Chatty Crafties Podcast

That's Yasmin Youssef. Full-time multi-layered visual artist. Previously a User Experience Designer and professional dancer. Ethereal observer and watcher of the moon. Her gilded artwork can shimmer in your very own home, or would make a thoughtful gift for someone special since -hint, hint, some gift-giving holidays are coming up. Yasmin’s art studio is located in east Austin and you will hopefully be able to catch her at some upcoming art shows, depending on the pandemic. Sidenote: the podcast took a 6 month pause so I could grieve a snowball of losses in the family, but I’m trying to channel that into my art, which perfectly aligns with this month’s guest. I’m Angelica Norton. Stay tuned for my monthly chat. www.chattycrafties.com

That's Josh Block. Phenomenal drummer. Music producer slash arranger slash audio engineer. Owner of recording studio––and now label––Niles City Sound in Fort Worth, Texas. He played and toured with rock and roll band White Denim for many years, and later helped launch the career of R&B singer-songwriter Leon Bridges, which he casually mentions but is a pretty big deal; so is the grammy. Josh’s ear for capturing timeless vocalists, proclivity for warm sounds from vintage equipment, and innate understanding of rhythm make for a lovely recording, if you're in the market for a hit. But the only thing better than hearing my friend on the radio is catching up with him in real life.

That’s Natascha Boland. Self-proclaimed over-sharer. Sometimes writer. Private vlogger. Dance-party-maker. She shares her vulnerable tale of facing her mortality through living with cancer. She reached out to her Facebook friends to help her fill her days with happy distractions, so I challenged her to think about her creative legacy for posterity in an interview with me. I wanted to say that I don’t have practice talking about the heartbreak of a shortened life; my personal experience is actually that of losing a friend suddenly. So my tone of voice is one of huge appreciation and not of missing the weight of the conversation – I hope it reads that way to you as well.

It's been a minute since I release an episode. I actually recorded this with Amber Moreno, Diana Stahl, and Genevieve Saenz back in August, but because of 2020, I needed to rest. You may be experiencing something similar. If you'd like to snuggle in and think about sleep hygiene and bediquette, please get in your favorite position under a soft blanket and join us for this week's episode.

That's me, Angelica Norton. For this episode, my chatty daughters, Eloise and Ansley, took over my hosting duties to ask me some of the questions I normally pose to my guests and to give crafting advice. Now, more than ever, it's important to be creative so we don't feel stir-crazy in the midst of a pandemic, and in order to find ways to express our tumultuous feelings during social unrest. Let's all shift perspective and ask questions to see what we can learn from each other - and like Eloise says, "actually listen."

That's Kendall Angelle.  As a Black creative with his finger on the pulse of art, music, fashion, and culture, he curates and shares incredible artists and ideas on his website, Fresh Aesthetic.  We were good friends in high school back in Houston and the early years of when we both moved to Austin after graduation.  In support of Black Lives Matter and protests against police violence, I wanted to use my platform to elevate voices of color, so I reached out to my old pal.  And it seems especially appropriate to support someone who is going out of his way to support other creatives.  https://freshaesthetic23.com

This week on a special Handbag Hangout Poetry night, I've rounded up Amber, Diana, Sara, Maria, and Genevieve to read poetry with me.  Our friendship was cultivated while writing poetry and furiously journaling in high school in the late 90's, which bound us tightly as very close friends over the past 20 years.  Since becoming adults, we have made a point to meet monthly (to reinforce and celebrate our identities before we became partners, spouses, mothers, or professional people), which came to be known as Handbag Hangouts as a dirty joke over beers.  Since COVID-19, we've upped our Handbags to a weekly Zoom meeting to dish out our love and support for each other.  (Please do forgive the quality of the recording since we weren't able to meet in person.)

That's Matt Norton.  My sweet husband sat down with me again for a quarantine special to explain modular synthesizers to me.  We want to de-mystify modular synths to inspire our friends out there to use this time at home to get creative.  We also want to look at the positive sides of being in quarantine, because it’s incredibly overwhelming otherwise.  We hope you guys are staying healthy and safe, or are resting if you need to recover from being sick.  We love you.

That's Neal Stilley. Friction-fire starter, atlatl thrower, tool-maker, Vietnam vet, and student of nature – Neal loves to share his incredibly extensive knowledge of primitive technologies to bring a connective tissue to how people lived in a simpler time. He brought his collection of hand-made tools and scat display boxes over to my house to bring life to his stories, which he uses in his outreach classes. If you catch him at any of his east texas courses this spring, kick off your shoes and get ready to touch some bones.

