimed series Ganges. Much of Kevin's work has been published by Drawn & Quarterly; he's won five Ignatz awards and been nominated for Harvey and Eisner awards; and he's constantly creating mini-comics which you can get on his website - one of my most recent favorites is his Rumbling series, but you'll never go wrong with anything he makes! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

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 stories that eventually made up the backbone of the MCU, including Shang-Chi, Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer and Thanos, his work eventually leading to the Infinity Gauntlet. And this is just a small sampling of the things he's written and drawn. At DC, he wrote Batman, including the famous story Batman: A Death in the Family, and currently he is working on a new Dreadstar graphic novel! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

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 record songs on her own. Since then, she's released over a dozen solo albums, as well as collaborations with groups like Wooden Stars and Mt. Eerie. Her last album I Thought of You was released late last year on You've Changed, and in April, her latest album Julie & Dany, which she recorded with her partner Dany Placard, will be released on Simone Records. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

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 there which resulted in her debut album. Since then, she has recorded five more albums, is a three-time Polaris Music Prize finalist, and has been nominated for three Juno Awards. Her latest album is an orchestral reimagining of a number of her songs entitled The Garden, and like the rest of her work, it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

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 20 "new guitar gods" and one of the top 100 guitarists of all time. Beyond Wilco, Nels performs in a duo project with guitarist Julian Lage in addition to a quartet, The Nels Cline 4, collaborates with his partner Yuka Honda as the duo CUP, leads The Nels Cline Singers and that is just a brief survey of his many projects. His most recent albums are Wilco's 2019 record Ode to Joy and The Nels Cline Singers' 2020 album Share the Wealth. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.