The Trace

On this episode of The Trace Kat Sommers and Andrew Hackett play “Outcast Songs”. These are songs by or about people that are different, people that don’t have a place to be, people that don’t quite fit in.   As usual Kat and Andrew get into existential themes through their song choices.   Keep an eye out for the upcoming serialized audiobook by Andrew which is called “The Sky, Finally”.  Part 1 comes out next week.   Now…onto the music!

A 14 year-old makes his first true friend after his family moves to a commune in the San Fernando Valley foothills of Los Angeles.  They cause trouble, begin to discover sexuality, and fall in love with Weezer (oh yes, the year is 1992). All is well and then, of course, life is interrupted. "Erotic Thriller and the Tumbleweed" is an audio story written by Andrew Hackett and produced by Andrew Hiller (alhhla). Enjoy the experience and check out andrewhackett.bandcamp.com to listen to more audio stories.  

In the coming months I am going to be sharing audio stories here on The Trace.  I spent much of the quarantine part of the pandemic writing fiction.  Now I am ready to share these stories with you in audio format. First up is “Erotic Thriller and the Tumbleweed”.  I wrote this story knowing that my dear friend Andrew Hiller would do the score and production on it.  Well, he went way above and beyond with a beautiful creation that I am so excited to share with you. In here I also discuss dreams, horror movies, and the writing process.   Get ready for the release of “Erotic Thriller and the Tumbleweed” in two weeks!

What songs make you think of rebirth?  We are in the season of fall where the leaves are falling and the weather gets colder.  But we also know from experience that those leaves will return and it will heat up once again.   On this episode of The Trace Andrew and Kat talk about rebirth, anger, grief, hope.  Expect to hear some awesome songs and also some inspiring words.  You know there will be some surprising choices here.  Let's go!

On this episode of The Trace Radio it's Andrew solo playing music and musing on mysteries.  The Coen Brothers are discussed as religious provocoteur filmmakers which leads into tracks by NIN, mewithoutYou, and Andrew WK.   Take a walk, a drive, a run, or just chill out as you listen to some curious thoughts and some great music.  

Steve Elkins is a filmmaker whose recent documentary Echoes of the Invisible takes the viewer on a "journey into the most extreme environments on earth to find the connective tissue between all things seen and unseen". On this episode of The Trace Podcast Steve and I talk about interconnectedness, filmmaking, plus everything from science to meditation. Steve is also a musician who played in The Autumns before focusing his full attention on making movies.   Listen to our talk and then watch Echoes of the Invisible where you can fully dive into the mysteries of this beautiful world we live in.

Once a month I (Andrew) host a 2-hour Saturday morning radio show in Seattle on 107.3FM.  This is an opportunity to get a little more mystical and philosophical while pairing songs with thought meditations. A theme I keep returning to is "You are who you say you are" or "I am who I say I am".  This is about lovingly and intentionaly defining yourself.  If you don't do it the culture or other toxic people will be happy to tell you who you are. Going all over the place with genre, era, and feels here in terms of the music.  So sit back or talk a walk and listen to some great music and some (hopefully) empowering words.

What does freedom mean to you?  Is freedom connected to responsibility?  Does freedom mean that you can do anything you want regardless of how it effects others?  How does my freedom and your freedom relate to each other? On this episode Andrew is joined by The Trace Radio's co-host Kat Summers.  We each pick 5 songs related to this theme of freedom and talk about what they mean to us.  Style, genre, and era will be all over the place even as the theme is the same. What songs would you pick that represent freedom to you?  

On this episode of The Trace Podcast I talk with Professor Clare Carlisle of King's College.  She is the author of six books, most recently "On Habit, Spinoza’s Religion: A New Reading of the Ethics" and "Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard" which we will be focused on in this talk.  Clare Carlisle teaches in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Kings College. Her wonderful book "Philosopher of the Heart" brings the life and thought of Soren Kierkegaard fully to life for the reader.  Clare and I talk about what she learned from studying his life, whether or not he would be on Twitter today, and how "indirect communication" can help us talk with conspiracy theorists today. Listen to the conversation and then get the book!   *The movie we are trying to remember at the end is Terrence Malick's "A Hidden Life" from 2019.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a Los Angeles based novelist, screenwriter and journalist. His debut novel, YES, DADDY, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on May 18, 2021. Amazon Studios is currently adapting the book for television. His writing has been widely published in such outlets as VICE, Slate, OUT Magazine, W Magazine, Atlas Obscura, Elle and Medium. He has lectured on journalism and creative non-fiction at Fordham University. He is also an alumnus of the 2018 and 2019 Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences.  Jonathan and I talk about YES, DADDY, queer Christianity, working in restaurants, and hopes for the future.  

Devin Fei-Fan Tau is the director of "Who's On Top?" which is a feature-length documentary that shines a spotlight on a diverse group of the LGBTQ+ community to challenge stereotypes about gender and sexuality in outdoor recreation. Historically excluded and ostracized as not belonging to the adventurer community, the climbers tackle not only a mountain, but assumptions about who they are and how they belong to the world of outdoor sports. This film portrays a journey like no other, a never-before-told story about what makes LGBTQ+ folks both distinct and connected, facing physical, mental and societal obstacles. Devin tells us about his own coming out story, a vocation of filmmaking, and his profound love of the Pacific Northwest. "Who's On Top?" will be available for streaming and on DVD and Blu-Ray May 18th.

