Shows
Signifying Something#13: Matt Weston: "Fear of Insomnia"(This episode was originally released October 8th, 2021)
On today's episode, Steve Flato speaks with Matt Weston. Steve and Matt discuss Matt's musical upbringing; his time studying with Milford Graves and Bill Dixon at Bennington College; his time in Chicago in the mid 90's; and Matt's trajectory over the course of his career.
Weston plays percussion and electronics, and has performed throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. He has appeared on CNN, VH1, and CBS TV. He has studied and/or collaborated with Arthur Brooks, Bill Callahan/Smog, Bill Dixon, Kevin Drumm, Paul Flaherty, Charles Gayle...2025-07-101h 40Signifying Something#12: Christina Carter (Charalambides): "Poetry"(This episode was originally broadcast September 2nd, 2021)
Steve Flato talks with Christina Carter (Charalambides) on today's episode of Signifying Something. During a terrible period of loss from 2008 to 2014, Christina created some of her best solo music. Much of it remains unheard to a large audience as they were released in very small editions on CD-R and never released digitally. Steve and Christina discuss her solo discography as well as her early childhood influences; the art school system; her improvisational approach to songwriting; the artist/listener relationship; a transformative live experience with Joe McPhee; the importance o...2025-07-101h 58Signifying Something#11: Johnathan Cash (Sunk Cost, Breakdancing Ronald Reagan): "Metal Slug"(This episode was originally broadcast August 23, 2021)
On today's episode of Signifying Something, Steve Flato talks to Johnathan Cash (aka Sunk Cost). Johnathan formerly played under the alias Breakdancing Ronald Reagan. Since moving to Hollywood, Johnathan has been recording under the alias Sunk Cost; a love letter to Japanese and American harsh noise and experimental electronics. Eschewing the noise/comedy parody of Breakdancing Ronald Reagan, and his youth, he and Steve explore Johnny's recent changes, his shows in the Austin and Denver noise scenes, and other topics surrounding his past & future.
"Sometimes you get s...2025-07-101h 49Signifying Something#10: Seth Graham (Orange Milk Records): "From the valley"(This episode was originally broadcast August 17, 2021)
On today's show, Steve Flato speaks with Seth Graham. Seth Graham is a Ohio based visual artist, composer and co-owner of Orange Milk Records with an academic background in Philosophy. He focuses on compositions which highlight tropes across a broad range of musical genres using midi data, Max MSP and samples. His intention is to manifest intersections of classical avant garde and modern popular music with compositions ranging from playful sample arrangements to dense digital synthesis. Seth Graham’s work has been published by music imprints Orange Milk, Noumenal Loo...2025-07-101h 23Signifying Something#9: Jen Kutler: "In Loving Memory of Being Touched"Steve Flato sits down with artist and musician Jen Kutler to discuss her piece “In Loving Memory of Being Touched”. Jen Kutler is a multidisciplinary artist that often works with queerness, femininity, and intimacy. Her performances feature many of her instruments incorporated with immersive field recordings to explore common and discrepant experiences of familiar social tones in immersive sound and media environments.
Using discarded hospital equipment, Jen created this piece at the beginning of quarantine out of a yearning for one of the most basic human needs— touch. The listener hooks electrodes to their body (similar to a T...2025-07-1046 minSignifying Something#8: Keith Rowe & Jon Abbey (Erstwhile Records): "A Response to Treatise"(This episode was previously broadcast on August 14th, 2020, however, the interview was recorded in October 2018)
On the show today, I’m joined by Keith Rowe, who was a founding member of AMM, a free improvisation group from the mid-1960s. With him is Jon Abbey of Erstwhile Records, who over the last 20 years has seen his label closely intertwined with Keith’s work. Since the late 1990s, Erstwhile Records has been releasing some of the most exciting and challenging recordings within this area of music, many of them involving Keith.
