"I would never want to kill my kid’s creativity. The way to kill somebody's creativity is to take control. You choose them for them." - Buffalo Bills' cornerback and children's book author, Christian Benford thecreativeindependent.com/people/footb...

I'm using this @thecreativeindependent.com Q&A in a class I'm teaching tonight; every time I read it I notice something new. "Having a really rigid artificial structure allows me freedom ... Having an alarm go off and saying, 'That's the end of my creative day,' that allows you to relax into it."

TCI is looking rl prutty today ✨ @thecreativeindependent.com

Grateful to have this convo with my buddy Laura Feinstein for @thecreativeindependent.com on the ultra marathon of writing a book. thecreativeindependent.com/people/journ...

"But it’s hard. I am not a spokesperson. Every trauma is different, but we must realize, also, there are commonalities. You are never in [total] solitude." The incomprable Neige Sinno breaks down her process today in the @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

LOVE our conversation for @thecreativeindependent.com @aidenarata.bsky.social thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

I interviewed @maris.bsky.social for @thecreativeindependent.com about burning down the publishing industry thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

It was a particular thrill to talk to @scarletteharris.bsky.social for the Creative Independent given that it was started mere weeks after I left my job at Kickstarter. thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

Really enjoyed my conversation with writer Boris Fishman for @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

If you ever wanted to know what @thecreativeindependent.com actually is, beside being my favourite #interview website, this 2016 convo with Ian MacKaye of #Fugazi is a great place to start.

i spoke with ela minus about broken systems and paths forward. thecreativeindependent.com/people/music...

Honored to have an interview up on @thecreativeindependent.com about running a independent comics press. Thank you @slamkusek.bsky.social for making it happen! thecreativeindependent.com/people/indie...

THIS!

Check out my latest interview for @thecreativeindependent.com with the indelible author Alejandro Heredia. thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

It's our last ACCOMPLISHMENT SUNDAY of the month so we're starting it with nonfiction! 😍 Contributor Elisa Gabbert published the essay "30 Ideas About Writing Nonfiction" in @thecreativeindependent.com. Get your coffee and read it now: buff.ly/LNJMygD

The poet, essayist, and critic Elisa Gabbert offers 30 ideas around making your nonfiction interesting.

Deafheaven, billy woods, Fcukers, and more to play Basilica Soundscape 2025

Thank you Fez Gielen and @thecreativeindependent.com for this excellent interview. It included all the stuff that’s important to me. I appreciate it. thecreativeindependent.com/people/podca...

We have some TCI t-shirts available, in a final edition of 50. I thought these were all gone, but found a box in storage. Once they're gone, they're gone. Appreciate the help on getting them out into the world, @metalabel.bsky.social. tci.metalabel.com/finalshirt?v...

Deafheaven, billy woods, Fcukers, and more are playing this year's edition of Basilica Soundscape www.brooklynvegan.com/deafheaven-b...

Early bird tix for Basilica Hudson’s Soundscape are available until 6/19. First wave of announcements includes Deafheaven, billy woods, Fcukers and more! #livemusic #hudsonvalley #concerts

Had such a great interview with @katemckean.bsky.social abut juggling agenting with writing her own work, ahead of the publication of her book next week thecreativeindependent.com/people/autho... via @thecreativeindependent.com

I interviewed Jasmine Rogers, a very funny (and very wise) comedian, today at TCI. I'd gone to see my brother in Boise, saw her comedy set, too, and was blown away. Very smart, very on it. She has so much great stuff to say here... Sign her up SNL. thecreativeindependent.com/people/comed...

this piece by old friend jenn pelly (‪@jennpelly.bsky.social‬) about waxahatchee is so great. ambitious and detailed, heartbreaking and life-affirming, personal and universal--it feels like one of my favorite 90s zines, or something, and it could be a book. oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/on-th...

diy

I'm collecting all of America's greatest novelists for @thecreativeindependent.com. This time it's Curtis Sittenfeld! thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

lowkey version of seeing my name in lights...today i'm on @thecreativeindependent.com, my favorite website thecreativeindependent.com/people/music...

