I first connected with Emily Schweich when she interviewed me in 2023 for her show NOT A PHASE on Gutsy Radio. I’ve since enjoyed tuning in to her show and checking out her other creative outlets, and was excited to turn things around and interview her for Serve ‘em a Sentence:
I loved the first two issues of your Substack, Crisis of Your Creating. How did you decide to start this as an additional platform to complement your other creative outlets, and how often are you planning to share new writing?
Thank you! In 2023, I started working on a few essays about art and more personal topics that I didn’t feel fit into Parkway, a zine I made in 2022 with my friend Joe. I decided to package five essays into a zine about finding companionship in art. I got stuck in the graphic design process, which is not my passion, but I still wanted to share the essays, so I thought I’d try Substack. I’m hoping to publish weekly or so, but we’ll see how sustainable that is.
You had talked about you and Joe potentially taking Parkway Zine online – does your Substack replace the zine, or did starting a digital outlet provide further impetus to transition the zine to a digital platform?
The Substack is not a replacement for Parkway; it’s solely my own project. We have laid some groundwork to turn Parkway into a blog, with the hope that we could be timelier and more spontaneous than we could with a zine. Still figuring out what the future looks like there.
How did you start doing your show Not a Phase on Gutsy Radio, and do you have any advice for someone starting their own show?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I joined a series of Zoom emo nights featuring female and nonbinary DJs, and I got to DJ the last installment. After that, my friend Alicia invited me to join an informal internet radio collective, and I started the first iteration of NOT A PHASE in February 2021. About six months later, the radio collective folded, and I took the show to another network called Gutsy Radio, where it has lived in its current form since.
When I first started the show, I told a former college radio DJ that I felt sad when nobody listened. He said, “You really have to do radio for yourself, not for anyone else.” I’ve heard a few different versions of that advice, and it’s not always what I want to hear, but it’s true. I always say I create to foster community, but I’ve realized that I rarely get the exact reaction I seek, so creating something I’m personally proud of is the best I can do.
What are some of the recent episodes that you are most proud of, and what can we expect from your upcoming broadcasts?
In January 2024, I spoke with Ned Russin of Glitterer and Title Fight about the new Glitterer album, Rationale. We had a conversation about what it means to be rational that I still think about often. I enjoyed speaking with members of Velocity Girl in November 2023. They had just reunited, and I enjoyed seeing how their group dynamic unfolded in an interview setting.
I’m also very proud of my annual Christmas shows, which are probably the most “me” thing I’ve ever put out into the world. I play all my favorite holiday music and read a bunch of bitter Wendy Cope poems. It’s a lot of fun. My old shows are archived on Mixcloud.
For future shows, I’m hoping to talk to music writer Miranda Reinert about her new zine, Portable Model, I’m hoping to interview a couple D.C. bands on the rise, and I’m planning a “30 Years since 1994” episode.
Since you have multiple outlets, how do you decide what to cover on each, and has there been a lot of overlap in topics? Has your radio experience made you more or less likely to want to do written interviews too, or keep the zine more reviews oriented?
Sometimes I struggle with this. I always prefer talk to text, so I think I gravitate toward radio as a medium for interviews and print/digital as a medium for essays. I like the ability to ask follow-up questions on the radio, interact in real time, interpret tone of voice, and go on fun tangents. For reviews, I appreciate the more deliberative writing process. There is some overlap among outlets, and I do consider the implications of having someone on a show and then reviewing their work somewhere else, but I think my work in those situations is all grounded in enthusiasm for “the scene,” so I try not to worry about it too much.
As a knowledgeable host, what is your process of researching and preparing for your show? Is the Substack more spontaneous?
When I’m talking to a musician, I usually like to listen deeply to their music and study the lyrics. With any type of artist, I like to listen to and read other interviews, but that’s a tough line sometimes because you don’t want to repeat what others have done. I also think there’s a lot to be said for admitting when you don’t know something. I think Jeremy Bolm sets a great example on The First Ever Podcast. He’s always honest when he isn’t familiar with a topic and open to learning more.
Throughout the show, I like to play not only the artist’s music but also music that played a big role in their musical journey. Some people, like you, take a really hands-on approach to helping craft the playlist; others are more hands-off. I find a lot of joy in using music to tell people’s story.
The Substack might look spontaneous, but most of what I’ve posted so far has been sitting in my Google Drive for months and going through many editing rounds. I am hoping to share timelier work later, but I also really enjoy the editing process.
When you mentioned finding some hardcore bands via Lost Indignation, I was like if one person got into Breakdown and Side by Side from my novel, my work is done! What made you want to check out certain bands from the book, and have you discovered other bands from books in a similar way?
