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PODCAST

Beginnings

We all know the stories of how creative people get into the business of creating for a living, but how did they start using their imaginations in the first place? On the Beginnings podcast, writer and performer Andy Beckerman asks well-known and on-their-way-up comedians, musicians, writers, artists and thinkers about their earliest creative acts, their formative childhood experiences, and how they"ve developed both creatively and emotionally over the years. Beginnings is part therapy, part

arts performing arts

All Episodes

01:03:59

Episode 703: Kassie Carlson of Guerilla Toss

Beginnings ·

2026/01/09

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kassie Carlson. Originally from Cape Cod, Kassie began performing in an early incarnation of Guerilla Toss after her hardcore band Western Syndrome played a show with them in 2012. They released their first EP Jeffrey Johnson later that year on Feeding Tube Records, and since then, they've released over a dozen more albums and EPs on labels like Tzadik, DFA and Sub Pop. Just last September, they released their sixth album, You're Weird Now, on Sub Pop, and

en

01:04:34

Episode 702: Amy O

Beginnings ·

2025/12/19

On today's episode, I talk to musician Amy Oelsner AKA Amy O. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Amy has been recording and releasing albums since 2004. In 2017, she began releasing albums on Winspear with the wonderful Elastic, which was followed up two years later by Shell and then 2024's brilliant Mirror, Reflect. Alongside her musical career, in 2019 Amy founded Girls Rock Bloomington, a music and mentorship nonprofit for girls, trans and non-binary youth that teaches positive self-esteem

en

01:08:10

Episode 701: Claire Rousay

Beginnings ·

2025/12/12

On today's episode, I talk to experimental musician and composer Claire Rousay. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Claire grew up in San Antonio, Texas and began playing piano at the ripe age of 4-years-old. Dropping out of high school in her mid-teens, Claire began playing music professionally, and in 2017, released her first album Blip on Mended Dreams. Since then, she's released over two dozen other albums and EPs on Mended Dreams, as well as Orange Milk, Shelter Press and her latest, A Little

en

01:19:16

Episode 700: Brian Michael Bendis

Beginnings ·

2025/12/05

On today's episode, I talk to comics writer Brian Michael Bendis. Originally from Cleveland, OH, Brian knew from an early age he wanted to make comics. His late teens and twenties were spent making his own comics, some of them published by Caliber Press, and in 1996, a lot of this work was collected together at Image. This led to working on the Spawn spin-off Sam and Twitch, and in 1998, he began releasing Powers, which would go on to garner both critical and commercial success, as well as Harvey

en

01:03:54

Episode 699: Marc Hollander

Beginnings ·

2025/11/14

On today's episode, I talk to musician Marc Hollander. Born in Geneva, Switzerland right after WWII, Marc was raised in Brussels and started the band Aksak Maboul in 1977 when producer Marc Moulin commissioned him to write and record an album for his label Kamikaze. Aksak Maboul was one of the handful of bands that was part of the exclusive Rock In Opposition movement, and they produced two brilliant albums before going on hiatus in the early 1980s. In 1980, Marc founded Crammed Discs, which over

en

01:31:48

Episode 698: David J. Roth

Beginnings ·

2025/11/07

On today's episode, I talk to journalist and writer David J. Roth. Raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, David started out his writing career writing and editing content for the backs of Topps trading cards. This led to writing for The Wall Street Journal's sports blog, co-founding and editing his own sports blog The Classical, and contributing to Vice and The Baffler, as well as many other publications. In 2017, David became an editor-at-large at Deadspin, and two years later, he and the entire writing

en

01:07:13

Episode 697: Thalia Zedek of Come, Live Skull and...

Beginnings ·

2025/10/31

On today's episode, I talk to musician Thalia Zedek. Originally from Washington DC, Thalia attended college at Boston University for one semester before dropping out to pursue a musical career instead. Each band she formed saw a little more success than the last, and her breakthrough was the group Uzi in 1984. They only stayed together for a short time though, and she next joined the New York no wave band Live Skull, who stayed together until 1990. From their break-up until 2001, Thalia was in the

en

58:01

Episode 696: Gina Birch of The Raincoats

Beginnings ·

2025/10/24

On today's episode, I talk to musician Gina Birch. Originally from Nottingham in the UK, Gina formed the seminal art-punk band The Raincoats with Ana da Silva in 1977. They released three incredible records on Rough Trade - self-titled, Odyshape and Moving - and then broke up in 1984. But this was merely the start of Gina's artistic career. She worked with Red Crayola, formed the band Dorothy, became a filmmaker and music video director, reunited with Ana to support Nirvana on tour and subsequently

en

59:58

Episode 695: Joelton Mayfield

Beginnings ·

2025/10/17

On today's episode, I talk to musician Joelton Mayfield. Originally from the Marble Falls/Granite Shoals area of Texas, Joelton grew up in a family where music was intertwined with religion. As a teenager, he was even the music director of his church and led Wednesday night worship services. As he gradually moved away from the church, both geographically and spiritually, he began to write music for himself, and released the I Hope You Make It EP in 2019. His debut album Crowd Pleaser comes out next

en

01:09:39

Episode 694: Julia Kugel of The Coathangers

Beginnings ·

2025/10/10

On today's episode, I talk to musician Julia Kugel. Originally from Belarus, Julia and her family immigrated to Atlanta, GA when she was a child. In 2006, she formed The Coathangers along with Meredith Franco and Stephanie Luke. In the last 19 years, they've released over a dozen albums, EPs and singles, mostly on Suicide Squeeze Records. In addition to The Coathangers, Julia records with her husband as Soft Palms, and on her own, both as White Woods and Julia, Julia. The latest Julia, Julia album,

