What Am I Making Podcast

What Am I Making is ad-free and currently operating wihtout any paywall to keep access open to all of our readers. This work is powered solely by paid subscribers. Please consider a paid subscription today.

Ah yes, another episode where I should have been recording a chat over a beer in Southeast Asia with my mother.

As we all know, my great sojourn to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand didn't come to pass and now I’ve found myself hustling for engaging fodder for the pod. Without any ability to book a last minute guest or the chance to chat with my Mom as planned, I called an audible and ran through a deep dive of my recent list of favorite films by the letter.

I kick things off with an intro and update in the usual fashion and then wind my way through the list. It’s a fun exercise and an enjoyable listen, I think.

I’ll be back next week with a regularly scheduled episode. As always, thanks so much for being here and for your support.

Cheers,

Matty C

What Am I Making is ad-free and currently operating wihtout any paywall to keep access open to all of our readers. This work is powered solely by paid subscribers. Please consider a paid subscription today.

On this week’s episode of the pod, we try something a little different. Instead of a conventional interview for this episode, I want to share the terrific first installment of the What Am I Watching Movie Club.

A few weeks back, I gave everyone the chance to watch the 1980 Australian classic, Breaker Morant. Then, on a Wednesday night, readers and listeners were welcome to join a zoom discussion about the film. Initially, I was disappointed when only three people showed up for the movie club. But we had a tremendous and lively discussion.

Hopefully, this episode of the pod will give you a chance to learn more about the concept of the movie club and about Breaker Morant itself. I am planning another installment of What Am I Watching very soon. I hope you’ll join us.

For now, enjoy my terrific conversation with my friends Tina Winsett, Barry Hummel, and Jeffery Gower. We’ll see you at the next one.

Cheers,Matty C

Nate Dorough is exactly the kind of person that I love to spotlight here at WAIM. He’s a dude making shit happen. In his case, that shit is live shows. More than 3500 of them in fact. He currently works as the Michigan talent buyer for the independent production Kickstand.

In roughly 20 years of booking shows, Nate has seen the entire landscape change completely. As corporate control has squeezed every last drop of profit from the live music maschine, the underground and DIY scene has also changed. As technology and ways of communication have ebbed and flowed its led to periods of feast and famine for both artists and audiences. 

We go back to Nate’s first show at a commuter college in a small Michigan town and how he built a business by booking VFW Halls for high school bands. Nate has maintained that fierce independence as he continues to find a way to carve out a living booking live music without having to engage with the industry behemoth Live Nation. 

Nate offers some sage advice for bands who might be letting their self-confidence and bravado mask their true intentions. We also discuss an idea I am calling Cultural Newtonianism. It’s essentially that once the momentum of culture begins to speed up, it becomes impossible to change its trajectory. This concept is now directly tied to the way musicians are paid now that listeners can listen to all recorded music for just a few bucks a month. 

This is a story of determination, resolve, and doing what’s needed to keep a scene moving forward. 

Cheers,Matty C

Nate Dorough LinksInstagramFacebookKickstand Productions

Timmy Rodriguez is a fantastic teacher, and now a fantastic administrator. Like every great educator that I have ever met, he is completely invested in his kids, and the process of public education. Like so many musicians who are great educators that I know, and they are myriad, Timmy is nimble on his feet, and can pivot to navigate the whims and moods of a young audience. 

That innate flexibility came in terribly handy during the early days of the pandemic. Left isolated and completely remote, Timmy struggled to connect with his students and convey the necessary lessons and support for each day. Stuck at a computer and staring into blank faces all day long just wasn’t working. So, Timmy invented The Mr. Rodriguez Show, a self-produced PBS style art lesson show all powered by Timmy’s wit and creativity that was broadcast on YouTube. His kids loved it, and they loved him.

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about creating a culture through expectation, and the current war going on in public education and the effects it is already having. Timmy shares his story of learning some practices to be more mindful and in the moment and how those have informed his teaching and leadership styles. 

In Timmy, I see an example of the great things that art and music teach us if we practice them with regularity and dedication. He used his creativity and DIY experience to navigate a once in a lifetime educational crisis and wound up reaching a wider audience than ever. As he says, “A teacher puts on seven shows a day.”

So, let’s dive in with musician, educator, and artist, Timmy Rodriguez.

Cheers,Matty C

Renee Hall is a survivor. I hate that I have to introduce her that way, but it is an irrefutable fact. 

Within the last fifteen years, Renee has seen her mother die of breast cancer, only to turn around and nearly lose her own life in that same struggle. Motherhood came to Renee late in life and as something of a surprise. Of course, she fell in love with being a Mom and set to being the best damned mother she could be. Shortly into the life of their new child, Renee lost her partner Rob to a heart attack; on April Fool’s Day of all days.

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

While it would be easy for someone who has endured so much to be cynical and bitter, Renee remains one of the funniest humans I have ever encountered. Her wickedly dark sense of humor and infectious laugh belie her own tragic personal history. 

Almost immediately, Renee displays her self-reliance as she shares a story about trying to fix an issue with her vehicle in an effort to save any money she can. We discuss working hard and feeling you are doing little more than spinning your wheels. There is some discussion on the high price of being poor, and how first world most of our problems really are.

Through the story of Renee’s personal journey and challenges, you can easily spot her resilience. In her laugh and dark wit you can hear her mischievousness. In spending an hour with her you see the areas in between those spots and they bring to light the picture of a woman who is brave, hilarious, resilient, courageous, honest, and vulnerable. 

I hope and believe that by the time you finish this interview, you will love and admire her as much as I do. 

Cheers,Matty C

Here is the video clip that Renee mentions her daughter watching in the interview.

