Artists of New York | Podcast on RSS.com

Artists of New York

Artists of New York

by Dan Riley

Episode 134: Stephen Rodes Chen - More Important Than Money

Stephen Rodes Chen is a songwriter and saxophonist based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York (01:54) Discovering the saxophone (06:52) Music and identity (08:57) Choosing Yale over conservatory (11:06) The strange history of the saxophone (15:28) Creating musical opportunities at Yale (18:59) Graduating into the financial crisis (20:50) Committing to music (23:02) Building Great Caesar in New York (26:02) WeWork and the hippie capitalist scene (29:00) Joining San Fermin (30:59) Leaving Great Caesar behind (32:02) Making money between tours (32:56) How necessity fuels ambition (36:30) Second-guessing the artistic path (39:05) The value of an interesting life (43:31) Becoming a professional touring musician (46:34) Covid stops everything (48:02) Building a virtual choir business (52:19) Does a musician still need New York? (59:12) Seeking music that challenges you (65:42) Redefining success

Episode 133: Nore Davis - No Finish Line

Nore Davis is a standup comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Growing up in Yonkers (02:09) Being the funny kid (03:04) Art before comedy (04:52) Discovering stand-up at Pratt (05:59) Secretly taking a comedy class (08:06) Finding the thrill of stand-up (11:06) Making comedy financially sustainable (13:58) Building connections and community (15:32) Albums, SiriusXM, and independence (16:46) Finding material in real life (18:30) Living with sickle cell anemia (23:23) Becoming a working New York comedian (27:04) Getting discovered at Just for Laughs (28:58) The first Conan appearance (34:25) Acting, writing, and career milestones (36:42) Money, ambition, and destination anxiety (40:41) Building an hour of stand-up (44:45) What separates great comedians (47:21) Why New York beats Los Angeles (50:07) The importance of constant stage reps (52:11) Learning to move past bombing (53:17) Defining success as happiness

Episode 132: Nancy Borowick - Pictures, Parents, Passage

Nancy Borowick is a photographer, author, teacher and speaker based in New York City and St John in the USVI. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Finding photography in New York (02:18) Teaching photography in Ghana (05:29) Discovering photography’s power to create change (07:41) Learning both parents had cancer (11:02) Using photography to process illness (13:35) Planning a wedding amid terminal illness (14:52) Sharing her family story publicly (17:12) Losing both parents one year apart (20:41) Grief transforms her photography career (22:17) Leaving New York for Guam (24:28) Turning her family story into a book (26:31) Deciding whether to have children (30:29) Motherhood, birth trauma, and postpartum depression (31:40) Processing birth trauma through photography (34:33) Discovering the hidden reality of stillbirth (37:23) Knowing your normal during pregnancy (40:35) Pregnancy, advocacy, and trusting your intuition (45:18) Finding joy, family, and a quieter life

Episode 131: Luke Strathman - The Creative Economist

Luke Strathman is a writer, economist, comedian and poet based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York before COVID (01:58) Growing up on a donkey farm (03:26) Discovering comedy by accident (05:58) Lessons from poverty research (10:25) Finding creativity at grad school (11:17) Choosing joy over the expected path (13:23) Pursuing comedy in New York (15:27) Uncertainty around a creative career (16:51) Keeping a foot in policy research (17:38) Building a varied comedy career (18:58) Creating PowerPoint comedy shows (23:02) Booking comedians through outreach and community (24:16) Finding the humor in economics (26:24) The Beanie Baby business years (27:51) New York’s alternative comedy venues (31:57) Favorite New York comedians (34:15) Balancing comedy with a day job (36:31) Redefining success around happiness and creativity

Episode 130: Gastor Almonte - The Stories We Carry

Gastore Almonte is a storyteller and comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) A first-generation New Yorker’s story (01:07) Why his parents left the Dominican Republic (04:43) Growing up around funny, creative people (05:51) Family, struggle, and growing up in East New York (08:21) From Frito-Lay sales to stand-up comedy (09:52) Roy Wood Jr.’s life-changing encouragement (11:38) His wife encourages a leap into comedy (13:45) Knowing when to go all-in (15:20) Learning from an early career opportunity (16:49) Pursuing comedy while raising a family (18:29) Making art financially sustainable (19:58) Artistic risk without economic risk (23:31) Why comedy made him happier (24:56) Marriage, disagreements, and finding humor (26:05) Fatherhood as his creative center (28:46) Discovering New York’s storytelling scene (29:55) The best storytelling venues in New York (32:37) Learning storytelling from his family (35:50) What makes a great storyteller (36:22) Losing his father and confronting mortality (38:03) Emptying the creative tank (41:48) Why stories are so powerful (47:14) The storytellers who inspire him (51:02) How his storytelling craft has improved (53:39) Redefining success around quality time