Keith Rowe is a musician and visual artist, perha...2025-07-103h 00Signifying Something#7: id m theft able: "'bout half a gallon of dripped weight lo$$"(This episode was originally broadcast May 17, 2017)
id m theft able is a performer and improviser from Portland, Maine. He sits somewhere in between the areas of noise, free improvisation, sound poetry, and performance art by using voice, found objects, and electronics. He has given hundreds of performances across 4 continents in settings ranging from the scummiest of squats to the fanciest of festivals. Today he brings a voice-only improvisation called ‘Bout Half a Gallon of Dripped Weight Lo$$
He and Steve Flato have their second conversation after Steve forgets to turn the recorder on the first ti...2025-07-091h 12Signifying Something#6: G. Lucas Crane (Nonhorse): "Comfortable?"(This episode was originally broadcast April 25, 2017)
G Lucas Crane speaks with Steve Flato on today’s episode of Signifying Something. Crane is a sound artist, performer, and musician whose work focuses on information anxiety, media confusion, and new performance techniques for obsolete technology. He is one of the co-founders of the experimental art and performance space the Silent Barn, located in NYC. He makes collages of reconstituted sample-based sound using the medium of cassette tape and has been in bands such as Woods, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice. His solo work is released under the name No...2025-07-091h 30Signifying Something#5: Sarah Hennies: "Pressure"(This episode was originally broadcast on March 30th, 2017)
In my work) there’s this sort of underlying belief or tenet that whatever sound we’re hearing probably has a lot more going on with it than we’re either aware of or are giving it credit for.” - Sarah Hennies
Today’s episode is all about identity and understanding yourself through your own creations. Sarah Hennies joins us and premiers the piece “Pressure”, which is created entirely from one piece of percussion: the hi-hat. By varying the pressure of the foot pedal on the hi-hat, Sarah changes...2025-07-091h 07Signifying Something#3: David Kirby: "Mixdown"(This episode was originally published in March 2017)
David Kirby is a software programmer by trade and a musician primarily working in the medium of cassette tapes, making rhythmic tape collages that surprise and confuse. He describes his work as “an open air experiment exploring psychophysical defecation in virtual spaces.” Using handheld recorders, he manipulates and molds his sounds by physically interacting with the cassette players by varying the pressure on the buttons as well as other mysterious techniques. He does not employ effects but rather lets the tapes and his interaction with them speak for itself. His cassettes come...2025-07-091h 29Signifying Something#2: Matthew Revert: "borntwo"(This episode was previously broadcast March 15, 2017).
Matthew Revert is a writer, musician and designer from Melbourne, Australia. His music has been released by labels such as Kye, Erstwhile Records, No Rent Tapes and caduc records. Today he joins us on Signifying Something and presents an outtake from an upcoming LP, entitled “borntwo”.
Fear, risk, and expressivity are the themes that Matthew and Steve Flato discuss on today's episode. Topics include why Matthew feels it’s important to be out of his comfort zone while engaging in the creative process; why he wouldn’t describe his music...2025-07-091h 06Signifying Something#1: Lea Bertucci: "Oracle (Quartet Version)"(This episode was previously published in 2017)
Lea Bertucci is an interdisciplinary artist, composer and improviser working with installation, sound, and projection. As an instrumentalist, she focuses on an electro-acoustic preparation of the bass clarinet that heavily utilizes speaker feedback. In recent years, her projects have expanded to site-specific compositions for electronics and instruments, multichannel sound installations and music concrete collage. Her new album, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, is being released on NNA Tapes at the end of March.
