Pain In The Arts

A recent studio session ended on a flat note - not because anything went wrong, exactly, but because unfinished songs met outside ears too soon. From that, Lyndon unpacks an idea he's been sitting with for years: the studio as a sacred space - a safe environment where artists can experiment, make mistakes, and collaborate freely, without the burden of premature feedback. Breallyn brings her own version of the same instinct from writing and theater. It's a conversation about creative process, the vocabulary gap between insiders and outsiders, and knowing when to finally open the door.

This episode was originally released on November 25, 2025, and we're re-releasing it today due to an outbreak of flu rampaging our home — hope you enjoy the chat with Brett!Lyndon and Breallyn chat with Brett Wood, one of Australia's finest blues guitarists and long-time collaborator with Pete Murray. Brett shares his remarkable journey from a passionate young guitarist who wrote fan letters to Tommy Emmanuel, to becoming a respected session and touring musician, and now launching his solo career as a singer-songwriter.The conversation explores Brett's nearly two-decade partnership with Pete Murray—including his contributions to the acclaimed Blue Sky Blue album—his fourteen years with Melbourne rock band Electric Mary, and the inspiration behind his debut single "Real Piece of Work."Brett shares candid insights about working with legendary drummer Chris Layton and the vulnerability of releasing his own material after years as a supporting musician.An engaging, deeply musical conversation about artistry, mentorship and life in the Australian music scene.Connect with Brett WoodWebsite: www.brettwood.comSocial Media: @brettwoodmusic (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)

Who gets to be called an artist? Turns out the reason you've always thought of quilts as 'just craft' and oil paintings as 'real art' has less to do with skill, and more to do with who was allowed to hold a brush. This week, Breallyn unpacks the gender and race politics behind art history — what gets called Art with a capital A, and what gets called 'a nice hobby' and why women artists so rarely made it into the first category.Along the way: Persian rug weavers who sing the pattern into existence, the Black American women who stitched Underground Railroad escape routes into quilts and hung them in plain sight, and what it means that those codes were invisible to the very people trying to stop them.Also: a birthday getaway that turned out to be the coldest day of the year in rural Victoria, Australia, a magnificent antique emporium that's sadly been closed for a decade, and the quiet return of a sound around the house that Breallyn had noticed was gone.

Erik Parker has been a lot of things — guitarist, vocalist, live sound engineer, recording producer, guitar teacher, Nirvana tribute act, Satanic gospel cabaret performer, and teenage busker in the Frankston Mall. He joins us to talk about what a music career actually looks like when the work keeps shifting and expanding: the burnout, the reinvention, the collaborations you have to book before the beer is finished, and why he had to learn to get nervous again.It's also a reunion — Erik was one of Lyndon's guitar students about 30 years ago — so there's a warmth and honesty here that goes deeper than the usual career chat. We cover grief, performance anxiety, the wedding gig where he refused to learn a Snow Patrol song (and then absolutely had to learn it), and the night his LPG gas tank fell off his car on the Calder Freeway, closing the freeway and ending a run of Adelaide gigs before they'd even begun.Find Erik Parker on Instagram

Join Lyndon and Breallyn on this episode of 'Pain In The Arts' as they explore the cost of constant connectivity. Inspired by author Jay Kristoff's bold advice for creatives, we dive into why putting down your phone and resisting the "misery machine" of modern technology is essential for artistic growth. We also discuss the shifting role of AI in the creative process—from the use of tools like Suno to historical debates on technological disruption in art—alongside the usual personal updates, including Bunnings adventures and exciting news about our new puppy, Lacey.Transcript available here

Is creativity a gift for the few, or a fundamental human energy we all possess? This week, Lyndon and Breallyn explore the work of Australian designer Ben Rennie and his book, Lessons in Creativity: Stories and Strategies to Cultivate Your Creative Confidence.We dive into why 'creativity' isn't actually 'art,' but an energy we can all access. By focusing on two specific pillars—curiosity and generosity—we discuss how to dismantle 'scarcity thinking' and the fear that ideas are a limited resource.From finding inspiration in the details of a seashell to the bravery of sharing unfinished work, we look at how an abundance mindset can transform your creative agency. If you’ve ever felt like you 'weren't an artist,' this conversation is for you.Ben Rennie website

This episode was originally released on October 28, 2025, and we're re-releasing it today due to the Easter break disrupting our usual scheduling — hope you enjoy it if you missed it the first time around!In this episode, Breallyn and I discuss the essential role that hobbies and side projects play in a creative life. From my own cat-trapping adventures to furniture restoration and some pretty spectacular lapidary failures, we talk through how low-stakes creative outlets can actually prevent burnout and make your main artistic work better. We get into the paradox of needing distractions from your art in order to make better art, the very real danger of accidentally raising the bar on a hobby until it stops being fun, and why that calm, clear creative headspace often shows up at the worst possible moment.

Welcome to Pain In The Arts, where the pursuit of meaningful art meets the unpredictable demands of real life. In an era often described as a 'dumpster fire,' how do creative individuals maintain their sanity and continue their work? This week, Brea and Lyndon discuss the challenges of staying informed without losing your mind and explore how sensitive, big-hearted creatives can gather their energy to keep fighting the good fight.