Andy Downing
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editor/director @matternews_, formerly columbus alive (rip). "does great work on dumb, vile shit." bylines @ new york times, p4k, stereogum, rolling stone
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Articles by Andy Downing
Friko expands on its sound, delivers ‘Something Worth Waiting For’
Looking back, Friko singer, songwriter, and guitarist Niko Kapetan said he now has a better idea what he was wrangling with in the making of the Chicago band’s sophomore album, Something Worth Waiting For, released in April via ATO Records. “I think I was looking at the idea of trying to keep connection despite distance, both in an emotional way and also in the literal way with partners, or with my parents and other people in my family who are not doing great health-wise.
Sadie Dupuis and Dylan Baldi bring horrors real and fantastical to Two Dollar Radio HQ
In the early Covid years, Sadie Dupuis and Dylan Baldi developed a Halloween tradition in which the two watch the entirety of a different horror series, with past spooky seasons having been invested in streaming the likes of “Scream” and “Saw.” “Which I had a good time with,’ Dupuis said. This October’s entry, though, has so far been more of a mixed bag, with Dupuis describing Jason of “Friday the 13th” as lagging in her rankings of “the big, scary mask guys,” at least in the earlier films.
The preacher’s son: Daniel Budd begins to find his way back
Daniel Budd as a child Daniel Budd keeps a picture of himself as a child on his desk at home. In the Polaroid, which appears to have been taken when he was no older than 4- or 5-years-old, Budd stands on a colorfully tiled children’s rug dressed in dark pants and a long-sleeved graphic sweatshirt. His body is tilted and slightly hunched forward, his hands folded near his waist.
Lydia Loveless is ready for the ‘Accolades’
Photo by Chad Cochran In April of last year, Lydia Loveless decamped with their band to Southern Grooves in Memphis for three days of recording, describing the cozy, dimly lit studio as an ideal place of escape. “You feel like you’re very encased in making a record,” Loveless said of the sessions that yielded new EP Accolades, out via Bloodshot Records on Friday, Oct. 30. “You’re almost like, ‘What?
A decade later, Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle revisit ‘Long Lost’
When husband-wife team Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle created the comic series Long Lost together a decade back, their lives looked very different. The two were not yet parents, and neither had made the leap to full-time creator, with each carving out time for their respective crafts around the demands of 9-to-5 office existence.
‘Pulp Stiction’ joins the resistance
“American Observer: History” by G.E. Vogt In the immediate aftermath of a 2024 election that saw Donald Trump return to the presidency, Emily Morgan, aka Lovely But Dead, said she felt completely lost. “I didn’t know what to do, and I was in a really dark place, and I just could see any light at the end of the tunnel,” the artist said earlier this week at Hopkins Hall Gallery, where a new collage exhibition she brainstormed and curated, “Pulp Stiction,” opens on Monday, Oct. 26.
‘American Doctor’ asks viewers to not look away
Photo courtesy Watermelon Pictures Early in “American Doctor,” director Poh Si Teng engages Dr. Mark Perlmutter, a Jewish American surgeon, as the two view photos of Palestinian children mutilated by Israeli weapons during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. As the discussion unfolds, Teng says she might blur or pixelate the images as a means to preserve the dignity of those killed – a point which causes Perlmutter to bristle. “Israel took away their dignity,” he says.
The Orphan the Poet the Block Party
There’s a sense of joy that resonates in the Orphan the Poet’s music, reflected in everything from the duo’s album titles (see: 2024 EP Eureka) to its sound, an almost universally upbeat amalgamation of indie, pop, and emo built around a eries of pogoing, fist-pumping choruses.
Andrea Myers comes full-circle with progressive mural at the Line
An in-progress mural at the Line. Photo courtesy the artist. Andrea Myers spent a year in high school taking Saturday morning drawing classes at CCAD’s Circle Hall in the 1990s. Three decades later, the Columbus artist has returned to the site, now home to the Line, a restaurant and hospitality training center founded and operated by the nonprofit Service!, where in recent weeks she has been working on a mural expected to stretch across nearly 70 feet of wall space inside the revamped building.
Eric Shonkwiler wants to help you survive societal collapse
Within Red Prepper: Building Collective Resilience in an Age of Collapse (Pluto Press), Columbus author Eric Shonkwiler describes his social and political transformation not as the result of a single flashpoint but rather a series of radicalizing moments that include the 2000 election of President George W. Bush, the 2020 Covid pandemic, and the June 2022 power outage that affected lower-income Columbus neighborhoods at a significantly higher rate than wealthier areas.
Take a leisurely stroll through the woods with Seanie Barron
Photo courtesy No Place Gallery Artist Seanie Barron’s practice centers foremost on patience.