On this initial episode of Signifying Something, Steve Flato and Bertucci play a...2025-07-0857 min
Liber LimbiaLiber Limbia Vol. 793 Chapter 2: Mind hiding.Mind hiding.Artist - TitleOhmikRon - KAL (Misled Convoy's How Many Pills remix)Jefferson Airplane - LatherJefferson Airplane - In TimeKawabata Makoto & The Mothers Of Invasion - Fripian Flipped Over Niffy Their King Of Fripperyつるばみ = Tsurubami - 天侠の徒 = Tenkyo No ToSteve Flato / {AN} EeL - Mind Hive Pt. 4Suishou No Fune & Numinous Eye - The Rainbow Dissolving In The OceanIrving Paul Pereira - Geometry ProblemsPaulo Motta - CidaDeserto - The Silence Of MemoryRadio Massacre...2025-03-302h 03
The Eternal Now with Andy Ortmann | WFMUIt Is With A Heavy Brain... from Mar 27, 2025
Steve Maxwell Von Braund - "The Floor Before" - Return to Monster Island
Lemon Kittens - "Popsykle" - Cake Beast
Ernst Krenek - "Pfigstoratorium (Spiritus Intelligentiae Sanctus)" - split w Gottfried Michael Koenig
Skinny Puppy - "Stella" - Vivisect VI
Juan Blanco - "Espacios II" - Musica Electroacustica
Jean Hoyoux - "Les Saturnales (excerpt)" - Planètes
Raphael Flores - "Piedra Que Habla" - Commando Bruno (1981-1987)
Gamelan Orchestra from the Village of Pliatan, Bali, Indonesia - "Angklungan" - Dancers of Bali
Brainticket - "The Space Between" - Celestial Ocean
Sore T...2025-03-281h 08
The Institute Of Spectra-Sonic SoundThe Institute of Spectra-Sonic Sound 12.14.24ARTIST----TRACK--TIME---LABELEHb----Tumus et amanites---anthomologies.org Käthe Kruse mit Edda Kruse Rosset----Krieg Seite C (edit)--2:12---kaethekrusekunst.de Pink Warm Belly Of A Dying Sun----Coney Island Whales--8:01---adventurousmusic.com Infinite Future Band----If I Was A Tree, I Would Be Dead--10:10---fullspectrumrecords.com Heavy Cloud----Lamentations--14:31---difficultartandmusic.bandcamp.com Paul Yates----Friends and Family (edit)--17:26---difficultartandmusic.bandcamp.com Chelidon Frame----Three Organs (Commentary on Nothing) (edit)--23:52---difficultartandmusic.bandcamp.com Ricardo Arias----Camello mojado (Wet camel) (1987)--29:58---sawyerspaces.bandcamp.com Emmanoel Ximendes----2°--32:02---sawyerspaces.bandcamp.com David Q. Nguyen----Every 17 (edit)--37:39---sawyerspaces.bandcamp.com Emmanue...2024-12-132h 29
Now & ThenNow & Then Episode 22 - October 2024 - With Steve & Len Green & OktoberfestThank you for joining me for Episode 22 of Now & Then!We start this episode with me continuing my journey through the archives of the theatre, and finding out how people advocated for a hall that would honour our future town of Lindsay. I also talk about the history of Oktoberfest, the famous beer festival and traveling carnival, especially its significance in Kitchener, plus a little song celebrating the event. We also hear from my granddaughter McKenna, who’s going to be in the Wizard of Oz production at the Flato Academy Theatre next month as a...2024-10-2333 min
The 11th Hour: A Rancid PodcastEpisode #79: Cold Cold BloodThe 11th Hour: A Rancid PodcastPresented by Foxy Digitalis.This week we are back at it with some Troublemaker equivocating. Why do we let them get away with “just ok” stuff on this album in ways we wouldn’t on other recent disasters? Well, we can’t tell you but we DO! Come over to our side, it’s nice over here, Lar’s has some nice solo’s. You can pretend the boys went to some therapy. It’s full of some great rationalizing. Join us in the pro-Troublemaker camp. This Week’s Song: Col...2023-11-1622 min
Signifying SomethingEpisode 013 - Matt WestonOn today's episode, Steve Flato speaks with Matt Weston. Steve and Matt discuss Matt's musical upbringing; his time studying with Milford Graves and Bill Dixon at Bennington College; his time in Chicago in the mid 90's; and Matt's trajectory over the course of his career.
