Why Not Both

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

Every musician goes through an identity crisis every so often but thankfully Thao Nguyen's latest was well timed. In the past, she would play fundraiser shows to help out her community, but this past year she found herself making soup to raise money for local racial justice organizations. Instead of relying on other engineers and producers to record her songs, she built out her own home studio where she now has her "office hours" and was able to realize her long standing goal of consistent production. May all of our identity crises be so graceful. 

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Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

For our first in person interview since early 2020, we invited Albert Hammond Jr. over only to find out that we grew up a few blocks away from each other and shared a taste for the same Japanese foods as kids. He told us all about how his favorite flavors from childhood inspired his new wine seltzer Jetway and how surreal it was to not only launch a new project but to become a dad while we were all in isolation. It's hard to know how to divide our time between multiple endeavors and people but Albert shows that it can be done with a bit of creativity along with a wealth of dad jokes.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

It's an impossible task to sum up Tori Amos in a few sentences, as our conversation covered the authenticity of artistic intention, the importance of keeping your feet on the ground to counteract the deleterious effects of fame, and the inspiration you gain when you accept your emotional landscapes. She pointed out that so many of the things we perceive as negative such as failure and anger can in fact be our wisest teachers when they are properly examined and utilized, as she has seen over the course of her brilliant career. We are so very lucky to have Tori here in all her forms as she has forged a path for countless artists to follow.

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Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

Remaining on theme for our bonus episodes, we traveled virtually to Reykjavik to spend time with Red Riot, aka Hildur and Ragna. Though they each have their own amazing solo talents (which include songwriting, audio engineering, production work and rapping), they finally had the time to create the dance music we've all been dreaming about while we were stuck inside. We loved chatting with them about their incredible experiences in every facet of the music industry and hope you enjoy their stories too.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

The past year and a half has shown us all that our true vitality comes from our interwoven communities, as musician Allison Russell pointed out in many ways over the course of our chat. She had the chance to demonstrate this very point when her album Outside Child got signed to Fantasy Records and when she curated a stage at the Newport Folk Festival to highlight up and coming artists. Though her talent and presence is undeniable Russell makes sure to emphasize her supportive web of friends and colleagues uplifts her daily and that she in turn uses this to lift others up around her too. 

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

In a culture that fetishizes both youth and productivity, it was so refreshing to hear Macy Rodman exclaim, "I have always been so excited about getting older!" as she told us all about her new approach to her creative work. The surreal circumstances of the past year gave Rodman a chance to hit the hard restart button and delve into song writing and stage production in ways that she found she loved, from spending hours hand knotting a wig to writing at lightning speed just for kicks only to edit later. We love her attitude of infinite adaptability as we all are inevitably tumbling through this life the best we can.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

Whether she's writing songs in Copenhagen or traipsing through the snow in the silent wilderness, Sigrid likes to be present for the moment as much as possible. We chatted about how excited she is to be back playing shows (turns out she gets so excited that she has blacked out during performances) and how much she enjoys writing with her colleagues all over the world (turns out LA is her top spot for weird inspirational experiences). Life is all about collecting and creating good stories so we are thrilled we get a glimpse into her world. 

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

We caught up with Shirley Manson, the absolute force of nature, frontwoman of Garbage and host of The Jump, as she is back on tour for the first time since all the chaos began. Turns out we both fall a bit in love with our podcast guests as each conversation is an opportunity to delve into a novel perspective and light our creative fires. We love her philosophy that it's vital to do something new and challenging every day in order to stay vibrant and we hope she inspires you to do the same with her brilliant new album and insightful interviews.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

How does one even begin to describe a Zoom session with William Shatner? Our sprawling conversation covered the nature of the universe, the new album he's releasing, his multiple shows, his love for his Dobermans, and the best veggie sandwiches in Los Angeles. When asked how he does so many things without getting overwhelmed, Shatner reminded us that it's best to just stay in the moment you're in, as you never know what may come next, which is quite the relevant lesson for 2021.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.

Why Not Both is an exploration of how our multiple passions shape our identity, hosted by musician and therapist Pam Shaffer and produced by writer and photographer Laura Studarus.  For our fourth season, we partnered up with Under The Radar to explore the lives of musicians, writers, actors, and creatives.

The dramatic irony of releasing a record written for live performance during a time when we were all stuck indoors was not lost on Tamara Lindeman, the writer and leader of The Weather Station. If anything, it gave her more opportunity to communicate directly with her listeners about the amply evident effects of climate change on our society through her newsletter, where she chatted with fans and friends alike about the best ways to stay present and address the cataclysmic shifts of our time. This year was a sneak preview of what's to come and as Tamara illuminates, it's imperative that we turn towards a collective creative mindset.

Thanks again for listening! Make sure to subscribe, leave us a nice review, and hang out with us on Insta and Twitter. You can also support us on Patreon.