Tommy McCord and Danielle Gyger formed the Wild Honey Collective during the early days of the pandemic. Marooned at home, the couple started working on old time tunes with fiddle and acoustic guitar. Soon, they found themselves connecting with musical friends new and old to create a new band.

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Tommy had cut his teeth since his teenage years in his punk band, The Plurals. Now, he sought to use the punk and DIY ethos to create something new in the hole left behind during our days separated from each other in quarantine. 

As the world opened back up slowly, WHC began trekking across the state and eventually across the country with a revolving cast of characters in tow. There is a foundational group of members, many of whom may not be available for touring. This approach opens up the opportunity for other musicians in the Wild Honey orbit to tour, play locally, and record with the band.

In fact, Wild Honey are currently at work on their first collaborative EP with Detroit artist Jeremy Porter. The band hopes this is the first in a string of collaborations like this that will be slated for release.

With a love for vintage arrangements, new originals, interesting covers, and the power of collaboration, Wild Honey brings a joy to the stage wherever and whenever they appear. The interwoven harmonies of Danielle and Tommy along with the musicians joining them for the evening are always a special treat. 

It was an absolute joy to welcome my dear old friends, and touring partners in 2022, into the sheddio for a chat about learning to be in a band, and the musical family they’re building with each and every song. 

Cheers,Matty C

Maura Quint has been watching the GOP Primary debates so the rest of us don’t have to. Her debate recaps for McSweeney’s are a comforting combination of humor and horror reporting from the front lines of that particular shit-show.

Once I got Maura’s update from the first debate, I knew I wanted to have her on to talk about sitting through every damned minute of these things and then breaking it down into enlightening humor truly recapping the abject awfulness on display.

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In addition to suffering through the early GOP debates, Maura recently had the pleasure of traveling to Australia and New Zealand. We cover some highlights from her trip, and then land on what an expert Maura is at doing nothing. She acknowledges that once she has met her basic life needs, she is done. It’ll be all blankets and bed rots, and maybe some blanket nachos?

We start to tackle the American oligarch as royalty complex that runs so rampant in our culture. Maura even shares with us why Denver is the most sensible city in America.

As always, it’s a breezy chat with a kind and funny soul. You’ll learn enough to skip the future GOP debates for the time being and laugh your ass off while doing it. We also manage to find a bit of time for New Zealand indie pop, the coming year at the Supreme Court and the myth of wealth as worth.

Heady, hilarious stuff awaits.

Cheers,Matty C

The first time that I invited Matt Berenson on the pod, I was desperate to talk with him about his book, Secret Stars: The Greatest Underdogs of the Rock 'n' Roll Era.

For this installment, I wanted to talk about a secret star not included in Berenson’s book; David Berman of Silver Jews, as well as get Berenson’s perspective as a producer on the writers’ and actors’ strikes, and how they’re affecting his day to day life.

Although I just met Matt a few months ago, and only virtually met at that, sitting down with him again feels like a chat with an old friend. We bounced from Hollywood to indie-rock to forgotten geniuses, and more.

Matt helps to provide some important context to the way the business of show works these days. We discuss the sad truth that companies like Netflix and Spotify are just tech companies in a delivery system business. They simply deliver “content”. They’re in the business of making money, not art.

It’s not just that this greedy view of content is bad for the creators of what we watch and listen to, it’s also bad for lovers of film, television and music. As art becomes more and more of a commodity, it becomes less and less worth spending time on, and as a result becomes less valuable. It is likely to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the end, we are both still hopeful about the future of art and film and music, but it’s just as likely for the genius works to come out of nowhere as it is to arrive through the usual channels.

Grab a drink, settle in, and let’s get into it.

Cheers,Matty C

Howdy friends. It’s me, Matty C. I am alone again and without a guest, naturally.

As the summer wound down and my schedule picked up, I hit a stretch where I struggled to secure interviews in time for the pod. For much of the history of the pod I have worked two, three or even more episodes ahead. Since the tour, I have been no more than a week ahead of schedule, and its left me scrambling a bit.

So, I thought it might be worth the effort to try an audio version of the week that was here at WAIM. I’ll touch on the articles from the week, comments from y’all, and more.

I do have a slate of interviews scheduled for the next few weeks and expect to be building up an inventory of interviews once again to be rolling out conversations with great guests every week.

It’s important to remember that you can also count on great written work here at What Am I Making nearly every damned day. Now, let’s take a look at the week that was.

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Well there it is, the week that was. If you have enjoyed these articles, please consider a paid subscription. It is the only way I can continue this work at What Am I Making.

Cheers,

Matty C

The guys at the Rockin’ The Suburbs pod have been incredibly kind to me and supportive of my work and my bands. They have featured both the sticks and Harborcoat repeatedly on several episodes of the show.

Jim Lenahan was also truly instrumental in helping me find willing hosts for a bunch of the dates on my first solo house concert tour. 

Through that encouragement, their pod and their in-person festivals - one of which the Stick Arounds played in Chicago last year - Rockin’ The Suburbs has become a font of friendship, connection, and genuine goodness.

For our show in the DC area, where Jim and his co-host Patrick Foster live, the guys wanted to interview me for a podcast recording in front of a live audience. It was a n incredibly fun conversation, and they have been kind enough to let me share here with you as well on my own pod.

As an added wrinkle, the guys also asked if I would be willing to take questions from the audience during my set. It was a really unique experience, which you can hear on the Rockin’ The Suburbs pod where they posted a full recording of my show at the Lost Rhino in Ashburn, VA. Link below.

Thanks to Jim, Patrick and Sam The Intern at Rockin’ The Suburbs for their support and friendship and for letting me share this with all of you. 

Cheers,

Matty C