Now is the Time for Cardiacs
Mere weeks ago, at the age of 53, a random social media post caught my attention. It was made by someone I don’t even follow — the kind of anonymous post that one generally passes by — but this one was...
View ArticleRole Models: Devo Inspired Brent Amaker to Build His Own Universe
On October 14,1978, I waited up late to see the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. I was 14 years old and SNL was in its third season — the golden age of the show. You had to watch it every week...
View ArticleRad Like Dad
My daughter has a favorite shirt. In cursive, it says in a flourish “Rad Like Dad.” She puts it on in the morning maybe once a week to surprise me while I’m making her breakfast. Each time, I’m...
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The Land Down Re-Under
Ollie — “Have you ever been to Australia?”Ben — “No. Why would I want to go there? Full of people in khaki, squinting. Just the world’s largest collection of poisonous things.”(The Thick of It)In...
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On the Absurdity of Navigating a Posthumous Record Release
When Jessi and I were working on Mama Zu originally, it was kind of a secret. Not in any purposeful way — there just wasn’t anything to announce while it was happening. We hadn’t even settled on a...
View ArticleFarm-to-Turntable
I am a singer-songwriter who didn’t release my own music until I was in my 30s. This was largely due to the fact that I spent most of my 20s farming. When I mention this, most folks tend to point out...
View ArticleRole Models: Sinéad O’Connor Cracked Paul Soileau’s Head Open
I was just goin’ on 13 in a small Louisiana town. High school was beginning for me, Catholic high school, and the rules of the game were becoming more complex. We had no theater, just sports, so I...
View ArticleRole Models: Peter Hook Inspired Hobey Echlin’s Style — and 30 Years Later,...
I discovered Joy Division at the end of my first semester at the University of Michigan. It was December 1984, and finals week for me stretched out to the very last Friday before Christmas. I had taken...
View ArticleComparison is a Boogeyman
What do I know about success? If you asked my mom or my wife, they’d regale you with stories about my recent accomplishments. They’d tell you about how handsome I am, all the cool things I am doing,...
View ArticleGloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera Helped King Isis “Enter the Serpent”
…I passed between the two fangs, the flickering tongue. Having come through the mouth of the serpent, swallowed, I found myself suddenly in the dark…having crossed the portal, the raised hinged mouth,...
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