March 2018

Artist: Steve Barton

Album: “Tall Tales and Alibis”

Label: Sleepless Records

Reason We’re Cranking It: The 3-disc set, which features 37 tracks, is a marathon of creation from Translator founder Barton, who offers up a goodie bag of songwriting treats. While each individual disc has its own unique perspective and feel, they’re no doubt plucked from the same collective inwardness, which Barton externalizes in the way he best knows how… by celebrating and lamenting through music.

What The Album Tells Us About Him: While most people are starting to consider retiring from their professions, 63-year-old Barton is putting in overtime, churning out a career’s worth of songs in a single studio outing. On “Tall Tales and Alibis” he’s combining his musical experience with life experience, punching his prolific songwriting into overdrive and delivering what could possibly be the most ambitious offering of the year.

Track Stuck On Repeat: While we normally reserve this section for a particular song that grabs hold of us, we feel it is appropriate to highlight a full disc given the diversity found throughout the listening experience as a whole. With the third compartmentalized collection, Barton hits the studio with a full band and explodes like a balloon… POP. Running his songwriting through a time machine, he touches down in various eras to give us everything from the Doo-wop inspired “Guilty of Innocence” to the Stones’ sounding “The Day My Baby Went Blind.” It’s a fun and uplifting way to round out your “Tall Tales and Alibis” journey.

Coming To A City Near You: Steve Barton tour dates can be found here.

And that means…

In our ongoing feature Between the Sheets, TrunkSpace picks the imaginative brains of authors to break down what it takes to create the various worlds and characters they breathe life into via the tools of their trade… sheets of paper. While technology continues to advance and change the pop culture landscape, the written word has remained one of the most consistent and imaginative art forms.

This time out we’re chatting with author Alma Katsu about her new novel “The Hunger,” why we’re continuously fascinated with the Donner Party, and her upcoming literary trip to the Gilded Age.

TrunkSpace: Your new book takes a fictional look at a moment in history that still fascinates people 172 years after it occurred – the ill-fated Donner Party. How did you approach blending both the reality of what happened and the fictional side that you personally were bringing to the events?
Katsu: The novel stays close to events as they occurred. As a matter of fact, one blogger felt this is what makes “The Hunger” so effective, because it makes the novel feel completely plausible. Where “The Hunger” diverges from history is with the characters. You need characters to feel like real live people, but often with history, you don’t get a complete sense of a figure, particularly if the figure isn’t historically significant. Frequently, they’re whitewashed, the bad parts omitted. In other cases, they’re just names and birthdates and maybe one tiny detail left to sum up an entire person. While the main characters’ names and backstories are the same or very close to the historical record (with one exception), I had to remake them in order to tell the story I wanted to tell. It was fun to create new characters from pieces of the past, but tailored to service the needs of the story.

TrunkSpace: There have been plenty of interesting moments and people throughout history, many of which have been forgotten. What is it about this story that continues to excite the imaginations of people, and, was it that same excitement that first brought you to the table to write “The Hunger?”
Katsu: I think the reason we’re fascinated with the Donner Party is because even though most Americans have heard of them, few are familiar with the details. We know that something terrible happened to a group of pioneers, that a lot of people died and some had to resort to cannibalism to survive. How and why all this came to pass, however, is a mystery to most. What made it really fascinating to write, however, is that it was about more than just the tragedy. The tragedy occurred during an important time in American history, a period significant to the development of the country as we know it today. On one hand, it was very personal – the survival of individuals – while on the other hand, representative of bigger things at play for the country.

TrunkSpace: As you look back at the work, what are you most proud of when it comes to “The Hunger?”
Katsu: Bringing something new to the story. Let’s face it: there have been many novels written about the Donner Party, not to mention non-fiction accounts, but they tend to stay very close to the historical record. Which, while interesting, misses the opportunity to use the tragedy to show a greater truth: even in the direst situation, some people will rise, will sacrifice themselves for others, and will exhibit the best in humanity.

TrunkSpace: “The Hunger” is your fourth published novel. As you prepare to release it to the world, are the emotions the same as with your first book? Does the process of pouring so much of yourself into something and then putting it out into the world get easier?
Katsu: I’m happy to say yes, it is! For the first book, you’re completely crazy because you have no idea what to expect and you’re getting hit with something new every day, plus you’re worrying about whether you’ll ever be able to write another book. By the fourth book, you feel like maybe you actually do know what you’re doing now and have a better understanding of what’s going to happen. The only thing that doesn’t change is that you’re still nervous about how the book will do. It’s like sending your child to the first day of school. Will everyone like her? Will she make friends? Will mean kids pick on her?

TrunkSpace: What did you learn about yourself as a writer in working on “The Hunger?”
Katsu: I learned to be more flexible. This project was a little different in that I have partners, Glasstown Entertainment, who were involved in shaping the story. While I had worked as part of a team on non-fiction, this was my first such experience writing fiction. It’s probably like writing for television: a collaborative effort, in order to produce the most enjoyable experience for the reader.

TrunkSpace: Prior to pursuing your career as an author, you spent many years as a senior intelligence analyst. The real world sometimes feels more fictional than what any writer could conjure up. In your opinion, what’s more interesting… reality or fantasy? Or, like “The Hunger,” is it a combination of both?
Katsu: Reality is endlessly fascinating, don’t you think? The biggest gift I took away from my day job was that I learned to dive into any subject. It didn’t matter whether you had a personal interest. Once you dove in, you learned so many fascinating things, and particularly with history. Once you get past the surface, the stuff you learn in school, you find entire universes of detail and nuance. It teaches you that nothing is black or white. But the nice thing about fiction is that you get to choose whom you spend your days with – you create them!

