Through The Creative Door

BSIDE Phoning It In by Gavin Bowles & The Distractions

Featured Artist: Gavin Bowles & The Distractions
Featured Vinyl: Phoning It In
 
Alexis’ Hot Pick 
I Get Bored
Sam’s Hot Pick
Here comes the Heartache
 
Aus Music Alert! Support this artists by purchasing this record via Bandcamp:
https://gavinbowles.bandcamp.com/album/phoning-it-in 
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for an artist's vinyl to listen to, have you got one in mind that we should check out? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Co-Host: Sam Timmerman
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Voiceover: Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
—---------------------
Notes for Sam & Alexis:
 
00:09 - Introduction (Announcement)
Welcome to B-Side, the mini-series from Through the Creative Door. Join Alexis and Sam as they dive into the timeless world of vinyl. For Alexis, vinyl was more than music. It was a Sunday ritual she shared with her dad, listening, talking and soaking in the stories behind each album and the artwork on every sleeve. Though her dad is no longer with us, she continues this tradition with her friend, Sam Timmerman. Join them as they share their passion for vinyl and the stories these records hold. 
 
00:44 - Sam (Host)
Hello brother, Good afternoon, how are we? 
 
00:48 - Alexis (Host)
Good how you doing. 
 
00:50 - Sam (Host)
Warm. It's a sunny 30 million something degrees in Perth. 
 
00:55 - Alexis (Host)
Perth, it's not. 
 
00:56 - Sam (Host)
Perth, it's hotness. We take it because it's meant to be winter and it's great to have glorious weather. Still, how are you? 
 
01:02 - Alexis (Host)
I am good, my, my love. I love that you're having your Melbourne vibes joining me in the black attire. 
 
01:10 - Sam (Host)
I was just gonna say Melbourne vibes for those listening, only we're just wearing black we're all wearing black. 
 
01:16 - Alexis (Host)
I mean, black is my mo, that is, that is the staple of my wardrobe. But for you, my friend, you are one of the most colourful people I know. Your wardrobe is lovely patterns and lovely colours I love it. 
 
01:31 - Sam (Host)
What can I say? I'm in my Wednesday phase at the moment. I love this, that's a multi-layered reference for those who get it. 
 
01:40 - Alexis (Host)
All right, what have you got for us this week? 
 
01:46 - Sam (Host)
I'm super excited because this one arrived much faster than I thought. It's Gavin Bowles and the Distractions, a little power pop band from Sydney, and it's the album Phoning It In, which I'm holding up right now for the camera. And it is a very special one because I got excited. I was looking online and the sticker said limited edition pink vinyl. And I went I must and so I got it and it looks like this oh my goodness, for those listening, it is bright look at the color of this thing right, oh yeah. 
 
02:30
Well, that's their branding colors, right if bubblegum had a baby with a unicorn, this is what it would look like it looks amazing and it is, oh, it's so pretty see again visual media yeah, but also it circles back to what I said about you love colour. 
 
02:45 - Alexis (Host)
True, very true. 
 
02:49 - Sam (Host)
Have we put on our 10-minute timer yet? 
 
02:51 - Alexis (Host)
I did. I did a sneaky put it on while you were doing show and tell. 
 
02:58 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, so Gavin Bowles and the Distractions from Sydney, distractions from Sydney um, the full disclosure on this one. I listened to this record a couple of times at home, but majority of the listening I did was in the car, driving to and from many things. And it's such good driving music. This is just so much fun. I was listening to the other day and I went this is just a strange conglomeration, cross of and I'll say this, cross of green day and okay go. This is where my mind went with this thing. It's just if green day had listened to okay go for six months and decided they would turn their distortion pedals off, this is what that would sound like. It's so much fun. 
 
03:49 - Alexis (Host)
I actually find this album is actually a vibe to run to. 
 
03:56 - Sam (Host)
I like that. 
 
03:57 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, so it's been on repeat for a few of my runs. Yeah it's a vibe. 
 
04:06 - Sam (Host)
It is. Do you have a favourite track? I do. 
 
04:09 - Alexis (Host)
I do have a favourite track. It's funny that you mention about what bands it actually sort of takes you into as reference, because, funnily enough, the song that I think is my hot pick no, not think, no, it's my hot pick. It's a song called I Get Bored. I Get Bored, yeah, I Get. 
 
04:31 - Sam (Host)
Bored yeah, I Get Bored, I Get Bored yeah. 
 
04:33 - Alexis (Host)
And I don't know why, but it has this essence about it that really lends itself to do. You know the Australian band the Skyhooks. 
 
04:43 - Sam (Host)
I do. I'm not familiar, but I know them. 
 
04:50 - Alexis (Host)
It just I'm not it's not a carbon copy or whatever but there's like an essence about this particular song and it just sort of brings me and I I just they're a cool aussie band and gavin bowles and the distractions fucking cool aussie band. I don't know it's a vibe, but yeah, I really this I get bored is like. I love the lyrics, I love the jabs in the music and the structure of it. It's a real vibe, just really angsty, and I love it. 
 
05:21 - Sam (Host)
I hadn't listened to that one as much as Here Comes the Heartache, and the reason was that is I went full music mode this one. I have to admit I didn't get deep into the lyrics a lot here because I was too busy just grooving Heartache I think I mentioned to you off camera just feels a lot like Boys Don't Cry. Oh, I mean, if we can sing it or not, I don't know. Do we have the rights? 
 
05:53 - Alexis (Host)
Who knows, but but I'd agree it's so much fun. 
 
05:58 - Sam (Host)
First listen was in the car and I went yes, it is sunset on the coast, windows down, it was just glorious. Um, a couple of other ones working class stiff is kind of it grew on me like it's. It's just balls to the wall. There's no pretense about it. It's this is what we're singing about and you're going to listen to it
 
06:24 - Alexis (Host) 
Have you checked out that some of their music videos speaking of like? 
 
06:29 - Sam (Host)
I saw the, I saw the new one, the, um love has done one that you showed me 
 
06:36 - Alexis (Host) 
So for those listening, not on this record yeah, they've also got a brand new uh video and song out and it is a vibe. But that put me into the rabbit hole of looking at their back catalogue of music videos, which, by the way, next level, so much fun and I really love. They have this shtick where they don't have any, um, modern technology in any of their music videos. So you won't see a mobile phone, won't see a laptop cool.
 
07:09 - Sam (Host)
So feels kind of, would you say, like 90s well, I think that's. 
 
07:16 - Alexis (Host)
I think that's the aim is that you could watch it and not really know where to place it because there's no yeah mmm 
 
07:28 - Sam (Host)
The style of that newest video that's out. It's um very much 80s vhs dating videos. It's it's amazing. 
 
07:34 - Alexis (Host)
So for the listeners it cannot. It is so amazing. It has this essentially like talk back dating doco mini series kind of vibes at the start of the music video and it's super entertaining, won't be disappointed. Go check that one out. 
 
07:53 - Sam (Host)
Love is dumb yes, and while you're at it, check out the entire album as well yes, this one, phoning it in the um photography on it. Just, it's just so much fun we have to shout out um ellie morgan, the photographer. For the record, I didn't get a chance to check out extensive catalog outside of this, but the concept behind it of just again, no modern technology, it's just bare members with phones but just absolutely phoning it in and just messing around with that idea. 
 
08:32 - Alexis (Host)
The joy on their faces in these photos word on the street is that they, yeah, had one of the phones and then had to go searching to try and find some more phones that look the same. 
 
08:47 - Sam (Host)
Well, Well, I think they do have one each. There are four phones there and if you have ever tried to get a rotary dial telephone, even if you know what it is or not, they don't exist very often anymore. 
 
09:03 - Alexis (Host)
I believe that they found them in Sydney somewhere. 
 
09:07 - Sam (Host)
In Sydney somewhere. They just walked into someone's house and said can we have your phone? 
 
09:10 - Alexis (Host)
No, no, no, I think they were like yeah yeah, I love it it is. 
 
09:18 - Sam (Host)
It's a real feel of just a band that has fun. They're having so much fun all the time. 
 
09:27 - Alexis (Host)
The drummer and the singer lead singer family, brothers, yeah, and then one of the other band members, I think went to school with them. Is like best friends with them that's fun yeah, and from what I understand, the band has had a couple of different iterations. So I think it used to have four members with a keyboard player, and then it was three of them and then now four of them. 
 
11:14 - Sam (Host)
It's just reminding me a lot of all of the and I keep saying Britpop purely because that's what I'm hearing but kind of that combination with that into your surf rock and roll as well, and I've never heard of a band describe themselves as power pop before, but now that I have, I absolutely agree and I want more bands to label themselves as power pop. 
 
11:40 - Alexis (Host) 
So you reckon your phone's now going to start giving you oh, 
 
11:44 - Sam (Host) 
My algorithm is going to send me all sorts of very, very strange things over the next three hours, but I should start turning it off before you record, and it might. Um, but there's. I think we'll wrap it up there, because the I think this album can speak for itself honestly. Just go check it out, have a listen, it's a lot of fun. Oh, actually, no, we'll say something else. I'm going to backtrack. The other fun fact I found out actually came from you is that Simon recorded the majority of this at home. 
 
12:21 - Alexis (Host)
I believe so. Yes, yes, because I think that was through covert that's something we can find out as well. 
 
12:32 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, but yeah, um, what a project to come up with home produced and mastered, externally mastered. I've found studios 301 who mastered this thing. Their catalog is just absolutely ridiculous. We keep stumbling across these records who have had the privilege of being mastered by absolute dream of the industry yeah um, if you go and I'm not going to start reading names off but if you go to studios 301 and just look at their release catalog, I think there are about 4 000 releases on their catalog ridiculous and we're talking big names there. 
 
13:18
There's some rihanna remixes, there's some justin bieber stuff in there, amy Shark stuff, it's. Yeah, I said I wasn't going to say names, but but
 
13:24 - Alexis (Host)
You know that you're in good stead if that's the caliber of work, oh, absolutely. 
 
13:34 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, you say yeah, we're going to send our record there and they're going to do their job and they're going to be amazing at it. 
 
13:40 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah. 
 
13:41 - Sam (Host)
No, it's not that we don't love our friends locally, who are incredible masterers as well. 
 
13:52 - Alexis (Host)
You know who you are very true, very true. But you know it's all part of it, right? no, love it. 
 
13:56 - Sam (Host)
Once I learn more about mastering, then I'll join that list. 
 
13:59 - Alexis (Host)
But you know we won't talk about that you talented bear, do you need to add more things to your bow? 
 
14:05 - Sam (Host)
I'd love to. It's interesting 
 
14:06 - Alexis (Host)
You'd be really good at it actually well, no, because I haven't learned about it yet. 
 
14:12 - Sam (Host)
But that's okay, I'm gonna hold up the record again yes, get amongst it finding it in by g Gavin Bowles and the Distractions. If you get there quickly on Bandcamp, their limited edition pink vinyls are still available as of recording. 
 
14:32 - Alexis (Host)
Yes, yes, Do it. And on their Bandcamp they also have some merch packages. So they have cool tote bags and mugs and word on the street is the tote bags fit the vinyl in them. 
 
14:51 - Sam (Host)
I should have bought a tote bag as well. I have one. You do so. Not word on the street, word in your face. Look at that, I have one. People, you've got to watch this video because it looks a whole lot better than it sounds. 
 
15:09 - Alexis (Host)
It's a beautiful tote bag with pink writing and a pink phone yeah.
 
15:16 - Sam (Host)
Can you guys please sell phones as well? 
 
15:18 - Alexis (Host)
oh my gosh, can they? Sell phones that then have the attachment to go into the mobile so you can like have the mobile sitting there and you can like take a call I think we've just started a business venture. No one else is allowed to take this 
 
15:39 - Alexis (Host)
Do we patten it or something? 
 
15:39 - Sam (Host)
We'll think of a name and get back to you. 
 
15:45 - Alexis (Host)
I love it All. Right, brother, good job. 
 
15:49 - Sam (Host)
Thank you once again. Gavin Bowles and the Distractions, thank you for sending this super fast. I got this in about five days, if not less. 
 
15:58 - Alexis (Host)
Things take a little while to get over West, don't they? Yeah? 
 
16:02 - Sam (Host)
And it's been so much fun to listen to Check it out, Burning it In. We'll see you on the next one. 
 
16:13 - Alexis (Host)
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffee.com/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

9 | You Don’t Have To Be A Struggling Artist with CHEERSTHANXALOT

In this episode of Through the Creative Door, Alexis sits down with Steph AKA Cheersthanxalot a Melbourne-based lino print artist and podcaster, who shares her inspiring journey from hobbyist to full-time artist. Steph discusses how the process of printmaking itself fuels her creativity and how we often get in our own way of success. She also talks about her mission to make art more affordable and accessible for everyone with her series Sevens Collection as well as some advice for the creatives out there who aren’t mathematicians! 
 
If you’d like to see more, you can follow Steph on instagram; @cheersthanxalot
 
This episode was recorded on 12th April 2025 on the lands of the Woiworung Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikToc: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door. 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door. 
Hello, steph. 
 
00:52 - Steph (Guest)
Hello
 
00:53 - Alexis (Host) 
Welcome to Through the Creative Door. I have come through your creative door.I'm very excited. Thank you for having us here. I want to start with the fact that one you are, steph.
 
01:08 - Steph (Guest) 
I am Steph. 
 
01:09 -  Alexis (Host)
However, aka 
 
1:14 - Steph (Guest)
 Cheersthanxalot
 
01:17 - Alexis (Host)
Right? 
 
01:19 - Steph (Guest) 
Which is just, if you're going to ask where the name came from, 
 
01:21 - Alexis (Host) 
How did you know I was going to go there? 
 
01:21 - Steph (Guest)
I know because it's so random, all right, but I love it it's so easy to remember cheers. Thanks a lot except I put an x in it okay so no I like that. 
 
01:29
Oh, thank you, Yeah, it's it all. So it started because in ab fab absolutely fabulous, one of the greatest tv shows the character patsy says um, like cheers, thanks a lot. The way she says it is just. I used to think so funny. Originally the handle was going to be is it a baby shower? Because this handle is just my Instagram handle from day one, Like so back way back when Instagram was starting. 
 
02:04 - Alexis (Host)
Long, long time ago. 
 
02:05 - Steph (Guest)
Yeah, starting, we were putting terrible filters on all of our photos. That was just my Instagram handle and then, as I just kind of started going and building things and making stuff, I was like, well, it's just this now, and now it's too far gone. So it's actually just an AbFab quote and it just so happened yeah, it just so happens to now be my artist name as well and I'm like, well, that works, I'll keep it that way. 
 
02:28
No, but yeah, my actual name is steph so it's not as exciting as cheers thanks a lot, is it? I'm like. I can't wait till one day to be like someone. Be like are you cheers thanks a lot and you're like yes my name is steph. Yes, so silly. Yeah, fab. If you haven't watched it, highly recommend. 
 
02:45 - Alexis (Host)
So you're an amazingly talented artist, 
 
02:48 - Steph (Guest) 
Oh thank you 
 
2:49 - Alexis (Host) 
And I feel very privileged that I do own some of your outfits oh which one did you and I, you know was fangirling from afar. I was interested to know, like, obviously you're an artist but you predominantly do line print, like lino print work, but in your sort of world of art, are there other things that sort of fall into that space?
 
03:18 - Steph (Guest)
I mean, yeah, it didn't start off as lino printing. It started off. I probably started doing stuff I want to say like maybe pre-pandemic cheersthxalot was a bit more like embroidery art and like I was making like earrings out of like shrinky dink stuff, and like it was very different. And then, during covid, I got back into lino printing, which we all did at school. You all sliced your fingers open at school and did that. But then I got into it again during lockdown, because we had so much time on our hands I wasn't going to work anymore because I was lucky enough to work in retail at the time, so we couldn't go into work, literally. And so I got back into it and I was like, oh god, I really love this. And then, since 2020, it's kind of turned into this lino printing thing. 
 
04:10
So I do lino printing, I paint, you know, do podcasts. I, you know, try and do as much as I possibly can, but I haven't gotten into like pottery or anything. I don't have the patience. I don't think never say never, I know, and then, like, next year I'll be like, and so now I'm doing pottery as well. But yeah, I feel like I'm just. I just want to do as much as I can in the time that I'm given.I think.  
 
04:34 - Alexis (Host)
yeah, well, I'm gonna start into my questions, go for it. I love this, obviously, with these two wonderful projects that you've got, cheers, thanks a lot and framed, yes, but this could be, this question could be anything, all of the things. What does a creative space mean to you? Oh god? 
 