en

01:06:54

Episode 693: Hannah Frances

Beginnings ·

2025/10/03

On today's episode, I talk to musician Hannah Frances. Growing up just outside of Philly, Hannah was doing all kinds of creative work from a young age, from singing to poetry to composing. In 2018, she made her first album White Buffalo, and since then has recorded four other albums. Her fourth album Keeper of the Shepherd garnered a great deal of acclaim leading Fire Talk Records to reissue it earlier this year, as well as release her new album Nested in Tangles, which is out next week, and it is

en

01:39:05

Episode 692: Anamanaguchi

Beginnings ·

2025/09/19

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar of the band Anamanaguchi. In 2004, school chums Peter Berkman and James DeVito would form the chiptunes band Anamanaguchi, and two years later, they released their debut EP Power Supply on the 8bitpeoples label. In 2009, Ary Warnaar and Luke Silas joined the band cementing the line-up that continues to this day. In the last 16 years, the band has released over a dozen albums, EPs, compilations and soundtracks, including the

en

01:31:51

Episode 691: Nick Dragotta

Beginnings ·

2025/09/12

On today's episode, I talk to comic artist Nick Dragotta. Originally from Cape May, NJ, Nick came to prominence working on Fantastic Four with Jonathan Hickman, which then led to their incredible creator-owned work East of West. Beyond this, Nick has done the art for a number of great books including X-Statix, wrote and drew his own book Ghost Cage, and co-created the character America Chavez. Most recently, it was announced that Nick will do the art for the final arc of Once Upon a Time at the End

en

01:01:46

Episode 690: Dan Wriggins of Friendship

Beginnings ·

2025/08/29

On today's episode, I talk to musician Dan Wriggins. Originally from Yarmouth, ME, Dan started playing piano and guitar in high school, and around this time he met his future bandmates in Friendship, Michael Cormier-O'Leary and Peter Gill. In the last ten years, Friendship have released five records starting with 2015's You're Going to Have to Trust Me on Burst & Bloom, and their latest, Caveman Wakes Up, was just released in May on Merge Records. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on

en

01:03:12

Episode 689: Peter Salett

Beginnings ·

2025/08/22

On today's episode, I talk to singer/songwriter Peter Salett. Born in Princeton, NJ, Peter grew up near Washington DC in Columbia, MD. As part of the New York arts scene in the 1990s, Peter crossed over with the vibrant film and comedy scenes at the time and has written or contributed to the music for a number of films including Wet Hot American Summer, Keeping the Faith, The Ten, The Baxter and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Outside of soundtracks, Peter is an accomplished musician with seven albums to

en

01:08:56

Episode 688: Laura Ballance of Superchunk

Beginnings ·

2025/08/15

On today's episode, I talk to musician Laura Ballance. Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Laura moved around a fair amount as a child, eventually ending up in Chapel Hill for college where she met Mac McCaughan, who convinced her to be in a band. That band is Superchunk, who over the last 36 years have released twelve albums, numerous EPs, compilations and live albums and created one of the most lasting legacies in indie rock. In addition to Superchunk, Laura co-founded, along with Mac,

en

01:08:47

Episode 687: Carson McHone

Beginnings ·

2025/08/08

On today's episode, I talk to musician Carson McHone. Originally from Austin, TX, Carson has been playing music live since she was a teenager. Her first EP came out in 2013 and brought her immediate attention. Over the next five years, Carson built a reputation for herself in the country scene, and her second album Carousel was named by Rolling Stone as one of the "40 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2018". 2022's Still Life, released on Merge, saw an evolution of Carson's style which continues

en

01:10:05

Episode 686: Mark Russell

Beginnings ·

2025/08/01

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner and GLAAD Award-winning comics writer Mark Russell. Born in Springfield, OR, Mark broke into professional writing with his book God Is Disappointed in You, a modern retelling of the Bible. This led to comics work writing Prez for DC in 2015 and a number of other comics in the last decade including The Flintstones, Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Fantastic Four: Life Story, Superman: Space Age, Batman: Dark Age and many others. Most recently, Mark

en

01:16:05

Episode 686: Rory Blank

Beginnings ·

2025/07/25

On today's episode, I talk to cartoonist Rory Blank. Originally from Carrollton, Georgia, Rory eventually ended up in Austin for college, where he began making cartoons for the student newspaper. In the early 20-teens, Rory began posting his comics online on places like Tumblr and Twitter and began to gain a following. Most recently, Rory was voted the Best Cartoonist in Austin in the 2025 Austin Chronicle "Best of Austin" readers poll for the second year in a row! This is the

en

01:08:06

Episode 685: Selwyn Seyfu Hinds

Beginnings ·

2025/07/18

On today's episode, I talk to writer and showrunner Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. Originally from Georgetown, Guyana, Selwyn and his family moved to Brooklyn in the 1980s, when he was 14-years-old. After graduating from Princeton, he began writing for The Village Voice. Then in the late 1990s, he became a hip-hop critic and then editor-in-chief at The Source magazine. As a TV writer, Selwyn wrote for Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone reboot and most recently created and showran the new Hulu show Washington Black,

en

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