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Katsu: It’s something I work on a lot. I’ve developed this slightly formal tone that works well for historical fiction – getting it right for “The Taker” took 10 years – but there are lots of unpublished things where I’ve experimented with more informal or stylized voices. Voice is so important, especially today, when readers are used to TV and graphic novels with strong signature styles.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Katsu: It’s still both. I love writing and am glad to be able to do it for a living. However, I’m always cognizant of the fact that it doesn’t mean I can write whatever I want and expect there to be a market for it. I get asked for advice by a lot of people who want to sell a book and one of the first things I tell them is writing and publishing are two separate things. Writing is a craft and an art, but publishing is a business. If it doesn’t feel like work, you’re probably doing it wrong.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Katsu: This particular book started with a lot of research so that I had a good sense of the route, who was in the wagon party, and what the main challenges were. As for working conditions, I’m not precious about them; I’m a workaholic and work anywhere. Now that I write full-time, I’ve had to learn to pace myself and make time for normal things like exercise and grocery shopping and socializing.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Katsu: My normal process is to write a few chapters at a time, just get the first draft out. If I’m just starting a story those first chapters can be really rough as I’m getting to know the characters and setting. Then I go back and edit them. Once I’ve been working on a book consistently, I can usually get the first draft chapters to the point where they won’t need much editing. The really heavy lifting on revision comes later, after my partners on the book, Glasstown Entertainment, and my editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons, have weighed in.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Katsu: I try to bring the unexpected to every scene, to make it fresh in some way. It doesn’t have to be crazy flashy or self-conscious, but I hate boring writing. To be a novelist, you have to analyze other people’s books. What worked, what didn’t. Great writing can make you see the world in a new way. Pedestrian writing may tell the story but it doesn’t make a meaningful contribution to the reader’s life.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Katsu: The next novel is set around the time of the Gilded Age, which allows me to look at social issues like women’s suffrage and class inequality, but also occultism, which was the rage. As always, the supernatural element rises naturally from the story and isn’t a specific trope, though it’s closer to a ghost story than anything else. It’s quite different from “The Hunger,” more opulent, with some famous people as main characters (which presents its own set of challenges), but hopefully every bit as enjoyable.

“The Hunger” is available tomorrow from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Ruby Boots, aka Bex Chilcott, pinged our radar earlier this year with the release of “Don’t Talk About It,” an album that instantly floated to the top of our Best Of ‘18 list. Defying genre labels and rising above simple sorting, the Australian-born singer/songwriter isn’t just a square peg finding her way in the circular hole that is the music industry – she’s her own yet-undefined shape who is leaving her mark by being musically malleable.

We recently sat down with Chilcott to discuss how she takes compliments about her art, why she needs to give herself free reign to create “whatever the fuck” she likes, and the inspiring vibe of her new home, Nashville.

TrunkSpace: We have loved “Don’t Talk About It” since we first heard the album, and in fact, we think it is something that we should very much be talking about. As it relates to your music, are you someone who handles compliments well?
Chilcott: Well thank you, I’m glad you love it! I have learnt to say thank you as a way of handling compliments the best I can. Someone once pulled me aside and said, “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I was trying to pay you a compliment and when you brush it off and don’t receive it, it robs me of the joy of sharing how I feel.” So from that moment on I learnt to say thank you so as to keep in mind that it’s not up to me to depict if someone enjoys what I create and receive whatever it is my music makes them feel, good or bad!

TrunkSpace: What we really enjoyed about the album is that, while each song works cohesively together, it really is a mosaic of different genres and styles. As a songwriter, are you someone who works within your own self-imposed boundaries or creatively is anything on the table as long as it suits the song?
Chilcott: I love this question! I am all about instinct. I know when I want something and I know when I don’t – it always comes based on a feeling, usually that is in the form of either joy or anxiety! (Laughter) It’s never very calculated and sometimes I can barely put what I want from a song into words, which is probably why the album has that mosaic feel, and quite honestly, I am always worried that the albums I make won’t be cohesive even though its something I do strive for! I don’t like boxes. We as artists should give ourselves free reign to do whatever the fuck we like, and that’s how I approach making music. As long as I can be proud of it, and if I put something out that I can’t get to that place, if I can take some kind of lesson away and grow from the experience then that has to be just as good as that sense of pride!

TrunkSpace: Breaking down the songs further, it also seems that lyrically you’re not afraid to pull back the curtain and reveal the rawest of emotions and personal experiences. Do you feel it’s possible to put too much of yourself into a song or is that honesty a part of what makes it all work so well?
Chilcott: Even if the song is not about a direct experience I have had, I will always try and put myself in it, and if it is, I try not to be too coy. Maybe someone could listen to one of my songs and feel understood in one way or another – perhaps they have been through something that hits home for them and they can take something away from it. Whatever it is, I am not afraid of being real. I don’t have time for fake.

Take the song “Somebody Else.” It’s based on a story, the whole gaslighting concept, and I had a very close friend spiral into deep depression because she had someone lie to her so consistently she thought she was going mad until she found out she was right. It was awful. So I write that from a first person point of view to best try to understand it. I have been hurt before too, so I throw that sentiment in there and hopefully a listener in a similar situation can feel understood too!