Chlorine’s Joseph Mangum lets his memories bleed through the page
In the creation of new Chlorine album Things That Are Lost, Kentucky musician Joseph Mangum first experimented with tape loops, dusting off past recordings and “using them as tone setters to weave in and build around,” he said in an early October phone call.
New Urban Arts Space exhibition opens up a conversation about death
Co-curators of ‘Spirit & Dust,’ Diane Callahan (left) and Michelle Burdine. Diane Callahan, who co-curated “Spirit & Dust” alongside Michelle Burdine, traced the genesis of the new Urban Arts Space exhibition back to the first Death Cafe conversation she attended in 2018. “And the principle of it is that you just gather to talk about what’s on your mind about death,” said Callahan, whose “Spirit & Dust” kicks off today (Tuesday, Oct.
Villagerrr’s Mark Scott would gladly hop off the industry ‘Carousel’
villagerrr photo by Juliette Boulay A handful of songs on the latest villagerrr album, Carousel (Winspear), find Columbus singer and songwriter Mark Scott navigating the weight of expectation he felt when Tear Your Heart Out, from 2024, broke containment, allowing the homespun project’s profile to reach a point where he could launch tours of both the U.S. and the U.K., in addition to landing prime slots opening for the likes of Ratboys and Friko. “Would you play if there was no one around?
Ripped to Shreds is ready to hit the runway
Even though it’s been a nearly two-year odyssey bringing Ripped to Shreds to life, the last few days before this weekend’s opening have felt like a crush for Courtney L. Hall. There are mirrors that need to be hung in the dressing rooms. More than 600 T-shirts still need to be priced. And on the early October afternoon when we spoke, painters had just exited the shop after completing final touch-ups.
Community Pride returns with a new urgency
Volunteers at 2022 Columbus Community Pride Each year, Community Pride develops around a new theme, with this year’s event centering on the term “Queer (R)Evolution,” which has come to mean different things to different organizers. In an early October interview, Dr. Kynetta Sugar McFarlane said that for her, the concept speaks to the importance of ongoing learning, to the preservation of history, and to the need to foster a greater sense of understanding within the larger LGBTQ+ community.
Two Dollar Radio HQ reopens with an expanded ownership group and a similarly expanded vision for the future
A couple of years back, Two Dollar Radio Headquarters co-founder Eric Obenauf began to consider how to best approach the future of the Parsons Avenue bookstore and cafe, having struggled through a pandemic and a pair of Trump administrations that have sent expenses skyrocketing and fueled a wider economic uncertainty that has left many small businesses feeling the crush.
Bianca Moore rediscovers her love for comedy ahead of Wonder Doug Fest
When Bianca Moore takes the stage at Wonder Doug Fest this weekend, she plans to perform at least some material pulled from her earliest days in comedy, embracing her set as a means to pay tribute to the 11-odd years that “Wonder Doug” Cuckler has served as a friend and mentor.
Liteweight Champion survives the fire
Photo by Chris Heidel Sean Gleeson felt as though the world was on fire when he wrote the songs that would become new Lightweight Champion album Geronimo Hardstyle, and the music often reflects this reality, the guitars on “Death Cup” racing across the landscape with the destructive force of a towering, windswept brushfire.
Scrawl meets Scrawl – Matter News
Scrawl drawn by Urban Scrawl artists Dan Gerdeman and Rob Jones Singer/guitarist Marcy Mays said there have been numerous occasions where the yearly art event Urban Scrawl, more commonly referred to as Scrawl, has caused confusion for fans of the band she founded alongside singer/bassist Sue Harshe in 1985, also named Scrawl.
Evan Weiss learns to loosen up
In recent months, Evan Weiss has gotten back in touch with his musical roots, launching a couple runs of small, DIY solo shows after leaving the tech job he’d held for the better part of a decade. “I was really miserable with the tech company grind, and I wanted a change of pace,” said Weiss, who recalled how he phoned his Into It. Over It. bandmate JG Shadid to see if he wanted to join him for a series of small-scale shows in which each would play their own solo set.
‘Immigration: A Journey of Belonging’ seeks deeper understanding
As a child in Puerto Rico, Raixa Velázquez loved to watch the roosters run free, recalling how the birds graced the landscape from the beaches to neighborhood streets with such frequency that their appearance became commonplace. In brainstorming how she wanted to approach her contribution to the group exhibition “Immigration: A Journey of Belonging,” open through Nov.
‘You’re just trying to serve the song’: Get to know the backing band helping give life to the Ohio R&B Music Festival
From left to right: LynMonty, Stephen Ballard, and Jesse Marquardt LynMonty traced her obsession with music to childhood, recalling how she first taught herself to play on a junior drum set she received as a Christmas gift from her parents at age 8 and then almost immediately forced her way into the church band.