04:57 - Steph (Guest)
um, I think a creative space like I am currently. I work in my house, so I work in the spare room, sometimes the garage, and then we frame, we film the podcast literally over there. I'm looking at it as we speak. So I am lucky that, a we live in a rental that's big enough to house all of that and, b we've kind of got. I've gotten to a point where I do need all that space. I didn't need it before. It was like probably just a desk. 
 
05:23
I drive my partner crazy because there is stuff everywhere in this house when I'm in like full creative mode. So I think that it's just like wherever you can park yourself and find a little bit of space to do it like. That's what a creative space is. It's like wherever you can like, regardless of where you are in life. You should be able to like, even if it's in your bed, even if it's. You know, I sometimes go on a walk with the dogs and then I'm like an idea has come to me. Quick, quick, quick get home, got to write it down like. I think it's just like wherever you can give yourself a little spot to like breathe and just I don't know be a bit, little bit disconnected from everything. Um, that's probably where it is, I don't know. I my dream, though, like my ultimate dream, is to have a factory. Like Andy Warhol, that is like the dream. So I'll get there one day. 
06:15 - Alexis (Host)
With all the projects that you've done over the years and continue to do. Is there something that you're the most proud of creating? 
 
06:18 - Steph (Guest)
yeah, I do a thing called the sevens collection, which is a affordable art print that's released from the first to the seventh of every month, and then the kind of print gets destroyed, the lino block gets destroyed, so it can't be made again. So it's kind of just making that whole art affordable. And honestly, it only happened I was about because I'd gone to part-time work. I'd kind of started to be like all right, I can make up my income and I'd gone to part-time work and then everyone kind of went back to work as well and then no one was spending online anymore. It kind of dipped a bit. So I was like, oh shit, I'm going to have to go back to full-time work. And then I kind of dipped a bit. So I was like, oh shit, I'm gonna have to go back to full-time work. 
 
07:04
And then I kind of came up with this idea and I was like I'll try it for one month and see what happens. So I did it the first month and it went well. And I was like all right, try it the second month, and it didn't go so well. And I was like look, you've still got enough money to make it through a third month. See if you can do it again, and now it's been running for like two, two years, which is wild. So, yeah, I get, that is something that I'm like. A that I stuck to it, like usually I'd lose momentum at some point. But b it's just like keeps growing and you know you get to make something new every month. 
 
07:30 - Alexis (Host)
On the flip side of things, that you're proud of, what's something that's challenged your creativity, and how do you think you've navigated and maneuvered through that? 
 
07:44 - Steph (Guest)
You just kind of like you know, like you just get in your own way. Like it's so dumb, like you like sometimes I wish and I think maybe this should be my mentality like I wish I could just be like a business white man sorry to none of them listening like like. I just wish like I could just have the audacity to like go out and do it like like and just be like I'm not wrong, I'm fine. I could do it like. Sometimes I think we have to be white men and it's like and just like have the have the audacity to be like I can do that. 
 
08:16
Not to make it about this, but like I did go through a patch where I was like really struggling to just even have a shower and like brush my teeth and like I went and got help and got medication and I think that is really important. 
 
08:28
Like you don't have to be a struggling artist. You can actually be happy and healthy and I think sometimes you know when you're an artist you can play into that. I can still pull on my experiences in life, but I don't need to like be sad to create work. And I think sometimes it's like we feel like we've got to be like crying into our pain, it's like no, but yeah, getting in your own way, just to really tie a bow on that question, just like don't get in your own way, it's okay. It's like art, it's not that serious, it's not that deep, it's really not that deep. You can go and get a job at coles if you need to like. You can find a way to supplement your income if you need to like. I can go back to work full-time if I need to, it's okay relax. 
 
09:16 - Alexis (Host)
So with creating. Do you have something sentimental or something that is useful? Is there an object that you can't live without when you're creating? 
 
09:29 - Steph (Guest)
I was noise Like it's so silly, but like actual noise around me. So I've always either got to have a podcast on or something on television or like I've got to have noise around Interesting. It's like the voices in the head get quieter, like it's very that, isn't it like? Oh, like a bit deep, but yeah, people like I've got to have talking around all the time 
 
09:51 - Alexis (Host) 
Could you have someone working alongside you chatting to you, or is it like? 
 
09:55 - Steph (Guest) 
No, if you've got to ask me a question, I will get frustrated with you. If I'm in the middle of something, like my partner, she'll come in and she'll be like, hey, what are you doing? I'm like get out. But yeah, it's just. I think, yeah, there's just noise around Like I think that's like I don't really listen to music. Even I love listening to music when I'm thinking of ideas, but not necessarily when I'm creating. To music when I'm thinking of ideas, but not necessarily when I'm creating, like I'm I don't know why. It's like I'd much rather have like housewives fighting in the background than like some kind of nice calming sound um, what else do I have all the time? That's probably the consistent uh. And then there's just the basic tools, like investing in quality tools and stuff and putting that money back into the art, I think.  
 
10:44 - Alexis (Host)
If we delve into the creative. If someone wanted to do what you do, what piece of wisdom, what nugget of gold would you give to them? 
 
10:55 - Steph (Guest)
Probably two things. The first thing is really boring. But get yourself a tax agent. It's so boring, but you have to get yourself someone who's willing to like just do your taxes for you because, okay, nine times out of ten, you don't want to do it because you're a creative. Maths is not our strong suit nine times out of ten unless you're like an architect, but also like paying someone three hundred dollars to do your taxes is so much better because they can tell you what to claim. You won't get in trouble in the long run. Please, just pay someone to do your taxes for you because you're going to get more out of it. You'll either have to. And also, when you start making money and running your own business, you don't realize that, like, all right, I've got to put x amount away to therefore pay in taxes, because my bit like when I used to work for someone, they used to take it out of my pay. I never had to worry about it and then I get a refund at the end of the year. Guess what? You don't do that when you're a sole trader. So, yeah, get yourself a tax agent. Don't get in strife later down the track, because I think you could get yourself into a bit of trouble and then you owe too much money at once. That's my first bit of advice. 
 
12:01
The second bit of advice is delegate where you can. Um, because as a creative you want to control everything yourself and sometimes you have to like, let go of the reins a little bit and go all right, I can actually give that to someone to do. I can. I don't have to have a hand in, like for me, I have to have a hand in whatever I create, like printing wise, you know, painting wise, that kind of thing. But I think that you know I don't need, I don't have, to make every box. I don't have to edit every podcast. I don't. You know, my partner now edits the podcast first I watch it through, clip it together like I didn't have. You know, my partner now edits the podcast first I watch it through, clip it together. 
 
12:42
Like I didn't have to do all of it myself, like I was able. Like Joel, who does the podcast with me, I said can you help with, like, doing a promo shoot? He did it all himself. It looks fabulous, like he came up with a great concept, got a photographer like got it all lined up. I just had to turn off on the day and like act a goose and you know he just I could trust him to do it and you know what, it was better than what I would have come up with. 
 
13:07
Like you know what I mean you can delegate, it's fine, rely on other people, start networking and like getting getting the team, yeah, and like how cool it when you get. Like my next thing is like I want to be able to because I still work part-time, you know, for other people, because I can't let go and do it all my, you know, and it's going to come to a point where I get to hire myself. But like the first person that you get to hire, like how cool is that, you know, when you're able to do that. Like you get to build your own team and it, you know that'll be cool. 
 
13:39
So, yeah, delegate, where you can call up your friends, like if you need help, and like say I'll pay you in pizza, come over and build some boxes for me because I've got some orders to pack, like you need it. And also it makes it like not so solo, you know, because being a creative can be really solo and you get in your head. So, yeah, get a tax man, get a friend. A friend who's willing to work for very little, I mean not pizza. Yeah, pay you in pizza until I can pay you properly. 
 
14:13 - Alexis (Host)
Question, if you could give someone, maybe, like I don't know, resources like if someone wanted to develop their creative process of what you know, you sort of do. If they wanted to go down that pipeline like what book should they read, what video should they watch, is there courses that they could do um mentors that they could have. Oh god, uh, throwing it all at you.
 
14:38 - Steph (Guest)
I like it. I think, like I did not go to uni for art, I didn't go to uni at all. I will preface this like I'm a self-taught biatch, so like, if you cannot afford to go to, like, go to a class or go to uni. Youtube, the school of YouTube and the school of like finding an artist and like watching their reels and watching what they do, like how they do something differently and then going and trying it yourself. Like I think that sometimes is so overlooked because it's like well, there's so many free resources, like you know through that, like you can watch so many people. Like there is a guy in Japan. He went from Canada to Japan and now he works in Japan as a woodblock maker. He's's like the Bob Ross of like wood printing. His voice is really calm, the videos are really slow and I just watched him for hours and I was like I reckon I could do that with lino printing. Like how does he do this? How does he line up his registration points? Like yeah, just learn from that. That's really I think. 
 
15:39
Yeah, sometimes we have to think we've got to go to somewhere or go to a uni, and that's great If you're a uni gal or guy or person like go and do that. But yeah, for me it was. I had to, I learned by doing and sometimes school isn't good for that. So, yeah, go on, go into the YouTubes. There's also, like so many like free resources online, like like pictures and stuff to use as references through, like like a lot of the big galleries, because, you know, things get to a certain timeline I think 1920s. Now we're at where it's like free domain so you can actually use that stuff in your work if you need to. But there's a lot of free resources like that. Like, obviously don't copy, like, but you know like what is it? Good artist copy great artist, steal 
 
16:29 - Alexis (Host)
Appropriate yeah. 
 
16:33 - Steph (Guest)
And it's like, yeah, just go and like, yeah, there are a lot of like galleries that have those free domain images. You can use them as well. I'm trying to think where else do you go? I don't know. Like, yeah, I'm chronically online, which is where I learn everything. But I visual, I'm a visual learner. I have to watch a video and then go and do it myself. I can't read, like I can't, I can't. It's here and now on this podcast. 
 
17:00
I must confess I cannot read, like sorry, but yeah and like, watch documentaries on other artists, like or what you're interested in at home, like, oh, my god, there's so many good ones. I'm such a doctor documentary watcher I love, I love. But you can learn so much from like what was happening at the time, who they were, you know creating with, like what's. You know what's the connection between, like Keith Haring, andy Warhol and Basquiat, because they're all you know. Because they're all up and coming at the same time. Like just seeing who's around, like that's really cool and learning how they just live their lives. I think you can learn from that too. Yeah, resources, just watch, watch everything watch everything. 
 
17:40
Consume as much as you can and like saying that though, like, if you're finding that you're over consuming, like cut it off and like play a game or go and do something else, because sometimes you can over consume, and then you're like I'm gonna do this and you're like, or like you, you, you convince yourself that you can like go and do something or start a business and stuff, and you're like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, I've over consumed, take a break, I don't need to learn anymore. It's okay to not learn. Yeah, it's okay to stop the learning for a bit, so you can just like recalibrate, because otherwise we take on board too much and we go and then have a panic attack and, you know, burn out and don't do anything at all. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, where do you find it? What do you? What are your resources? 
 
18:29 - Alexis (Host)
oh, I very much agree with the youtube thing. I I want to say tiktok, but it's more in the sense of again finding the people who you resonate with and what they do, and whether that be across mediums, yeah, just be like. 
 
18:55
I love how they talk to camera yeah, I love how they, you know, pull the curtain back on whatever they're doing, like how their storytelling goes, because really it doesn't matter whether you're a musician or you know painting a mural or whatever, it's the buy-in and how you, you know, bring people into the world. 
 
19:17 - Steph (Guest)
Yeah, people give tiktok so much jive right like I feel like back in the day we'd be like I read an article online like, as opposed to saying like I saw this tiktok video. That's like you can learn so much. There are so many smart, creative people on there. Like you know, always when it's news or facts, please go and like double check it. Like sometimes we get like we can watch something and be like I actually learned this like news fact and you're like, hang on, I need to go and actually double check that that's truth. But like that you so many smart, intelligent, creative people are on there. 
 
19:49
Oh, my god, it's so cool, like, even like, like someone like gary v, who is not an artist, who just runs a big media company, I say just, it's like a conglomerate. You can learn stuff from him too, like he's got nothing to do with our, what we do. But you can be like oh, that's how you storytell. Oh, that's how you sell something to someone you know, because at the end of the day, that's kind of what you have to do like you're either selling selling yourself, um, or selling your art like, or selling your music. There's got to be some element of storytelling there. Yeah. 
 
20:25 - Alexis (Host)
Well said. Last question yes, if you could hear someone come on to this podcast and answer these questions, who would it be and why Can you resurrect? 
 
20:37 - Steph (Guest)
people from the dead. 
 
20:38
No, I cannot, that's not fair, don't do that to me. Who would I like? There are probably a few. There is one of my friends, lambrini Lambrini Studios, I think she goes by. She's a resin artist. She does a lot of workshops. I think it would be really interesting to hear from her, because I don't do workshops, I'm not a teacher. She is. She's really really, really good. So I would love to hear from her because her business is. She obviously makes art and stuff, but her business is very different to mine so I'd love to hear her. 
 
21:13
Um, who else? Uh, bromley? Get Bromley and his wife on the podcast. That's like I. There is a documentary, I think, art in the Dark or something. There's a great documentary on him and then you realise how much his wife is involved and how they do have a bit of like a factory going of, like how they make these big because like it feels like everyone's got a Bromley in their house, like I don't yet, but one day, but like how they kind of create this big conglomerate and how he kind of takes care of the art and she's the business and it's really interesting. 
 
21:49
Power couple oh yeah, she's so switched on, like very, very smart, and like how they're building this business, so like it's almost like one day their kids will take over, and I think that's really when the art name becomes bigger than the person itself. That's always fascinating.
 
22:09 - Alexis (Host) 
 I love it yeah, oh, my goodness, steph, thank you so much. Thank you through the creative door and being on the podcast. This is the best. 
 
22:15 - Steph (Host) 
Amazing, thank you, thank you. Thank you.
 
22:21 - Alexis (Host)
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom, forward, slash through the creative door or buy the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favourite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community and we'll catch you on the next episode. Bye being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

BSIDE Graphic Novel by The Reductors

Featured Artist: The Reductors
Featured Vinyl: Graphic Novel
 
Alexis’ Hot Pick 
Code Variant
Sam’s Hot Pick
Body Scan
Aus Music Alert! Support this artists by purchasing this record via Bandcamp:
https://thereductors.bandcamp.com/album/graphic-novel 
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for an artist's vinyl to listen to, have you got one in mind that we should check out? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Co-Host: Sam Timmerman
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Voiceover: Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
 
00:09 - Introduction (Announcement)
Welcome to B-Side, the mini-series from Through the Creative Door. Join Alexis and Sam as they dive into the timeless world of vinyl. For Alexis, vinyl was more than music. It was a Sunday ritual she shared with her dad, listening, talking and soaking in the stories behind each album and the artwork on every sleeve. Though her dad is no longer with us, she continues this tradition with her friend, Sam Timmerman. Join them as they share their passion for vinyl and the stories these records hold. 
 
00:45 - Alexis (Co-host)
Hello Sam. 
 
00:47 - Sam (Co-host)
Good afternoon evening. 
 
00:50 - Alexis (Co-host)
How are you brother? 
 
00:52 - Sam (Co-host)
Good, we are Surviving is the wrong word. We're thriving. 
 
00:58 - Alexis (Co-host)
Thriving. 
 
00:59 - Sam (Co-host)
How are you going? Anyone on the video can say you've got a haircut and it looks amazing. 
 
01:04 - Alexis (Co-host)
Yeah yeah it'll grow back. Hair grows back how's life? 
 
01:11 - Sam (Co-host)
I'll be well I'm good. 
 
01:12 - Alexis (Co-host)
I'm good, I'm excited for the offering you have for us today. 
 
01:19 - Sam (Co-host)
Oh yeah, this one was. I'm gonna show it straight away. 
 
01:22 - Alexis (Co-host)
Shall I start the 10-minute timer
 
01:27 - Sam (Co-host)
10 minutes. 
 
01:28 - Alexis (Co-host)
Go what you got?
 
01:31 - Sam (Co-host)
This is one by a Perth Bolly local band called the Reductors and it's called Graphic Novel and I've got some personal connections to it, which is how I came across this in the first place. But this has been an absolute adventure and it's been so fun and so interesting and just the art just grabs me straight away as well, by the way, which we'll talk about in a minute. But I think you have some personal connections and musical connections to these guys as well, which is super exciting. 
 
02:07 - Alexis (Co-host)
I didn't know that you told me about this record. It wasn't until I started listening to it and actually looked at some of the promo and I was like I know that guy. 
 