TrunkSpace: When you put so much of yourself into a song, do you second guess putting it out into the world, particularly in a day and age where everyone seems to have a soapbox they’re all too eager to stand on thanks to social media and other internet-based platforms?
Chilcott: I mean, it’s an assumption that each song has all of myself in it. I write in first person because it helps me connect with what I am writing about, but I don’t always write from deeply personal experiences. When I do however, I don’t stand on a soapbox because I don’t approach life like that. I have overcome so much in this life already that if I get kicked down, first I hurt but then I pick myself back up, dust all that shit off and keep moving forward, and I think that is a positive perspective to write from – show the hurt and the pain but show the defiance, the resilience and the victory of not giving up or being pushed around, you know?

TrunkSpace: Where are you hardest on yourself as an artist?
Chilcott: The songs. It’s ALL about the songs. In my mind, the songwriting has to always be growing or I should stop writing songs. And without that feeling, that I am growing as a songwriter, I feel like I should just quit what I am doing all together.

TrunkSpace: We have read about your journey from Perth to Nashville and the personal difficulties you experienced throughout your younger years. How much of that impacted who you are as an artist today? Obviously it’s impossible to know what could have been had we zigged instead of zagged in life, but do you think you would have a much different creative POV in the present had you had a more stable, less nomadic past?
Chilcott: I love this question too! Yes, your life journey shapes the way you see the world and so it’s exactly the perspective that you write from. Had it been different so would be my writing and my songs!

TrunkSpace: Is songwriting a form of therapy for you? If you didn’t have it as a creative outlet to get your thoughts out, do you think you would feel more emotionally bogged down?
Chilcott: It used to be therapy in the sense that it was the first outlet I had found in life to express my emotions in a way that made sense, but now it’s therapeutic in the sense that it helps me process things – how I view certain situations or things that are going on around me or even what’s going on inside rather than just expression from emotion in a more raw format. It allows me to question something and process it that way.

TrunkSpace: Nashville is such an amazingly creative city. Does being around other creatives inspire you to pursue your own art even further than you would if you were living in a different place?
Chilcott: Yes, it is, and yes, it does. There is always someone to collaborate with or a show that is happening that is deeply inspiring and the quality of music that is made in this city means there is always an awesome album coming out from someone I know that blows me away.

TrunkSpace: Writing, recording and promoting an album is a long process. As you’re continuing to put time and promotion into “Don’t Talk About It,” has your creative brain and essentially who you are in the moment (likes, dislikes and things you want to express) already moved on to what you would like your next artistic endeavor to be?
Chilcott: No, it doesn’t have the chance to move onto anything, it kind of gets stuck in this vortex of time for a while. All the focus goes into being present in the moment and giving your attention to the release. Sometimes it can appear that once an album is out that that’s it, but there is so much work to do around release time and if all goes well, for some time after that! Thankfully this time I have some incredible people working with me on this release so I am able to focus more on my live shows, etc!

TrunkSpace: If someone came to you with a time machine and offered you a chance to have a glimpse at what your career will look like 10 years from now, would you take the futuristic peek?
Chilcott: No way! I need to stay present in the journey and enjoy each moment. If I knew what it was leading to then it would take away all of my joy!

“Don’t Talk About It” is available now from Bloodshot Records.

Featured image by: Cal Quinn

Series: Ash vs Evil Dead

Where To Watch: Season 3 is currently airing on Starz. New episodes premiere every Sunday. Seasons 1 and 2 can also be streamed on Netflix.

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless, Lee Majors

Creators: Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi, Tom Spezialy

Reason We’re Watching It: We are not only fans of the “Evil Dead” franchise as a whole, but we’re also fans of Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, and now, Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago. The cast of this show is reason enough to tune in, so it’s a boomstick bonus that every episode is packed with laugh-out-loud moments and gruesome gore that would make Greg Nicotero cringe. There is not a show out there right now that delivers on the consistent humor, action and horror in the way that this instant cable classic does.

What It’s About: The TV series jumps ahead 30 years from when we last saw Ash Williams (Campbell) in the film trilogy. Stuck living in the past, regaling his co-workers Pablo (Santiago) and Kelly (DeLorenzo) with tales of his Deadite-filled backstory, Ash’s serenity is soon dashed as evil once again rears its ugly head and forces him to oil up the ol’ chainsaw for some slashing and thrashing.

Whoah! Rewind that!: Much like how that chip jingle goes, Once you pop, you can’t stop; once you start watching “Ash vs Evil Dead,” you won’t be able to stop reliving the many horrific, eye-popping moments. To pick a memorable one in the first episode of Season 3, we had to go with Ash stomping harpsichord strings through a Deadite’s face, splitting it into several slices. This scene gave a whole new meaning to the phrase… slice of life.

Watercooler-Worthy Tidbit: Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless have acted together before on the fan-favorite fantasy shows “Hercules” and “Xena.” Campbell played a charming, wise-cracking thief known as Autolycus while Lawless, very obviously, portrayed Xena.

And that’s why we’re giving it…

Name: Kelly and Nichole Matthews

Website: kickingshoes.wixsite.com/kickingshoes

Favorite Comic Book Character Growing Up: Gambit!

