The Greg Heaney Music Podcast Show

Greg Heaney

My name is Greg Heaney, and I am a musician.  On this podcast I host conversations surrounding music, neurodivergence, careers in the arts, the creative process, education, therapy, and much more.  I believe music to be the universal language, and we could all use more music in our lives in order to heal and move forward.The Greg Heaney Music Podcast Show is a place to discuss music, neurodivergence, and how they intersect!

  1. Episode 34: Sarah Simon

    09/25/2025

    Episode 34: Sarah Simon

    This, the first in a family series of podcast episodes, is a conversation I had recently with my lovely cousin Sarah Simon.  Sarah is currently a PhD student in clinical psychology, lives in New York City, and is a member of the Darkwave Goth duo MIDNIGHTCHOIR.   I invited her to be my first guest in this series because I was curious as to how she used music to heal herself from a traumatic event when she was 18.  We go into detail about the event and then end up having a wonderful conversation about ambient music, Bob Dylan, John Cage, The Disintegration Loops, and more. We also reminisce about a younger version of myself who visited Sarah, her brother Nick, and their mom (my aunt) Barb in New York City in 2005, a VERY difficult year for me.  I was there for Thanksgiving and brought a whole frozen turkey on a train from Chicago.  The kids (at the time they were 10 and 8), Aunt Barb, and I saw Stranger Than Fiction (with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson) when I was on that trip and it was exactly what I needed at the time. I had a wild idea to invite many of my family members onto my podcast to discuss where our proclivity for music comes from.  Particularly on the Heaney side there are a lot of now adults who have pursued creative work, as well as caring professions (psychology, social work, education, nursing, etc.), so I'm curious to gather stories of why so many of us have devoted our lives to these pursuits.  Our grandma Heaney was a psychiatrist and would see patients in the old family home on Burt Street in Omaha, Nebraska, and Sarah and I get into discussing some of the legends to come out of that house and our grandmother's practice. I hope you enjoy the conversation I have here with my cousin!

    1h 7m
  2. Episode 33: Mike Nix

    09/13/2025

    Episode 33: Mike Nix

    My guest on this episode of the show is my old friend Mike Nix.  Mike is a 15+ year design veteran hailing from Denver, Colorado, and he is quite good at what he does.  The two of us first got to know each other in New Orleans, Louisiana when we were both at Loyola University in the early aughts.  Mike (I think) designed some flyers for bands I was in down there, and even around 2003 - 2005 he was very highly regarded for his talents and abilities, one of the go-to guys for young bands to go to for design work. He's traditionally trained in design, he's an expert in UX/UI leveraging AI and code, and he's gained expertise as both a product development expert and people manager.  Ultimately, though, he loves to design and build cool things. Mike and I both evacuated from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and headed to Chicago when the levee broke.  He was a good friend to have in the windy city and we've stayed in contact over the years.  He even helped me out massively by designing the cover art for my band Knifehand's first official album release.  So, yeah ... great dude. We talk especially about the future of the graphic design world with the incoming tsunami of AI disrupting the entire industry ... both of us care about the careers of young people and want to mentor as many young adults as possible as they start their careers in this unknown landscape. We also, of course, discuss music, neurodivergence, mentorship, creativity, and Internet memes.  It's a great conversation I had the privilege of having with my friend.  I hope you enjoy and learn a thing or three.

    1h 13m

About

My name is Greg Heaney, and I am a musician.  On this podcast I host conversations surrounding music, neurodivergence, careers in the arts, the creative process, education, therapy, and much more.  I believe music to be the universal language, and we could all use more music in our lives in order to heal and move forward.The Greg Heaney Music Podcast Show is a place to discuss music, neurodivergence, and how they intersect!