Something (rather than nothing)

A wonderful conversation with the talented Irish musical artist GREG CLIFFORDClifford’s style is an authentic synthesis of Indie-pop rock fused with electronic aspects and ‘classical’ guitar fingerpicking. In 2017 he released an LP entitled ‘Quodlibet’, as well as playing 17 gigs across Ireland as part of a 3-act showcase called the ‘Back to Basics Tour.' Since then he has gone on to release his second album 20/20 Vision. As well as touring throughout Ireland and internationally with his own music, Clifford is also an established arranger and producer. He has scored for and performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra in a sold-out National Concert Hall and holds a Masters in contemporary composition. Enjoy the hit song 'Long Lost Friend' included in this episode.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExO4w-mqC28

The up and coming Portland-based garage-psych punk band, Spoon Benders released their debut album ‘Dura Mater’  in May 2020. Inspired by bands such as Goggs, the Pleasure Seekers, Black Sabbath, Thee Oh Sees, and the Stooges, they have managed to create a diverse and highly dynamic sound that promises to hold your undivided attention.https://www.wweek.com/music/2020/07/08/spoon-benders-music-is-inspired-by-iggy-pop-and-neuroscience/ https://www.spoonbendersband.com/

Greg Larson was a starry-eyed fan when he hurtled headfirst into professional baseball. As the new clubhouse attendant for the Aberdeen IronBirds, a Minor League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, Larson assumed he’d entered a familiar world. He thought wrong.  He quickly discovered the bizarre rituals of life in the Minors: fights between players, teammates quitting in the middle of the games, doomed relationships, and a negligent parent organization. All the while, Larson, fresh out of college, harbored a secret wish. Despite the team’s struggles and his own lack of baseball talent, he yearned to join the exclusive fraternity of professional ballplayers.   Instead, Larson fell deeper into his madcap venture as the scheming clubbie. He moved into the clubhouse equipment closet, his headquarters to swing deals involving memorabilia, booze, and loads of cash. By his second season, Larson had transformed into a deceptive, dip-spitting veteran, now fully part of a system that exploited players he considered friends.  Like most Minor Leaguers, the gravitational pull of baseball was still too strong for Larson—even if chasing his private dream might cost him his girlfriend, his future, and, ultimately, his love of the game. That is, until an unlikely shot at a championship gives Larson and the IronBirds one final swing at redemption. Clubbie is a hilarious behind-the-scenes tale of two seasons in the mysterious world of Minor League Baseball. With cinematic detail and a colorful cast of characters, Larson spins an unforgettable true story for baseball fans and nonfans alike.  An unflinching look at the harsh experience of professional sports, Clubbie will be a touchstone in baseball literature for years to come.https://www.clubbiebook.com/

This is a special episode with SRTN Producer and Editor Peter Bauer!This episode is quite the happening. It was recorded live at Warbling Creek Studios in the storied lands of Eugene, Oregon. Peter and I talked about the podcast, about music and philosophy. We reflect on the show, where it came from and where it is going. Peter is a painter, an adventurer, a musical talent, a producer and editor. Listen to this all the way through!!! Peter's musical projects Blazar, Blotter Paper, and Detour can be found here - http://bit.ly/warblingcreekThe episode features two amazing exclusive tracks to this episode!!! The first track is LoFi Beat 2 (unnamed loFi project). The final face-melting extended track features the sonic journey called Blazar. The song  *Cubensie* will take you towards the Vanishing Point and when the track ends it will drop you off on Exit 42 - otherwise known as the nexus between Something and Nothing.

Randy J Byrd was a toddler in his playpen comfortably snuggled between two 15-inch subs that blasted the likes of Ozzy, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. Randy’s mother loved heavy music and never said he could not listen to something.Thus a Metalhead was brought into being.Randy is a photographer for the fantastic doom/metal service Doomed and Stoned which serves the varied local worldwide doom and stoner metal scenes. Randy’s images of the Metal Scene are striking and demonstrate the vibrant images in many local metal scenes.Randy is a talented musician and has delved into metal, hip-hop, and punk. We held a lively discussion about the famous Richmond, Virginia music scene which will make you very excited for some live music. We also talked about nothing, something, and being.Enjoy the music.Metal Horns up in the air.https://www.instagram.com/rivercitydoomconsulate/

