Absolutely Sure, No Idea

Krylon Superstar: On Nineties Club Culture, Queer Performance Art, and The Meaning of Life

"God can't catch you if you don't jump." Krylon Superstar has been living by that principle since she left San Diego for New York in the nineties with no plan and a patchwork dress made of spray paint patches safety-pinned together. What followed was a life that looks like it couldn't possibly belong to one person. Today, Piper and David sit down with Krylon Superstar — performer, artist, witch, model, fashion stylist, voodoo and ancestral magic practitioner, and one half of the Bay Area queer hip hop ballroom house duo Double Duchess. Krylon got her start as a performance artist and club kid in New York's East Village in the nineties, spent eight years in Berlin performing, modeling, and doing theater, and now lives in San Francisco. From the Limelight to Berlin to Double Duchess, Krylon's creative life has never followed a map — it's followed a feeling. This conversation covers the decades in between: what it was like to be trans in New York in the nineties, what she had to set aside to survive it, and what she's learned about what art actually is and what it's for. * Why she thinks the Wizard of Oz has the wrong title — and what it says about where the good stuff actually happens * Going where your people are, and what happens when you actually do it * A quote about the meaning of life that someone named Compost told her — and why she's never forgotten it * Why perfection is just control in disguise — and what she does instead Krylon Superstar: https://www.instagram.com/krylon_superstar/ [https://www.instagram.com/krylon_superstar/] Double Duchess: https://www.instagram.com/doubleduchess/ [https://www.instagram.com/doubleduchess/] If this one moved you, our conversation with DDM — on building a creative life entirely on your own terms in a world that doesn't always make room for it — is worth your time. And Keenan Newman's episode asks a quieter version of the same question: what is art actually for, and when does it fall short? Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea [http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea] Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ [https://www.davomakes.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ [https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/] Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ [https://www.piperwatson.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ [https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/] New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

Commercial Sets to Climate Refugees: Filmmaker Keenan Newman on Art, Activism, and Storytelling

Keenan Newman built a filmmaking career on the belief that stories have power. Then he stood in a Yup'ik village in Alaska filming people tear down their homes — and started to wonder about the limits of that belief. Today, Piper and David sit down with Keenan Newman — documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Ventura, California, whose work has taken him from a Yup'ik village in Western Alaska to the West Bank to the Park Avenue Armory. His recent projects include NEWTOK, a film about the first climate refugees within US borders, and ASSEMBLY, which documents artist and activist Rashad Newsom's work toward Black queer liberation. Keenan started in commercial work because he couldn't afford film school. Ten years later he was trying to figure out how to leave it. This conversation is about what gets clarified along the way — about what your role actually is, what art can and can't do, and what it looks like to build a creative life around something you believe in. * The moment in Alaska that made him question what he was doing there with a camera * Going from wanting his name on the marquee to seeing his role as service — and what changed that * How his definition of success in filmmaking has shifted over the last five years * The feast or famine reality of freelance filmmaking — and why he doesn't think it's going away Keenan Newman: https://keenan.film ASSEMBLY: https://assemblythefilm.com NEWTOK: https://www.patagonia.com/stories/newtok/video-116909.html If this one stayed with you, our conversation with Amy Toensing — National Geographic documentary photographer on keeping important work alive when the industry stops funding it — covers similar ground. And DDM's episode gets into what it looks like to make art entirely on your own terms when nobody's cutting the check. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea [http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea] Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ [https://www.davomakes.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ [https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/] Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ [https://www.piperwatson.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ [https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/] New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

Melanie Mishler, Manifestation Coach: From Wedding Photographer to Hiding Your Woo to the Fuck It Moment That Changed Everything

