Sparkle and Destroy: A podcast for girls who make noisy, vibrant art
Who will join me on my crusade to bring more strong, female maker voices to the world?
That's right, ladies and germs. I am throwing my tiara into the podcast realm, and I am in very good company. I'd love for you to take this step with me. Why am I announcing it here? Whenever I publicly announce a creative goal, it helps force me to get the legwork done in a more timely manner. Seriously. Try it! (Extra credit: Surround yourself with good-natured yet FIERCELY FIRM friends who will rake your ass over the coals if you don't do what you set out to do).
Maybe you can relate. Over the past few years, I've devoured hundreds of inspiring and fascinating podcasts, sometimes to the point of obsession. OK, I have always been obsessed. I can hardly wash the dishes or walk Mavis and Peyton Manning without popping a new show in my ears - whether it be behavioral science or music or LGBTQ issues or politics or race or wood-working or DIY arts related. I mean, I don't even believe in astrology (like, at all), but I still manage to keep up with a weekly astrology cast for some reason. I don't discriminate. I love filling my brain with stories about anything and everything. The world is too rich and to ignore.
But this podcast won't be about everything (which is a very, very good thing). It'll mostly be about ladies who make, create, and challenge. I will focus on female artists, musicians, and general agitators. There will be only one rule. There will be no whining and no complaining. I want to create a positive voice that is simultaniously recharging and stimulating and maybe even inspires girls and women to take charge in the ways that I was inspired as a youth. That's the loose sketch as of now. Consider that my rambling mission statement that will soon be printed onto the backs of silky, pink jackets. JK. Or am I really JKing?
Why now, though? This is a question I have asked myself a bunch. Between band, side gigs, writing, cobbling together an existence in one of the most expensive cities in the US, and dog cuddling, it never really feels like the right time....until it is.
It's "time" for a lot of people who have come out of the woodwork creatively in the last few months. 2016 has both silenced and enraged whole populations of people. It's time for these people to shout and support each other. I want 2017 to be three things: noisy, adventurous, and full of power.
When I stopped doing my little print zine, SWAP! (of which I created hundreds of physical copies and stapled them by hand over the span of two years), there was also a void. A "weirdness" void, you might say. That was the strange, public place I could say anything. Print anything.
I missed having an excuse to interview interesting people in the arts world (The drummer from The Murder Junkies, that random girl who sells single roses at all the bars, people I only know from the internet who are doing crazy and beautiful things). I also missed having a no-holds-barred outlet in which to showcase these connections and stories.
Podcasting has made sense for a while now, but I always stopped myself. All I ever do is interview people for freelance articles, so why would I want to interview people as an art project? Have you ever had to strangle that little voice once and for all? I mean, wow. That's a really dumb excuse. I love interviewing people. It's my passion. It's what connects me to the world. More is more. Think less. Pssshhh. Move over, stupid nagging voice. You have been demoted. Onward and upward.
Let's scrape some knees and share some recipes and learn from all the awesome mistakes. Let's be scared and strong together. Let's tear a nice big chunk out of the present moment and gulp it down, seeds and all. Art is the antidote for apathy and the rallying call of the cold, quivering masses.
If you are a lady who creates noisy, vibrant art--or just noise in general--I want you on my team, as a guest or a friend. I want your ear. Drop me a line. Stay tuned. Let's do this, 2017.
XO
H
