Groundwater Podcast with Jonathan Brown Jonathan Brown: poet, rapper, podcaster

In this episode, Big Lo and I talk about tour life and a whole bunch of other stuff including The Illegalist, blending punk and hip hop, song structure, giving yourself the co-sign, The Cactus House in Odessa, TX, Backspace in Fayetteville, AR, Banks Street Bar in New Orleans, Virgil Wolfe, co-sponsorships, the after-tour-crash, crowdfunding campaigns, how to push and promote a new release with good intentions, how to sell art without apologies, how to negotiate guarantees, Brene Brown, Dani Winns, Niklas Oliver, ASCAP and BMI, self reliance, booking your own shows, midlevel rap pyramid schemes, pay to play stages, how to burn brides, Bone Thugs and Harmony, No Limit, rapping over vocals, stand up comedy, dadaism, surrealism, dabs, and finally, getting called out for an encore while playing a Ghostface and Raekwon show.    

Paige Beller and I talk about how we met while she was on tour with Grek Rekus at a weird British Bar in Lancaster, CA. She describes what it’s like to ride a train across the entire country.   Her use of silence during a set is striking and she explains a little about the thought process behind the dynamics of her show.     We talk about her stage set up, which is both minimalistic and complex. It includes a looper, a small drum set, a tiny piano, a guitar, and a whole lot of pedals.   We talk about trying to stay motivated while depression is going hard. And we answer the age old question of is it easier to write when you’re down?

Lt. Headtrip and I talk about bar fights, Led Zeppelin kidnapping people, and how to use persona to explore the icky parts of self.

In this episode, Joshua Genius and I talk about how Josh got into the mental health field and how he merges art with his day job. We also discuss super dope books like Thinking Fast and Slow, Dessa’s My Own Devices and The Power of When. He produced I’m Possible on my last record and I got to fan-girl real hard and ask him how it was done. Oh and… we geek out about how amazing Otem Rellik is. Check it out.

Glenis Redmond is grounded in many worlds: Poetry, The Teaching Arts and Imagination Activism. We talk about the role of the artist in society, how to level up your business, and her most recent book, What My Hand Say.

  In this episode, Shatora Lane and I get mad brainy and we talk about books! We talk about art and life and goals, and we tie it all together with an extended metaphor from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Have you left for the pyramids already? Or are you the shepherd still?   Check out Shatora’s prolific youtube channel here.