A newly restored ‘Riverbend’ finds fresh resonance in the modern era
Steve James in “Riverbend” courtesy Reelblack For decades, actor Julius Tennon had accepted that the 1989 film “Riverbend” would remain a cult curiosity, having screened a handful of times and then releasing via VHS before largely disappearing from public view. “I remember [actor] Steve James … calling me, like, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s going on,’” Tennon said of the uncertainty that took hold among the cast members as the film sat in this early theatrical limbo.
Kill Gosling rediscovers its joy on the way to ‘Super Plume’
Coming off of 2024 EP Waster, Kill Gosling singer and guitarist Chandler Maguire became disenchanted with music, his disconnect fueled in part by the emotional distance he began to feel from the record. “When I wrote the songs for that album, I was living by myself for the first time in a while, and I was depressed and drinking really, really heavily,” said Maguire, who recalled how he spent hundreds of hours in solitude playing the RPG video game series “Persona” in those lost months.
Edward Julian Sr. embraces poetry as a means to release and reflect
Edward Julian Sr. credited his deep appreciation for poetry to the years he spent incarcerated, recalling how the form allowed him to process his anger, his grief, and his shame, helping him to establish a toehold from which he could begin to rebuild. “Poetry, for me, has always been about release and reflect,” said Julian, the current Ohio poet laureate, who will read as part of the Poetry Festival from 6-9 p.m. at Urban Arts Space tonight (Thursday, Sept.
Deep conversations pave the way to ‘Chasing the Light’
“Focused Optimism” by Loren Bucek, courtesy the artist Oftentimes, group exhibitions will begin with a concept, the curator then putting out a call in an effort to find artists whose work could live comfortably within these established parameters. “Chasing the Light,” which opens at the McConnell Arts Center on Thursday, Sept. 24 and runs through Nov.
Keith Hanlon takes advantage of an unexpected layover to create ‘Music for Airport Workers’
In an ideal world, airports would serve as temporary passthroughs, allowing passengers to whisk through security and efficiently board a flight that pushes back from the gate precisely at its scheduled departure time.
Kathy Fagan takes stock with ‘The Unbecoming’
The early 2020s were a trying, transformative time for Kathy Fagan, the poet navigating the deaths of both of her parents along with a global pandemic over a stretch of less than five years. Owing to this, Fagan’s new collection, The Unbecoming, emerged in part as a means for her to survey this altered landscape.
Derf Backderf delves into the past, finds lessons for the present with ‘The Dissidents’
Derf Backderf photo by Alain Seux Derf Backderf only began work on his new graphic novel The Dissidents about three and a half years ago, but he’s been carrying around the idea for decades. Centered on the cartoonists who produced work for The Masses, a radical socialist magazine that published for six years beginning in 1911, the roots of Backderf’s book can be traced back to the stint he worked for the student newspaper while in undergrad at Ohio State University.
Henry Hess says goodbye to his longtime Chromedge studio
Henry Hess, photo courtesy the Hess family. In recent weeks, Henry Hess has assisted in packing up his studio at Chromedge, a process that has involved the artist touching each drawing as it gets put in a bin, and then sometimes reopening the bin and repeating the process, as if to assure himself that everything is still there and still safe. “It’s really been these last two weeks as we’ve taken stuff out, but he struggles, he really struggles,” said Henry’s dad, Tom Hess.
Barbara Fant returns to Columbus ready to leave her mark on Thurber House
Barbara Fant is very open about the reality that the arts, and more specifically poetry, saved her life. And she has continued to center this idea in growing her career, believing the same creative release that helped to steady her as a youth can serve as a buoy for others. “I was a young person going through a lot of trauma,” said Fant, whose mother became ill when she was 12 and died three years later.
‘Ice Cream Land’ balances fantasy, reality in making its way to the big screen
On two occasions in “Ice Cream Land,” the new documentary from Columbus artist David Denniston, Ricky “Ice Cream” Jackson breaks down his approach to storytelling. “If you want to hear fantasy, Ice Cream will give you fantasy. If you want to hear reality, Ice Cream will give you reality,” he says. “It’s not if Ice Cream can handle it. It’s if you can handle it.
Nick Stull adopts a quieter approach
“Greetings From” by Nick Stull, courtesy the artist The most recent series of paintings from Nick Stull, completed over this last year, adopt a softer color palette compared with his earlier works, steeped in earthy greens and softer washes of purple and orange.
‘Wood Street’ was filmed in Oakland but it could have been made in Columbus
The new documentary from journalist and filmmaker Caron Creighton opens with the residents of Wood Street Commons, an unhoused encampment in Oakland, California, engaged in a peaceful standoff with state authorities. Creighton then jumps back in time, delving into day-to-day life in the camp as its residents face the slow, inevitable build toward eviction, which the encampment fought via civil disobedience only after all legal routes had been exhausted.
