#mike pace

It's time for Beginnings, the podcast where writer and performer Andy Beckerman talks to the comedians, writers, filmmakers and musicians he admires about their earliest creative experiences and the numerous ways in which a creative life can unfold.

On today's show, I talk to musician Mike Pace. A Long Island native, Mike was a member of the popular indie rock band Oxford Collapse, who were together from 2002 to 2009. They released four albums: two on Kanine and two on Sub Pop. Mike also co-hosted the awesome podcast Worst Gig Ever, which ran for 100 episodes as well as seven episodes on Official Comedy's YouTube channel. On January 13th, Self-Starter Foundation will release Mike's first solo album Best Boy, which he recorded under the name Mike Pace and the Child Actors.

Back in December, Mike came over to the Beginnings studio to talk about interviewing your friends, Superchunk puns, serious indie rock, the farm, "the promise of the West", being a landowner, pining for an undiscovered country, romanticism & traditionalism, having your identity wrapped up in your artistic projects, and peaking early.

Also! In the second half of the episode, I talk to my friend Geoff Garlock. Geoff is a teacher at UCB, a writer on their monthly show Night Late, and he used to co-host Worst Gig Ever with Mike, so I thought he'd be the perfect person to talk to in this episode. Since I got to be friends with both Geoff and Mike after being on WGE, I thought it would be interesting to talk about adult friendships. Spoiler alert: it is interesting!

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Imagine a montage of a gathering crowd. Everyone is walking in the same direction on a bright morning. People are laughing and people are joking and people are carrying their kids on their shoulders. Bus drivers are waving. Maybe some birds fly past. The crowd grows and grows and the sense of community and excitement weave together like at the end of Ghostbusters II. Then the familar vocals declare a new dawn: "Sundrenched sunrise, light floods in my eyes."