The Creative Asylum

She screamed "Everything's fine!" through the MTV universe of 1996, and the world screamed it right back. Tracy Bonham is today's guest on the Creative Asylum. A classically trained violinist, a two-time Grammy nominee, and the singular force behind the era-defining alt-rock anthem "Mother Mother," the lead track on her major label debut The Burdens of Being Upright, Bonham is an artist who refused to allow the downsides of major label meat-grinder to define who she would be as an artist."Mother Mother" topped the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in June 1996, making Bonham the first female solo artist to achieve that feat. She that held that distinction for 17 years until Lorde came along. Bonham's major label success was relatively short-lived however: She was dropped after the release of her sophomore release, but that hardly kept her from maintaining her creative drive, with a solo career spanning six studio albums, from Blink the Brightest to Modern Burdens — her feminist reimagining of The Burdens of Being Upright featuring an all-star lineup of female voices, an album that made Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2017.In this episode, Tracy talks about her prolific solo career after the majors, including her evolution as a music educator and her delightful and unexpected creative pivot: Young Maestros Vol. 1, a children's music album released in 2021 — a music education project blending original songs with curriculum inspired by Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street.From headlining Lilith Fair to touring arenas as a featured violinist and vocalist with Blue Man Group, Tracy Bonham has spent three decades proving she was always much more than a one-hit wonder. This is a conversation about artistic reinvention, independence, and the long game of a life in music for anybody who sees their creative path as one that has no end.

Tough, sultry and fearless, Gina Gershon took an instance of cult infamy and transformed it into a celebration of cinema, sometimes gritty and always distinctly her own. Gershon is a true Hollywood original, with a career spanning literal decades with an iconic filmography that includes Showgirls, Bound, Face/Off, The Insider and The Player, one of my personal favorites from the iconoclastic director Robert Altman. She has acted in films with a remarkable roster of other legendary directors including John Sayles, the Wachowskis in their incredible directorial debut, Bound, William Friedkin, John Woo and Paul Verhoeven in the aforementioned cult classic, Showgirls. On Broadway, she played Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' celebrated revival of Cabaret and has performed at Carnegie Hall on three separate occasions. Hell, she's even fronted a rock bank with Girls Against Boys backing her up on tour!Her new memoir, AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs, published by Akashic Books, is drawn from her 40+ years navigating Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, and the minefield of being a woman with strong opinions in an industry full of people who'd probably prefer she didn't have them.AlphaPussy plunges readers into her 1970s SoCal childhood, her occasionally defiant adolescence and the hard word that it took to develop her impressive career. Dealing with themes of manipulation, survival, and moving around and being able to stand on your own two feet, the AlphaPussy philosophy is about personal agency — being calm, confident, speaking your truth, and not looking away — a mantra forged in the fire of the belly of the Hollywood beast. In this episode, Gina brings her frank wit, down-to-earth warmth and honest candor to a conversation you absolutely do not want to miss.

In this episode, I have a conversation with with Dave Catching — legendary Joshua Tree musician, producer/engineer, and one of the key figures behind the evolution of the desert rock sound. Best known for his work at the legendary Rancho de la Luna, Dave has helped create music with Queens of the Stone Age (who he was an original member of), Eagles of Death Metal, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop, Mark Lanegan, and so many more. As the man behind one of the more mythic recording spaces in rock music, Dave has played a major role in shaping the sound and spirit of music created in the California desert.Dave’s resume is an impressive one - he was a core creative presence and engineer in the legendary Desert Sessions and is a longtime member of Eagles of Death Metal. In this conversation, we talk about the history of Rancho de la Luna and the creative magic that has made Joshua Tree one of the most important underground music destinations of the last 30 years. If you’re into QOTSA, Josh Homme, Desert Sessions, stoner rock, alternative rock, producer interviews and behind-the-scenes music history, you're gonna love this one. 

This is the first time we've had a comic in the Creative Asylum, and I'm still delighted with who it's with! In this episode I got to have a conversation with the unstoppable Margaret Cho — comedian, actor, writer, musician, activist, LGBTQIA+ icon, feminist firestarter, and one of the few people in American comedy who has never once mistaken “polite” as necessary tool for acceptance in a world full of intolerance. For decades, Cho has been dragging hypocrisy, bigotry, misogyny, racism, homophobia, and spot-on crassness into the light with the kind of fearlessness that made her a legend long before most comics learned how to fake being edgy as a career choice. From her groundbreaking sitcom All-American Girl to her era-defining stand-up specials, film and television work, music, books, and fearless political commentary, Margaret has built one of the boldest and most influential careers in comedy.In this conversation, we dive deep into the "awful" of the Trump regime, because let's face it: their clown car of cruelty, corruption, and fascist cosplay needs to be met head-on with resistance, and as Margaret mentions, "comedy is hope." Margaret Cho has spent years using comedy as a weapon - against Trumpism, MAGA fanaticism, white grievance theater, attacks on women’s rights, and the nonstop demonization of immigrants, queer people, and anyone else inconvenient to the authoritarian imagination. We discuss comedy as a form of resistance, rage as fuel and her latest tour, CHOligarchy. On her website, Cho describes the show as her most politically pointed in years, and that tracks — because if America is going to keep free-falling into authoritarianism, we need to be part of the resistance against its most vicious intent.If you’re a fan of political comedy, feminist comedy, queer comedy, anti-Trump comedy, or comedians who still have a spine, this is a conversation that you do not want to miss. 

