Beyond Your Imagination

"Creative Recklessness & Reinvention" with Kelley Baker

After a detour through art and madness, Kelley and I return to music documentaries and revel in the double feature of Zappa (2020) and The Sparks Brothers (2021), two stories about bands and personalities that overlap in impact, work ethic, and a body of work that boggles the modern mind. There isn't a shortage of talking points with either Frank Zappa or Sparks. Throughout our conversation, Kelley and I talk about doing what you do for a long time, wanting people to like what we do even though we shouldn't care, the paradox of creative control, the business and political legacy of Zappa, the reality that art has never been easy, and the lack of ownership and the loss of discovery in our culture.

"Art & Madness: The Cinema of Hardship" with Kelley Baker

In this episode, we travel to South America with filmmaker Werner Herzog and documentarian Les Blank in the double feature: Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Burden of Dreams (1982). It's one thing to watch a film where the main character moves a giant ship over a mountain, it's another to watch the documentary revealing the painstaking process of making cinema magic come to life. In a world that seemingly pushes us toward the easy and the comfortable, watching films about making impossible dreams come true unleashes a flood of questions: Where would we be without dreams? Where would we be without dreamers? What role does madness play in the pursuit of our dreams? Can you make art without suffering? How do dreamers evolve as they grow older? Enjoy this conversation with Kelley and I about art, madness, dreams, dreamers, and the cinema of hardship.

"Invent the Wheel...Ride the Wave!" with Kelley Baker

In this episode, Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker and I explore two films by filmmaker Stacy Peralta: Dogtown & Z-Boys (2001) and Riding Giants (2004). Having no personal experience with skateboarding or surfing, it was eye-opening to have a front row seat to the movements presented in both films. Kelley and I dive into these films and talk about a range of topics including corporatization of sports, filmmaking from the perspective of the insider versus the outsider, why style will always be favorable over slick and shiny aesthetics, and the value of falls and failures. While there are nuggets of wisdom throughout this conversation, I think this quote from Kelley sets the stage for this episode, specifically regarding creativity: "When you have no money and you don't have a lot of options, you become creative."

"Humans Among Myths & Gods" with Kelley Baker

Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker is an author, filmmaker, and music aficionado. Music and music documentaries are a common point of discussion whenever we get together, so we thought a great double feature to discuss would be It Might Get Loud and The Other F Word. How can a good documentary humanize a myth or a god? On the surface, a good documentary brings you into a world you know little about. You see how people live and the choices they make. But on a deeper level, the humanization or elevation of a subject reveals a message that evolves and instructs in new ways as you get older. In this conversation, Kelley and I talk about what we've learned this time around watching these films, specifically relating to art, commerce, the pursuit and obsession of craft, and the price we pay as artists and humans. One final note before diving in to the conversation, it's incredibly powerful to not only watch a film you otherwise wouldn't, but to listen to what that film means to someone else. I am not a father, so Kelley's perspective, as both father and grandfather, helped me to see *The Other F Word* differently, through his eyes. I hope this conversation does the same for you.

"Stories of Tragedy & Triumph with Kelley Baker

Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker is an author, filmmaker, and music aficionado. Whenever we get together, we’re always talking about music and music documentaries, and two films we can’t stop talking about are Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage and Muscle Shoals. As we discuss this double feature, we touch on themes of history and mythology in the music business, curiosity and dissatisfaction, the pursuit of greatness, and how tragedy and rejection shape people. Weaving stories and memories from both films and our lives, Kelley and I talk about how these films reveal necessary traits that all artists need in pursuing their work: upping your game by working on your craft, surrounding yourself with people, and going down your own path.