This week on The Trace I am very proud to have Tye Reed as a guest.  Tye is a mutual aid organizer in Seattle, Washington.  We talk mutual aid, how we can all support each other, and the movies. Tye tells us about the good work of mutual aid and how YOU can get involved.  Then we get into some movies and how they relate to our need to take care of each other.  We discuss "Little Monsters", "28 Days Later", "Do the Right Thing", and the ever glorious "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors".   Follow Tye on Twitter at @themobilepauper.  Donate to the good work that Tye does and volunteer in Seattle or wherever you are with mutual aid.  Donate here at http://bit.ly/TRUsolidarity. Thank you to Tye for the great work and the excellent talk.  Donate to mutual aid everybody!

Todd Brown from Screen Anarchy and XYZ Films is my guest this week.  Todd and I talk about his life of writing about movies and music, producing films, and the movies that have shaped him. Todd has been a producer on films like "Mandy", "The Raid", "Vivarium", and much more.  He generously shares stories about the making of "The Raid", Panos Casmotos, and Nicolas Cage.  We also get into his earlier focus on music with artists like Dave Bazan and Damien Jurado.   It's a conversation full of movies, music, television, and the art we love.  There is no differentiation between "high" and "low" art here.  Enjoy the talk with Todd Brown!

Low is one of the great bands of the last 25+ years.  Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker have been making transcendent, challenging, beautiful music consistently since they started Low. Alan Sparhawk is my guest this week on The Trace.  We talk about his childhood and how he fell in love with music.  We dive into specific Low songs plus talk Neil Young, Robert Plant, and even Spike Lee.   We touch on religion/spirituality, where songs come from, mental health, and our need for disruptive art.   Low's discography is truly impressive.  Listen to their early classics like "The Curtain Hits the Cast" and "Secret Name" then see how far out they have ventured musically with "Drums and Guns" and "Double Negative".  You never know exactly what you will get sonically with Low - you just know it's gonna be good. Thanks to Alan for such a wonderful and open conversation.  So here we go!  (Also - do yourself a favor and listen to their track "Landslide" some time this week.) 

It was just over a year ago that quarantine started.  Before then I was managing/bartending at a Seattle bar.  Suddenly I was home and trying to figure out how to use the time.  I wanted to take advantage of this bittersweet opportunity.  I gave myself over to doing interviews, study, writing - and the movies!   This is a talk about what the movies meant to me in 2020.  How did they help me grow?  How did they help me face my own darkness?  How did they help my empathy expand?   These films gave me the opportunity to face my fears and seek out new inner possibilities. Kat Summers is the co-host of The Trace Radio with me.  She interviewed me about my year of movies in quarantine in 2020.

About a year ago I woke up in the morning and saw a man in my mind.  His name was Terry.  I knew that Terry loved 80's Christian rock and that he managed a Christian bookstore in the mid-90's.  I wanted to know more about this person.  I sat down and this story came to me.   "The Bright Light of the Christian Bookstore" Maybe you went to these places back in the day.  Maybe you worked at one.  Maybe you have no idea what I am talking about but are intrigued to hear Terry's story. This is about the things we all face in this life: looking for a place to be, searching for safety, and facing real dangers in the world.  I hope you enjoy Terry's story 

Illustrator, designer, musician, instructor, and letterpress printer Demian Johnston spent his formative years playing bass in legendary hardcore band Undertow before moving to guitar to form Nineironspitfire and later join hardcore icons Kiss It Goodbye.  He currently plays with Great Falls whose most recent album is "A Sense of Rest". We talk about the beauty of metal, fear of death, the straight edge scene in the 90's and 00's, and the importance of funding the arts.  There are asides about horror movies, philosophy, plus plenty of band stories.  Check out Great Falls!

Do you know that phrase "get behind me, Satan"?  What's that about?  On this episode of The Trace I break down what is going on with this strange expression.  Surprise!  It's more political than you think. I use clips from "Nomadland", "Magnolia", and "Borat" while looking at this famous expression and Bible story.  Are you seeing things in this world through the lense of collective responsibility or survival of the fittest competition?   Plus, what's the deal with this Satan concept?

Rabbi Mark Sameth is the author of The Name: A History of the Dual-Gendered Hebrew Name for God.  His essays include “Our Father, Who Art Our Mother” which you can read on Religion Dispatches, and the Op-Ed “Is God Transgender” which appeared in The New York Times.  Mark and I talk about his book which includes wonderful insights into gender, feminism, affirming LGBTQ people, and intersectional identity.  We explore the Adam and Eve story, Kabbalah, and Jewish history.  What are the implications of a dual-gendered God?  This is a special one my friends!  

The Reverend Jennifer Butler is the founding Executive Director of Faith in Public Life and author of "Who Stole My Bible?:  Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny".   Reverend Butler also wrote "Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized." We talk about her wonderful new book and how to resist empire within inter-faith dialogue and activism.  Have you heard about the horrific "Slave Bible"?  You will get that story and much more about white supramacy's version of Christian nationalism.  The good news is that there is a tradition of loving resistance that is continuing today.