Random Patterns is an open notebook for human storytellers, DIY artists, songwriters, album producers, scrappy filmmakers & craft-loving creative dweebs. It's a place to talk about the art of making art in a world that makes making art harder.
It's hosted by me: Jordan Keller, songwriter/producer of Chicago-based cinematic folk/rock band The Okay Lakes, and dude who identifies as all of the aforementioned potential audiences for the show. This podcast dives into the slow, unglamorous, unprofitable grunt work of pursuing creative labor under late-stage capitalism.
In each episode, I'll explore the deeply personal, often frustrating, life-nourishing work of crafting songs, films, stories, and more. No woo-woo (well… minimal woo-woo). Just engaging conversations with independent artists who refuse to let money dictate the value of their craft.
This podcast is for the artists working to maintain a sense of purpose to their creative work in a world increasingly dominated by AI optimization, streaming cannibalization, and tech-overlord f*ckery. Expect seriously stupid discussions with stupidly serious artists who define their identity through their creative work and play.
In this intro episode, I dig into the motivations behind the pod and prep you for my conversation with filmmaker Andrew Adams, writer/director of American Meltdown (2023). The subsequent episode will explore how Andrew created such a polished, personal film on a shoestring budget, and dive deep into his process of nurturing the seed of his story, crafting his script, and putting it all together in production and post-production.
Whether you're an artist or someone who just loves to learn more about the creative process across a wide range of disciplines, stick around.
