Usual Pets

Nov 06 2021

Usual Pets Podcast artwork

No art, no life! Artistic process is a potent means of enhancing everyday life. Join "Usual Pets" Richard Gilbert & Jeff Cairns, twice monthly as they share original music and art, discuss art-process, practice, and artistic life lived day by day in a usual way. Come here to listen to tales of shakuhachi, meditation, haiku, philosophy, and more, from the slopes of a volcano on the island of Kyushu, Japan.

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Ep 7 | Alchemical Listening, with Dong-Won Kim

Nov 06 2021 58 mins

Today, we are honored to be speaking with musician and professor Dong-Won Kim. Our discussion begins with his formative days, forged from the turmoil of 20th century Korea, onward to his realization of the depth of meaning found at the heart of traditional commoner's music; and entryways to his creative space. We also discuss the chemistry of creation, intention, emptiness, the act

Ep 6 | Rounding off the Angular, with Grandmaster Don Baird

Sep 02 2021 70 mins

Today, we are honored to be speaking with Grandmaster Don Baird (American School of Martial Arts; Chang Moo Kwan Kung Fu). Though martial arts are rarely thought of as being imbued with artistic process, our discussion sheds light on the more refined realm of the practice, as developed though several decades in Don's advanced levels of Black Belt training. "Rounding off the angular

Ep 5 | Test Pattern

Aug 15 2021 64 mins

Today, we at Usual Pets will be horsing around! We'll jam on the never-ending fullness of zeros, entryways to artful process through tension and release, how to write a first word, creative spaces in virtual worlds--and, does capitalism foster creativity? To kick it off, Richard offers the four-minute "Test Pattern," a poem set to music, our WTF (wonderous-transmogrified-filament)

Ep 4 | Another World, with Aragaki Mutsumi

Jul 31 2021 60 mins

We at Usual Pets are very pleased to talk with Okinawan singer, sanshin player and creative being, Aragaki Mutsumi. Following the paths of Okinawan music maestros Fukuhara Chōki and Fukuhara Kyōko, she is noted for transferring the soul of Okinawan music into a modern milieu, incorporating eletronica and environmental music into her unique compositions, she was recently invited t

Ep 3 | Hey MA!

Jul 05 2021 46 mins

In Episode 3: “Hey MA!” at Usual Pets, we at Usual Pets first present a WTF (Wondrous Transmogrified Filaments), a sonic cognition featuring Jeff’s shakuhachi playing. Following this, we discuss the fractal arrangement of worlds, the Japanese concept of MA with respect to space and silence, darkness and the intrigue of dreams, finding the musician within, pragmatic impractica

Ep 2 | Music for Cows—Viral Superficiality

Jun 18 2021 76 mins

In Episode 2, "Music for Cows—Viral Superficiality," your hosts Richard Gilbert and Jeff Cairns at Usual Pets continue their exploration of art process in everyday life. Today we have a special guest with us, from across the big pond; John March, an audio and video engineer, producer, artist, composer, musician, who offers a fascinating hour, speaking on his career in contemporar

Ep 1 | The Leap

Mar 09 2021 37 mins

In our inaugural podcast, Usual Pets takes a leap into new landscapes and territory. What is Usual Pets? Your hosts Richard Gilbert and Jeff Cairns delve into the mysteries and potential benefits of art process in everyday life--often in non-linear and creative ways. We begin this and each episode with a monologue combining spoken-word with original music, and this springboards us