The Artist's Work Ethic

Terry Walters is an actor who has starred in films such as Crimes and Misdemeanors, La La Land, and Babylon. Her television credits include Euphoria, All Rise, Undone, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, and Santa Clarita Diet. Terry has also appeared in national commercials and stars in Facetiming with Mommy with Olivia Hamilton. She recently completed filming a recurring role on American Classic for MGM+/Amazon Prime, acting alongside Kevin Kline, Laura Linney, and Jon Tenney.

Steven Wiig is a filmmaker, musician and actor best known for his roles in Sean Penn's "Into The Wild", Gus Van Sant's "Milk" and James Franco's childhood-inspired "Yosemite". He’s also been part of the Metallica inner circle for decades working as a videographer and photographer, assisting Lars, and a number of other roles. 

Oliver Trevena is an actor/producer/entrepreneur who’s worked on a number of projects including “Hotel Tehran” with Liam Neeson and Zachary Levi, TIFF’s “The Cut” with Orlando Bloom, and “Ice Fall” opposite Joel Kinnaman, for which he also served as executive producer.  Oliver was honored by the Rome Film Festival with the “Breakout Actor” award by his friend and “Plane” co-star, Gerard Butler at the premiere screening of his film, “The Paradox Effect” in which he stars opposite Harvey Keitel and Olga Kurylenko. He recently released the film “Misdirection” which he also produced, and stars alongside Olga Kurylenko and Frank Grillo.  

After a year and a half away, The Artist’s Work Ethic Podcast is officially coming back.In this short relaunch episode, I share why I stepped away, what changed during the break, and how the podcast is evolving moving forward.This next chapter focuses less on schedules and numbers—and more on meaningful, in-depth conversations with artists across music, film, writing, and more.Expect a less formulaic approach, video episodes where possible, and a renewed focus on the habits, mindset, and work ethic behind creative success.

Tim Montana is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Tim’s music ranges from country rock to straightforward radio friendly hard rock. He’s toured and collaborated with Kid Rock and ZZ Top, played on The Late Show with David Letterman, and is hitting the road with Bush, Jerry Cantrell and Candlebox. 

Paul Redford is a television writer and producer. He is best known as a writer for The West Wing. His other writing credits include work on Designated Survivor, Big Love, The Newsroom, and Madam Secretary. His work as a producer includes The West Wing, The Unit, and Journeyman. In 2023, Paul joined the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart in its 10th season as a co-executive producer.

Cyrus is the drummer for the pop-punk band, New Found Glory. New Found Glory has multiple gold records, and went platinum for the record Sticks and Stones. They continue to tour relentlessly, and are heading out soon on the 20th anniversary tour for their record Catalyst. 

Deirdre Lovejoy is actor best known for her role as Assistant State’s Attorney Rhonda Pearlman on the HBO series, The Wire, where she appeared in all 60 episodes. She is also known for her roles as serial killer Heather Taffet (aka "The Gravedigger") on the Fox series Bones, White House Counsel Cynthia Panabaker on NBC's series The Blacklist, and in the Steven Spielberg film The Post with Tom Hanks.

Rebecca Elliot is an author best known for her New York Times bestselling children’s series, The Owl Diaries, which was adapted into a show on Apple TV. She’s also the author of the acclaimed Young Adult novels, Pretty Funny for a Girl, and Pretty Rude for a Girl. My kids love The Owl Diaries, and her similar series The Unicorn Diaries, so I’ve spent a lot of time reading her books, and this interview really impressed my kids.

Allison Wolfe co-founded and sings for the punk band Bratmobile, which helped to establish the feminist punk movement riot grrrl. Allison has also played in a slew of other bands and created the non-profit music festival Ladyfest. She currently teaches music journalism at UCLA, hosts and co-produces a podcast “I’m in the Band,” does freelance music journalism, public speaking, teaches ESL/EFL, DJ-ing and continues to sing in Bratmobile.

Stacey Dee sings and plays guitar in the punk band Bad Cop/Bad Cop. Bad Cop/Bad Cop are currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords, and have toured the world. As Stacey mentions, they’re currently working on a new record, and can be seen supporting NOFX on select dates of NOFX’s final tour.