Favorite Comic Book Character Now: Captain Cold

Latest Work: (Title/Publisher/Release Date) “The Power of the Dark Crystal”/Boom! Studios/Feb 2017

TrunkSpace: How would you describe your art style?
Kelly and Nichole: Cinematic and fantasy-centered.

TrunkSpace: How important were comic books in your life growing up and is that where you discovered your love and inspiration for drawing?
Kelly and Nichole: We used to joke we learned to read from “Elf Quest.” Comics have always been a huge part of our lives, from reading our older brother’s collections to being able to create our own stories now. Drawing itself was always something we were interested in. It was what we wanted to do for a living and no matter what, we were determined to find a way to fulfill that childhood goal.

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular artist or title from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Kelly and Nichole: Wendy and Richard Pini, and Arthur Rackham are the first that come to mind. There was a lot of manga that we read as well, far too many to list but CLAMP and Yuichi Kumakura were big influences during our childhood that inspired us to draw comics.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career in comics? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Kelly and Nichole: It was something we always knew we were going to do, even back in elementary school! We’d have teachers ask the class what we wanted to be when we grew up, and the answer was always “comic book artist.” There wasn’t really a back-up plan in place, which looking back now is pretty foolish; we just recognized what skills you would need to have that as a career and cultivated those as we grew older. There was this persistent thought in our minds that this was it. This was what we were going to be doing with our lives no matter what. We had the skill, the drive and the resources to do it but it wasn’t until a Boom! Studios editor gave us a chance on “Toil and Trouble” that everything fell into place. That was almost three years ago now and we’ve been lucky that opportunities have been consistent since.

TrunkSpace: What was your biggest break in terms of a job that opened more doors for you?
Kelly and Nichole: I would say it was “Toil and Trouble” by Mairghread Scott. It was our first professional experience outside of one variant cover for Boom! the year before and the first time we had ever finished an entire comic story from start to finish. It was incredibly tough work, jumping right in like that with no idea of how deadlines worked, or how to upload art to an FTP. I like to think that as we were working on those six issues we were grinding EXP, and by the end of the project had leveled up a lot. That project cemented the work ethic and diligence we have now. Through “Toil and Trouble” we were introduced to future working partners like Mariah McCourt for our STELA mobile comic “BREAKER,” and later the Jim Henson Company for “The Power of the Dark Crystal.”

TrunkSpace: A lot of people say that breaking into comics is the hardest part of working in comics.
How long did it take you before you started to see your comic book dreams become a reality?
Kelly and Nichole: I think our situation might be a little different than the average experience. Except for one comic cover and some bi-monthly contract work for a webcomic publisher, our very first comic job was “Toil and Trouble” – a six issue miniseries. There wasn’t really a slow push into the industry, rather we dove right in. Since that project wrapped up in 2016 we’ve been moving from consistently larger projects, culminating in the Jim Henson Company’s sequel to “The Dark Crystal” that finishes this year.

TrunkSpace: Is there a particular character or universe you always find yourself returning to when you’re sketching or doing warm-ups?
Kelly and Nichole: We are partial to Flashes Rouges gallery, particularly Captain Cold and Heatwave. Drawing the various iterations of their characters is never boring! We also draw a lot of centaur-like creatures, especially canine and feline variations.

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific title or character that you’d like to work on in the future and why?
Kelly and Nichole: We are big fans of “Voltron: Legendary Defender,” “Dr. Strange,” and “The Flash.” Working on properties like those would be a lot of fun, both for the opportunity to expand outside our comfort zone into sci-fi and superhero comics, and because we’re big fans of them, and would love to put our own touch on them.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your career in comics? Where would you like your path to lead?
Kelly and Nichole: The interesting part about being a freelance artist is that our goal posts are always being pushed forward as we achieve them. When we were hired to draw our first cover for Boom!, we made a list of things we wanted to achieve during our comic career; by the end of 2018 we’ll have checked off almost all of them! In the future, we can only hope that we can stay consistent with work, and get to work on new ideas with new people.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength as an artist?
Kelly and Nichole: I would say, that because we work as a team, we’re able to stagger our workload to get more done overall more efficiently.

TrunkSpace: How has technology changed your process of putting ideas/script to page? Do you use the classic paper/pencil approach at all anymore?
Kelly and Nichole: We haven’t used pencil and paper in years. When we got “Toil and Trouble” we knew the schedule was too tight to even consider drawing traditionally. It would have been impossible. Since then it has been our preferred way of working. Drawing digitally allows us to get our work done faster and easier than if we had been working in the traditional medium and especially now with programs like Photoshop and Clip Studio having so many traditional media brushes I can’t even tell the difference.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring artist who is considering a career in the comic industry?
Kelly and Nichole: Don’t give up! If this is your goal, stick to it. Make sure you have the knowledge behind your craft to draft different types of comics and different types of characters. Expand your idea of what is it to be in the ‘industry’; we’ve had as much success working for digital publishers as we have had physical ones. It’s totally okay to draw comics as a side job! Many, many people have day jobs to support their craft.

TrunkSpace: Making appearances at conventions: Love it, leave it, or a combination of both?
Kelly and Nichole: A combination of both! We are not the most outgoing people and can find conventions pretty stressful. However, being asked to attend panels or do signings is just part of the job when it comes to comics, and we just power through any nervousness we get from being there. In the end we always have fun, because conventions also let us catch up with people we haven’t seen in a while, or never met in person before.