02:19 - Sam (Co-host)
You know these people. 
 
02:21 - Alexis (Co-host)
I know some of these people. Yeah, which was lovely, and yeah, so I didn't realize that this project of theirs, yeah, they'd release this stuff. 
 
02:31 - Sam (Co-host)
so, yeah, it was really lovely to have a listen recorded last year I believe, last year being 2024 at one of my favourite studio names ever at, at Poonshead Studio in Fremantle. It is Fremantle in Western Australia, so this is absolutely an Australian artist alert and we've just been starting a deep dive on the studio, which we'll also talk about in a sec. But do you have a hot pick in the album? 
 
03:04 - Alexis (Co-host)
Oh my goodness, I definitely have a hot pick. 
 
03:05
The album oh my goodness, I definitely have a hot pick my hot pick is um code variant fantastic I all of these tracks were such a vibe, but there was something about this sort of tension building in this song that really got me. So, um, listeners, you really need to listen to this track. It's very interesting, builds really well, but I quite enjoyed. It was almost this like speech singing, conversing sort of um, because the the imagery around this album is confronting themes of body image, disillusionment and the battle to preserve individuality. So that's weaved through all of the 10 songs. 
 
03:55 - Sam (Co-host)
We will say as well this is. Reductors are a post-punk band and this is my first foray into the punk world and it's been eye eye-opening. It's glorious it's the right way to describe it. 
 
04:08 - Alexis (Co-host)
By the way, yeah but, yes, the description of the album is perfect as well yeah, exactly, and I think this for the song that I is my hot pick, it really leans into that, because it's the imagery of the lyrics that are sort of spoken and sung and then the instrumentation really just brings that tension but holds space for those words to really, you know, they're really articulate and you can really, you know, have that land, and then suddenly vocals step aside and you've got this full band and this full energy, yeah, and it just sort of takes you through this journey and just as quick as it all comes together to the forefront, it's like right back down and then there's more, you know, vocals. So yeah, I don't know, I really enjoyed the journey of that song, really enjoyed the journey. But definitely, if I'm allowed to have a close second, I would say Implant was my close second, yeah, I really enjoyed it. There was Spoken Word, a female guest collaborator feature that was on there. 
 
05:14 - Sam (Co-host)
In that kind of military style almost, which was kind of fun. 
 
05:24 - Alexis (Co-host)
Really enjoyed that tapestry and that timbre. So yeah, I don't know a great vibey song, yeah. 
 
05:31 - Sam (Co-host)
I agree with that. I loved I was in full music brain for this one. I read the lyrics after listening to the entire record. Which was kind of a fun way to do it. 
 
05:44 - Alexis (Co-host)
Me too, and that's very rare for me. 
 
05:47 - Sam (Co-host)
Yeah, you're not wrong, you're a lyrics girl all the way. The amount of space that is given to the music to say something is very cool. A lot of the lyrics are written kind of not necessarily train of thought but kind of through composed kind of feel. It's not a lot of verse, chorus, structure going on, which is kind of fun, and they allow so much space around that particularly a bunch of these tracks are. They say their, their piece and then it's a minute and a half of music I really enjoy it. 
 
06:25
I really enjoy it and if you're, if you're a harmony brain and you want to go and analyze this stuff, there is some crazy stuff going on. It was a lot of fun to listen to um musically. My favourite was body scan. It had a um slightly different feels. The rest of them a tiny little bit more poppy, I thought um, but I had a lot of fun with that. So that, very quickly, was my hot pick, which I thought was cool. We've got to talk about this artwork, though.
 
06:54 - Alexis (Co-host)
Hot pick, though, like from the minute that you heard it, or was there something in the song? Yeah, okay, cool. 
 
07:01 - Sam (Co-host)
Absolutely, absolutely. I'm going to talk about this, the artwork which, if you're only listening, you're going to have to find it and find a photo, but I am holding it up right now, as we always do. What are these characters? 
 
07:18 - Alexis (Co-host)
Wait, these characters have their names on it and I can't remember what they were so to to put the picture, we've got two characters that are having a boxing match, and it's more in that sort of um cartoony, would you say, style yeah it, it's a little bit, I mean, hey, graphic novel. Yes. 
 
07:43 - Sam (Co-host)
Which is literally the style that we're talking about. It is leaning into that real graphic novel style. It's two kind of larger than life characters, but very, very different. Duking it out, Hard to describe. 
 
08:00 - Alexis (Co-host)
What's the name?  
 
08:01 - Sam (Co-host)
So you're're gonna have to find a photo of this thing, which are they? I can't remember because I can't see it, because I'm hiding it off the camera. Names are grin and scratchy love it, love it grin is a gray-skinned, purple haired, I'm guessing, six ish feet tall, probably 60 odd years old man with a mustache, getting his face absolutely punched in by one of the most powerful female figures I've ever seen in cartoon form, ever seen in cartoon form. Just yeah, right, jab straight to the face, that's all I can describe it 
 
08:44 - Alexis (Co-host)
Jab jab, uppercut that's it. 
 
08:51 - Sam (Co-host)
We are not fighters. I'm sorry, we do not have terms UFC fans. I'm so sorry. 
 
08:57 - Alexis (Co-host)
I had actually I think I looked up this artist that the cover art was done by 
 
09:05 - Sam (Co-host)
Tom Hoskisson. 
 
09:06 - Alexis (Co-host)
Yes, and I wrote you a note to say check him out on Instagram. It's up your alley, you will love him. 
 
09:22 - Sam (Co-host)
So Tom's work or his publicly published work is all reimagined superhero work and superhero and fantasy and that kind of again that graphic novel kind of style, super fun, really, really heavily characterized work where, like you've said, when it's coming right up my alley in that if you understand the context of these characters, you're looking at this stuff going, ah, I know what you're talking about. Super, super fun. A couple of really fun ones that I found from a couple of years ago when I did a full scrolly. 
 
09:55 - Alexis (Co-host)
Oh, so you did a full old scrolly. 
 
09:57 - Sam (Co-host)
I did a full the whole thing. I found some stuff from 2022 and it looks amazing. 
 
10:03 - Alexis (Co-host)
Amazing, so we're going to dive into the studio. 
 
10:09 - Sam (Co-host)
Oh, please, can we. Can we Just quickly? I don't know how much time we've got, but I reckon we've got a minute to go. Mr Rob Grant, who also did some backing vocals on Implant, by the way, was yeah, this studio Poons Head Studios in East Fremantle, western Australia is. I just want to go there. I just want to go there. 
 
10:35 - Alexis (Co-host)
For those listening, you need to jump on the website for this studio because there's actually fantastic photos of all of the equipment actually fantastic photos of all of the equipment. He's got a list and breaks down the consoles, the analogue, the digital, the recorders, like everything that you could ever possibly need in a studio. Plus, he's got photos of all of the excellent equipment, which is just like a kid in a candy store. I think I had a moment when I was looking through and I started with, obviously, some of the digital analogue stuff, but when I got through to a screen which it had like all of the keyboards and synths. 
 
11:22
I nearly weed my pants. 
 
11:29 - Sam (Co-host)
That's a timer, but very quickly, we'll try and link it in the show notes as well, if we can. That'd be fantastic. Go and check it out, rob and his studio. Looking at the client list that he has worked with as well. There are some names. There are some names which I will not read out because you've got to go to the website. 
 
11:51 - Alexis (Co-host)
That's a great segue. I love it. 
 
11:55 - Sam (Co-host)
But also, yes, graphic novel by the Reductors. 
 
12:01 - Alexis (Co-host)
Yeah, on. 
 
12:01 - Sam (Co-host)
Bandcamp, I believe. 
 
12:03 - Alexis (Co-host)
It is 100% on Bandcamp. So, like we say most times, support Australian artists, get on Bandcamp, buy all their things. 
 
12:14 - Sam (Co-host)
Buy all their things. 
 
12:15 - Alexis (Co-host)
All of their things. 
 
12:17 - Sam (Co-host)
Lovely to see you again, as always, my friend. 
 
12:24 - Alexis (Co-host)
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffee.com/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favourite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

8 | Do The Work with Gavin Bowles

Alexis sits down with the ever-charismatic Gavin Bowles – frontman of Sydney’s power-pop band Gavin Bowles and The Distractions. Gavin opens up about the rollercoaster ride of creating his latest album Phoning It In, navigating lockdowns, lineup changes, and personal challenges to craft a record that feels raw, real, and wholly his.
With cheeky lyrics, punchy hooks, and a catalogue rich in visual storytelling, Gavin’s music is a celebration of fun, freedom, and feeling everything in between. In this episode, he shares how vulnerability, humour, and creative persistence have shaped his work – and how he’s stayed true to his voice through it all. 
If you’d like to see more, you can follow Gavin on instagram; @ gavinbowlesmusic
 
This episode was recorded on 15th March 2025 on the lands of the Woiworung Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikToc: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door. 
Gavin Bowles is in the house. 
 
00:51 - Gavin (Guest)
Hello, thank you for having me. 
 
00:54 - Alexis (Host)
Welcome to Through the Creative Door. I am super chuffed to have you here. 
 
00:59 - Gavin (Guest)
I'm chuffed to be here. 
 
01:00 - Alexis (Host)
You're actually, we're not at your abode or studio or creative space. You've come into my abode and it's. 
 
01:09 - Gavin (Guest)
And it's lovely. I would. I would also love to invite you to my space, but it's, it's not in it's not in melbourne where we currently are. Yes, that's right, it's in sydney, so maybe another time, but this is lovely. Thank you for having me. 
 
01:21 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, it's so lovely to have you here. Oh, my goodness, your tracks, your music, because you're a singer-songwriter, you're a musician. You've been doing this for a very long time. You have played in lots of ensembles, but what you're doing at the moment is under your name and you have a band yeah, so it's Gavin Bowles and the distractions, and I was just about to say yes, yes, yes amazing um can I just say your music is very catchy oh, it's like super fun and I would assume that it's in that. 
 
01:56
What do you call like power, pop, power is like the best way to describe it that's fun yeah fun. The content is cheeky. 
 
02:03 - Gavin (Guest)
Yes. 
 
02:03 - Alexis (Host)
And I'll be honest the thing that I find super striking is like I vibe a music video, so like your catalogue of music videos. What a vibe. Yeah, they are amazing. They're so cool. 
 
02:18 - Gavin (Guest)
They're good fun. 
 
02:20 - Alexis (Host)
So much fun who have you directed all these music videos? 
 
02:24 - Gavin (Guest)
I'd say that I co-directed them all, so I've been lucky enough, or we've been lucky enough, to have a relationship with the director, Tom Roberts. Shout out to Tom. Yeah, I met Tom a little over a decade ago when he worked with my previous band, Picture Perfect, did a few videos for that band and then a few for myself solo, uh, and now, gosh, I think maybe we've done five as gavin bowles and the distractions with tom, uh, and he just has such. I give him these really crazy, sometimes bizarre, stupid ideas. 
 
03:05 - Alexis (Host)
No, they're fantastic. 
 
03:06 - Gavin (Guest)
For these videos and he always finds a way to bring it out, bring out a story or these visual cues, ideas, into a really fully thought out, engaging you know thing. 
 
03:19 - Alexis (Host)
See, I love this so cool. All right, are you ready to launch into these questions? 
 
03:25 - Gavin (Guest)
Yeah, please, please. 
 
03:28 - Alexis (Host)
Well, normally I'm at my guest's creative space, so normally I have a little bit of insight because I'm in it. 
 
03:35 - Gavin (Guest)
Yes. 
 
03:35 - Alexis (Host)
But what does a creative space mean to you, and why? 
 
03:41 - Gavin (Guest)
Yeah, I've had a few different creative spaces over the, I guess, like the past decade, where I've moved house, a lot. Moving house, yeah, yeah, as I'm sure a lot of creative people would understand the struggle of you've set up your creative space and then you know you, you need to move, you need to leave that place for some reason. Um, yeah, I think for me it's just about it's not necessarily about things being um in a specific place, like obviously functional, but I think it's just more about creating a relaxed environment in which you can sort of zone out everything else. And I have lived in some places where I've had a big half a house or I've had half of a spare bedroom. 
 
04:53
So it doesn't always require heaps of physical space, you just need to be able to have a designated space, a designated space and just you know, quite often it's just a little, it's the little things, maybe just a couple of kind of you know sort of knickknacks or picture frames or posters or something to just kind of remind me that I'm in my work space. 
 
05:22 - Alexis (Host)
Okay, what's in these picture frames that I'm in? 
 
05:25 - Gavin (Guest)
The main one that has been in pretty much all of my creative spaces is I did mention them before. So Green Day is my favourite band. Always has been. The first time I saw Green Day was on the American Idiot Tour, so that was, that was 2005. I saw them at one of the Sydney Superdome, which I think now has some silly name, that's. That's a computer company or something like they most of them do now and at the time there was a record store in Western Sydney, in Penrith, near where I lived I grew up in the Blue Mountains, so it was about 20 minutes away from home and at that point actually having a record store that sold vinyl records in 2005 was a pretty niche, especially for a place like Penrith where there wasn't really, you know, it was, I'm sure, like in, you know, in in Melbourne during that time there was probably a few, a few record stores, but it was pretty niche at the time. But I noticed one time when I walked in there that there was a lot of photos, photos on the wall and that they had the guy who ran the store. He had a mate who was a photographer and he went around and took photos at concerts, would make prints of them and they'd sell them at the shop. And I walked in maybe the week after I'd been to that green day show and there was a bunch of photos that his mate, his mate had taken. So I've got a few little sort of taken. 
 
07:07
So I've got a few little sort of smaller prints. But there's actually a really large front-on print of um, of billy joe performing with the big like american idiot logo behind him in like just bathed in blue light. It's just, it's a really, really magic photo. Um, yeah, and it's just, it's. It's been with. Funnily enough, it was always just like blue tacked on the wall. It's, you know, it's a glossy, you know, print of a photo. Until a few years ago my partner was like I think you should frame this and she framed it for me and I was like Bless her cotton socks. 
 
07:36
Yeah, and I just went, never thought of it. 
 
07:40
So helps to have a feminine touch sometimes, or just helps to have a feminine touch sometimes, or just somebody who thinks about maybe actually preserving the thing, so that one, that one always kind of is sort of there there with me. 
 
07:53
I feel like it just kind of whether it gives me inspiration, uh, directly or not, it's probably irrelevant, it's just always grounding. Yeah, yeah, and it kind of it reminds me of, you know, just like a, I think, a simpler time for me, maybe for everyone, just when I went to that show and I was just so enamored by seeing, like you know, one of my of my idols perform and buying the photo in the shop and that was also kind of like we were talking a lot about community off mic. That was another thing too that I'd bought the photo from a local photographer at a local store that I frequented, and, yeah, I think that's also maybe a part of it too. So, yeah, I think my creative space just has just things like that that just remind me who I am and where I come from. Maybe is probably the main dot point. 
 
09:03 - Alexis (Host)
Beautiful. Yeah, love that. Now, you have been doing this for a long time, being a creative bear. So this question it could be something from your back catalogue, it could be something that's more newish, but what's something that you're most proud of creating? 
 
09:25 - Gavin (Guest)
I actually would say, though, that it's probably the first, the last full record that I did, which is the first album under the name Gavin Bowles and the Distractions, because the first album that I fully self-produced was just under my name, which was five years ago. 
 
09:47
It came out in the middle of COVID, which is a feat in itself but then, self-producing this record with the band it's called Phoning It In, because the album sort of almost didn't happen so many times, because when I was writing it, we went into the uh, we went into I think there were two, two lockdowns involved in it, um, and then I also had a lot of like personal afflictions happen within that time frame too. 
 
10:17
Um, and then we also had a band member leave just before we were gearing up to start the album, and then we had to get a new band member and sort of like reconfigure the band, which ended up being the best thing for the band in general, but for those songs and that record. And then it just so happened that when we actually got our act together to start recording it, and then it just so happened that, when we actually got our act together to start recording it, that I didn't actually have a creative space that was big enough to record things like drums on that guitar amp, because I was in a small apartment with a housemate with no soundproofing, all of those things Good old challenges. 
 
10:59
Yes. So what we did was I packed up my brother, who's the the drummer, simon um, he, he obviously being a drummer, one of the things about every time that he moves house same deal, moving all of his creative things is he always needs a space where he can set up his drum kit and make some noise. So at the time he was living in a house where he was able to do so. So what I did for every, every band's parts for that record was recorded by myself where I packed up my computer, microphones, interface, everything brought it to their house, set up. So I had to set like the amount of times that I packed up, you know, my all of my stuff, uh, brought it to their houses and then and the kind of thing that also ended up bringing that album home was that it was finished, a couple of little things recorded but sort of mixed and edited and properly finished, sent off to be mastered and everything. At my current place where I've been for a little over two years. That's where I was also to finalize because I basically, after everything was recorded, then I moved into this place where I had the space and it kind of felt like a the perfect way to finish up the album, because I was suddenly in this space where I could, you know, like have all my things set up and stretch my legs and uh and uh, it just kind of felt like the perfect place to finish up. And now it's the place where we're starting to record our new record. 
 
