Michael Hateley, Dee Madden, and Anu Kirk talk music, production, the process of making and creating, earning a living as a producer and artist, making space for creativity, and navigating life as a creative human.
Detailed and personal conversations, and the occasional special guest. Join us!
New episodes available weekly.
Contact: admin@musicmindfulnessandmadness.com
Reinvention is everywhere in popular culture. Reinvention can be driven by crisis, need for change, deliberate intention, or sudden inspiration. It is easier said than done!
In this episode, we consider and discuss what it takes to transform and transcend yourself.
We talk with special guests Jason Fiber (CEO of THX), a man who has worn many hats, done many things in the alternative and underground music scene and industry, and now heads up one of the biggest names in audio visual technology, and the insanely dynamic and prolific Kasson Crooker, Director Of Product Development at THX.
Taking risks. Making changes. Living without regret. Easier said than done! This episode, we ruminate and wonder what could be and what might have been.
This episode we talk about what's good and recent wins in our respective worlds. Keeping a positive thread in our thinking makes all the difference.
This week, we speak to producer/engineer Jason Lowerie about how he works and develops his craft. It all boils down to fundamentals and intuition.
This week, we speak to Grammy Award-nominated producer/engineer Paul Fig about how he works and develops his craft.
Anu, Dee, and Michael discuss latest projects, challenges, and creative discoveries.
We all get stuck eventually -- stuck in our jobs, creative projects, or lives. We may face obstacles of finance, emotion, time, or personality.
We discuss our experiences being of being stuck -- its many flavors and textures, and how we moved beyond it...or did not!
Most of the biggest blocks that creators have start and end in their thinking. This episode explores where our own worst thinking stops us before we even start and some ways to begin to unlearn the nasty habit of catastrophic thinking.
Is artificial intelligence a real threat to human creativity? Or are we just expanding our creative toolbox? We discuss the myths and realities of technology and creative practices in the world of art and music, and talk about implications and effects of previous and future technologies.
Holidays can be a real source of anxiety and loneliness for so many people. In this final episode for 2022, we discuss some personal practices to cure the holiday blues.
Fear can be a crippling effect of past trauma or experience. How do we interrupt the experience of fear and redirect that energy? How do we discern between what is a helpful fear response and past neurological triggers like PTSD and related disorders?
How does psychological conditioning come into play? Don't be afraid to join us this episode as we address some of our personal experiences.
Every artist has a unique voice, a tone, a perspective. How do you discover what that is? What choices, what tools, what things help you find and sharpen it? We wander a crooked path through these thorny issues and questions.
Michael and Dee talk about how this journey affected their new records.
We're out this week for Thanksgiving, and taking this opportunity to give you this, our first revisitation of one of our first episodes!
Celebrating the release of "Paisley Madrigals" to the streaming services, we are proud to once again, present to you, our "Adios Jesse... Hello BUNK!" episode from July 17, 2021.
This was the fourth episode we ever did, B.A. (Before Anu), wherein Dee talks about the loss of his friend Jesse Rodriguez, Jesse's contributions to a side project Michael and Dee were a part of in the early 90's called BUNK, which also included mutual friend Larry Rainwater.
Our guest is Sara Schnadt, who answers questions about her path from performance artist to systems architecture at NASA/JPL. Sara talks with us about how the two fields work together for her on a day-to-day basis.
What's more important in music: melody or lyrics? We take on this unanswerable question. This ridiculous challenge leads us in some interesting directions.
Digital marketing expert, musician, and motorcycle enthusiast Chad Bishop talks with Dee and Michael about the Zen of long motorcycle rides, playing music, and a bit of marketing strategy.
Chad used to play in bands Screaming to G*d and Idiot Stare.
We all look at our lives and wonder "what if..?" Presented with an array of doors, we can only choose one to walk through, leaving us to ask if made the best selection, and consider how our lives would have been better, or at least different.
We discuss some of our own key moments, and look at whether asking "what if..?" is helpful or harmful. What can we learn from the decisions we made, and what can we learn from the paths not taken?
How can we avoid the slippery slope of regret and dread? Perhaps there's a better way to use the idea of better choices to open up new worlds of opportunity, informed by our past.
How do we keep the door of opportunity open without creating more of what we don't want?
How many times have you thought, "If I only had enough...?" We investigate finding more ease in our creative lives, no matter how impossible our head tells us it will be.
A wishlist is a powerful tool for creating direction in our daily lives. Tell the story of what you want and paths may appear.
We push and pull on "Pistol", Hulu's slick and stylized miniseries which re-imagines Steve Jones' autobiography, "Lonely Boy". "Pistol" presents one possible story of the birth and death of the Sex Pistols. We talk about the compromises inherent in telling any story, the merits of related documentaries, the truth and fiction behind "Pistol", and the impact of the Sex Pistols.
Creative people often struggle with making art and making peace with themselves. Garry Shandling was no exception. He was a complex mix of aspiration, attachment, suffering, striving, and success. We talk about our responses to Judd Apatow's documentary "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling", and consider what it means for life and creativity.
How much of our lives should we give to work? How much work do we need for our lives? Does work help give life meaning and shape, or does work rob life of meaning and shape? Can we find a way to make work work for us?
50 years ago, David Bowie released "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", his fifth album. The one that gave him a taste of success, and that set the template for what would follow.
After all this time, what makes this record so enduring for us and everyone else? What's the worst song on it? The worst lyrics? Is it good? Is it bad?
Give me your hands! You're not alone! Join us to celebrate the Starman.
We take the train to inspiration station. Where do we find inspiration? How do we access it, and sustain that mysterious driving force behind just about everything we do as humans? It's closer than our breath, yet evaporates in an instant if we don't stoke the creative power source. Where do we start?
Should you ever be ashamed of liking something? Does the concept of a "guilty pleasure" even apply in the anything-goes 21st century? Can you like something that you also think is bad? Is it simple nostalgia, or a deep appreciation of craft?
This week we discuss the many faces of trauma, panic, PTSD, and the road to recovery. We share some personal experiences and our thoughts.
We address the many faces of grief and loss. Grief has no timeline but the symptoms can be managed with kindness and awareness.
What is this terrible affliction of the mind and spirit? Why are we always convinced that buying some new equipment will solve our problems? Why doesn't it? Why do we keep at it?How do we stop the GAS building up? There is a solution...sort of.
In this episode we dive into the rabbit hole of artistic identity, integrity, and how we (and others) try to define ourselves as artists. Dee and Michael explore this idea and more this week.