TrunkSpace: What is the craziest/oddest thing you’ve ever been asked to draw as a commission?
Kelly and Nichole: We’ve drawn a LOT of odd requests! A lot of them are pretty specific, so I think the vaguest we can be is, drawing an animated movie character as a pin-up model.

TrunkSpace: What else can fans of your work look forward to in 2018?
Kelly and Nichole: We have a young adult graphic novel with our good friend Kara Leopard from Kaboom! coming out late this year, as well as launching a few webcomics on webcomic publisher Mary’s Monster later this year.

Artist: Jonathan Wilson

Album: “Rare Birds”

Label: Bella Union

Reason We’re Cranking It: Like an album passed down to us by our music-loving father, “Rare Birds” has a classic and collective groove to it that feels built for cruising, destination anywhere. With just you, the clothes on your back and the album serving as its soundtrack, Wilson takes you on a trip, the kind that is an escape from the day-to-day grind and that you dread coming back from.

What The Album Tells Us About Him: From a songwriting perspective, Wilson reaches familiar outcomes but gets there by taking uniquely unfamiliar paths. His particular perspective on relatable subjects makes him a standalone, even when standing in the long line of talented singer/songwriters who have come before him.

Track Stuck On Repeat: “Sunset Blvd” is the kind of song that instantly makes you feel good, a beautiful blend of Wilson’s swaying vocals and his lyrical poetry. It’s soothe juice for the soul and a reminder of what music is capable of when it’s done in such a profoundly moving way.

Coming To A City Near You: Jonathan Wilson tour dates can be found here.

And that means…

For Leslie DiNicola, music is a deeply personal journey, but it’s one that the singer/songwriter doesn’t shy away from sharing with people, particularly in a live atmosphere where she feeds off of the atmospheric ebb and flow of the crowd. Although she is still hitting the clubs in support of her 2016 EP “Love + Destruction,” the NYC-based songstress teases that a full-length album is on the horizon, a creative sunrise that we are eagerly awaiting the chance to bask in.

We recently sat down with DiNicola to discuss hometown shows, artistic growth, and finding hope within the sorrow of life.

TrunkSpace: You’re kicking off March in style with a couple of big shows in your base of operations, NYC, one of which is tonight at The Iridium. Is there something extra special about hometown shows and knowing that the crowd is going to be filled with familiar faces?
DiNicola: Hometown shows are so much fun! Especially when they fall at the end of a tour (like these do) when I’ve been out on the road missing NYC. It always feels like a bit of a homecoming.

TrunkSpace: How would you compare the thrill you get from performing live to that of getting in the studio and seeing new songs get brought to life? Are they two completely different pieces of the puzzle or are both part of the overall picture that the puzzle becomes?
DiNicola: For me, performing live and recording in the studio are two very different experiences that both bring me equal amounts of joy. In the studio I get to dig deeply into the art and lose myself completely in the journey of discovering what music wants to come out of me and what it wants to become. On stage, I get to celebrate that journey and share the emotional experience it was with a live audience. I love feeling the energy of an audience changing all throughout a performance and how completely different each audience is.

TrunkSpace: Your latest EP, “Love + Destruction,” was released in December of 2016. Where are you at now creatively and are you approaching writing from a different artistic POV than you were during the time that those particular songs were written?
DiNicola: Every time I record an EP I change and grow, not just as an artist, but also as a person. Each one of my EPs is very precious to me because they are like photographs of the person I was in a particular moment. So, I would have to say that the work I am creating now is definitely coming from a new POV. But, it’s a POV that wouldn’t be possible without the POVs of each of my previous releases.

TrunkSpace: Is there another EP or possible full-length in the near future that fans should start getting excited about?
DiNicola: All I will say is, yes, there is a full-length recording in the very near future and that fans should definitely start getting excited. I know I am!

TrunkSpace: Where did your musical journey begin? What was the catalyst for not only loving the art form but wanting to be a part of it in a creation sense?
DiNicola: Technically, it started in the backseat of my neighbor’s car singing along with Van Morrison on the way home from elementary school. But, after that, I was enrolled in very competitive choir programs all over the country. I was trained classically and in Opera until I was 20 but I spent most of my time sneaking out at night to go see rock shows at the local clubs. I connected with those performers in such a resonant way. I knew immediately THAT was what I wanted to do with my life.

TrunkSpace: Are you comfortable in your own songwriting skin? If so, can you pinpoint the moment you found your voice?
DiNicola: I think as a writer and a performer I am always growing and finding new, sometimes surprising, levels of my abilities. To say someone is ever comfortable in their craft I’m afraid implies that they no longer feel the need to learn. And when you stop learning the art ends. I hope to always be learning and discovering.

TrunkSpace: What does your writing process look like? How does a song go from inception to completion?
DiNicola: It almost identically resembles the look of a room shortly after the Tasmanian Devil has blown through. When I am writing, I am at the complete mercy of the songs. They come to me any time they want to: in the middle of the night, on the subway, in the grocery store when my hands are full and I can’t write anything down… I truly feel that I am just a channel for music to move through and that my job is to sit back, listen, and give the songs the space they need to tell ME what they want to become.