12:33
So the couple of songs we talked about before they, they're the first tracks to be recorded in my new space, my new house, my new home studio. So that record just had so many roadblocks but I just kind of never. I never wanted to not make it. I knew that it was a record that I always, once the songs were written, I kind of went I think this is actually the album that I've always wanted to write. So the album formed itself through a lot of hardship and then, like within the writing of it and then actually of the recording of it, so, um, I'm really proud of it because it's just, uh, it's such a, it's such a moment in such a moment in time and it all just kind of came together almost despite itself. Um, and we're super proud of it. We love playing those songs live. It's really connected with people, which is something that you, just you, you, you can never orchestrate those things like just you never know you never know, there's babies that we create yeah once they go out into the world, you just never know how they're gonna ricochet yeah 
 
13:36
affect people and you always and you always hope that they, that they land with people and people enjoy it. But some of of these songs just have really touched people and that's just been amazing and to see people singing them back at us and everything it's just been. 
 
13:50 - Alexis (Host)
On the flip side of things that we're proud of, that you're proud of, what is something that's happened in your life or, like circumstance whatever. What's something that has challenged your creativity? 
 
14:04 - Gavin (Guest)
It’s probably actually a lack of challenge I think, I think I think when the stars are aligned and when I'm doing really, really well, uh sort of mentally, emotionally, things are good with, you know, with All the other pillars of your life. Yeah, it's hard to sometimes get in a creative space to make something that's that truly represents me. 
 
14:45 - Alexis (Host)
Okay. 
 
14:47 - Gavin (Guest)
I think that's just because, as I've become like as I've gotten older, I want what I'm writing about to be really honest. That doesn't mean it has to be heartbreaking or it has to be about mental health struggles or something like that. It just means that it has to be really, really honest. Yeah, and when you're in a really good space, when, like I've, you know, I've been like, um, I'm going like family, things are well, me and my partner are really great, me and the band are really great, works great, you know. You know, I mean I've actually been going for a few runs or whatever it is. You know the stars are aligning. Sometimes it's hard to admit the things that are, because obviously we have hardships every day, but I normally find that I'm at my most honest when I'm having to face, when you have to ask yourself hard questions. That's when I'm at my most sort of honest and vulnerable and I kind of I'm not going to say force myself, but I sort of get myself in those spaces and times to create. 
 
15:59 - Alexis (Host)
Now we sort of covered a little bit about objects when we were talking about your creative space. But I'm curious do you have a particular object or thing that you can't live without when you're creating? 
 
16:15 - Gavin (Guest)
I'm not really. I'm not really sure otherwise I mean not that I can sort of think at this point you don't have to. 
 
16:21 - Alexis (Host)
I was just curious if you do yeah, I mean I do. 
 
16:28 - Gavin (Guest)
Uh, I was actually writing something. This morning I actually went out of my way to go and buy a pad of paper and a pen because I came up with an idea for something. Because I do make a lot of phone memos but it's kind of like when it gets serious when I said I go to those phone memos and turn into a fully like. When it gets serious when I said I go to those phone memos and turn into a fully fleshed song. I always do it with pen and paper because for some reason it's the physicality of writing something down yeah I can empathize with that one so that might be it, that could that. 
 
16:56
That could be it in terms of writing songs and doing doing certain, even like organizing things like a track list on a record or kind of things like that. It you can talk to anybody who's lived with me or near me that I'm a list person. Oh, you're my kind of guy, then you'll find there's lists on my phone, but there's written lists around if you head into my office, you'll see a multitude of lists on both sides of my yeah. So maybe it's lists, maybe the answer is lists. 
 
17:33 - Alexis (Host)
So uh, we are cut from the same cloth yes, my friend yes, if you could give one creative, one piece of advice, one nugget of gold, yeah, what would it be? 
 
17:46 - Gavin (Guest)
It’s really do the work yeah because there's so many other things that bombard us, not even necessarily just as creative people just as humans just as humans, we obviously get sucked into our phones, into social media, uh, into and this isn't a thing to do with being a creative person either. We're all self-branding constantly. Every time that you put up a picture or make a post or something like that, you're kind of doing something for your brand, whether you intend to or not. So we all get a little bit stuck in the story that we're telling about ourselves, um, but especially as um creative people who self promote. You know, we can get caught up in that kind of rat race and comparing ourselves to other people, to our contemporaries, to whoever it may be, and I struggle with this all the time. 
 
18:59
But the thing that always brings me back I've got a little sign in my studio that says do the work, because when you turn all that stuff off and you just focus on the thing that you still love and you tap into that place and that feeling that, for me, I've had since I was a kid, then all of that other stuff is gone, it just melts away. So, yeah, that's super important to me. Yeah, and there's gonna be hardships all the time. There's gonna be things to overcome. Time there's going to be. There's going to be things to overcome. There's going to be problems, um. Not everything's going to go your way, um, but you can always just rely on just doing the thing that you love. 
 
20:01 - Alexis (Host)
Well said, well bloody said. It's so true. If you could recommend any resources for someone to develop their creative process to do what you do, what would you recommend? 
 
20:18 - Gavin (Guest)
I mean, one of them is just get like a really basic recording program. There's a program called audacity, it's just a really simple, user-friendly recording program, but you can sort of learn how to multi-track and learn how to do this and do that easy way to yeah get you sink your teeth into it before you go into any crazy software yeah, because I because I just did it totally without any any previous knowledge or experience just got this program, started messing around with it, um, and I ended up, you know, using it for years and years and years and just kind of um, discovering how to, yeah, do a little. You know, like what happens if I put this guitar sound over this guitar sound, or what happens if I put this melody over this vocal bit. Because I was really just experimenting with being creative at itself, because it's one thing to sit down and write a song and write a part or write a lyric, but it's another thing to start layering. 
 
21:21 - Alexis (Host)
That's, I guess, the transition from, you know, singer-songwriter through to, like, producer, 
 
21:30 - Gavin (Guest)
Recording artist. Yeah, that's right. That's right and it's fun. It's really, really fun. You can really sink your teeth into it. So I think that because it will often just give you a little bit of like the spark of inspiration to just start messing around with things, and I mean, look, just if you've got a question, go to Reddit, and if you need a tutorial on how to use a piece of equipment, go to YouTube. And you know, if you need to learn how to clean the electronics in your guitar, there's, there's a youtube. Shout out to my mate, Dave Webb. He, he runs a youtube channel and one time I needed to figure out how to clean the um, the volume pots in my guitar because they were crackling, and the first thing that came up was perfect was dave. 
 
22:17
So you know, like there's just there's a wealth of information out there, so just. But it's also it's almost kind of the same thing, like just don't be afraid to ask for help, because you're sort of doing it yourself if you're doing it that way. But it's really no different. It's just that there's actually a community of people who have just answered your question before you asked it. But don't be afraid to ask for help. 
 
22:39 - Alexis (Host)
Well said Well yeah. Yeah, well said, well said. One last question. 
 
22:43 - Gavin (Guest)
All right. 
 
22:47 - Alexis (Host)
If you could hear another creative, come on this podcast and answer these questions, who would it be and why? 
 
22:51 - Gavin (Guest)
I've got to say Emily South, because Emily's great and I would be very interested to sort of know a little bit more about, yeah, her process and yeah, sort of her background and, yeah, just hear her answer those questions yeah, amazing, because she's great. 
 
23:12 - Alexis (Host)
Oh my goodness, Gavin, you have been an absolute delight. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. 
 
23:18 - Gavin (Guest)
Thank you for having me. This is great. I love this kind of stuff. 
 
23:26 - Alexis (Host)
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom/throughthecreativedoor or buy the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

BSIDE Luxury by Emilee South

Featured Artist: Emilee South
Featured Vinyl: LUXURY
 
Alexis’ Hot Pick 
Weekend
Sam’s Hot Pick
Tower
Aus Music Alert! Support this artists by purchasing this record via Bandcamp:
https://emileesouth.bandcamp.com/album/luxury-2 
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for an artist's vinyl to listen to, have you got one in mind that we should check out? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
 
00:09 - Intro (Announcement)
Welcome to B-Side, the mini-series from Through the Creative Door. Join Alexis and Sam as they dive into the timeless world of vinyl. For Alexis, vinyl was more than music. It was a Sunday ritual she shared with her dad, listening, talking and soaking in the stories behind each album and the artwork on every sleeve. Though her dad is no longer with us, she continues this tradition with her friend, sam Timmerman. Join them as they share their passion for vinyl and the stories these records hold. 
 
00:44 - Alexis (Host)
Hello Sam. 
 
00:47 - Sam (Host)
Hello, hello, hello, hello, welcome back.
 
00:51 - Alexis (Host)
Happy, Next, another week of fun
 
00:55 - Sam (Host)
Episode what seven yeah seven seven, seven. I cannot count anymore. How are we. Are we well, I'm very well, good
 
01:05 - Alexis (Host)
Good Shall. I start the timer. 
 
01:10 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, start the timer, do it. What do you have for me after you start the timer? 
 
01:13 - Alexis (Host)
It's time to go. 
 
01:15 - Sam (Host)
What do you have? 
 
01:17 - Alexis (Host)
I am so excited for this one. This is very special. 
 
01:22 - Sam (Host)
This. It's so red. 
 
01:24 - Alexis (Host)
It's so red it's so red. It's beautiful. It is a beautiful red, black and white cover for Emiliee South, Luxury. 
 
01:39 - Sam (Host)
Yeah it's beautiful. 
 
01:41 - Alexis (Host)
And if we pop it out? Look at this glorious shiny. 
 
01:45 - Sam (Host)
That is wow. Okay, everyone who's listening. You've got to get on the video Because this is so glorious. That is some sheen on a record right there. Boop, boop, boop, boop. Amazing who's Emilee South? Where's she from? 
 
02:02 - Sam (Host)
So I saw an Australian Artist Alert right. 
 
02:04 - Alexis (Host)
Yep Australian artist alert. She is in Victoria. She's absolutely killing it. I may have met her at uni. 
 
02:17 - Sam (Host)
That's a weird noise. 
 
02:18 - Alexis (Host)
That is not why we're doing this. We're doing this because she has this absolute banger of a record and it deserves everyone talking about it and listening luxury luxury. 
 
02:29 - Sam (Host)
This is so much fun, by the way I, I'm. 
 
02:33 - Alexis (Host)
I so love that I get to, because this is not something, a genre that you would normally listen to. 
 
02:38 - Sam (Host)
So no, but then every now and again I really get into it like I'll just, I'll just sit there and just right, amazing. 
 
02:49 - Alexis (Host)
Well, segue into rocking it out. My hot pick is a track called weekend. One, because it is so upbeat and infectious and such driving guitar. It's absolutely powerful. But I love the premise of the lyrics and like she's hit it out of the park with the music video as well, it's absolutely amazing. But for Weekend it's essentially lyrics talking about, um, you know, working a nine to five, wasting your youth away, waiting for the weekend is like the nutshell there you go ah, the music video killer. The song's an absolute banger. It's an earworm. Get to me head,
 
03:41 - Sam (Host)
See that I didn't get to watch that music video because I was too busy watching the music video for Control. 
 
03:48 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, that's another banger of a song, yeah. 
 
03:51 - Sam (Host)
Great song, great tune, really cool video. 
 
03:55 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, how impressive Like rolling around with roller skates. 
 
04:00 - Sam (Host)
We'll clarify roller skates. She's not rolling around on the floor. She's on roller skates and it's yeah, it's super cool. It was a lot of fun, Did we? I don't know if we found out who directed that, or was it self-directed. 
 
04:20 - Alexis (Host)
Actually didn't go down that rabbit hole to see. 
 
04:22 - Sam (Host)
That can be another rabbit hole for next time, I think. 
 
04:25 - Alexis (Host)
I will take that off. But what was your hot pick? 
 
04:31 - Sam (Host)
Oh, my hot pick was Tower and with this record, I genuinely almost didn't hear the lyrics because I was too busy going nuts to the music. So, Emilee I apologise, I was too busy going nuts to the music. That was so much fun. I put it on while I was answering emails or something, and it helped me through the. I love my clients. 
 
04:59 - Alexis (Host)
Control yes. 
 
05:05 - Sam (Host)
It was beautiful. It was so much fun. Just am I allowed to say balls to the wall, balls to the wall, absolute energy, just in your face. I loved it. I don't have much else to say apart from yes, it was great yeah, so much um, and I got my own little rabbit hole looking at um Anna Laverty, the producer, because far out as she does some stuff very, very cool. 
 
05:32 - Alexis (Host)
I'm not going to go down the whole list, but I'm just about to say, like I prior to our chat off my I wasn't like. I recognized the name, but I didn't know just how much her work is like, spread far and wide and like how many. 
 
05:51 - Sam (Host)
Absolutely. Since doing this record, she's also done stuff with Jebediah and Missy Higgins, which is super fun, but she's worked with everyone from our own dear friends Stella Donnelly, meg Mac, tania Harper, all the way through to people like Missy and Jebediah, and also up to she was assistant engineer on Lady Gaga's record. She's done stuff. She is fantastic, and what a a sound, what an absolute sound. It's very very cool. Talk to me about the artwork. 
 
06:20 - Alexis (Host)
I just want to say Emilee’s not only just knocked it out of the park with, like, the sound and the team that she's had with her, because obviously her, um, her band is super solid. So her partner, matt, plays guitar with her in this ensemble, will, who plays bass she's known will since she went to uni and like they've they've done lots of different projects together and they're super tight and, um, dan barry's on drums. So like, yeah, what a solid basis. 
So, yeah, so the artwork. How amazing. We went down a little rabbit hole to work out where it had all come from. Who was responsible for this amazing work? 
 
07:56 - Sam (Host)
Whose fault was this? 
 
07:58 - Alexis (Host)
Whose fault was this? And we came across some information about, yeah, who the illustrations were done by, which is Celeste Mountjoy, which I didn't know who that was, and then did a bit of a rabbit hole and it was like aka filthy rat bag and I was like who is this? Oh my goodness and holy moly that lady. We could talk about her on a whole other podcast
 
08:30 - Sam (Host)
Is there such a thing as seaside where we can talk about. Actually, that's weird, that sounds weird. We're not talking about beaches here, um, but yeah anyway, talking about artwork, oh my goodness yeah. 
 
08:32 - Alexis (Host)
How amazing what a style everyone needs to go and check out her work as well, and what an amazing collaboration for emily to have for her artwork. And, um, obviously that was in alongside um sebi white, who helped design the artwork. So, yeah, I think on Emilee’s website, when she talks about the cover art, she, I think she says something like it's a work of art in itself, which is so true, which is so lovely that she got inspiration. 
 
09:10 - Sam (Host)
So but yeah, check out celeste at filthy rat bag on instagram and, I believe, on tiktok as well, possibly yes that's all I can say. Just style out the ears, that's great oh yeah so. 
 
09:30 - Alexis (Host)
But I don't know. There's just so much to talk about this record because obviously the body of work, the sound's amazing. The shoot-offs of the music videos for all these tracks are just stunning. Yeah, such bangers. 
 
09:44 - Sam (Host)
So much fun I have to bring it back to the control video for a second, because I believe I recognise that space. 
 
09:52 - Alexis (Host)
What do you mean? Because? 
 
09:55 - Sam (Host)
Someone that we know and love dearly recorded in that space as well, I believe. 
 
10:01 - Alexis (Host)
It is a popular room. Here in Melbourne. It is a popular space. 
 
10:05 - Sam (Host)
That's such a cop-out answer and I love it. 
 
10:10 - Alexis (Host)
It might look familiar to you, Sam, because I have possibly done. 
 
10:13 - Sam (Host)
Yes, there we go. 
 
10:15 - Alexis (Host)
I have done a music video in there. 
 
10:16 - Sam (Host)
We dug it out of her. 
 
10:20 - Alexis (Host)
But this podcast is not about me. 
 
10:23 - Sam (Host)
No, it's not until I make it about you. 
 
10:27 - Alexis (Host)
But you know I'm in good stead if I have picked a location for music videos in the same calibre. 
 
10:35 - Sam (Host)
It's very true. It is very true. 
 