The ache that something more is possible is easy to ignore — until it isn't. Manifestation coach and somatic teacher Melanie Mishler had a successful wedding photography business, a home in Belize, flexibility most people dream about. She was also quietly suppressing the work she actually felt called to do, and her body knew it before she did. Today, Piper and David sit down with Melanie Mishler — manifestation teacher, trauma-informed somatic coach, creator of the Neuro-Somatic Manifesting™ method, host of Manifest with Melanie, and author of Women Who Want More. Melanie guides women over 40 to break free from the patterns keeping them stuck — through a blend of neuroscience, embodiment, and spiritual practice that she spent years hiding from her professional world before she finally stopped. Melanie went from somatic therapist to wedding photographer to manifestation coach — not in a straight line, not with a plan, and not without a lot of sitting on the thing she really wanted to say. This conversation is about what finally made her stop waiting, and what happened when she did. * Why the more successful you are, the harder it is to pivot — and what that actually costs you * The fuck it moment — and what being messy has to do with clarity * Her closing advice, which Piper immediately said should be on a t-shirt Manifest with Melanie Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/manifest-with-melanie/id1733330696https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/manifest-with-melanie/id1733330696 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/manifest-with-melanie/id1733330696] Website: https://melaniemishler.comhttps://melaniemishler.com [https://melaniemishler.com] Love the pod today? You’ll love our conversation with Kris Prochaska — licensed therapist and human design expert on identity, self-trust, and permission to be who you actually are. And Terra Lopez's episode gets into what it looks like when your body finally forces the conversation your mind has been avoiding. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea [http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea] Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ [https://www.davomakes.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ [https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/] Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ [https://www.piperwatson.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ [https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/] New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

Jeff Bratton, Indie Record Label Founder: On Building a Career Around Music You Love

Most people who love music stay fans. Jeff Bratton started reaching out to labels he loved while still working corporate PR — and just kept leaning into whatever door had give. That was the late 2000s. Cascine Records came out the other side of it. Today, Piper and David sit down with Jeff Bratton — founder of independent record label Cascine and artist manager for Yeule, Casey MQ, and Com Truise. Cascine has become a genuine touchstone in indie, electronic, and experimental music, built without a major label, a blueprint, or any particular certainty about what came next. Jeff grew up in Maryland, fell in love with music in the DC and Baltimore rave scene, and spent years working in corporate PR before reaching out to the labels he actually cared about and offering to help for free. This conversation is less about how he built Cascine and more about what he believes made it worth building — and what it actually takes to survive in a creative industry when there are no guarantees. Hear why community isn't optional when you're making something without a blueprint. And what he and David found in each other early on — and why wise friendships might be the whole thing Cascine: https://www.cascine.us [https://www.cascine.us] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cascine [https://www.instagram.com/cascine] Gallerie: https://www.gallerie.us/ [https://www.gallerie.us/] Listen to our conversation with DDM — on building a creative career entirely on your own terms — it covers similar territory. And Jinji Fraser's episode gets into what it looks like to stay inside something without a plan and trust where it leads. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea [http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea] Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ [https://www.davomakes.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ [https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/] Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ [https://www.piperwatson.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ [https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/] New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen

Yoga Studio Founder to Contemporary Artist: Kim Manfredi on Reinvention and the Tension Between Art and Livelihood

Abstract painter Kim Manfredi ran one of Baltimore's most beloved yoga studios for 15 years. Before that, a decorative painting company for 15 years. She was just waiting for the moment to say yes to painting again. This one's for anyone who's walked away from an opportunity because something else needed them more — and wondered for years whether that was the right call. Today, Piper and David sit down with Kim Manfredi — abstract painter, founder of Charm City Yoga, and one of Piper's former teachers. Kim earned her MFA from MICA studying under Grace Hartigan and Joyce Kozloff, and her painting Sillmangreen was acquired by the Palm Springs Art Museum for its permanent collection. She has an upcoming solo exhibition and outdoor public commission at the Laguna Art Museum in 2026. Kim was represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore and walked away from it to stay committed to the yoga community that had grown out of the carriage house where her decorative painting company worked. She went back to graduate school twenty years after her undergraduate degree. When the art path presented itself again, she recognized it. This conversation is about what it takes to keep choosing the same thing across a life that keeps changing shape around it. * Walking away from a promising opportunity with the Grimaldis Gallery in her early career to run a business * The "old lady role models" she found when she needed proof that being found later was still possible * How she structures each body of work so she can find freedom * What it actually looks like to sell enough to support a practice Kim Manfredi: https://www.kimmanfredi.com/ [https://www.kimmanfredi.com/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimmanfredi/ [https://www.instagram.com/kimmanfredi/] If you liked this episode, our conversation with Melanie Mishler — on walking away from a successful creative business to follow what you were actually called to do — covers similar territory. And Amy Toensing's episode gets into what it looks like to keep a creative practice alive when the conditions keep changing around it. Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea: Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea [http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea] Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/ [https://www.davomakes.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/ [https://www.instagram.com/davo_makes/] Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/ [https://www.piperwatson.com/] on IG: https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/ [https://www.instagram.com/__piperwatson/] New episodes drop every Wednesday — subscribe wherever you listen