TrunkSpace: Creative people are infamous for being extremely hard on themselves in the creative process. Does that apply to you, and if so, where are you hardest on yourself?
DiNicola: I am always critical of the work I do and I think people in general, artist or not, are always hardest on themselves because we have a decent sense of our potential and we know when we are not meeting it. I will always be able to listen back to a recording or a live video and tell if I was 100 percent on my game or not. Even though other people might swear they can’t hear or see a difference I will know it’s there. But, at the same time, I think it’s extremely important to achieve a balance by making sure you acknowledge to yourself when you have done something that you couldn’t have done better.

TrunkSpace: What do you want people to take from your music? What messages do you hope they uncover and decipher in a way that they can apply to their own lives?
DiNicola: While every song I write has its own story and it’s own message, I think the common thread that connects all of my work is an inherent sense of hope against life sorrow.

TrunkSpace: We’re big baseball nuts here and we know that you’ve performed the National Anthem for a number of teams. Is getting to do really fun, interesting things like that a rewarding perk of the job? Also, that’s a tough song to sing! Do you get nervous or are you always, baseball pun intended, ready to knock it out of the park?
DiNicola: I’ve sung the Anthem for the Atlanta Braves on three separate occasions as well as the New York Mets, the New York Rangers, the New York Red Bulls, and the Dallas Stars. It is definitely an awesome perk of the job! I grew up in a family that loves sports, so to be able to be a part of them in this unique way and bring my talent to an arena that is so different from the typical music scene is so much fun. You are correct, it’s not the easiest song ever written, but that’s what makes it so rewarding when you hear yourself belting it out in front of all those people in that enormous space. Like Tom Hanks says in “A League Of Their Own”…

“Of course it’s hard, it’s supposed to be hard… it’s the hard that makes it great.”

“Love + Destruction” is available now.

Featured image by: Logan Cole

It doesn’t take a time machine to look back on Lyndsy Fonseca’s career, all it takes is time. And probably Netflix.

With her vast body of work, which includes “How I Met Your Mother,” “Nikita” and the “Kick-Ass” film franchise, Fonseca has literally grown up before our eyes. Beginning her career at age 14 in the fast-paced world of the daily soap opera, she calls her years spent working on “The Young and the Restless” a “boot camp” that prepared her for anything, including taking on roles in indie film projects.

Currently the California native can be seen starring in the time-traveling mystery “Curvature” opposite an icon in the science fiction genre, Linda Hamilton. We recently sat down with Fonseca to discuss her own takeaways from the shoot, why she was so eager to tackle such a layered character, and what she’s taping to her dream board following our chat.

TrunkSpace: When you’re starring in a science fiction movie about time travel with Linda Hamilton, who herself was in one of the greatest science fiction films about time travel, that in and of itself has to heighten the experience.
Fonseca: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Also, just what a class act she is as a person! She is really a special individual. She is one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with and so considerate and sincere. It was an honor to work with her, really. She owns up to the hype, for sure.

TrunkSpace: For an audience, the finished product is always what becomes memorable, but for those involved in a project, we would imagine that it’s the experience that stays with you. What do you think you’ll carry with you through the rest of your career from this particular project?
Fonseca: That’s a great question. So many things. Every project you learn so much. It’s such a growing, learning experience when you have your day-to-day challenges shooting, and then when you see a finished product and you get to see how those challenges played out, it teaches you so much. With this one I really had to put my trust in Diego (Hallivis) and Julio (Hallivis), as they’re somewhat newer in this film world, so there was a lot of blind faith. I was really impressed by the way that they spoke about the film and I was really impressed by the fact that they wanted to put their time and money into a female-led movie and a character like this – a story like this. Diego did a really great job storytelling with the camera and making the film look like 10 times the budget that we had.

TrunkSpace: You started your career in the soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” Did working in that fast-paced environment, where you’re shooting dozens of pages a day, prepare you for anything, such as the case of working on an indie where time is in limited quantity?
Fonseca: Oh my gosh! I was 14 when I started working on that soap opera. It was my first job, and it was normal to me to be doing 30 pages a day. The amount of material that I memorized was insane, and it was all I knew. Then when I went to prime time, I’ll never forget, I was working with Milo Ventimiglia on some show that’s not on anymore, and I remember he was a class act, but there was another woman, I don’t even remember who she was, but she was a regular on the show. She was having such a hard time with the one paragraph she had that day, because this is prime time, so you do like one page a day. I just remember sitting there as this 16 or 17-year-old and being like, “Are you serious? I do 30 pages a day, and you’re having…?” Of course, I didn’t say that. (Laughter) But I realized what an amazing foundation that was. It was sort of boot camp. I didn’t know any different, so that totally has prepared me for indie filmmaking, and also comedy. I did a Verizon streaming show last year, and I had to say so much dialogue and work really, really fast.

That was basically like training and boot camp for me, for sure.

TrunkSpace: Science fiction in general comes with a bit of a built-in audience, but a lot of times the fandom can be very particular about what they give a sci-fi thumbs up to. Was the intention for “Curvature” to appeal to that very specific fan base, or does its genre-blend make it a film that speaks to a more general audience?
Fonseca: I don’t really know. I can only speak to what I like because I’m not a comic book lover. I don’t have anything against them, but I’m not necessarily a sci-fi junkie. I like great characters and great storytelling no matter what genre it’s in. That being said, I really hope that the people who are real sci-fi nuts and really are the true lovers of that genre, I really hope they like our film because I think that scientifically it makes sense, and we can back it up. But what I loved about it, too, is that this is a woman dealing with loss and how she’s trying to solve this mystery and come to terms with the reality of her life, now gets her swept up into this thing. That she’s an engineer, and she’s intelligent, and she’s driven and focused… there’s just a lot of elements. I thought it had aspects of a lot of different genres as well, but that, again, is just kind of my taste, so I like that you think that because I really don’t know what other people are going to think.