10:37 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, but do you have any runner-ups of your special picks? 
 
10:47 - Sam (Host)
To be honest, I could pick four or five, so not really yeah, I spent the whole time on the, on this record again, bouncing up and down, just going. Yeah, control was a lot of fun. It was a little bit more um for me, I got to chill a little bit more to it, but again, just fun. I was looking at, actually just looking at a couple bits of info. Oh, that's time Looking at a bit of info about Emilee in general. 
 
11:26
Just in terms of where they've performed for the EPs before Luxury as well, Stuff like your Lily Palooza, Big Sound Americanas and Kilderfest in Brunswick. They're not small festivals either. We're talking about people who are releasing stuff after playing really solid shows, and I would love to see these guys live. Emilee, please just bring me to Melbourne or come to Perth Either way. 
 
12:00 - Alexis (Host)
Let's harass her. Make her do a tour over in. WA yeah, 
 
12:03 - Sam (Host)
Absolutely Jump in a van, go around the country. I love it, I love it. 
 
12:11 - Alexis (Host)
All right, all right, brother, that's it for this week. 
 
12:13 - Sam (Host)
Thank you very much for having me. As always, Emilee South Luxury, get your hands and your ears on it 
 
12:28 - Alexis (Host)
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door.  If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom. Forward slash through the creative door or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 
 

7 | Little by Little with Ida Sophia

In this episode, Alexis step’s into the deeply immersive world of South Australian-born, Berlin-based artist Ida Sophia. Known for her evocative performance art, as well as her work in media and sculpture, Ida shares the discipline and solitude that shape her creative process. From her durational performance Regret to the significance of journaling as a "moving studio," this conversation is a raw and inspiring exploration of what it means to create with intention.
More info: https://www.idasophia.art
If you’d like to see more, you can follow Ida on instagram; @ idasophia_art
 
This episode was recorded on 1st March 2025 on the lands of the Kaurna Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Creative resources from Ida:
Book: Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door,
 
00:42
Ida. I am so chuffed. Thank you so much for coming through the creative door. I actually just have no words. I have, I mean, as I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I hadn't done a little stalky, stalk of you, but there's actually no words. Like, I've seen some of your beautiful performance art and it's so emotive and so thought-provoking. And I know that's not all that you do, because you also obviously do amazing sculptures which, for those listening, we're sitting in front of one of your artworks. What did you say? This one's called. 
 
01:31 - Ida (Guest)
This is called contact failure. 
 
01:34 - Alexis (Host)
Yes, I'm going to put a pin in that because I want to circle back, because I think that's super interesting, and I know that there's another component to this that's living in another room, so I want to unpack that a little bit. But yeah, I mean, it seems to me that the landscape of you as an artist is like so fluid and there's so many mediums that you sort of draw upon. Um, what does a creative space mean to you and why? 
 
02:01 - Ida (Guest)
yeah, I mean it needs to have a level of isolation for me. I need to be able to, you know, close the door and to to enter it, um, almost in a monastic sense. I have a very Um disciplined studio um practice. I like to be in the studio by 8am, even earlier, if I can be. I'm just obsessed. 
 
02:29
I at the moment, my studio is in a basement and I bound down the stairs so excited with my little thermos of coffee and my journal under my arm, ready to go into the studio and continue working from one whatever project or multiple projects that I'm working on right now. Um, but I'm actually in a residency and over the course of my practice, I've done multiple residencies and that has been so um, it's been so beautiful to be around other artists consistently whilst having this very isolated, monastic practice within a community. So I kind of need both. I need to be able to step into it, close the door, have that whole world and then be able to open the door, have lots of people come in, be connected to community, have a lot of experiences. Uh, wherever that residency is situated, um, right now it's in Berlin, which is what a city to do a residency in. There's like 300 plus galleries. 
 
03:34
It's uh, the studio is in the city is the city, I should say yeah, it's really taught me about going beyond those four walls of my studio and and recognizing that, uh, practice is is in the looking, the listening, the feeling, the, the seeking, uh out what a city can actually provide for you artistically on the pulse yeah yeah, yeah, totally. So I think energy in that way is important Energy, excited energy and then very concentrated energy, it's both. 
 
04:16 - Alexis (Host)
I love this question because in some ways, it doesn't matter what kind of baseline I think we're all sort of trying to find. It's like the yin and yang of creativity within a space and uh, yeah, what a beautiful answer. Beautiful answer, I mean. You have, your body of work is massive and your mediums are across the board. Is there a body of work or a piece of work that you're most proud of creating, and how did it come about? 
 
04:52 - Ida (Guest)
yeah, I think I'm most proud of creating Regret from 2021. This work is a 28 day dur performance, six hours a day. Every day, I sat in a chair and I watched this monumental installation of flowers decompose, and I did that because I regretted not spending the last month of my father's life by his side and I wanted to spend the time in the work that I wish I had spent with him, but not only that. Again, realizing that my story is a common story, you know, a regret is something that a lot of people feel. I had a participatory element where I cast these little plaster pieces that people could write their regrets on, and my, my um vow was to hold the literal and um metaphorical weight of that regret after they placed it on a hook on the garment that I was wearing a cloak thing that you're wearing. 
 
05:59
Yeah, yeah, and this work. The reason I'm so proud of it is that I was the first day I did it, for sitting there for six hours I thought, oh my God, what have I done? This is really hard, but I'd done the training, I'd done the endurance training, I'd done the mental training before, and when I got to the end of it, I felt like I could continue doing it for three months. You know, even though this thing on me had got to about 15 or 20 kilos, I felt so light. 
 
06:28
You know, I didn't realize, or I didn't know with empirical evidence, that durational time in performance could really be so effective on myself and the people that shared this work with me. You know, people showed me that they needed spaces to come and, um, be able to be with their stuff that are, you know, non-religious or you know. So I understood that, uh, through durational performance, there was some kind of gift there, given that people can come and have an experience, go away, think about it. The show is still going. I'm still there, I'm still holding the space, still holding their regret, and then they can come back in that revisited state where they've, where they've carried it as well, and it was a beautiful. It was a beautiful thing. It really taught me what I was capable of and um, what I needed to do with my practice, what my duty is as an artist to do with my practice. 
 
07:34 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, it's so. It's beautiful to hear you articulate what it was like in that space physically, because the photos of that time, of that that performance, like they're striking, they're really striking and so for someone who's paletting it, who wasn't in the room to feel that you know, wash over them, they're very emotionally triggering images, knowing the context. Yeah, and that, yeah, super powerful. 
 
08:08
Yeah, yeah, thank you yeah, thank you so much for being so gracious and sharing that. That's, yeah, it's a good question, beautiful. On the flip side of things that you're proud of, have you had an experience or a situation that's challenged your creativity? 
 
08:30 - Ida (Guest)
I've had a really blessed artistic life and I think my challenges are the source of the best parts of my practice, so maybe I don't see them as challenges so much. 
 
08:48
I think all of the things that I work through in my different works are based on the challenges of early childhood, as so many are like interpersonal, inter-familial things that that arose, and I think the challenge perhaps is being so candid and so vulnerable in order to revisit, feel it again, extract it out of you into your right hand, look at it, understand it, understand where you are now and you're not that child, and look at it from a different world view and from an art perspective and from a translation perspective and and from a a truth perspective. You know, can I actually do something with this or am I ready to? And then, of course, translating that into into a work, into materiality, um, so there are lots of things that I know are still locked up. Um, that will take time, I think. But yeah, I think the challenge is is is the really the, the going in and doing the revisitation of some of the things that you're like, oh, that one's painful, but it's, but that's, that's okay. Does that answer your question? 
 
10:30 - Alexis (Host)
it does, it does very much. So, okay, good, considering that you change workspaces, the studio space, I'm curious is there anything like an object or a thing that you can't live without when you're creating? Of course, of course. What is this thing? 
 
10:52 - Ida (Guest)
I'm a prolific journaler. Okay thing, I'm a prolific journaler, so it's a absolute essential for me and I don't feel complete if my journal is not with me at all times. I've journaled since maybe I was about six and I must have hundreds of A5 journals. There's mine just there, within, within the eyesight. 
 
11:14 - Alexis (Host)
I have to have it there is there a particular kind of like? 
 
11:18 - Ida (Guest)
blank paper, a5, that's okay. Okay, it changes, you know, over the years. But, um, the thing with the journal is that it is, it is the moving studio, because I'm, because I'm moving around all the time and I don't think that we we switch off being an artist when we're in the studio and when we're being out of the studio. It's just not, it's not a thing, it's not. It's not in our wheelhouse that we have a nine to five. I don't think that it ever fully goes away or that perhaps people don't understand that we stop being artists. We don't stop being artists, pardon me, at at any time. 
 
11:57
Um, we're experiencing the world as artists and gathering and collecting and, uh, the journal is this, uh, deeply supportive space that holds the constancy of artisthood throughout every minute of my day, even like just a few days ago, I finally had this huge realization about this theme of hope in my entire practice. 
 
12:22
It is the, it is this, this word that has driven everything we do in our life with this, this hope that we, we hope someone will do something, we hope that we'll get this, we hope that they'll love us, we hope that they'll forgive us. All of this has driven all of our behavior and all of my work, and you know this. This light comes on, it's an idle Tuesday afternoon at 2 45 in the afternoon and you're like, oh my god, I've got to write this down immediately and for me it's a. I think the second object that's very important to me is my lame pen that I write with, because writing my phone is just, it's not a thing, it's almost not fast enough. My hand is quicker and I need the connection between my, my brain and my arm and my hand to to, to think and deliver exactly what it is, um. So yeah, definitely recommend having a lemme pen for all of the all of the journaling I
 
13:29 - Alexis (Host)
I really agree with that as a lyricist and a songwriter. There's something about the notation and it's this um. So we spoke off mark about how I got diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome a couple of years ago and I talked to people about one of my major struggles around that was the physicality that I lacked and that was I couldn't. I had to learn how to write again. 
 
13:50
Yeah, I'm right-handed so I had to learn how to ride again. I couldn't play piano and it's like that, that physicality of letting it flow through my body to allow whatever was you know the synapsis in my brain to snap and go through. That was the struggle, that was so hard. So I yeah, it's, it's, yeah. You can be in another state of mind when you know your body can just flow, it can flow through to your hand]
 
14:19 - Ida (Guest)
 and the determination for you to go, this is absolutely essential for me and my expression, like handwriting, is such a it's such a thing that is only ours. Um, I can imagine that that is something that you were absolutely, uncompromisingly not going to let go stubborn, some would say good, good that's. I mean, that's the only way that you, that you get yeah through it, yeah, and you still are every day right yeah, it's a practice that's right for a reason. 
 
14:55 - Alexis (Host)
Now, if you could give one piece of gold, one nugget of advice to another creative or another human being, what would it be? 
 
15:04 - Ida (Guest)
oh, I think, always in the back of my head, and maybe because this is because I'm such a virgo the, the quote, or the, the um, what should I call it? The, the way of thinking through everything that I do is, little by little, a little becomes a lot. This, this compound gesture like why, why I work through with durational time, it's the compound of every single hour, every single minute, every single day that that makes the powerfulness of the piece. Or, you know, doing all of the, the admin, that we have to do as 21st century. 
 
15:40
It's ridiculous artists you know, little by little, little becomes a lot. It's it's when you have really ambitious projects, um, you know they just take they to hold them. You have to hold just a tiny bit at a time, and that it has been the the greatest lesson that I. I just have to take one little bite at a time. Well said, well even in, even in this, in the self-talk. You know, you get into the studio in the morning and sometimes you can feel like you really doubt everything that you've done. Maybe it should all just go in the bin. And it's like one little thought, that's like no, I know what I'm doing, I'm here, I've showed up for the studio, and then that thought becomes another good thought and it sort of builds up and then it just becomes total, uh, excitement to be there. One little thought rolling after the other. 
 
16:35
So, yeah, it's kind of um, essential, yeah, yeah yeah, and it's self-propelling too builds on each, precisely, precisely the momentum of that, like you can catch the wave and then all of a sudden you're doing this enormous thing and you're like, oh that that wasn't so hard. 
 
16:56 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, I love that feeling. 
 
16:58 - Ida (Guest)
Yeah, how good is it yeah. 
 
16:59 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, cool, yeah, yeah, I did that, I did that. 
 
17:02 - Ida (Guest)
I'm here. 
 
17:03 - Alexis (Host)
Ready to receive. 
 
17:04 - Ida (Guest)
Yeah, yes, yeah, totally, totally. 
 
17:08 - Alexis (Host)
I'm curious, if someone wanted to do what you do, would you have any advice or recommendations on courses or books or, I don't know, any sort of content that someone could palette in to sort of develop their creative process and even come close to what you do? 
 
17:35 - Ida (Guest)
well, I mean specifically for durational performance. I think that, um, figuring out, uh, uh, how to uh expand your endurance capacity physically and mentally is the first step. You know to take an eight hour walk, you know, and you know to sit and just listen for 30 minutes, you know, these little things can build up your endurance and are really it's really physical. So that's the practice total physical health and an alignment and building that up slowly, slowly, doing semi hard things for a long time. So that's very practical. But I think I I think the sort of philosophical or mental side of being an artist requires much more work and much more nourishment. 
 
18:45
And the greatest resource I think I could recommend is a book called Letters to a Young Poet, which you might know, by Rena Maria Rilke, who is a German poet. His poetry is extraordinary. However, this book is a one-sided correspondence, it's just the letters from Rilke to another poet, and it is essentially about solitude and how we must not fear it but know that it is the absolute, necessary aspect of unlocking that which is so deep within us as artistic people. And it is absolutely heart-wrenchingly open. And oh, he says things like if there are abysses, let them be our abysses. These, these sorts of lines that you just think, my god, I, I can understand why being alone is so important to um what I can do in the world with people. So read that and then read it again, read it every month. It's a constant next to me with my journal, I think yeah, yeah, yeah. 
 
20:08 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my goodness, it's, I feel like, in regards to like, yeah, exactly what you were saying about, yeah, as an artist, it's like looking after ourselves as a whole human being to be able to serve as an artist, yeah, and like, yeah, taking in, yeah, all of these bits Absolutely To feed that. 
 
20:30 - Ida (Guest)
I'm really against any struggling or starving artist tropes, I think oh my goodness, me too I think it's an absolute um travesty that any of us should ever have to hear that will be placed in that category, um and what we can do within that. You know, I'm referencing rilke. He's he's reminding us that our, our struggle is is our actually our power? You know, making artistic work is a struggle, but it's the it's the struggle we choose. 
 
21:03 - Alexis (Host)
So, therefore, choose your hard right that's right, that's right. 
 
21:06 - Ida (Guest)
So it's, it's um, quite a, quite a privilege to be able to, to wrangle all of this out of, out of ourselves and um, and that requires living a very different lifestyle and life to many other careers and we choose it because we can't do anything else. You know, it is, we know, and yeah, and it's ups and downs, arounds, throughs and unders, and I choose it all, yeah. 
 
21:41 - Alexis (Host)
Wow, you're speaking my language, lady. You're speaking my language. I've tried to bow away from it before and I'm a lesser of a human because of it. 
 
21:48 - Ida (Guest)
Right. 
 
21:49 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah. 
 
21:50 - Ida (Guest)
Can't put you in a box. 
 
21:51 - Alexis (Host)
Nope, Nope. Shred doesn't work. You've broke it. I want to be on top of the box. 
 
21:56 - Ida (Guest)
I want to be around it, I'm gonna throw the bugs. Yeah, I'm gonna take it apart, I'm gonna make it a circle. Now I want to be different colors. Yes, yes, lighting, oh my god, but that's it. That's our life. 
 
22:12 - Alexis (Host)
It's quite special yeah, we're really lucky. My goodness, you are such a joy and thank you so much for being so gracious and sharing just a little piece of yourself in today's interview. 
 
22:27 - Ida (Guest)
I just yeah thank you, thanks for making the time for me. 
 
22:31 - Alexis (Host)
I do have one last question, mm-hmm. If you could hear another creative come onto this podcast and answer these questions, who would you throw under the bus? Who would you like to hear? 
 
22:43 - Ida (Guest)
It's a no-brainer for me. I would suggest Joseph James Francis, who is a sound artist and sculptor. Who is a sound artist and sculptor and he has an incredible approach to to what sound can be in in our lives and how it can change the experience of us walking through it. I think he's got some incredible research that is behind his practice and a really interesting history. Of course, I'm super biased. We collaborate all the time and he made the sound works for Witness. He did the sound work for Regret as well. He's an extraordinary creative and I think he has so much to contribute to our contemporary art dialogue. 
 