Episode 129: Cale Hawkins - Songs, Stages, Studios

Cale Hawkins is a songwriter and music producer based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) From western New York to New York City (01:10) Discovering music, country, and the Beatles (03:55) Taking music seriously as a kid (05:05) Finding mentors at the Infinity Program (07:15) Talent, improvisation, and learning from better musicians (10:18) Why the Beatles remain the gold standard (14:30) High school and choosing music professionally (19:17) Knowing music was the only path (20:29) Professionalism, listening, work ethic, and rejection (24:35) The music industry’s unwritten rules (26:40) Berklee, Derek Sivers, and moving faster (31:25) Leaving Boston and starting over in New York (35:08) Touring dreams and surviving through poker (36:16) The Quincy Jones audition that changed everything (38:40) Learning from the legendary Quincy Jones (42:54) Marriage, touring, and putting down roots (47:02) Making a long-distance marriage work (48:09) Knowing when touring was no longer worthwhile (50:32) Falling in love with producing music (54:09) Making creativity financially sustainable (59:26) Simplicity, songwriting, and unexpected passive income (63:38) Redefining success as freedom and fulfillment

Episode 128: Bonnie McFarlane - Craft, Comedy, Clout

Bonnie McFarlane is a standup comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) From Canadian poverty to creative ambition (04:45) Choosing a cow and building a business (07:19) Family, hard work, and money (10:30) Discovering writing, acting, and advertising (13:07) Finding safety in the comedy world (17:18) Winning a contest and reaching New York (22:01) Bombing at Caroline’s (24:11) Surviving New York without a day job (25:54) Falling in love with stand-up (29:52) New York’s legendary comedy scene (32:19) Letterman and career breakthroughs (35:47) Meeting Anthony Bourdain through a roast (40:00) Writing jokes for Anthony Bourdain (42:09) Remembering Bourdain’s character and authenticity (44:45) Why fame suddenly started mattering (48:32) The psychological block around social media (51:46) Why fame makes stand-up easier (53:22) Stand-up as a spiritual journey (55:49) How young comedians work differently (56:56) Challenging beliefs through comedy (60:52) Redefining success, fame, and artistic freedom (64:14) Finding new paths to an audience

Episode 127: Claire Wellin - Songs, Stories, Survival

Claire Wellin is a singer-songwriter and musician based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York for Broadway (04:50) Growing up in a musical family (06:43) Childhood in Bismarck, North Dakota (10:01) Violin training and musical burnout (13:00) Discovering songwriting and Andrew Bird (18:35) How Once changed her life (22:55) Surviving as a working musician (27:52) Finding time to make her own music (29:54) The unstable state of music (31:13) Why she never considered quitting (34:01) Songwriting, family history, and grief (39:12) Family stories of perseverance and forgiveness (47:17) Redefining success as an artist (49:49) Why music has become pay-to-play (51:56) The rise of covert music marketing (55:26) Music industry in a new era (56:16) Artists making great music today (59:19) Upcoming release show

Episode 126: Anthony DeVito - Mafia, Mics, Meaning

Anthony DeVito is a comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) From North Jersey to New York comedy (03:18) Architecture by accidental family promise (06:37) The old-people rental building presentation (09:42) Discovering architecture’s beauty and limitations (12:31) Failing forward at an Italian architecture firm (15:08) Learning his father was a made man (18:54) Inventing a mythical father figure (22:06) Discovering the truth about his father’s death (25:48) Reconciling crime, family history, and empathy (29:36) Carlin, Chris Rock, and comedy’s honesty (32:15) Early stunts, sketches, and stage fright (35:42) Surviving New York while building a career (39:12) Early success and changing ambitions (42:18) Finding deeper truths through stand-up (45:03) Creative routines, friendship, and staying playful (48:11) Masculinity, the manosphere, and lost young men (52:23) Comedians who combine truth and empathy (54:31) Success means freedom, friendship, and love

Episode 125: Asher Kurtz - Making Music Matter

Asher Kurtz is a guitarist and music producer based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York for music (02:51) Discovering guitar and early musical influences (05:48) Arts high school and falling in love with jazz (08:56) Family support and pursuing music seriously (11:41) Talent, competition, and finding confidence (14:38) Choosing Berklee and college experiences (17:57) Teachers, genres, and building a musical network (21:16) Why music school didn't prepare him for work (24:08) Moving to New York and surviving odd jobs (27:41) Smorgasburg, dog walking, and early hustle (30:49) Making the leap to full-time musician (33:37) Australia tour and career-changing experiences (36:31) Pandemic reset and rediscovering creativity (40:12) Producing, engineering, and building a new career (43:26) Teaching music and working with children (46:18) Clint Strong's life-changing mentorship (50:07) Encouragement versus strictness as a teacher (53:06) Future goals and nearly leaving New York (56:18) Loss, grief, and creative renewal (59:08) Favorite musicians and lifelong inspirations (62:07) Favorite New York music venues (64:35) Defining success and closing thoughts

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