Weston plays percussion and electronics, and has performed throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. He has appeared on CNN, VH1, and CBS TV. He has studied and/or collaborated with Arthur Brooks, Bill Callahan/Smog, Bill Dixon, Kevin Drumm, Paul Flaherty, Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, Mary Halvorson, Le Quan Ninh, Bob Marsh, B...2021-10-091h 40Signifying SomethingEpisode 012 - Christina Carter (Charalambides)On today's episode, Steve Flato talks with Christina Carter (Charalambides). During a terrible period of loss from 2008 to 2014, Christina created some of her best solo music. Much of it is unheard to a large audience as they were released in very small editions on CD-R and never released digitally. Steve and Christina discuss her solo discography as well as her early childhood influences; the art school system; her improvisational approach to songwriting; the artist/listener relationship; a transformative live experience with Joe McPhee; the importance of participation in the artistic process; the difficulty of singing other peoples songs; the...2021-09-021h 58Signifying SomethingEpisode 011 - Johnathan Cash (Sunk Cost)On today's episode of Signifying Something, Steve Flato talks to Johnathan Cash (aka Sunk Cost). Johnathan formerly played under the alias Breakdancing Ronald Reagan. Since moving to Hollywood, Johnathan has been recording under the alias Sunk Cost; a love letter to Japanese and American harsh noise and experimental electronics. Eschewing the noise/comedy parody of Breakdancing Ronald Reagan, and his youth, he and Steve explore Johnny's recent changes, his shows in the Austin and Denver noise scenes, and other topics surrounding his past & future.
"Sometimes you get so deep into parody that you lose the original intention o...2021-08-241h 49Signifying SomethingEpisode 010 - Seth Graham (Orange Milk Records)
On today's show, Steve Flato speaks with Seth Graham. Seth Graham is a Ohio based visual artist, composer and co-owner of Orange Milk Records with an academic background in Philosophy. He focuses on compositions which highlight tropes across a broad range of musical genres using midi data, Max MSP and samples. His intention is to manifest intersections of classical avant garde and modern popular music with compositions ranging from playful sample arrangements to dense digital synthesis. Seth Graham’s work has been published by music imprints Orange Milk, Noumenal Loom, We Time Audio. He was commissioned by the Russian En...2021-08-171h 23
Spaces Podcast[EXPRESS] 'Roof Coatings, Do the Test'Your roof is the first line of defense from water. It's an important decision from design to what material to use. Tatsuya "Tats" Nakagawa, CEO of Castagra, a plant-based, sustainable, and VOC-free roof coating manufacturer, joins us to discuss roof coatings. He shares his insight on the material, complexities, considerations, and client relationship management in an evolving world.Tats also hosts a weekly LinkedIn Livestream that features roofers, hosts the Specified Growth Podcast at tatstalks.com, and co-authored a book on innovation success, Overcoming Inventoritis - Forward by Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple.Thank you...2021-07-2225 min
Welcome to the Hall - Brought to you by the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.Welcome to the Hall Podcast - Ep 15- With EPAHOF Steve FlatoWelcome to the Hall- a new podcast courtesy of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame and our title sponsor the El Paso Sports Commission. It gives you insight into the hall of fame, and also gets you to meet our great individuals that have been inducted over the many years of the hall of fame which goes back to 1955.Joining our Host Mr. Wayne Thorton our guest Hall of Famer Steve Flato Longtime Eastwood high school who won 27 district championships in a rowWe will take a trip down memory lane on life in...2021-05-2126 minSignifying SomethingEpisode 009 - Jen KutlerSteve Flato sits down with artist and musician Jen Kutler to discuss her piece “In Loving Memory of Being Touched”. Jen Kutler is a multidisciplinary artist that often works with queerness, femininity, and intimacy. Her performances feature many of her instruments incorporated with immersive field recordings to explore common and discrepant experiences of familiar social tones in immersive sound and media environments.
Using discarded hospital equipment, Jen created this piece at the beginning of quarantine out of a yearning for one of the most basic human needs— touch. The listener hooks electrodes to their body (similar...2020-12-2746 minSignifying SomethingEpisode 008 - Keith Rowe & Jon AbbeyOn the show today, I’m joined by Keith Rowe, who was a founding member of AMM, a free improvisation group from the mid-1960s. With him is Jon Abbey of Erstwhile Records, who over the last 20 years has seen his label closely intertwined with Keith’s work. Since the late 1990s, Erstwhile Records has been releasing some of the most exciting and challenging recordings within this area of music, many of them involving Keith.