23:36 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, Wow, I will try and pin him down. Hopefully he's ready to receive me and I can bail him out with questions. Right, let's do it. I'll be like you can put a good word in for me, yeah yeah. Amazing. Oh my goodness, Ada, thank you so much for this beautiful chat. 
 
23:58
this has just filled my cup yeah, me too yay thanks for tuning in for another episode of through the creative door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffee.com/throughthecreativedoor or by the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community and we'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

BSIDE Sunshower by Couch

Featured Artist: Couch
Featured Vinyl: Sunshower
 
Alexis’ Hot Pick 
Jessie
Sam’s Hot Pick
L.A.
 
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for an artist's vinyl to listen to, have you got one in mind that we should check out? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Co-Host: Sam Timmerman
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Voiceover: Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
 
00:09 - Intro
Welcome to B-Side, the mini-series from Through the Creative Door. Join Alexis and Sam as they dive into the timeless world of vinyl. For Alexis, vinyl was more than music. It was a Sunday ritual she shared with her dad, listening, talking and soaking in the stories behind each album and the artwork on every sleeve. Though her dad is no longer with us, she continues this tradition with her friend, Sam Timmerman. Join them as they share their passion for vinyl and the stories these records hold. 
 
00:44 - Alexis (Host)
Hello brother. 
 
00:46 - Sam (Host)
Hello, hello. Look at you. It's good to see your face again. Other end of the country once more
 
00:49 - Alexis (Host)
And for the people listening, hearing your voice. 
 
00:57 - Sam (Host)
Exactly. 
 
00:58 - Alexis (Host)
All right, what do you got for me, brother? Wait, let me start the timer Ten minutes. Ten minutes All right, what have you got? 
 
01:04 - Sam (Host)
I have Sunshower by Couch. 
 
01:08 - Alexis (Host)
That is a perfect album title for something really gorgeous the abstract-y artwork on the front is really pretty. 
 
01:17 - Sam (Host)
Having not even thought of this until this exact moment. Sunshower is actually one of my favourite experiences just being in a sunshower. 
 
01:28 - Alexis (Host)
Oh really. 
 
01:28 - Sam (Host)
And it could sound super artsy and weird, but you know that's just me. And yeah, sunshowers are beautiful and I just thought that then. 
 
01:39 - Alexis (Host)
Now that you say that, that's actually probably pretty valid, because one I do like sunshine and I like the sound of rain. 
 
01:50 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, it's beautiful. This is going deeper than I thought we were going to go, so Do sun showers happen as much over there as over in the west, as we might say? 
 
02:05 - Alexis (Host)
I mean, I don't know percentages, but they happen sometimes. 
 
02:10 - Sam (Host)
That was my attempt at a segue to my hot take, hot pick of the album which is. Which was horrible, but we take it Again wasn't pre-planned. 
 
02:26 - Alexis (Host)
I apologise, but a hot pick for me is LA. Okay, talk me through this. 
 
02:33 - Sam (Host)
Partly because I mean what a sound We'll talk about the album sound in a minute, but what a sound that track has. It is massive. 
 
02:42 - Alexis (Host)
Absolutely huge. So for our listeners, I think we need to paint a little bit of a picture. 
 
02:47 - Sam (Host)
Yes. 
 
02:48 - Alexis (Host)
These guys are a seven-piece funk-pomp band out of the States. 
 
02:54 - Sam (Host)
Boston, massachusetts, boston, boston, how do you say it? Boston? I don't know. I don't know I think we should stop here. 
 
03:01 - Alexis (Host)
Don't come up, please don't cancel us. I don't know, I think we should stop. Don't come after us, please don't cancel us. But this particular record, like the best way to describe I think the sound, would be that it's like full, bright poppy lyrics, a lot of jazzy chords, because all of the players are like from lots of different influences and genres, um, really groovy and like funky drums. And obviously you know, for anyone who's in the know, drums and bass have, you know this marriage of solidness, so you know that funky groove is is with the bass as well. Um, and then they've also got some horns players in there? 
 
03:52 - Sam (Host)
Any fans of bands like Late Street Dive, lawrence, wolfpack? These are the. This is what we're talking about here. I came across these guys on a I think it was on a song radio from Lawrence and just blew me away. They've just returned from a. I think it was something like 30-something city tour with Corey Wong supporting Corey Wong, which is astronomical undertaking in itself, but 38 sounds right. Yeah, supporting the one and only Corey Wong sounds right. Yeah, supporting the one and only Corey Wong. And that is the sound that they create and they knock it out of the park and it is so much fun. 
 
04:34 - Alexis (Host)
Well, I didn't know who these guys were until I was with you, and either we were in the car or we were listening to something at your house. But I remember hearing it and being like oof, damn, what's this? 
 
04:50 - Sam (Host)
Oh, you said it was Jessie the track, Jessie, wasn't it? 
 
04:52 - Alexis (Host)
Yes, which is my hot pick. 
 
04:55 - Sam (Host)
There you go. 
 
04:56 - Alexis (Host)
It was just so funky and even before I got into the lyrics, just the melody lines and the hook, everything just got me straight away and I remember you being like oh yeah, I'll just send it to you. And I was like who are these guys? 
 
05:09 - Sam (Host)
What a bass line right what a bass line in that album. 
 
05:16 - Alexis (Host)
but then when I had a chance to dive in, not just listening, I mean I'm such a lyric person I froth at. I mean, look, a lot of lyrics are written about story, about relationship breakdowns. But I really enjoy when it's not a romantic relationship breakdown, when it's something else. And this song is about a friendship, about you know why are you not answering Like? You know, I've listened to your voicemail more than I've heard your own voice like and it's so relatable for anyone who's had a friendship breakdown as an adult. You know they're pretty painful, they're actually so much worse than romantic ones sometimes. 
 
06:03
But yeah, I just it was. Yeah, I was like yeah, damn great song. 
 
06:07 - Sam (Host)
For anyone who listens to the live in LA version of the record, they excuse me. They recorded the whole thing on tour in LA before they released. Beside of this record in particular is the live in LA show, and they introduced that song with this is for anyone who's been ghosted by a close friend yeah yeah, right, 
 
06:34 - Alexis (Host)
I mean yeah, I want to see more artists write songs like that. Totally, I, I've done it. It's true. 
 
06:50 - Sam (Host) 
I'm sorry if you guys are near, by the way. Yeah, but another example of really great groovy fun tunes written about painful subjects. 
 
06:59 - Alexis (Host)
Oh yeah, you need the vessel to be able to get in to have conversation and, why not, the layer of groovy, funky music. 
 
07:09 - Sam (Host)
So then, for people like me who like listening to the music, they can just go yeah, this is great. What are they talking about? I've listened to this album enough times to know most of the lyrics in other languages also. 
 
07:24 - Alexis (Host)
Really. 
 
07:24 - Sam (Host)
No, I'm exaggerating, but I've listened to this album a lot. But yeah, thinking of hot picks, I was thinking about what I was into at the moment and LA just came up. Just a it's a real feeling of being the other side of the country is okay. 
 
07:45 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, that's kind of how I took it yeah in a very, very small nutshell do you have a runner-up, a favorite? 
 
07:55 - Sam (Host)
yeah, um, I think I wrote down Someone With You because it just is so much fun. Um, yeah, lyrically and musically, it's just so much fun.
 
08:02 - Alexis (Host)
Well, true to my stylings, I love the sort of emotional power ballady kinds of vibes I really like. My runner-up is a song called All Right, which is the last one on the record. And it starts out real moody and then it like comes into itself a bit more. 
 
08:34 - Sam (Host)
But it's just like the chorus is epic. 
 
08:36 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, such an epic chorus. It's so glorious. Listeners, get onto this record. 
 
08:42 - Sam (Host)
Listen to it, because we're not going to play it for you. 
 
08:44 - Alexis (Host)
Go and listen to this record. 
 
08:46 - Sam (Host)
Buy this record, if you buy it. 
 
08:49 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, they're on. Bandcamp too, they're on. 
 
08:50 - Sam (Host)
Bandcamp If you buy it from oh, they're on Bandcamp too. They're on Bandcamp If you buy it from them. They will ship it to you, and I'm pretty sure they're still signing it. 
 
08:56 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my goodness. So for those listening, sam's shoved into the camera part of the sleeve of the vinyl, which is a glorious picture of them holding umbrellas, which is one of their schticks that they do on stage and that is like part of their props, um, and they've signed it, which is beautiful find it hand signed, limited edition. 
 
09:20
And no joke, they sent this to me the day before they left on tour with Cory these guys are amazing didn't you say that, like the band members, one of them actually is like their manager, oh so they're all self-producing, self-managing. 
 
09:35 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, Zach, the guitarist is the band's manager. This record was majority produced by the band members. 
 
09:41 - Alexis (Host)
Except for one song which is All Right, yeah yeah. Speaking of, I was talking about the umbrellas and their stage and their shtick. 
 
09:51 - Sam (Host)
Oh, the couch. 
 
09:52 - Alexis (Host)
Can I just say, yeah, we, Sam and I had dived into this and found out about the fact that, yeah, they sort of have a different couch. That sort of is part of the aesthetic depending on the release, it's a different colour or a different, yeah, different, kind of couch which they absolutely love because they use it as a prop and have it on stage. But what did we read? Like an interview they did, and they were like, oh, it's so great, we love it. 
 
10:21 - Sam (Host)
They went away from the room and then came back and there was a cushion with Jeff Goldblum's face on it. 
 
10:26 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my God true. Yes they did a show in Massachusetts and they'd just like gone oh my God, true, yes, I did a show in Massachusetts and they'd just like gone off to talk to people after the show and went back on stage to like load out and they found this really sparkly. I mean, what do they call those pillows? They're the pillows that have, like, the sequins on them. So when you push all the sequins one direction, oh yeah. 
 
10:50
And then when you push the sequins another way, it shows this picture face yeah of Geoff. 
 
10:58 - Sam (Host)
Of Geoff Geoff Ten minutes already. Ok, Sunshower by couch. 
 
11:06 - Alexis (Host)
You won't be disappointed. It is an earworm. Thanks, brother, that was a great one Signing off. 
 
11:11
That was fun all right signing off. Thanks for tuning in for another episode of through the creative door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favourite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

6 | There’s Always Another Shell When You Need It with Gerard Russo

In this episode of Through the Creative Door, Alexis sits down with Gerard, a talented creative known for his unique approach to art. Gerard’s signature style combines mark-making, painting, etching, and strategic backlighting to challenge the traditional boundaries between sculpture and painting. He shares insights into his creative process, how he navigates the hustle of being a working artist, and the rewards of commissioned projects. Tune in for a deep dive into the intersection of art, innovation, and perseverance, and get inspired by his journey as an artist pushing the limits of traditional mediums.
If you’d like to see more, you can follow Gerard on instagram; @ gerard.russo.art
 
This episode was recorded on 15 February 2025 on the lands of the Woiworung Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
…
Creative resources from Gerard:
Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday 
Mastery by Robert Greene
101 Things to Learn At Art School by Kit White 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikToc: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door. 
Hello, you, amazing human being. Oh, my goodness, I am so chuffed to be having you on Through the Creative Door. 
 
01:01 - Gerard (Guest)
Thank you for having me, yeah, and for calling me an amazing human being. You're also. You're also an amazing human being. 
 
01:07 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my goodness you are such a talented bear for those listening. I am in this beautiful space of yours looking at some of your stunning artwork that is um surrounding me. How would I describe your signature medium? there's so many, 
 
01:26 - Gerard (Guest)
Often the reaction I get. People will be like so what am I? What is that? What am I looking at? 
 
01:34 - Alexis (Host)
it's so beautiful. 
 
01:35 - Gerard (Guest)
I love working in a medium that does that to people. It just confuses people right away. It's a great, great tactic right Start off with confusion. 
 
01:45 - Alexis (Host)
Fantastic. Fantastic.
 
01:47 - Gerard (Guest)
I'd describe it as an interplay of emitted light and reflective light that I'm very attracted to. But yeah, so my process is a mark-making process combined with an etching process and a backlighting process. 
 
02:06 - Alexis (Host)
So yeah, it is a bit confusing. It's not confusing, it's just beautiful tapestry of creative ventures all in the one to create your work. It's, yeah, absolutely stunning. 
 
02:21 - Gerard (Guest)
Thank you. Thank you. I guess that's why I keep doing this, because that end result that I get it's It can be so varied and so wonderful. I really really love working in it, which is why I've worked in it for a while now. 
 
02:31 - Alexis (Host)
Well, I mean, gerard, you have like such a yeah, distinct signature? 
 
02:42 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, thank you. It's a nice medium because I can really open it up in the way I backlight it. I can express anything I want on top of it which will be backlit. But also there's the copper and how it can change, and how it can change in getting a different patina, effect or reflectivity. Yeah, it's just got lots of potential I can keep unpacking and keep challenging myself with, I suppose. Yeah. 
 
03:16 - Alexis (Host)
And that's half the fun of it, right. 
 
03:18 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, it's fun a lot of the time, but I'm sure, yeah, as you know, with processes come headaches. 
 
03:24 - Alexis (Host)
Trials and tribulations. 
 
03:25 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, yeah but I think, I think every or a lot of artists they, they need that to an extent, they need a challenge and it's definitely been that in many ways yeah, how beautiful. 
 
03:42 - Alexis (Host)
We are in your beautiful home. we are next to your gorgeous office. I have a sense that this is one of your many creative spaces. Yes, but I'm not going to lead you down the garden path. 
 
03:58 - Gerard (Guest)
No, that's okay, yeah, yeah. 
 
04:00 - Alexis (Host)
What does a creative space mean to you and why? 
 
04:04 - Gerard (Guest)
I think yeah is a dedicated space that is free from judgment from yourself and other people and one way you feel safe to create. Essentially and I'm lucky to have that as a dedicated art studio with my partner, elizabeth um- 
 
04:25 - Alexis (Host) 
Who for those listening we have had on the podcast she's the one that got me into she, she roped you in yeah, she
 
04:41 - Gerard (Guest) 
I'm very glad. Um, so we have a joint studio and, yeah, it's lovely and I'm lucky to have had a dedicated studio space for over 10 years, you know, in various houses. Yeah, I think it's really important just to have a nice lead space, if you can. I know so many people. It would be the kitchen table for a temporary time, but for that temporary time it's still a dedicated space and creating that is important. Um, so, yeah
 
05:14 - Alexis (Host)
Love it. Well, it's stunning, stunning. Can I just teleport here anytime that I want to? 
 
05:21 - Gerard (Guest)
I should also say, yeah, I'm sitting at my desk, which is what I use for the administrative part of my art practice, and I feel like that's really important, too, to have it separate from the creative space because, that's a pretty hard thing to separate sometimes, and I do have a workshop where I do a lot of my building and etching and things like that. 
 
05:44 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, beautiful. Now. You've been in this artist game for a long time, but could you um share with us a body of work or a piece of work or a project that you're most proud of creating, and how did it come about? 
 
06:13 - Gerard (Guest)
I don't have a specific body of work or even a single work that I'm most proud that I can think of, but, um, what I am really proud of is having it is being an artist that some people have come to and been commissioned for some extremely sentimental artworks, and just to be an artist that people think of for such a dedicated, sentimental gift or gift to themselves In particular. There was a few over the last two years, but there's one in particular that I actually I can't really talk about in honor of the client. But, yeah, that's probably what I'm most proud of is to be there. 
 
07:03 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, that's probably what I'm most proud of is to be there and in those instances, like, are people sourcing you out? And reaching out to you or have they, like, come across you for a word of mouth and seen? 
 
07:14 - Gerard (Guest)
your work. Yeah, it's often a combination, Like they might see me at Open Studios, which is actually coming up in March. Which is actually coming up in March. But yeah, that one in particular was word of mouth from another artist that actually recommended me to these people. 
 
07:32
So yeah you don't necessarily know where it's going to come from. You've just got to keep creating and putting yourself out there. I guess I think it's a good sign you're doing pretty good if stuff is coming to you, um, but it doesn't always happen like that, so you can't just expect that. You gotta, you gotta also push, push for it. Yeah, the hustle, the hustle. Yeah. Well, I think I think a big part of the hustle is just like being active in what you do, you know, yeah and being active in community too, letting people know what you're up to, what you're doing. 
 
08:05
And that was what really got my practice off the ground was starting to do open studios in the Darling Ranges here and, yeah, it made me commit to my practice more. It connected me with the community and other artists in that community. So it's just like, yeah, you just got to surround yourself with it, right, you just got to stand on a box. Even so, it's just like, yeah, just, you just got to surround yourself with it, right, you just got to put stand on a box. Even if it's uncomfortable, we've got to, you know. 
 