I'd made TCI long sleeve t-shirts a ways back. I thought they were all gone, but found a box of them, so will be selling them soon with the help of @metalabel.bsky.social. Just going to sell for the cost of postage, basically, so won't be expensive. Fugazi prices!

fugazi

i just drank an afternoon coffee and am planning to go through my inbox while listening to my bloody valentine. wish me luck.

"I think as a writer, I don’t know if anything–I mean, this is going to sound very hokey, but like, maybe there’s no such thing as failure." Genius interview with @wheatfu.bsky.social author of Masquerade @thecreativeindependent.com .🌕🥀🖤 thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

"I finally found ... a way of thinking about art as a matter of listening and not as a matter of having something to say." I talked to the marvelous & wise A. Kendra Greene for @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

I am once again thinking about this line from @thecreativeindependent.com interview with perfume genius thecreativeindependent.com/people/music...

hi. tci (me) is in mexico city for a few days. i was here a few years ago, also for some tci stuff, and loved it. what art should i see / hear / experience while i'm here?

Dancer, writer, and musician Brontez Purnell on feeling in control – The Creative Independent #creativity

Thanks to Hurley Winkler for interviewing me for The Creative Independent! We talked about writing both as a process and as a career, the joys of teaching and service to others, and even a bit about running and life-work balance.

I recently had a great chat with @rebeccahiscott.bsky.social at the Creative Independent. You can read the interview here…

i need to get better about posting here. 🌱🐌

"I feel like making art has been simultaneously undervalued and yet cordoned off as a luxury activity." lots to think about in @dianaruzova.bsky.social's excellent interview with @rosiebrand.bsky.social in @thecreativeindependent.com today! thecreativeindependent.com/people/artis...

Great interview by @thecreativeindependent.com with Neko Case, who is writing the Broadway adaptation of THELMA AND LOUISE (!!) that's perfect. There's lots of gold in here: thecreativeindependent.com/people/singe...

Great interview with actor/writer/director Cherien Dabis (Mo's sister on the Netflix show!) on the responsibility that goes along with the power of storytelling. Via @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/actor...

Well, @thecreativeindependent.com hasn't posted here in 18 days and both the interviewer and interviewee are still only on the other place, but it's a nice read thecreativeindependent.com/people/music...

Really enjoyed talking to @rosiebrand.bsky.social for @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/artis...

One of the best most inspiring conversations I’ve ever had! @thecreativeindependent.com thecreativeindependent.com/people/artis...

"My favorite thing to say is the magic happens when the magician disappears. Once I get out of the way, the magic happens." — from a beautiful conversation with the artist Reginald Madison. thecreativeindependent.com/people/visua...

ON CREATING SYSTEMS THAT WORK 🖇️ thecreativeindependent.com/people/composer-chris-rountree-on-creating-systems-that-work A @thecreativeindependent.com chat with @orionrountree.bsky.social artistic director of Wild Up & creator of our recent 3 BPM album. revisit 3 BPM: brassland.ffm.to/3BPM 🌀🟣🌀

I'm going to be in Idaho in a couple of weeks to see my brother at Treefort Music Festival. I plan to bring a bunch of (free) TCI zines and will leave some at local independent record shops, bookstores, etc., if you want one.

"A sense of place is lacking in most of our American lives and art and music and everything. Everyone moves around so much. Kids grow up in five different places and return to nowhere." —Phil Elverum, interviewed by Brandon Stosuy www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

Creative people, if you're feeling down, just follow @thecreativeindependent.com. They offer emotional support to go with your coffee and many reads of wisdom to choose from. So glad I just re-discovered them after my short stay on Threads. Also, their website uses a soothing typeface.

This 2018 conversation we had with Sean Baker about not giving up, working multiple jobs, having faith in yourself, rejection, etc., really resonates after his four Oscars. (Reminder: the idea of an "overnight success" is, largely, a fantasy... keep going!) thecreativeindependent.com/people/filmm...