Ted Bowne  is a musician best known as the singer and guitar player for the reggae rock band, Passafire. Passafire has had multiple albums reach #1 on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums Chart. Passafire has toured with bands such as Pepper, 311, Rebelution, Matisyahu, The Wailers, and Slightly Stoopid. 

Lew Temple is an actor who has appeared in many movies and TV shows. Notably, he appeared as the character Axel in season 3 of The Walking Dead. On the big screen he’s been seen in The Lone Ranger, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Unstoppable, Déjà Vu, Domino, Halloween, The Devils Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Waitress, and many more.

Chris Carter is a TV writer, producer, and director best known for creating The X-Files. Chris also created the shows Millennium, The Lone Gunmen, Harsh Realm, and The After. The X-Files earned 2 Primetime Emmys out of 16 nominations, and 5 Golden Globes out of 12 nominations. In addition to creating the show, Chris wrote and/or directed many episodes throughout the show’s run. 

Richard Fancy is an actor best known for his long recurring role as Mr. Lippman, Elaine Benes’ boss on Seinfeld. Along his extensive career, Richard has been seen in films such as Being John Malkovich, The Girl Next Door, Hollywoodland, and Tango and Cash. On TV, in addition to Seinfeld, he’s been in The District, Ray Donavan, The Closer, The West Wing, Friends, The Wonder Years, and many more. 

Kristopher Turner is an actor best known for his roles on the medical drama series Saving Hope and the teen drama Instant Star. Other film and TV credits include The LA Complex, Without a Paddle: Nature Calls, and A Little Bit Zombie. 

Lee Eelus is a UK based artist. In London in the early 2000s Lee discovered the world of street art. He started experimenting with stencil-based works and went by the name Eelus. Banksy saw Lee's work around the East End before inviting him to release his first screenprint edition through the renowned print studio Pictures on Walls.The picture of a young girl walking a Star Wars At-At sold out quickly, establishing Eelus as a favorite amongst collectors. The image has since become iconic and is considered a defining piece of the emerging art movement.

Stevie Williams is the singer for Australian punk band, Clowns. Clowns was nominated for the 2019 ARIA Award for best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal album. They’ve toured extensively and will be supporting NOFX on their final Australian shows. Clowns has a new record out on Fat Wreck Chords called Endless.

Frank Iero plays guitar in both My Chemical Romance and LS Dunes. My Chemical Romance has a couple platinum records and has toured the world extensively. LS Dunes features Frank playing alongside members of Thursday, Circa Survive and Coheed & Cambria. 

Tom May plays guitar and is one of the two vocalists in The Menzingers. The Menzingers have toured the world with bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Tigers Jaw, and Off With Their Heads. They’ve put out 7 studio albums, the most recent being Some Of It Was True, which was just released on Epitaph Records. 

Padraig Reynolds has written and directed four feature horror films. His films RITES OF SPRING, WORRY DOLLS, OPEN 24 HOURS, and DARK LIGHT have been seen on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Tubi and Amazon. Padraig has also directed five music videos for Sumerian Records. His award-winning short film The Election, featured well known character actors Lin Shaye and Ray Wise. He wrote the Sony Television mini series Buried Alive and has written and has developed a script for Sean Cunningham (producer of Friday the 13th and Last House on the Left).

Sam Farrar is a musician who plays bass in the bands Maroon 5 and Phantom Planet. In addition to playing those bands, Sam also writes and produces music when he’s not on tour, working with artists such as Sara Bareilles, Band of Horses, and Mandy Moore.

Duppy Demetrius is a screenwriter and producer who has worked extensively in TV. He wrote for the hit show 24 for several seasons, then wrote on The Closer for five seasons, and Major Crimes for six seasons, rising to the level of executive producer. He also spent time on Hawaii Five-O, Seal Team, and Kidnapped.

Glen Morgan is a screenwriter, director and producer with many TV credits. Among them, Glen has co-written a ton of episodes of The X-Files, and was also an executive producer on the show’s 11th season. Glen was one of the writers of the first Final Destination movie, and also wrote and directed the 2006 remake of Black Christmas. He recently executive produced the Twilight Zone reboot with Jordan Peele.