08:28 - Alexis (Host)
I'm here yeah, I'm here, hi, everyone look at this stuff I made. Look at this cool thing I did
 
08:32 - Gerard (Guest)
yeah yeah, it can be a weird, weird thing, but um, it's a really beautiful thing sometimes, yeah. 
 
08:43 - Alexis (Host)
On the flip side of things that you're proud of. Have you had something challenge your creativity?
 
08:53 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, my entire medium. What do you mean? Well, you know this isn't my primary medium for those listening. My primary medium for those listening is copper and acrylic sort of backing, so it's not a readily available material. I do work in charcoal and paper as well and dabbling in a bit of sculpture, and my works are primarily sculpture, but it's 2D wall art. But this material I couldn't access it in big quantities, large quantities at all. I had to have it actually manufactured just to be able to do it. 
 
09:37 - Alexis (Host)
Right yeah. 
 
09:38 - Gerard (Guest)
So yeah, I don't know if you imagine just not being able to go to the shops and buy a canvas kind of thing, that's like. Just to start with, that was a big challenge negotiating to get things manufactured and imported, and it was a real commitment to my art. It was a real decision my, my art. It's a real decision.
 
10:06 - Alexis (Host)
And how have you sort of like maneuvered through that with like negotiating and like.
 
10:08 - Gerard (Guest)
Uh well, I just had to keep, keep working it and keep talking to suppliers building those relationships and yeah, yeah, it was a little while back now and because I had to order a big quantity. So, yeah, yeah, it's a really fun medium to work in, but I'd say that was a big challenge and.
 
10:23 - Alexis (Host)
Did it make you think, perhaps, maybe that was there ever a crossroads for you of whether that was the medium that you wanted to continue working?
 
10:41 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, like a lot of artists, I had doubled around in a lot of different mediums. I've always drawn and that's always been a foundation for me, but I was doing animation and, yeah, filmmaking for a bit and jewelry making, which is kind of how I got into etching copper in the first place, as well as making electronics and all kinds of I'm a maker as well, you know so master of all the trades yeah, um, but yeah, like I said, it was definitely uh a decision to commit, but I think, uh, yeah, I saw the potential in the material and I wanted to work with it. 
 
11:20 - Alexis (Host)
And there's so much beauty in it. Thanks, so much beauty in it. I'm glad that you persevered. Now, do you have an object or a thing that you can't live without when you're creating? 
 
11:40 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, and you probably get this answer a lot. My headphones. 
 
11:44 - Alexis (Host)
Really? Why? 
 
11:48 - Gerard (Guest)
Well, in the workshop they protect my ears from loud noises, but also if I'm in the studio and I just need the music or I need an audiobook or something, it can really help my mind just focus on something while my hands do a lot of the work. Yeah, I've also got this sterling silver mechanical pencil that I picked up on a road trip and I like to start a sketch with that if I can. And I like to start a sketch with that if I can. It's like a cool art deco, one made in the 1950s. 
 
12:26 - Alexis (Host)
That's so cool. 
 
12:26 - Gerard (Guest)
It's like a beautiful object, and I've got a watch that I bought when I sold my first house, yeah, which is sentimental. It reminds me that time is limited to keep going,
 
12:42 - Alexis (Host)
And we spoke off mic about your watch being one of those self-winding. 
 
12:50 - Gerard (Guest)
It's a self-winding mechanism. It's so special I actually have to keep moving if I want to know what time it is. 
 
12:57 - Alexis (Host)
It's like what are you doing? 
 
12:58 - Gerard (Guest)
moving your hand around Trying to make my watch give you. Why are you still waving at me? Why are you doing moving your hand around trying to make my watch.  
 
13:05 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, I do like beautiful objects like that. Um, I wouldn't say I collected lots of stuff, but yeah, those would probably be the big ones. But yeah, headphones definitely like you can isolate yourself with them, you can like. Sometimes I actually just put them in to make the world a bit quieter so I can focus and, yeah, very versatile good anchor yeah, the earbuds yeah yeah.
 
13:33 - Alexis (Host)
Amazing. Now, if you could give one piece of advice, one nugget of gold to another creative, what would it be? 
 
13:43 - Gerard (Guest)
We're talking about this off mic before a bit as well that's just so many rabbit holes um, I would really recommend approaching art from a place that's always coming from you and not be making art for someone else. I think there's a definite distinction there and you're going to make the. If you make work from you, you're making the best art possible because it's from your hands, it's from your heart, so you just have to keep trying to connect with that place. I see a lot of artists trying to chase the client by making what they think people want, but I genuinely believe that there is a market for what you make, naturally, so that's probably a good snippet of wisdom. Another one would probably be um, it's hard right, because we're talking about this too. 
 
14:48
We're talking about this the art thing, the hustle thing is really hard and, uh, one side effect of working from yourself is that it can really it can break you sometimes. It can really be a lot of hard work. You might end up questioning what it is that you're doing like, because it's very hard to be a creative in society, right, um, but all those broken feelings when you're at that point and it's just, it feels a bit like life or death, it feels fractured, it feels really broken, like it's just a shell. You just have to actually push through that, because there's a flood of creativity behind that and that's where the growth is in your practice as well. And there's always another shell for you when you need it. 
 
15:44 - Alexis (Host)
So true. 
 
15:47 - Gerard (Guest)
There's as many as you need. 
 
15:50 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, such wise words. Such wise words, my goodness. Now, if someone wanted to develop their creative process, if someone wanted to do what you do and I know that's multifaceted because you, you know, etch and draw and sculpt and whatever but are there any resources or guides or podcast courses, anything?
 
16:24 - Gerard (Guest)
Your postcast, oh, everybody should listen to this you're too kind I actually. 
 
16:31
I actually don't do that many podcasts. I do a lot of audiobooks. Um, yeah, I I do have some resources that I've been recently on that uh, neon that are quite good. Ryan Holiday's the Obstacle is the Way. I'm really loving it's taking examples from history and how facing the fight of the thing is actually the way through the thing. What was the other one? Yeah, Mastery by Robert Greene is a really, really good book. It does a similar thing. I haven't finished it, but I'm really loving it. Good insight into human behavior and even talks about the idea of apprenticeships and things like that and working under mentors and things like that. 
 
17:32 - Alexis (Host)
Have you ever had a mentor? 
 
17:34 - Gerard (Guest)
No, I had lecturers I looked up to a lot, but I like the idea of a mentor. I mean, I would have loved to have one for my practice, but it just wasn't there because there's no one really doing what I do. So not exactly, but uh, yeah, my work's a lot like um printmaking in many ways. You know, etching copper for that. Um, yeah, like direct examples of people that want to do what I do, I would say look at printmaking, or look at backlighting or lighting designers and things like that. 
 
18:07 - Alexis (Host)
Amazing. 
 
18:08 - Gerard (Guest)
But yeah, I got a book behind me, actually that I this book. By who is it? Kit White 101 Things to Learn at Art School. 
 
18:21 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my goodness. 
 
18:23 - Gerard (Guest)
It's so good. It's just got nice little snippets. 
 
18:26 - Alexis (Host)
Oh wonderful, yeah, I'm going to have a look at that off camera, off mic. Yeah, it's very good. 
 
18:31 - Gerard (Guest)
I think it's more visual art focused, but it's really good. 
 
18:35 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, I love that. 
 
18:37 - Gerard (Guest)
I like the title as well. 
 
18:38 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, such a great title yeah. 
 
18:43 - Gerard (Guest)
It's very, very cheeky. I love it. 
 
18:48 - Alexis (Host)
Last question if you could have anyone come on this podcast and answer these questions, who would it be and why? 
 
18:56 - Gerard (Guest)
Can I? Can I offer two yes, please so, uh, the first one is my brother. He is a Luthier, he makes acoustic guitars and he's probably the most talented crafts person I know, so I feel like that would be a good one today. It's music and craft, so it might be a good fit. And the other is my friend, Sarah Caso. She's a jazz musician and very, very talented and such a lovely person. Oh, vibe, yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll love her. But yeah, those are two creatives in my life that have really helped me out. 
 
19:39 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah. 
 
19:40 - Gerard (Guest)
Yeah. 
 
19:41 - Alexis (Host)
Beautiful, oh my goodness. Thank you so much for being through the creative door and having us have this beautiful chat. Yeah, such a joy. 
 
19:53
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favourite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

BSIDE Water by Kerryn Fields

Featured Artist: Kerryn Fields
Featured Vinyl: Water
 
Alexis’ Hot Pick 
Escape
Sam’s Hot Pick
Mamma
Aus Music Alert! Support this artists by purchasing this record via Bandcamp:
https://kerrynfields.bandcamp.com/album/water  
Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.
Psst! We are always on the lookout for an artist's vinyl to listen to, have you got one in mind that we should check out? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Co-Host: Sam Timmerman
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Voiceover: Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Intro (Announcement)
Welcome to B-Side, the mini-series from Through the Creative Door. Join Alexis and Sam as they dive into the timeless world of vinyl. For Alexis, vinyl was more than music. It was a Sunday ritual she shared with her dad, listening, talking and soaking in the stories behind each album and the artwork on every sleeve. Though her dad is no longer with us, she continues this tradition with her friend, Sam Timmerman. Join them as they share their passion for vinyl and the stories these records hold. 
 
00:44 - Alexis (Host)
Hello brother. 
 
00:46 - Sam (Host)
Good afternoon. Is it afternoon over there? I think it is. 
 
00:52 - Alexis (Host)
Evening. We have a time difference between the west and the east coast. 
 
00:57 - Sam (Host)
I was about to do signs, and that's a really bad thing to do. West Coast. 
 
01:04 - Alexis (Host)
West Coast. Yeah, all right, what do we got? Got another week, another. Oh, it's my turn. 
 
01:14 - Alexis (Host)
Episode five, and I am sharing 10-minute timer 10-minute timer. Boom, all right. 
 
01:23 - Sam (Host)
You're sharing. What have we got? 
 
01:25 - Alexis (Host)
We got an album called Water. You know I like my elements.
 
01:30 - Sam (Host)
True, Kerryn Fields. This artwork is gorgeous, by the way. 
 
01:36 - Alexis (Host)
Yes, so we've got another Australian artist that we get to represent, get to talk about. It's so beautiful, so this album. She had a marriage breakdown and she went down the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and wrote this phenomenal album. The artwork is based off the beach and the ocean down that way and there's an artist who did the artwork and somewhere, I think on karen's socials you can see, like all of the behind the scenes photos and the art artist putting together that. 
 
02:25 - Sam (Host)
Those of you in that region or in Australia, or even if you're not, if you have not been to the Great Ocean Road change that. 
 
02:33 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, but the artist who painted the artwork? I believe her name is Louise Mitchell, but alongside with Karen Fields they designed the the record. 
 
02:46 - Sam (Host)
Did they design it off a photo. I think, or were they there? 
 
02:50 - Alexis (Host)
No, I think Louise based it off a photo, but I think she went to the beach and they like figured it out, yeah, and she painted, and then Kerryn put together this beautiful piece. 
 
03:07 - Sam (Host)
It's fantastic. They're pretty, very pretty pretty, and recorded in Colingwood I believe. 
 
03:11 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, yeah, because I think some of it was recorded in the actual house down the great ocean road wow yeah, so I believe that there was a house called the Water House, which is, I mean, makes sense when the album's called Water. And then, yes, I think Avery Studios in Collingwood was where the rest of it got recorded. 
 
03:36 - Sam (Host)
That's fantastic. Yeah, did they do the entire album as a single room single mic, or did they split, because I know some of the tracks were done single mic? 
 
03:45 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, so my understanding is that Karen performed, yeah, live, and they taped it. So, yeah, so it was vocals, guitar, drums, upright bass in one room, from memory, and then I think there might have been some features that were done later. 
 
04:12 - Sam (Host)
There are a few other records that have been done that style and they're some of my favourites. Shout out to the Seals, okay, yeah, vibe, they're some of my favourites. 
 
04:34 - Alexis (Host)
Shout out to the seals see, okay, yeah, bud um, charlie phil tom, love you all represent they're not playing together anymore, but that's okay. 
 
04:37 - Sam (Host)
I mean projects, so you might have to listen to that one sometime. 
 
04:39 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, this beautiful record I really liked inside. The artwork inside is really pretty and it has, like all of the little thank yous and all that kind of hoo-ha Love it. But one thing that I love the most is this little bit this album was independently crowdfunded with the support from 173 friends. 
 
05:07 - Sam (Host)
Oh, that's gorgeous. 
 
05:09 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, isn't that pretty, I love and thank you all. 
 
05:13 - Sam (Host)
Amazing. 
 
05:14 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, beautiful, huh, beautiful, all right. Well, on that note, what was your hot pick, Sam? 
 
05:22 - Sam (Host)
Mama, I got closely behind by On the Porch. Okay, I'm going to talk about On the Porch first, because that was just fun. It might have been. In whatever state of mind I was in first time listening through this record, it wasn't clicking for me for the first few tracks. And on the porch happened and I went oh, I'm home, here we go. That was fantastic. It's um such a fun little romping tune. I really liked that. But, mama, um more so. Let's keep saying it, more so lyrically than orally, musically. I was just listening to that going Mama's love's going to set you right. 
 
06:11
It doesn't matter what else, there's nothing else that's going to fix you. I think second verse they talk about their authorities are going to chase you and they're going to get you, but mum's love's going to fix you. And yeah, it just just has sat a little bit, sat really nicely. 
 
06:33 - Alexis (Host)
And I think it's that thing about exactly what you were saying, depending on what mood you come to music with the reasons for why an artist or someone, the vision of how and why they created it, it's almost null and void.
 
07:01 - Sam (Host)
I'm sorry, it just started cutting out again. Okay, I feel like it's only doing it when we're recording, which is weird because it's a connection issue. I'm very confused. 
Yeah, I think we are open to music how it comes to us. So, however, we're, you know, open to receive it at that time. I think this album obviously for myself and my own personal experiences. I really resonate with the fact that it's surrounding. You know the breakdown of a relationship. But, it doesn't need to mean that at all. 
 
08:09 - Sam (Host)
Yeah, it seems like a lot of powerful songs written about the breakdowns of relationships aren't necessarily written at the time of those breakdowns. Like a lot of amazing songs that have been written that are powerful like that. You read into it and you go. Well, this person didn't have any of that experience. 
 
It doesn't make the song any less powerful, but the identity of the song changes for the listener a little bit, whereas, like you're saying, you have a shared experience that allows you to come to that tune from that space 
 
9:00 - Alexis (Host) 
And I also think that part of losing a relationship, I mean there's grief that's connected in that and, and especially for you know this artist, she's originally from new zealand, so when you have something dissolved like that, it's also the homesickness and and community and everything around that, but like tapping into something else and creating something really beautiful from a not so great place yeah, absolutely. 
 
09:19 - Sam (Host)
There's a friend of mine who's I haven't had that experience per se myself. A friend of mine has had a very similar experience, though. Um, so I'm not going to name drop because that's not appropriate, but I might send them the album yeah, it's beautiful, really beautiful, really hits, hits a chord for me. 
 
09:38 - Alexis (Host)
The song that's my hot pick is um escape, um, and I think for everything that I've just sort of spoken about, it really sort of hits a chord with me, um, in a way that I probably can't really articulate, um, but I would say it's because it hits pretty close to home. So, yeah, yeah, but it's beautiful and it's. It's that heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, glorious beauty that comes in, you know, to art, where it's not shiny and beautiful, it's messy and all sorts and beautiful yeah, 
10:01 - Sam (Host) 
You can't grab it what onto something that doesn't have spikes or bumps, or if it's smooth and shiny, you can't latch on. 
 
10:24 - Alexis (Host)
Exactly, exactly and really anything to do with water. I'm such a beach baby and water baby so, like, everything about this album is just yeah. 
 
10:35 - Sam (Host)
I heard there's some sort of track about water in one of your new records coming up. 
 
10:39 - Intro (Announcement)
Oh yes. Well, yes, there's a bit of elements in my coming up. Oh yes, wow. 
 
10:42 - Alexis (Host)
Yes, there's a bit of elements in my new record. 
 
10:45 - Sam (Host)
There is a little bit in there that I've heard about, yeah, which will come up eventually, I'm sure. 
 
10:51 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll come back to that another day. 
 
10:54 - Sam (Host)
For those listening and watching, the little bits that I've heard have been spectacular. 
 
10:58 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, stop, stop, stop. That's not what this is for. 
 
11:01 - Sam (Host)
It's not. No, it's not, but we're allowed to. 
 