TrunkSpace: And much like music, that’s the beauty of film. Five people can listen to a song and each one could get something different out of it. The same can be said for a movie.
Fonseca: Absolutely. That’s what’s so lovely about this medium and the art form. It’s also so terrifying. It’s so hard to make great films, and hard to make great TV, and you just hope people like it. And it’s hard to make indie filmmaking and have people go out and support it so that more indie films can be made.

TrunkSpace: Television must be putting pressure on filmmakers as well because audiences are getting used to the slow burn, long term character journey now.
Fonseca: Yeah, sure. One of the things that I liked about the script and then even more in the finished product was how this story, even though it is a genre film, it really took its time in the beginning of the film to really get into where this woman is. We’re not rushed into just some big action, time travel thing. Diego and Julio are from Spain and it has this really European feel to it, the film, in the way that the score is, the way that the look is, and the way that it takes its time. So I really liked that aspect of the film, that it doesn’t just rush into it – that it’s serious character development.

TrunkSpace: You’ve played dozens of characters over the course of your career. Is the process of discovering who they are, such as the case with Helen in “Curvature,” still as exciting for you today as it was when you began your journey as an actress?
Fonseca: Oh my gosh, absolutely. It’s so hard to find these really layered, complex characters as a female. A lot of times we’re just these girlfriends, or we’re the comedy relief, or we’re just the wife, or whatever. So when there are these opportunities to carry a film, or to have an arc, or to have this giant responsibility on your plate… that never gets old. That is a challenge I’ll take any day because it doesn’t come that often.

TrunkSpace: Is it changing?
Fonseca: I think there’s a shift. I think it has a long way to go, but it’s progress.

TrunkSpace: Are you someone who wants to have a say in content creation and develop your own projects?
Fonseca: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been working on one with my husband, a book that I really want to make into a television series, so there’s definitely things that I have the passion for behind-the-scenes. It’s up to us as actors. I think Reese Witherspoon has shown us, Oprah, Ava DuVernay… so many women are like, “You know what? I’m going to create my own content because I’m tired of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring because it just isn’t out there.” It’s taken these incredible women to start their own production companies to get these women-led films and television shows made. So, yeah, I definitely have a passion for it, and as I get a little bit more… what’s the word… gutsy… it’ll all come to fruition one day. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: So if somebody came to you tomorrow and said, “Lyndsy, here’s a blank check. Go develop whatever kind of project you want for yourself.” What kind of project would it be? What medium would you focus on?
Fonseca: I think it would depend… by the way, that sounds like a very nice scenario, although, that’s not exactly how it works, which is why it’s so hard. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: It would be one of those big Publishers Clearing House-sized checks – one of the giant ones. (Laughter)
Fonseca: (Laughter) That sounds lovely. I’ll put that on my dream board.

No, I think it would depend on the actual material, because I’m going through that with this book deal that I have right now and thinking about, “What is this story and how do I tell this particular story of these women in the best way? Is it in a two hour timeframe or is this a three-season arc?” So, it just really depends on the character and then the story itself.

“Curvature” is available now on digital home entertainment.

We’re all chasing individual dreams and running down specific goals. For prog rock icon Neal Morse, he caught up to one of his own creative objectives with his most recent album, “Life & Times,” which he calls the singer/songwriter album that he always wanted to make. (Check out our review here.)

We recently sat down with Morse to discuss growth through personal difficulties, the heartbreaking motivation behind the song “He Died At Home,” and why he wanted “Life & Times” to exude warmth.

TrunkSpace: You’ve been writing music for decades. As you have gotten older, what has impacted that process more – is it you changing as a person or the world changing around you?
Morse: Oh, I don’t know, I suppose it’s a bit of both. It’s probably me changing more, I think. Writing is very often more of an inner thing. Even the way that we perceive the outer world all comes from the inner space, so to speak. So, yeah, I think I’ve changed, and you can definitely hear that through the course of my albums.

TrunkSpace: Do you still relate to the guy who wrote some of your earliest songs?
Morse: I relate to it, yeah. Sure. I remember being super angry a lot, and it really makes me more thankful for where I am now. I think it’s important to remember where God’s brought us from, and then also it helps us to have compassion and all the good stuff helps us to be relatable and to reach out to others in a way that’s understandable and works.

TrunkSpace: As people, we can’t grow unless we’re given situations to grow from, right?
Morse: Yeah, that’s why I think we all go through things, and if we go through them in the right way, we’ll grow from it. Of course, that’s hard. Nobody wants to go through difficulties, but it is through difficulties very often that we grow the closest to the Lord.

TrunkSpace: Does “Life & Times” mark a musical milestone in your career in that, is it sort of a creative transition for you in terms of just how you’re approaching music as a whole?
Morse: No, not really. It’s its own thing. I feel like it’s a milestone because it’s the singer/songwriter album that I’ve always wanted to make. I’ve tried several times, and I did some pretty good singer/songwriter albums – I think “It’s Not Too Late” is good, “Songs From November” is good, but I feel like “Life & Times” is just a step up from there. I don’t know how that happens. It’s a lot of factors, but mainly, it just kind of happens and you write a series of songs that are kind of special. That’s what I think happened with “Life & Times.” It all starts with the song.

