The Two Tape Decks in Your Head with Rhys Langston

I met rapper, writer, visual artist, and technical octuple threat Rhys Langston when he opened for This Is Your Afterlife's 200th guest, Open Mike Eagle, at a show in Cleveland. As I say to him in this episode, there were telltale signs he was my type of guy. I think he'll be your type of guy too. We recorded near the end of the NBA playoffs, as my partner and I were deepening our Cavs and general basketball fandom, and it just so happens Rhys has an entire former life as a basketball player. And that's not even his coma! Enjoy our conversation, and do yourself the favor of checking out his music. It's especially good for summer.We talk about: working in multiple art forms, the tingle vs. the cold sweats, being too intense, amassing an archive of your own work, brain breaking after calling off an engagement, how many notebooks he uses at once, (Long) COVID & brain fog, wishing your art was more of a conversation, anhedonia, berries from the neighbor's yard, George Jackson, Octavia Butler, My Life as a Night Elf Priest.This Is Your Afterlife is made possible by listeners like you on Patreon. Support the show and get bonus episodes by subscribing to TIYA After Dark:https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlifeFollow Rhys:https://rhyslangston.substack.com/https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/https://www.instagram.com/rhyslangston/Need a starting point with his massive music catalog? Try...Pale Black Negative:https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/album/pale-black-negativeand/orLanguage Arts Unit:https://rhyslangston.bandcamp.com/album/language-arts-unitEspecially be on the lookout for his Pacific Northwest tour dates June 29–July 4 (details on IG) + his album and debut book of poetry, both coming in October (on his birthday, of course).Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:https://thisisyourafterlife.com/https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/[email protected] by TIYA house band Lake Mary:https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/Artwork by Matt Sage:https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/