Adrienne Acevedo Lovette is an award-winning director, actor, writer, and producer. Adrienne produced and assistant directed a coming-of-age drama called BROWNSVILLE BRED, which premiered at SXSW and won the "AUDIENCE AWARD" for best episodic pilot. She currently has a feature film called I’M OKAY, WE’RE OKAY that she wrote, directed, and stars in, and is currently on the festival circuit.As an actor, some of Adrienne’s TV credits include BETTER CALL SAUL, RAY DONOVAN, MASTER OF NONE, MR. ROBOT, and GOTHAM. She is also known for her role in the film SUNLIGHT JR playing opposite Naomi Watts.Make sure you check out Mentor's on the Mic podcast, hosted by Michelle Simone Miller, and follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mentorsonthemic/

Cleon Peterson is an LA based artist whose chaotic and violent paintings show clashing figures in a struggle between power and submission in the fluctuating architecture of contemporary society. He started as a graphic designer, before working as an assistant to Shepard Fairey. Since breaking out on his own, his work has been exhibited around the world. 

Michael McGlone is an actor, writer, and musician. As an actor, Michael’s breakout role was in the Edward Burns film, The Brothers McMullen, as Patrick McMullen. He went on to work with Burns several more times, notably starring in She’s The One. On the big screen he’s also been seen in films such as The Bone Collector, One Tough Cop and Hardball. On TV, he recurred on Person of Interest, and recently guest starred on NCIS: Hawaii, The Rookie: Feds, SWAT, and was also in a series of "rhetorical question" Geico commercials. 

Tucker Rule is the drummer for the bands Thursday and LS Dunes. In the past he has also spent time drumming for Yellowcard, Murphy’s Law, My Chemical Romance and The Wanted. 

Terry Serpico is an actor who is currently recurring on Law & Order: SVU as Chief of Detectives, Tommy McGrath. He’s been working professionally for a long time, with his first major role in Donnie Brasco alongside Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. He’s also been seen in films such as Hannibal, Michael Clayton, The Interpreter and The Purge: Election Year; as well as TV shows such as Yellowstone, Army Wives, Cobra Kai, and Designated Survivor. 

Mike Watt is a legendary bassist, who in addition to his solo work, has played bass in The Minutemen, Firehose, and The Stooges. He’s collaborated with a who’s who of the rock world, including Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, Mike D and so many more. 

Kadia Saraf is an actor and screenwriter who has been recurring on Law and Order: SVU, and has also been seen in Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, FBI: International and a number of others. Kadia also recently received a “story by” writing credit on an episode of Law and Order: SVU. 

Chris Cresswell is a musician known for being the guitarist and singer of the band The Flatliners, as well as guitarist and backing vocalist of the band Hot Water Music, who he’s been playing with since 2017. In addition to those two bands, he releases solo music, and co-owns a merch company called Cut Loose Merch.

Casey Cavaliere is guitarist and a founding member of The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years have released six full length albums, and toured the world extensively. In addition to The Wonder Years, Casey is a music producer, podcast host, and artist coach. 

James Bowman is a musician, best known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the punk band Against Me!. He also runs Bowman Audio Endeavors where he hand builds guitar pedals which you can check out at bowmanaudioendeavors.com.

Susan Merson is an actor, writer, and teacher. Susan has appeared in TV shows and films such as Terminator 3, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, most recently Netflix’s The Watcher, and a ton more. She’s taught at NYU and Cal State Fullerton. Susan has written and produced a number of plays in both NY and LA. As an author she’s written several books, including her most recent novel, How We Saw The Moon.

Mark Pellington is a director and producer who has worked in features, TV, and music videos. Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies, and Going All The Way are a few of the films he’s directed. In TV, he’s directed episodes of Blindspot, Cold Case and many others. He’s also been prolific in music videos, directing videos by Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, The Foo Fighters, Demi Lovato, Michael Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Nine Inch Nails, Alice in Chains, Public Enemy, U2, REM and many more. 