11:04 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, true, true. But for those listening, oh, my goodness, again we've got another Australian artist. Please support local music. Please have a look at them on Bandcamp. Support, buy, donate, do all of the wonderful things to help out, Go to shows. 
 
11:23 - Sam (Host)
Go to shows. If they're playing live, go and see them. Say hi to them. Yeah, yeah it makes a huge difference to someone. Someone buying a record is amazing. Someone giving up their time to see you perform a record is next level. 
 
11:37 - Alexis (Host)
And if you have no money, oh, there's our timer 10 minutes. Um, yes, for those listening, karen fields album name is water. You will not be disappointed. Jump on to band camp, support her, support this album. It's glorious. 
 
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community. We'll catch you on the next episode. Bye. 

5 | Your Junk, My Art with David Cox

This episode features an engaging conversation with David Cox, an assemblage sculptor who repurposes piano keys and other materials into unique sculptures. He discusses the importance of having a dedicated creative space, the challenges of identifying himself as an artist, and the pride he feels in his work, particularly his “piano phoenix” sculpture, which helps people preserve sentimental items. David also shares insights into his creative process, his reliance on community support, and the value of organisation as an artist. The episode explores themes of transformation, creative evolution, and the power of community in the creative process.
 
Let’s get social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 
TikToc: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast
 
CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
 
00:09 - Alexis (Host)
Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor and I am your host here at Through the Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. Owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge Elders, past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I'm delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door. 
Oh, my goodness, David Cox. Welcome to Through the Creative Door. 
 
00:56 - David (Guest)
Thank you for having me. I deny everything that has been said about me before, except the good stuff. 
 
01:04 - Alexis (Host)
All the good stuff, you come highly recommended oh gosh, that's worrying no, it's not somebody talking about. You are such a talented bear, my goodness um for those listening. We are sitting in your studio, it is absolutely glorious, with all these beautiful piano keys and trinkets and wood and, oh my goodness, so many things. 
 
01:34 - David (Guest) 
 You're sitting next to half a bag of concrete at the moment it's a variety
 
01:45 - Alexis (Host) 
It's a spice of life. 
 
01:48 - David (Guest)
Yeah, in here primarily piano keys. I think there's about 23 different pianos worth of piano keys in here at the moment, which seems to be my usual medium as an assemblage sculptor. 
 
02:00 - Alexis (Host)
I'm going to launch into the first question. 
 
02:02 - David (Guest)
Oh yeah, questions, Questions, shoot. 
 
02:08 - Alexis (Host)
What does a creative space mean to you? 
 
02:13 - David (Guest)
Well, you're sitting in it at the moment and it is assumed as much. A bit of a mess. I think there's two answers to that. For me, there's an element of practicality, so I'm currently surrounded by tools and sawdust and mess. So having a dedicated space to work on, particularly because I'm building large-ish sculptures like the size of a door, I can't do that on my kitchen bench, I can't do that on the coffee table or the bedroom floor or whatever. I think I'd be single very fast. 
02:52 - Alexis (Host) 
You don't think your wife would approve?
 
02:57 - David (Guest)
There's some patience there, but understandably that can only go so far. So, yeah, having a dedicated is is vital for my work. That's obviously going to vary for, uh, for perhaps for a watercolor painter, for example, you might be able to sit in that that sunny corner of the of the house and and paint, and that that would actually look really smart. But, uh, but I can't do that in the house. So there's definitely that practical element Noise as well. Actually I can't do that in the house. 
 
03:30
So the other half really is I don't like the phrase man cave. I think I started coining a phrase of like man cave, she shared they space. A phrase of like man cave, she shared they space. But anyway, I I think having a, a space for me to come to and change gears, like I used to commute in and out of the city every day. But now I walk out of my house and I turn left. My wife turns right, she goes and works from the tiny house in the driveway. I turn left and I walk into my studio and it's a gear changer, a chapter changer, a palate cleanser or whatever you see it as. So for me, I change clothes, I put on my my work gear and I come to work, even though I realize I piss fart around in a shed. So yeah, the practical side of not messing up my house or my relationship, uh and and having, uh, having that palate cleanser, I suppose.  
 
04:41 - Alexis (Host)
Beautiful, well said said. Now, as a creative being I mean you've mentioned you know how your sculptures have come to fruition, so this question could be about sculptures. But actually, as a creative being, you have lots of ventures, so could be anything what is something that you're most proud of creating and how did it come about? 
 
05:04 - David (Guest)
I know you were leading there with. I've certainly played music in the past and recorded music and toured and that's all been fun, but that's always been collaborative, whereas I think for the sculpture I was referring to earlier, which I I now, I now know as a phoenix, which I think is apt for a piano coming back to life or or whatever you want to call it, uh, I, I, I feel quite proud of that, I think because of that moment that I mentioned earlier, where I could have just done this the way that I'd planned on it, but instead there was that something happened, something mystical and wonderful. 
 
05:57 - Alexis (Host)
The stars aligned. 
 
06:07 - David (Guest)
I feel, because it's a, when I go and hang it on a customer's wall and they bawl their eyes out usually because they're happy not from what I've done to their grandmother's piano there's a real feeling of I've done something important here, I've been able to help them avoid having to take that to the tip and but we can keep it and it's important to us, but we can't have it anymore. So in terms of pride, yeah, I feel that that design has been able to help me de-stress some people in some way. So, yes, I'd say my piano phoenix design. 
 
06:55 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, how wonderful, what a privilege to be able to give that gift. 
 
07:01 - David (Guest)
Yeah, yeah, seems strange, but I'm happy with that one Love it. 
 
07:07 - Alexis (Host)
On the flip side of things that you're proud of, is there something that's challenged your creativity over the years and, if so, how do you think you've mitigated that? 
 
07:25 - David (Guest)
I don't think I've ever considered myself an artist. 
 
07:29 - Alexis (Host)
What. 
 
07:29 - David (Guest)
I know that. So so I've. This is all quite new to me. It's been the last couple of years. Uh, you probably speak to a lot of people who have had a change in life during, during COVID um, me commuting in and out of the city and then all of a sudden, I'm stranded in the Dandenong Ranges, poor me, surrounded by rusty gold. It gave me that opportunity to try something new, but I'd never considered myself an artist. I guess I've always seen an artist as someone who sits down at an easel and paints, or now I fall into the category of an assemblage sculptor. But what is a sculptor? I see a sculptor as someone who's dedicated their life learning how to carve marble or throw pottery or do sculpting stuff. Me, I take old junk and glue it together in a shape that is enjoyable. 
 
08:38
So I think I've always struggled with that idea of being an artist and doing it full-time, I might add as well. That's that. That's a strange, a strange situation to find myself in, having come from your normal nine-to-five office job to now, yeah, being an artist. It just it's. It seems weird. So I think I've struggled with that and in terms of mitigating it, I so I've. I think I've struggled with that and in terms of mitigating it, uh, I think I've. In recent years, I've tried to surround myself with, um, supportive, constructive, uh creatives as well. Um, yeah, yeah, I think having having the right people around you can change your mindset significantly. So I still struggle with that, but it's a long and winding road. 
 
09:33 - Alexis (Host)
I think the beautiful thing about creative souls is being able to have an idea out of nothing and then being able to facilitate it. So, however you, whatever medium, however you can do that, there's a gift in that that is a true artist of having an idea from nothing and following it through. 
 
09:59 - David (Guest)
Yeah, yeah. And now for me, I get asked semi-regularly so what's next? What are you going to do? I think I've done 60 of these now, so for 60 customers in a few different countries as well, but that's been my bread and butter, I guess, over the last couple of years. So what's next couple of years? So what's next? So, uh, I'm currently working on trying to bring them, bring my sculptures, down off the wall and and turn them into a, into a 3d sculpture rather than 2d. So, uh, so yeah, there's some, some works in progress going on there. 
 
10:38
it's all a bit uh, all a bit new, but it's nice to step into to a new space anyway, into a proper, instead of moving from, I guess, a decor sculpture to a middle of the room with water, fountain-y things and lights and lasers. 
 
11:05 - Alexis (Host)
I love it. Now it'll be interesting whether. I'm very curious to see where you go with this answer. But do you have an object or a thing that you can't live without when you're creating, and it could be like something sentimental or something super practical? 
 
11:30 - David (Guest)
Yeah, I don't think I've got an awesome answer for this. I don't have magical socks or superstitious underwear or the likes. I have surrounded myself, as I say, with my trinkets and rusty gold, which so a lot of people might, a lot of artists might, have a picture in their head and I really want to do this, and then they'll figure out how to do it For me. I've tried to surround myself with the elements that I usually include in my work, and then I'll try this and I'll try that, and I'll throw a bunch of different things at a piece until something fits the way that I want it to. So I've certainly surrounded myself with that magic, but that's not my answer. Uh, I, I love my calendar, uh, so as in a physical calendar. 
 
12:32
so I, I, I don't need a um, I don't use an existing. I take a piece of paper and I, I draw it all up, um, and then I organize everything, uh, so that that I'm sure you probably speak to artists all the time and if you ever talk to them about deadlines, particularly for exhibitions or for client submissions or commissions or whatnot, the last minute rush is a big thing for people and I despise feeling that people and I despise feeling that. So for me, I like to be well ahead and well organized so that things happen well and I feel like I'm presenting myself in a more professional manner. So for me, I would have to say it's my calendar. I feel comfort looking at it and adjusting it. Uh, that's like a really weird thing to say fantastic. 
 
13:27 - Alexis (Host)
And so when you say that you draw, it is it like one big month at a time, or is it weekly, or is it like no, normally monthly, but at the moment we're coming into silly season for exhibitions, so over easter, uh, etc. 
 
13:43 - David (Guest)
Um, there there's a lot happening. I think I'm in four or five exhibitions over the Easter period, so everything needs, I need places. I've got places to be. I need to deliver then and pick up there and have that there, but I want it for another exhibition later on, so I can't have that there and this there. Anyway, it's a jumble of strings and lines and whatnot. 
 
14:04 - Alexis (Host)
I love it and and like, how big is this calendar? 
 
14:07 - David (Guest)
not very. I'll try and keep it a3 or smaller I'll see. 
 
14:11 - Alexis (Host)
I image in my mind is like the size of like a door. I was like I'm up here for it. I love it. 
 
14:16 - David (Guest)
If I join them all up over the year, then yeah, I guess it would be so. Yeah, but I'm being organized now. No, no lucky socks for me, but, um, being organized and however that needs to, needs to look I love it 
 
14:40 - Alexis (Host)
If you could give one piece of advice, one nugget of gold to another creative, what would it be? 
 
14:41 - David (Guest)
community is going to be going to be vital for anyone who's wanting to well, getting second opinions, getting connected through not even galleries, like exhibiting work, is nice, but I think at the initial stages it's really just having someone around you who's going to be supportive, who can share ideas I mean, friends nearby don't work in the same medium as me, but we're always able to bounce ideas off each other and, yeah, having constructive people around you. There's always going to be dickheads, but that's just our species. But I think if you can find the good souls, then yeah, keep them close. Community is vital. 
 
15:35 - Alexis (Host)
Well said, well said. Yeah, none of us find our way on our own. Yeah, it's totally with others. Yeah yeah, own, yeah, it's totally with others. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Extra question if someone wanted to develop their creative process and sort of do what you do, would you have any advice on any resources, um anything that you'd recommend they read or watch or listen to or do? 
 
16:06 - David (Guest)
So for me and this might vary depending on your medium, but maybe the location would vary For me I like to walk the aisles of my local hardware store We'll say the big green hardware store. Because I, yes, I've been renovating a house myself, with no skills but learning how to do things. 
 
16:35
I find my comfort space is walking the aisles, finding a new material that I didn't know about, and then learning how to utilize that material, whether it be glues, adhesives, fillers, paints, all sorts of bits and bobs. So in terms of a resource, maybe if you're a painter, you might find that it's your local art supply store or whatnot, but for me, as an assemblage sculptor, I need to figure out how to make things connect. So I guess the internet works in a similar sort of way. You can go digging around. I guess the internet works in a similar sort of way. You can go digging around, but for me, yeah, walking the aisles at my hardware store and learning about new materials. Learning about new, yeah, ways that are going to make my life easier, and learning the things I never knew were out there. 
 
17:48 - Alexis (Host)
So yeah, in the last six to twelve months has there been like a little like aha moment that you've had with like a problem or like an attachment, or
 
17:57 - David (Guest)
Yeah. So, uh, I, as I mentioned, I'm working on, uh, bringing my sculptures down off the wall. So everyone keeps telling me I need to go and learn how to do welding so that I can then build from, I guess, all the framework of that sculpture and then attach to it. I haven't got that far yet, but what I have been able to do was go okay, well, how can I build an internal structure for a sculpture that I'll then build around, and what can I build that out of? So I've found myself digging around through the, the plumbing section, and then, okay, well, I can screw that together and screw that together, and and then, all of a sudden, I have what I need to to then attach or be in the middle of to be able to attach things to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, plumbing. 
 
19:00 - Alexis (Host)
However, which way we come to it. 
 
19:02 - David (Guest)
Well, indeed right. So yes, I need to. You know, my next challenge is welding. I'll get onto that one next, but for now I've been solving my problems because I've got a warehouse of equipment that I can go and play with and buy what I need. 
 
19:21 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, don't you just love, I love that the journey as a creative is forever evolving. Yeah, like our world is all about labels and we have a particular label, but within that we're constantly pushing if we choose to step into that, to be constantly skilling up leveling up being pushed, I get bored. Well, that's what I'm yeah, me too, me too. It's it's like okay, how do I do this next project, but how do I push myself more than I did last time? Suckersuckers for punishment, I think. 
 
19:59 - David (Guest)
I think you're probably right. Yeah, there's certainly that feeling of success does help drive the next step into the unknown. So I think, yeah, with the new works that I'm working on, I think hopefully they're well received and if they are, then you go yay, success, or this is what success feels like. So what's next? 
 
20:28 - Alexis (Host)
Yeah, it's always the what next. 
 
20:30 - David (Guest)
Yeah, it's probably slightly addictive, that moment, addictive, that, um, that, that moment. You you certainly find this with songwriting or or with any creative endeavor, or even then non-creative, but uh, that moment, that aha moment, or uh, that feeling. I've been struggling with this and trying to wrangle it into whatever shape that looks like it could be a project manager, it's probably the same feeling. And then the moment happens where, if that goes there and that goes there, I've got it. That feeling is fantastic. Big fan of that. What was the question? 
 
21:13 - Alexis (Host)
Well, we're talking about resources, but then we deviated from the question. 
 
21:19 - David (Guest)
It's so fun I've wandered way off track. 
 
21:22 - Alexis (Host)
I think it's my fault, it's fine. One last question. If you could have anyone come on this podcast and answer these questions, who would it be and why? 
 
21:36 - David (Guest)
Hmm, and answer these questions who would it be and why? Hmm, I mentioned earlier about my friend who is the singer who built the recording studio. So his name's Chris Blaine and he's been an a cappella singer quite successful massive in Asia, not so much here and he seems to be connected with all sorts of wonderful individuals in the Australian music industry. But he's been working a lot recently with indigenous communities getting them involved in the powers of music. He's about to take a bunch of old boys over to England to do a tour. Over there they do very, very cheeky, cheeky, cheeky acapella songs. They're a bit of a hoot Men in Suits, I think they're called. But I think I'd like to hear about his challenges with the music industry and then how to impart that knowledge into the next generation and really how you keep your spirits up in an industry that's changed so much. You keep your spirits up in an industry that's changed so much. I can get on the, on the Bjork bandwagon and and slam Spotify and all of that, but everything's changed now. 
 
23:08
So yeah yeah, I'd like to hear his his creative, creative elements in his life in that creative space. Chris Blaine is my answer. 
 
23:20 - Alexis (Host)
Beautiful, I'll write that down. David Cox, thank you so much, my pleasure. For being with us on Through the Creative Door. This has been such a joy and has filled my cup so much. You are a bloody legend. 
 
23:39 - David (Guest)
Thanks for sitting in this dusty space. 
 
23:41 - Alexis (Host)
Oh, my goodness, it is glorious. 
Thanks for tuning in for another episode of Through the Creative Door. If you enjoy our episodes and find value in them, consider supporting us by making a donation. Just visit buymeacoffeecom/throughthecreativedoor or via the link in our Instagram bio where you can choose an amount and even write us a little message. Every little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. Little bit helps and we truly appreciate all of your support. But if you can't donate, no worries, you can still help us out by sharing our podcast with your friends and family and leaving a review on your favorite platform. Thanks so much for being part of our community and we'll catch you on the next episode. Bye.