TrunkSpace: So from the perspective of it being a singer/songwriter album, did you consciously approach it as a storyteller?
Morse: Well, it just kind of occurs. You’ll start off with something, maybe a thought or sometimes it’s a riff – you’ll just start playing something and you’ll start singing over it. “Oh, what should I say?” And then you start thinking, “Oh, well, it would sound good to say something like this…” And very often one line, the whole song, or sometimes a whole album if you’re doing a concept album, will really sprout from the seed of just a couple lines. “He Died At Home,” for example, that was something that always stayed with me that I’d heard at a prayer meeting years ago. A woman got up at a prayer meeting and said, “Would you pray for our servicemen? We’re going to a funeral almost every week.” It was near an Army base, and when we asked how he passed away, they’d say, “He died at home.” And that always stayed with me. Then I got a text that a friend of a friend had died, an ex-military guy. Then, I Googled this article. So there was a bunch of different factors. I started writing from this article about a guy who had come home from Afghanistan and committed suicide. His name was William Busbee. But it really all came from “He died at home.” Then you start thinking, “Okay, how am I going to tell this story, and how much of it do I want to tell?” It’s very intuitive, and very challenging, but very rewarding when it all comes out in a good way.

TrunkSpace: Are you someone who has a difficult time shutting off the creative brain? Are you always observing and absorbing?
Morse: No, I don’t think I’m always in that mode. Very often I’m more in the mode of, if I’m composing or if I’m in the middle of working on an album or writing it, I’m usually thinking about, “Where does it stand? Where are we in the piece? And where should it go?” I’m very often thinking more musically than story-wise. That’s the great thing about writing concept albums, is that the story will then bring forth the music and the lyrics. It was that way with “The Similitude of a Dream.” Once we figured out the story we were going to tell, then that brought forth a lot of the songs. They just sort of fell out. They just came really easily.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned how “Life & Times” was the singer/songwriter album that you always wanted to make. While you no doubt have a personal connection to everything you create, do you have a deeper bond with these 12 tracks because it’s been something that you’ve yearned for?
Morse: Yeah, I think so. I feel definitely more connected to this record right now. But, you know, you’d have to ask me in five years. As Mel Brooks once said, “I’m always in love with the girl I’m dating.” (Laughter) Of course, being married, I don’t know if I should say that. (Laughter) But musically, I’m almost always enthralled with the recent child… the most recent birth. So, we’ll see in the long run, but I feel like, yeah, it’s a special time. And I feel like the way God helped me to orchestrate and record the album… I was originally, for example, supposed to record it with a couple of younger guys that I love to work with, but they became unavailable at the last second. We were supposed to record it in July, and suddenly they said, “Well, we have one day free.” They were just booked. So I had the choice of, “Well, should I wait until they have more time?” And then I looked at my schedule. I was touring in August with the Neal Morse Band, and then I had Morsefest coming, and I thought, “Man, if I don’t make this record now I don’t know when I’m going to.” So I started making calls around Nashville, and I remembered I’d done some worship records with a drummer named Scott Williamson that I really liked. I thought it was kind of miraculous because we’re talking about, “Hey, can we record this next Tuesday?” And it was Thursday. A lot of the A-list people, they’re booked. They’re just booked for a while. But Scott had time. I sent him a bunch of the songs and he started charting things out.

Anyway, it just came together in a beautiful way – all the people that worked on it. I just felt like Chris Carmichael’s string arrangements were just inspired, and extraordinary, and beautiful. And Rich Mouser’s mixes, and Terry Christian’s mixes are just… I’m really in love with the tone, the warmth. I kept telling them, “Make it warmer. When people put this record on I want them to feel the warmth.” So I’m really happy, because I feel like we have really achieved that, and many of the responses that I’ve been getting say exactly that. “I feel like this album is so welcoming and warm,” and I just smile to myself, “Yes. We did it.”

“Life & Times” is available now.

Neal Morse tour dates can be found here.

Featured image by: Joey Pippin

Artist: Anna von Hausswolff

Album: “Dead Magic”

Label: City Slang

Reason We’re Cranking It: Utilizing a 20^th century organ from one of the largest churches in Scandinavia for the majority of the 47 musical minutes, Anna von Hausswolff crafts an epic expedition into the morbidly acute inner recesses of her creative brain that leaves a haunting impression on all who venture inside. Magic isn’t dead… “Dead Magic” is proof to that.

What The Album Tells Us About Her: When von Hausswolff closes her eyes to dream, the imaginative landscape must spring to life like a Tim Burton movie. Her ability to compose such compelling artistic expressions while painting eerily-irresistible imagery through the rise and fall of her voice alone is as unique a creative POV as we have experienced in a very long time.

Track Stuck On Repeat: This is not a pop album. You’re not spinning “Dead Magic” for a quick feel-good fix. You’re investing time and focus when you sit down with it because that is what the songs require in order for you to get the most out of them. At just over 16 minutes long, “Ugly and Vengeful” sucks you in, building upon a growing sense of doom that seems to follow you like your own shadow. Ominous and yet somehow uplifting, the hyptnotizing organ play combined with von Hausswolff’s chant-like vocal runs raises you out of the ashes like the phoenix and stays with you for days.

Coming To A City Near You: Anna von Hausswolff tour dates can be found here.

And that means…