Buddy Nestor is an abstract painter who strikes a strange new chord with portraiture. Using photographs he takes of beautiful women, he creates grotesque, distorted creatures, their features uncomfortably recognizable within the melting forms, slashes and swirls of Buddy’s abstraction.“These physical and psychological images are my attempt to capture the true nature of humanity. They are spiritual X-Rays. The models that I use in my work are all beautiful women. However, there is nothing beautiful about the portraits I create.”Mr. Nestor was born and raised in Collingswood, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. As an only child “Latch Key Kid”, he spent endless hours in front of the television, watching movies and drawing and gravitating toward strange cult and horror films. In 1999, he traveled around the world on an aircraft carrier, and painted everyday. He received his B.A in Fine Arts shortly after his return to the States.https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/the-art-of-buddy-nestor/

Metra Mitchell received her early training at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY where she earned her Bachelor's of Fine Art in Painting and Minor in Art History on a full art scholarship in 2006. She later was awarded a teaching assistant ship from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO where she pursued her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2008.Metra's works have been exhibited in many galleries including: Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, PhD Gallery in St. Louis, MO, St. Louis Artist Guild, Art St. Louis Gallery, Cinema Gallery in Urbana, IL and The Foundry Art Center in St. Charles, MO. Institutions that have exhibited her paintings include University of Alaska- Anchorage, Susquehanna University, Northern Kentucky University, University of South Alabama, Western Kentucky University, Fontbonne University, World Trade Center in St. Louis and The Regional Commerce and Growth Association of St. Louis. She has also exhibited internationally in Eme' Exposition Internationale at the Centre Culturel et de la Vie Associative Villeurbanne in Lyon, France.In an exhibition entitled "Master PiecesMetra's works were highlighted by Cincinnati's cultural magazine City Beat as "exploring the nude figure while relishing the paint in rich colors and bold strokes. The subject's gaze- or in one decapitated instance, lack of one- and the inclusion of a single object create a haunting effect."She has given lectures on her work and process at several events including PhD Gallery's One Year Anniversary, Opening Night of Gunther Van Hagan's Bodyworlds at St. Louis Science Center and St. Louis Community College at Forest Park's annual City Art Speak. Metra has taught Figure Drawing II/III at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, Drawing I at St. Charles Community College and Drawing I/II at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. She is currently teaching Drawing II, III, Advanced Drawing, and Design I at Forest Park along with Art Appreciation at St. Charles and Maryville University. Her role as teacher has opened up a new vein in her work, something that she is just beginning to explore.https://metramitchell.com/

For this episode of Something (rather than nothing) we engage with the talented music artist and activist Laura Hopkins. Hopkins discusses her classical piano training, writing songs, growing up around music, playing guitar and creating some ‘louder’ music.Hopkins exquisite work with the band Death Parade straddles wide emotional terrain and floats into space only to be brought back in and grounded in our beautiful and strange world.We grapple with life, death, something and nothing. The soundtrack to this episode includes the music tracks Ghostworld and women of the internet (woti)https://deathparadepdx.bandcamp.com/album/it-was-worth-it-to-love-though-it-hurt-so-bad

Ghost Frog are four humanoids from planet Earth who started to make strange sounds together in the winter of star date 2013 in Portland, OR, USA. This interstellar transmission captured the words of Humanoids Quinn Schwartz and Karl Beheim.They play heavy psychedelic stoner grunge that combines doomy riffs with punk energy and otherworldly melodies while exploring themes derived from sci-fi/ horror film and literature, as well as all things spacey and/ or spooky. The result is what they call “paranormal stoner punk,” a retrofuturistic brand of nebulous noise rock that sounds like it was made by angry aliens on acid.https://ghostfrog.bandcamp.com/album/astral-arcade

Ever since she was a little kid drawing ghosts and graveyards at her desk in her parents’ basement, MELISSA ALFORD wanted to be an artist. Always a fan of the weird and the macabre, she discovered her love of sequential art through artists like Gary Larson and Charles Addams. Melissa went on to get her BFA in sequential art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and has worked as a freelance illustrator and comic artist ever since. Working primarily in pen and ink, her work focuses on themes of finding beauty in the darkness, of working through challenging emotions with art, and of course, not forgetting her artistic roots, the occasional homage to vintage horror. Melissa was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and after having lived away for several years, has once again settled in The City of Roses.https://www.melliferaarts.com/