That's Gretchen Du Prè.  Fiber artist, landscape designer, musician slash singer, mother, and beautifier.  Gretchen’s own string theory is: if there’s a way to knit it, play it, draw it, or sew it, she wants to get her hands on it.  If you see her around town and compliment something she made - watch out, you might be wearing it home.

That's Ryan Dilbert.  As a creative writing teacher of 4th graders, he lovingly shapes young writers by utilizing all the other facets of his life: as a father of two young girls, husband to Julie, published author, pro wrestling journalist for Bleacher Report, stand-up comedian and performer, and tattoo artist and illustrator.  In his summers off, he's hungry to do more, like developing screenplays, writing another novel, and trying his hand at graphic novel.

That's Jen Grudza.  Project Coordinator for Moontower, quilter, bag-maker, dog parent to Mr. Winston, and wife.  She is my new crafty inspiration and muse.  I’m drawn to her because I relate to her need to make soft or yummy things to give away, like hugs.  Recently she has been exploring a functional style with durable materials like canvas, leather, and cork, and upcycling old jeans.  Her beautiful handmade items involve slicing intricate patterns and following complicated directions - that I’m anxious to get a lesson on now that I bought my first paper-piecing quilt pattern.

For my birthday today, I recorded a quick episode of the story I performed on the stage at Spiderhouse Ballroom on Thursday, October 24th for Testify (a monthly storytelling group in Austin) for October's theme, Craft.  My story I recorded tonight (which is better audio than I captured on my camera) is about this podcast, so if you want a 16 minute sampler of what Chatty Crafties is all about, have a listen.

That's Chad Raines, sometimes known as Rad Chains, but it depends if you find him on the divine stage or in real life.  His artistic lens is aimed at the juxtaposition between giving a rough edge to the prestigious and elevating the overlooked.  He swings between between musical theatre to performing in spandex with his band The Simple Pleasure.  He arranged and played the music to my wedding, and even more importantly to Matt and me, he made the "Egyptian Lover" music video of our friend Basil Malaty.  Having something so precious to look at when my friend was no longer around eventually lead to me to creating this podcast, so I can give stage to the essence of people I hold dear for posterity.

That's Eloise.  Child actor, big sister, and my incredible daughter with a memory like a steel trap. She spent the summer working on her first professional play with Different Stages Theatre Company in Austin, Texas.  I wanted to capture her pure connection to playing characters when playing pretend was still an instinct instead of a distant, adult memory.

That's Graham.  As a musician and sound engineer, then as a producer of film and television, and now as general contractor and home builder for Curate Custom Homes, Graham has taken the puzzle pieces, flipped them over, and made sense of the big picture in order to tell the story.  He is also an occasional visual artist (if the occasion was to propose marriage to Amanda, who was my guest in episode 26) and woodworker if a project tells him it needs to be made.  He finds the creative process of collaborating most rewarding, and spends his down time from building houses with his wife and their three kids.

That’s Lisa. Over-achieving baker, busy commercial real estate attorney, and my best friend slash cousin. There’s no cake too crazy for her kitchen and she’s passing on her love of making excruciatingly beautiful baked goods to her six year old daughter— from scratch—with a few tweaks until it’s just right.

That’s Angie Obermeyer, née Johnson. Semi-professional dancer, reluctant advertiser, wife, and mother of three. She’s a factory sleeper - you wouldn’t know she was a sucker for technique while chatting on the playground afterschool but once you get her talking about it, her passion for dance becomes immediately apparent, as is her drive to make dance performances more accessible to the general public.

That’s Kelsey. Actor, lover of musical theatre, grad student in psychology, and my emotionally mature office manager. She pressed pause on acting until it felt fun again, and now has her heart set on starting theatre company and opening a space sometime in the future. Her positivity and drive are contagious, so I’m thankful she keeps us organized while she spins so many plates of her own.

That's Floyd. Bassist in a punk band, park event coordinator, dutiful dad and husband–and my older brother. We had a chat over the Christmas break at our Mom's house about our shared creative influences growing up and explored the overlay of being a performer that also produces various events at Discovery Green in Houston. We also took a moment to put his 10-year-old daughter on for a quick dip into her artistic interests. Find more on his band, Dead to the World, @deadtotheworldtx on Facebook.