Keith Rowe is a musician and visual artist, perhaps best known for popularizing the “prepared guitar” — that is, an electric guitar, laid flat on a table and...2020-08-143h 00Signifying SomethingEpisode 007 - id m theft ableid m theft able is a performer and improviser from Portland, Maine. He sits somewhere in between the areas of noise, free improvisation, sound poetry, and performance art by using voice, found objects, and electronics. He has given hundreds of performances across 4 continents in settings ranging from the scummiest of squats to the fanciest of festivals. Today he brings a voice-only improvisation called ‘Bout Half a Gallon of Dripped Weight Lo$$
He and Steve Flato have their second conversation after Steve forgets to turn the recorder on the first time. They discuss id m theft able’s early experiences with...2020-08-141h 12Signifying SomethingEpisode 006 - G Lucas CraneG Lucas Crane speaks with Steve Flato on today’s episode of Signifying Something. Crane is a sound artist, performer, and musician whose work focuses on information anxiety, media confusion, and new performance techniques for obsolete technology. He is one of the co-founders of the experimental art and performance space the Silent Barn, located in NYC. He makes collages of reconstituted sample-based sound using the medium of cassette tape and has been in bands such as Woods, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice. His solo work is released under the name Nonhorse.
Crane and Flato discuss playing with time and th...2020-08-141h 30Signifying SomethingEpisode 005 - Sarah Hennies(In my work) there’s this sort of underlying belief or tenet that whatever sound we’re hearing probably has a lot more going on with it than we’re either aware of or are giving it credit for.” - Sarah Hennies
Today’s episode is all about identity and understanding yourself through your own creations. Sarah Hennies joins us and premiers the piece “Pressure”, which is created entirely from one piece of percussion: the hi-hat. By varying the pressure of the foot pedal on the hi-hat, Sarah changes the quality of the sound and the various tones that are emitted. Diffe...2020-08-141h 07Signifying SomethingEpisode 004 - Muyassar KurdiSteve Flato interviews artist, musician, and dancer Muyassar Kurdi.
2020-08-141h 34Signifying SomethingEpisode 003 - David KirbyDavid Kirby is a software programmer by trade and a musician primarily working in the medium of cassette tapes, making rhythmic tape collages that surprise and confuse. He describes his work as “an open air experiment exploring psychophysical defecation in virtual spaces.” Using handheld recorders, he manipulates and molds his sounds by physically interacting with the cassette players by varying the pressure on the buttons as well as other mysterious techniques. He does not employ effects but rather lets the tapes and his interaction with them speak for itself. His cassettes come from wherever he can find them, and no soun...2020-08-141h 24Signifying SomethingEpisode 002 - Matthew RevertMatthew Revert is a writer, musician and designer from Melbourne, Australia. His music has been released by labels such as Kye, Erstwhile Records, No Rent Tapes and caduc records. Today he joins us on Signifying Something and presents an outtake from an upcoming LP, entitled “borntwo”.
Fear, risk, and expressivity are the themes that Matthew and Steve Flato discuss on today's episode. Topics include why Matthew feels it’s important to be out of his comfort zone while engaging in the creative process; why he wouldn’t describe his music as “experimental” — or describe his music as anything but “songs”; music as a therape...2020-08-141h 06Signifying SomethingEpisode 001 - Lea BertucciLea Bertucci is an interdisciplinary artist, composer and improviser working with installation, sound, and projection. As an instrumentalist, she focuses on an electro-acoustic preparation of the bass clarinet that heavily utilizes speaker feedback. In recent years, her projects have expanded to site-specific compositions for electronics and instruments, multichannel sound installations and music concrete collage. Her new album, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, is being released on NNA Tapes at the end of March.
On this initial episode of Signifying Something, Steve Flato and Bertucci play and discuss her composition Oracle (Quartet Version). From there, the conversation goes onto...2020-08-1057 min
The K12 Engineering Education PodcastAn Architect in the ClassroomWhat skills does a professional architect bring to high school education? Guest Kelly Foster explains, as he shares his experience as both a practicing architect and a STEM teacher. He discusses his methods in teaching creativity and problem-solving in multiple areas of design, including civil and architectural engineering, architecture, and graphic design. He also analyzes the design of the new Central Library, part of the Austin Public Library system. Guest co-host Rachel also joins the discussion.
Related to this episode:
• Austin Central Library: https://library.austintexas.gov/central-library
• Science poster designed by Kelly Foster, “CAUTION! Science Teacher at Work”: http://www.k12e...2018-09-1048 min