The Self Portrait Gospel :: Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Season 9 Ep. 01 (Season Premiere) - Frank Hurricane Mar 07, 2026

Show notes

Frank Hurricane is much more that just a songwriter or spiritual soothsayer; he's a psychedelic pirate manning the ancient waters under the splintered sun's biblical breast. Like some cosmic character from J.M. Barrier's 1904 masterpiece "Peter Pan", Hurricane's artistic approach to life and his work are rare these days, as everything has been melted down into this galactic goop for social media, and the poisonous pull that is has on our senses and judgement of people, places, and things.

While we're making sure our posts are boosted and targeting our direct audience, you can find Hurricane riding shotgun on some of the most epic roller coasters across America as we take a much-needed spiritual journey with the musician and the colorfully capticating universe of atmospheric adrenaline he has created for an audience that he calls "Shrymps". His latest effort, "Southern Shrymp (In the Big City), which is set for release later this month on the Half Moon Bay, CA-based label Nudie Records, tells a tale of a young man on a quest in search of holy harmonies, exquisite experiences, and the songbook for spiritual survival in a world filled with chaos, and endless existentialism.

Season 8 Ep. 20 (Season Finale) - Chris Ballew (The Presidents Of The United States Of America) Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

Both prolific, and poetic, Seattle, Washington-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and all-around spiritual splendor Chris Ballew has been writing and rapidly recording music for over thirty years like no one's business. As the frontman and bassist for the alternative rock band The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Ballew started his career busking in the busy streets of Boston in the late 1980s alongside Phil Franklin as the duo Egg, before relocating to LA, where he met and befriended a young Beck. Eventually moving back to the Emerald City, Ballew quickly formed the Presidents with Dave Dederer and Jason Finn, and by the time their iconic-self titled album was released in 1995, the group had become multi-platinum artists, and the rest is history!

His disography is impeccable, intimate, full of laughter, and just what we need during these radically dark times. These days, you can find Ballew writing and recording music nonstop under his own name and the children's music project, Caspar Babypants, which has brought a great deal of peace and comfort into homes around the world for young parents and their bubbly babies. We need people like Ballew, and so do you!

Season 8 Ep. #19 - Tim Rutili (Califone) Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

Rutili's Califone has been around for nearly 30 years, if you can believe that. Rutili can't, and we talk about that for a mortal moment. Still, there were bigger topics on our minds, like ICE, the Trump administration, the pulverizing politics running rampant in our country, the confusing violence that seems to continue painting the numbing narrative of the "American Dream", and of course, the Grateful Dead. Rutili's music is both magical and intimately intense, as we find several concepts for coping, expressing, and exploring how music truly heals all wounds. As 2026 continues to roll out, Rutili prepares with Califone and Ugly Casanova for the Ice Cream Floats boat tour from Miami to Puerto Plata and the Dominican Republic this weekend, a short spring tour in April, and much more!

Season 8 Ep. #18 - Joe Roberts (LSD Worldpeace) Jan 16, 2026

Show notes

After relocating to the Bay Area in the late 1990s to pursue a vibrant vision of becoming a professional skateboarder, life had other plans for future artist, illustrator, and psychedelic painter Joe Robert (LSD Worldpeace). To properly pivot in the throes of reality, one has to put one foot in front of the other, and Roberts did just that. Later, studying at SFAI, he eventually began releasing books and zines such as accalimed titles "LSD Worldpeace", We Ate The Acid (61)A3HT3TA3," and 2021's "Clowns of Hyperspace", and has had several works featured in galleries like Slow Culture in LA and Marlborough Gallery in New York.

After a long break since the holidays, we sat down with Robert for an epic conversation about life's mysteries, creative chaos, youth, skateboarding, conspiracy theories, aliens, goverment mind control, world peace and his children, who have become his greatest inspiration. Roberts' work is influential, iconic and a radical reaction to the world and its cryptically comical side, while simultaneously allowing viewers to experience the spiritual secrets of the universe up close.

Season 8 Ep. #17 - Micah Nelson (Particle Kid) :: Part One Dec 21, 2025

Show notes

For the final episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast of 2025, we had the great pleasure of sitting down with multi-instrumentalist, activist, composer, and multimedia artist Micah Nelson (Particle Kid) to discuss the future of music streaming services like Spotify and the revolutionary reclaiming of musicians'/artists' intellectual property through a newly developed, creator-owned music and social media ecosystem powered by human intelligence called The Flow, which was developed, and founded by Mike Hanuschik. Join us for a mind-blowing conversation that takes several unexpected turns into the depths of creative culture, industry, and the fight for sonic survival. This multi-part episode will continue to explore the controversy and complexity of how these elements have destroyed the essence of not only a musician's living through their craft, but also a war that is sweeping the plaet as we speak.