This episode is a special one for me, as it's with Gary Taxali a huge personal favorite artist of mine, somebody I've been following since the '90s. Gary is a Toronto-based artist, illustrator, and visual satirist whose unmistakable retro-pop style has made him one of the most celebrated illustrators working today. He's done work with The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, GQ, TIME, Newsweek, and The New York Times and has done collaborations with brands and companyies like Converse, Sony, Warner Brothers and even the Royal Canadian Mint, where he got to design a series of commemorative coins! Taxali's career bridges fine art, editorial illustration, design, pop culture, and sharp social commentary, but does it with a visual language that feels vintage, subversive, funny, and unsettling all at once. He's managed to carve out a lane entirely his own in the worlds of contemporary art and illustration in a way that blurs the boundaries between the two.Gary Taxali is more than a world-class illustrator however: Over the course of the last decade, he’s become one of the most biting political artists during this unnerving era of the Trump regime. As America has lurched deeper into authoritarian spectacle, MAGA extremism, and the corrosive theater of the toxic Trump years, Taxali’s work has stood out as fearless, caustic, funny, and brutally clear-eyed. In this conversation, we talk about art as protest, satire as resistance, the role of illustration as commentary on collapsing political culture, and how Gary has used his work to respond to fascism and the surreal absurdity of modern American life. If you’re into political art, pop art, editorial illustration, protest art, contemporary pop art, graphic design, and targeted anti-Trump commentary, you'll wanna jump on board.

In this episode, I spend some time with an old friend and one of my favorite conversationalists, the legendary (and always funny) Pacific Northwest producer and musician Steve Fisk. In a behind-the-scenes candid chat with one of the architects of some of the region’s most adventurous and influential music, we discuss his working with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Beat Happening, Unwound, Screaming Trees and Carseat Headrest. Known for his adventurous ear and willingness to push bands beyond their comfort zones, Fisk has long been a key figure in the creative ecosystem that helped define the sound of the Pacific Northwest.Similar to Jack Endino, Steve’s story isn't limited to the recording studio: He has a very cool resume as a musician, having played in Pell Mell and the genre-bending collaboration, Pigeonhed with Shawn Smith of BRAD. In this conversation, Fisk reflects on his decades of studio wizardry, the evolution of independent music culture and the creep of AI, and what it takes to help artists capture that special something. It’s a fun deep dive with one of the quiet giants of alternative music, and probably my single favorite character to emerge from the movie Hype!

In this episode, a super-fun conversation with the San Francisco–based “Heavy Metal Quilter,” Ben Venom, an artist who stitches together the worlds of metal, punk, skate culture and fine art quite literally. A long-standing fixture in the Bay Area’s punk rock art scene, Venom repurposes band tees and battle jackets into intricate, hand-sewn quilts that blur the line between craft and cultural artifact. We talk about growing up on heavy music, finding community in the underground, and transforming DIY ethos into large-scale textile works that honor the raw spirit of intense music while pushing it into unexpected spaces.Venom’s résumé is as impressive as it is unconventional: from gritty gallery exhibitions to major museum installations, his work has earned recognition accross a broad spectrum of cultural environments. In this conversation, he reflects on bringing subculture into institutional settings, challenging assumptions about what “fine art” can be, and why fabric and ferocity belong together in the same artistic perspective. This is a must-watch for metalheads, art lovers, and anyone who believes rebellion can be beautifully handcrafted.

In this episode, we’re joined by Latina feminist punk pioneer Alice Bag for a fierce, fun and deeply insightful conversation about music, identity, and resistance through art. A breakout presence in Penelope Spheeris' debut film, The Decline of Western Civilization, Alice was one of the earliest artists that defined the confrontational energy of early L.A. punk with her band The Bags. We dig into that explosive era, the community behind that scene, and how she carved out space for Chicana and feminist voices in a movement that reshaped underground culture.We also discuss her acclaimed memoir, 'Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage : a Chicana Punk Story,' her subsequent solo music career, and her recent collaboration with Kid Congo Powers as one half of the duo Juanita and Juan. From punk clubs to classrooms, Alice Bag remains a powerful creative force — and this interview captures her legacy, her fire, and her ongoing mission to make music that both challenges and connects.