Various Things

Today's interview is with a visual artist many here in Richmond simply know as Oura, or Mister Oura. For the past few decades, Oura Sananikone's illustrative and graphic art an d characters have been a fixture in the Richmond, VA art scene, working across mediums from everything from zines to toys. And recently, with friend Cody, opened the Toy Lair shop in Carytown, here in Richmond, VA. So it was exciting to get to talk to Oura, and get insight into the person behind the art, how working across mediums comes into practice, and the way one structures their life to be a working artist, while maintaining personal balance and health.

Today's interview is with Jason Boyer. Jason began playing music in hardcore bands, and tattooing, while stil just in his teens. By the time i met him, he had developed into an amazing tattooist, and also had started on the musical path that he continues to this day, forgoing the more traditional band approach, to make his own music, on his own, first under the name, Nerve City. Today, His musical work has continued on that path and developed into a self-recorded, self-directed process that now includes the hand manufacturing of the release format, usually cassette, as a seamless part of the production process, with as much attention paid to the graphics and pressing production, as to the writing and recording, each done in a separate room of his home. His current work is being released under the moniker, Service Learner, where much of the audio he produces, are studies of what he is learning in the studio. And when it's not a musical day, maybe he produces a zine instead. Its a fucking fascinating process. So getting to talk to Jason, and learn how thia all works, was quite awesome to me. Note: When Jason agreed to do this interview, he had been up all night, kinda ramped up off adrenaline, after having to deal with some drama in his neighborhood. So I greatly appreciate him taking to the time to put that aside, and get into explaining what his creative world looks like. And so here we are, my interview with Jason Boyer.

Today, to celebrate my 50th episode, we are interviewing my friend Dave Brown, who we had our first podcast with 10 years ago when I started this. Dave was my first guest, because, when I looked around the folks in my life, my world, he has consistently been a person that inspires me, and who I respect a lot. And since the time I interviewed Dave, he has gone through some big life changes, that took him from being a person that was already so awesome to me, to him being in an even more awesome place, both personally and professionally. From changing places in his career to a more rewarding job, to having his fourth son and being able to be in a position to really absorb and experience that, and all the changes that come from these kind of things happening in your life, a very awesome thing to share. So being able to share that here, makes me really happy.

Todays interview, is with my friend, Zo, who you may know as yourbro, zo, host of the polkadotrabbit podcast, or from where I initially met him, as the singer of the 1990s Richmond hardcore band, indypendant. for years, zo has been a person in my life, that has met me with a deep energy, a focus on truth, that has resonated, and challenged my conceptions of the spiritual realms, and the physical world around me. And in that process, has awoken parts of myself to things inside myself, and changed the way I conceptualize and view my own life. And it is with that understanding, and a great respect for him, that I share our interview today.

Today's episode is with Adam Nathanson. Adam grew up in New Jersey, and in the 1980s began playing in Hardcore punk bands around New York City, first with bands Mister Softee, and Trauma, then with life's blood, and band that ultimately led to the band Born Against. After Born Against, Adam went on to form an even more musically interesting band, called the Young Pioneers. In this conversation we discuss his path in music, the stories of these bands, and also, the politics, from the political climates during some of the bands, to the one we are living in now.

Today's guest is Tim Towslee. We last talked to Tim back in 2017, about his experiences working as a teacher, teaching high school students, a job he had been working for over a decade. But in the last five years, some things had changed. Tim had become demoralized by the roles he was being expected to fill, and deeply effected, like any human being would be, by the issues he was witnessing among the students he was tasked with instructing, And it took a personal toll on Tim, resulting, as many situations lead to, with him turning to alternate ways to cope with both the stress and emotional toll of the work, in his case, by turning to alcohol. Tim's story today is one of being one of those teachers tasked with making up for the multiple failures of the system around us and feeling those personal effects, and his struggle, and success, in gaining back his own life, and mental health.

Michael is one of those rare folks, that combines talent, passion, and drive, in a way that makes them very good at what they do. And over the years, he has learned how to be, the photographer he has wanted to be. In this interview, we talk about Michaels experience working in the photography world, from his first job as a digital archivist at Magnum, to the grind of working as a photojournalist, to switching over to working freelance photography and the differences a change of pace in city can make. He also gives great advice the whole way through. This is a great interview for anyone that works in the creative fields to listen to.

Todays interview is with Jason Orr. Jay got his start playing guitar, with the band benchmark in Woodbridge, Virginia in the early 1990s, and by the late 90s, had moved down to Richmond, to play guitar with the hardcore band, Hate-O-Four. He then went on to play with one of my favorite bands ever, Dead Serious. He also contributed vocal duties with Press Your Luck, and the infamous Barfight.

Today's interview is with Marty Key. Marty is the owner of Steady Sounds, a record store which stood here in Richmond, VA, and became a fixture of Richmond culture in the 2010s. And also, Marty is a musician, starting out as the frontman for the Richmond Punk Group Bad Guy Reaction in the 1990s, and later, playing bass for a whole host of bands, from Bratmobile, to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Young Pioneers, and Live from Hollywood Cemetery. Music seems to play a big part in his life, so it was great to talk with him, and get his thoughts on Richmond, the history of some of these bands, and the history of Steady Sounds.

Those sounds you heard at our opening, are of Lucky and Lo Lem, both rescued Northern white-cheeked Gibbons, which were recorded by today's guest, Primatologist Caroline Rowley. Caroline got their start in this field, as an undergrad at Tulane University, and then went on to Central Washington University for a Masters in Primate Behaviour and Ecology. And over the past few years, has applied these studies, most notably, as the director of the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, in the Cuc Phuong National Park, in northern Vietnam. But the thing that may stand out the most about Caroline, is the empathy, and compassion they have for the living world around us, and their personal passion and dedication to try and make things better, first through understanding them scientifically, then taking those findings, and trying to make the changes that seem to make sense. In short, Caroline is one of those folks that you hope exists in the field of science. And they are definitely real, and have a lot to say about the world we are living in.