Season 8 Ep. #16 - Joe Westerlund (Setting/Califone/The Dead Tongues/Meltdown Rodeo) Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

There are some folks you feel like you've known forever, and perhaps you have in some other life than the one you're currently occupying. Westerlund is one of those people. A sonic soul that shifts in and out of an atmospheric array of outfits and poetic projects, his presence is equal to his artistic output. Positive, curious, and above all, genuine. On this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we sit down with the Research Triangle-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and percussionist to talk about his unique connection to sound, working with several artists like Califone, Nathaniel Russel, Jake Xerxes Fusell, Bon Iver, and Sylvan Esso, writting, and recording his most recent effort "Curiosities from the Shift", and much more.

Season 8 Ep. #15 - Sessa Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

While conjouring those familiar relams of romanticism found within the captivating caves of Leonard Cohen, Eduardo Bort, and Donovan, Sao Paulo, Braizil-bases multi-instrumentalist Sergio Victor Sayeg, known professionally as Sessa, has sincerely brought to the sonic surface a mesmerizing meditation on life, lover, fatherhood, and cultural connection with his latest effort, "Pequena Vertigem de Amor (Lil' Love Vertigo)." A brilliant body of work that effortlessly flows from one end of the galaxy to the echoing canals of the listeners' eager ears who patiently wait for its humbling vibrations, Sessa takes us on a journey that is one for the books.

Season 8 Ep. #14 - Bob Nastanovich (Silver Jews/Pavement) - Part 2 Nov 28, 2025

Show notes

It's been almost a year since we last spoke to Nastanovich, and what a year it's been, to say the least. From touring to moving to Maco, GA, to an official docufiction about the band called "Pavements", and everything else in between, the group's lyrical legacy and existential existence have only grown over the decades, and we're here for every second of it. Nastanovich is one of those critical characters in the sonic story who takes you out on the harmonious horizon for the views, while simultaneously educating you on the elements along the way. Having been a member of Pavement for over three decades, Nastanovich has navigated all the visceral valleys and mountains of madness that bands experience, and lives to tell the tale.

Now one of the most celebrated and influential acts of their generation, Pavement is an iconic institution for indie artists everywhere. Join us on this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast as we traverse through the shadows of the past, present, and future to carefully collect the melodic memories and spellbinding efforts of one of the best to do it. Oh yeah, we also talk about plastic surgery, corporate corruption, building appliances, Chris Rock, and much more.

Season 8 Ep. #13 - Dan Horne and Austin McCutchen (Grateful Shred) Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

Since 2016, the LA-based supergroup, cover band, and iconic institution for all things Dead-related, Grateful Shred, has been a presence on the sonic scene for the last decade, emerging as one of the most well-respected and highly regarded acts of thier generation. Blending the essential efforts found within the Dead's early energy from the 1960s psychedelic era with the cosmic countryside of the early 1970s, the Shred, and its creative core have captured with incredible accuracy, the electrifying essence of the band with poetic precision.

After a lightning-in-the-bottle moment on Shakedown Street in 2017 during a Dead and Co. show at the Hollywood Bowl, the group's luck changed overnight when a viral video, "Busted at the Bowl," was uploaded to their YouTube channel, and the rest became harmonic history. On this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we sit down with Horne and McCutchen to chat about the group's origins, favorite eras/albums of the Dead, the Shred's debut album "Might As Well", Dan's Dubs, Blade's Boards, and much more.

Season 8 Ep. #12 - Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we sit down with the wizard behind the flowing crimson curtains of all things Uknown Mortal Orchestra, Ruban Nielson, to talk about his favorite cult classic horror films and how the unique process and trailblazing approach to some of those classics from the 1980s have inspired him on his melodic journey from the group's monumental 2011 self titled debut to their most recent EP "CURSE." Over the years, Nielson has kept a humbling philosophy on how he deals with the sonic success, and overall reality of being in a band that has not only transcended the cultural confines of "indie rock," but continues to create, and establish, exciting new melodic methods to bring out the best within.

Having recently stepped into the wide and winding world of jam band culture and the tonal tenacity of the tape trading subculture that iconically came about during the Grateful Dead's radical reign on society, Nielson eagerly encourages fans to document UMO shows by using analog equipment such as film cameras, reel-to-reel machines, and other various tape recording instruments to not only capture the essence of the band live, but to be a part of something much bigger than the band istself.

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