Steve Evetts is a legendary record producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist. Having been a prominent producer for 30 years, he has worked with many artists such as The Cure, The Wonder Years, New Found Glory, Snapcase, Glassjaw, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Misfits, Saves The Day, Senses Fail, Every Time I Die, The Used and countless others. His body of work contains so many records that have been highly influential to me personally.

Jack Irons is the founding drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a former member of Pearl Jam, The Wallflowers, and Eleven. In addition, he has spent time drumming for Neil Young, Joe Strummer, and Mark Lanegan. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He recently released a solo EP called Dreamer’s Ball.

Shawn Stern is the singer and guitar player for the influential punk band Youth Brigade, which he formed in Los Angeles in 1980 alongside his brothers, Mark and Adam. Shawn then co-founded BYO Records, which put out releases by The Bouncing Souls, 7 Seconds, among many others. These days Shawn runs the annual Punk Rock Bowling music festival in Las Vegas, NV, and still takes the stage with Youth Brigade. 

Tim Barry is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the lead singer of the Richmond, Virginia-based punk rock band Avail. In addition to Avail, Tim has been performing solo music on his own since 2004.

Frank Turner is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. To date, Turner has released nine solo albums, one split album and five EPs. His ninth and most recent studio album, FTHC reached number 1 in the UK albums chart in the week following its release.

Ryan Andes is a New York-based voice actor, singer, film and stage actor. Ryan booked his first Broadway show, Big Fish, in 2013. After that, he began booking guest star roles in TV, including Person of Interest, Elementary, The Path, and YOU. Ryan has voice actor credits in cartoons, anime, video games and commercials including Yu Gi Oh, Pokemon, Grimlock, Shockwave, and the new Transformers: Cyberverse.

Joe Trohman is best known as the lead guitarist for the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated band Fall Out Boy, which he co-founded in 2001. In addition to Fall Out Boy, Joe has worked in screenwriting, comics, and recently released a book called None of this Rocks. 

Ben Green is a musician and producer best known as guitar player for the band Fairweather. Fairweather recently released a new EP called Deluge on Equal Vision Records, their first new music since 2014. Fairweather has toured with bands such as Thursday, Brand New, and Saves the Day. Ben also runs a recording studio in Washington DC called Ivakota. 

DaJuan Johnson is an actor who is best known for seven seasons as Detective Pierce on the Amazon show Bosch. He’s also guest starred on Grey’s Anatomy, Narcos, NCIS, 24 and a ton of others. DaJuan is also the host of the Think Bigger Actors podcast, and is an actors mindset coach. 

Scott Rosenbaum is a film and television screenwriter, producer, and showrunner. He has served as the executive producer and showrunner of multiple series including ABC's science fiction drama V, Fox's crime drama Gang Related, NBC's Chuck, USA’s Queen of the South and as an executive producer on FX's drama The Shield. As an original member of The Shield writing staff, Rosenbaum won a Golden Globe for Best Drama. 

Chef Mary Lou Davis recently appeared on Season 19 of Gordon Ramsay’s Hells Kitchen TV show, where she finished as the runner up. Originally from Texas, she went through culinary school and then worked her way up from dishwasher to executive chef, and is now cooking in the Bay Area. Mary Lou also has a Youtube channel called Geeks and Grubs where she cooks food from her favorite movies and TV shows.

Ian MacKaye is a musician and record label owner. He is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore punk band Minor Threat and post-hardcore band Fugazi.

Amanda Leigh Cobb is an actor and voice artist, who’s been seen on TV and Broadway, and is the voice of some of your favorite audio books. On Broadway, she’s been featured in The Country Girl with Morgan Freeman, The Coast of Utopia and a number of others. On TV you’ve seen her in Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Med, Scandal, and many more. 

Nicholas Lea is an actor best known for portraying Alex Krycek on The X-Files and Tom Foss on Kyle XY. He’s also recurred in the shows The Killing, Continuum, and The Commish and appeared in a ton of other TV shows, including the recent mini-series, The Stand. On the big screen, he’s appeared in films such as Vertical Limit, Shattered, and Bad Company.