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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 up-and-coming comedians, musicians, writers and artists about their earliest creative acts and about other formative childhood experiences.

Sep 15, 2023

On today's episode, I talk to comics creator and TV writer Ben Edlund. While still in high school, Ben began developing the satirical superhero The Tick, who became the mascot of the New England Comics newsletter. After a production error led to them needing a new title quickly, the New England Comics folks invited Ben...


Sep 8, 2023

On today's episode, I talk to musician and actor Will Oldham. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Will was an actor before becoming a musician, appearing in John Sayles' Matewan as a teenager, as well as in films like Old Joy, Junebug and The Guatemalan Handshake, as well as TV shows like Wonder Showzen. In the early...


Sep 1, 2023

On today's episode, I talk to writer and musician Geoff Garlock. Geoff has been playing music since high school, first with the hardcore punk band Switchstance, and eventually with the seminal screamo band Orchid, who in their five short years together released ten albums and 7"es, mostly on Ebullition. After...


Aug 25, 2023

On today's episode, I talk to Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley of Teenage Fanclub. Emerging from the Scottish C86 scene of the 1980s, Teenage Fanclub formed out of the ashes of their previous group The Boy Hairdressers. While they immediately garnered positive reviews with their first few albums, released in America on...


Aug 18, 2023

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Pat Place and Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras. Both art students, Cynthia and Pat moved to New York in the 1970s and were soon sucked into the music scene. Pat became one of the founders and the guitarist of James Chance and the Contortions, and then in 1979, the two formed Bush...