You mentioned that Indignation sounded a lot like Breakdown, so I wanted to have a soundtrack in my head so I could imagine what an Indignation practice or show sounded like. I took really detailed notes while reading, including a page for every character and a list of every band mentioned; I think I got into Breakdown the most. I can’t say I’ve ever gotten into a band because of fiction before. We need more books like yours!
What books have you recently read and enjoyed – and what’s on your to-read list?
I loved the memoir Holler Rat by performance artist Anya Liftig, about reckoning with her family history in rural Appalachia. It’s the first memoir that felt like a page-turner to me. I recently wrote about Worry by Alexandra Tanner, a novel about two codependent sisters navigating their relationship and the Internet in 2019 Brooklyn. The author crafted a compelling relationship and really captured a specific time in the Internet’s recent past. I also recently read I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall. Emo and punk play a big part in this book, and I hope to share a review soon. I look forward to reading Hanif Abdurraqib’s latest book, There’s Always this Year, and the new Rachel Cusk book, Parade.
How many library cards do you have, and in what systems? And what is your favorite library?
I have three library cards from two Maryland counties and Washington, D.C. I love the MLK Jr. Library in downtown D.C. Designed by Mies van der Rohe, it has an awesome rooftop where they host concerts in summer and a nice cafe operated with D.C. Central Kitchen that provides job training for people facing barriers to employment.
The library also has great exhibits. In summer 2023, I saw an exhibit on doo-wop music in D.C., as well as Da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The library has a permanent exhibit about D.C. music with reproduced zine samples, as well as a robust digital zine archive. The D.C. system really feels like a library for and of the people. The Mount Pleasant Library Friends sell t-shirts that say, “What’s more punk than the public library?”
I also have to shout out the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library at the University of Maryland. It reminds me a lot architecturally of the library I went to growing up, and I liked visiting when I was a homesick student. They have a lot of really cool punk collections that I’ve enjoyed perusing.
I don’t even want to talk about how so many of my favorite people in hardcore are fans of AL East rival teams … but what is the most significant sports moment that occurred while you were at a show?
This is kind of a stretch, but on a Wednesday night in September 2023, when the Orioles were a few games away from clinching the AL East title, I was down the road at Ottobar to see Scowl, Militarie Gun, and MSPaint while the O’s played the Nationals. I was having a weird night for other reasons and just kept thinking, “I wish I were watching baseball right now.”
For some reason, I thought the O’s would lose Thursday’s game to the Red Sox and clinch on Friday. It was right after Brooks Robinson died, and they were doing a special tribute to Jim Palmer, so I thought it would be an extra special night at the Yard. I had plans to see Slowdive that weekend with a friend who bailed, so I sold the tickets and used the money to buy tickets to Friday’s game.
But I was too late. On Thursday night, they doused each other with champagne, and Ryan Mountcastle and Kevin Brown sang “I Miss You” by blink-182 in the locker room. On Friday, all the stars were too hungover to play. That infamous picture of Adley Rutschman looking queasy in the dugout is from that night. It was raining. Someone ran onto the field. We lost. Strange vibes! We’re going to do it all this year, though, and I’m going to be there for it.
In the first issue of your newsletter, you talked about finding a friend in art and the experience of returning to visit favorite paintings after the worst of the pandemic. How was your experience returning to live shows similar or different from returning to see visual art in person?
It was similarly joyful, and I didn’t realize until I returned how much I had missed live music. My first show back was a benefit at and for a D.C. DIY venue called Rhizome. It’s in an old house that was slated for demolition to build condos, and they were operating in “wait-and-see” mode for months. I’m happy they just bought a new, permanent home. Glitterer and a local band called Prude played, and it rocked. I have seen a lot more live music in the past two years than I did before the pandemic, because I know now that all things are passing and we should appreciate them while we can.
Any shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?
This summer, I’m going to a gig at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, which will be a fun taste of the Bruce Springsteen lifestyle, and hopefully I’ll see Fiddlehead again.
Thanks again for doing this! Anything else you want to shout out or discuss?
Thank you for having me. I’d like to shout out Girls Rock DC, Positive Force DC, Shining Life Press, Joint Custody Records, Songbyrd Music House, and Chris Richards—some of the pillars of our scene.
Colton Cowser, if you ever want to come on my radio show, I’m free on Monday night and would like to talk with you. Please respond to this and then come on my radio show on Monday night when I am free. (Kevin Brown, you too. I saw your 2023 year-end list.)