Melissa Vogley Woods slows things down for ‘When the Earth Bends We Bend’
“Knot 18” photo courtesy the artist The path to new exhibition “When the Earth Bends We Bend” has been a more than 15-year odyssey for artist Melissa Vogley Woods, with the chance discovery of a Russian-language video leading her down a rabbit hole that culminated in periods of study in the Finger Lakes region of New York and later in Rima, a tiny town in Northern Italy backed immediately up against the Alps.
‘Obviously, we make songs for the sad folks’: BeachKitty gears up for 934 Fest
BeachKitty photo by Jess Laicy BeachKitty took multiple forms early in its existence, dual singer-songwriters Milly May and Keano Smith auditioning different sounds and styles in an effort to see what most resonated with them. “Early on, we were really inspired by dream-pop and psychedelic stuff,” said Smith, who joined May for an early September interview, pointing to the likes of Beach House, Tame Impala, and Mac DeMarco as early influences.
Filmmaker Logan St. Hilaire explores the in betweens with ‘Maroon’
Filmmaker Logan St. Hilaire’s relatives, including his father, photographed in New York shortly after emigrating from Haiti in the early 1980s. At one point early in “Maroon,” Columbus filmmaker Logan St. Hilaire addresses the racism his relatives faced after emigrating to New York City in the 1980s, recalling how as a child his Haitian father and siblings were subjected to the taunts of those who blamed Africans for causing the AIDS pandemic.
Newly reunited, the musicians in Nice Strong Arm continue to destroy themselves, listeners
Jason Asnes always appreciated performing live with Nice Strong Arm, describing the Austin, Texas noise-rock band as one that always left everything on the stage anytime it played. “I move and flail and jump around and just get every emotion out,” the singer and bassist said by phone in early September from his home in New York.
Charlie Goering harnesses his ghosts for ‘Anima, Animus’
Portrait of Charlie Goering in his studio by Jon Medina In pulling together the work for “Anima, Animus,” opening at No Place Gallery on Friday, Sept. 5, Charlie Goering had to sort through dozens of paintings he had completed since early 2024 – a prolific stretch shaped in part by a personal and creative evolution given rise by the birth of the artist’s first child.
Baladna: Palestine Society of Columbus calls for a boycott of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants
Courtesy Baladna: Palestine Society of Columbus Late last week, Baladna: Palestine Society of Columbus, posted a social media call asking the community to boycott Cameron Mitchell Restaurants (CMR), citing as a reason the local restaurant group’s recent sponsorship of a fundraising event hosted by Friends of the IDF – Ohio, the local chapter of a nonprofit authorized to collect charitable donations in the United States for current and former soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.
Signe Damron begins to see things more clearly with ‘Sift Me Through’
Signe Damron has always leaned into writing as a means to process her interior world, with her new poetry collection, Sift Me Through (Signe-ture Publishing), helping her to surface a new degree of lucidity as she approached her 40th birthday earlier this year.
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz finds in history lessons for this current moment
About six months after Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s mother died in 2015, the poet, historian, and author began researching her family tree, intent on learning more about her lineage as one means of maintaining a sense of connection.
‘Southern Oracles’ shines a light on Columbus’ South Side
Left to right: Scott Woods, Mark Lomax, and Sam Johnson Scott Woods said that growing up he viewed Ohio State University and the surrounding neighborhood as “a magical place” – a perception shaped in part by his older brother, who gigged in bands that frequented campus dives in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Nerdcore Summer Camp prepares to make its debut in Columbus
LEX the Lexicon Artist photo by Elijah Davis Ryan Francis, who records and performs as Huge Euge, said that even among its purveyors, efforts to define nerdcore can sometimes be contentious. “I tend to think of nerdcore as a space for people who don’t necessarily have a space,” said Francis, who first discovered the hip-hop subgenre when he saw MC Lars perform alongside Bowling for Soup and American Hi-Fi at Newport Music Hall. “This is a space for people who like Magic the Gathering.
‘Art from the Inside’ gives voice to the incarcerated
The path from conception to reality was at times a knotty one for “Art from the Inside,” which opened at All People Arts on Aug. 14 and will remain on view through Oct. 28, with Lyn Logan-Grimes recounting the various bureaucratic hurdles that needed to be cleared in order to display the work done by incarcerated people at two prison facilities: Trumbull Correctional Institution and Grafton Correctional Institution.
RJD2 and Supastition push each other to new heights on ‘According To…’
RJD2 (left) and Supastition North Carolina rapper Supastition said he first crossed paths with the Columbus producer RJD2 in the early 2000s at one of the legendary hip-hop nights at the long-defunct campus dive Bernie’s Bagels & Deli. Nearly two decades would pass before the two would first collaborate, however, with Supastition contributing vocals to the song “Life of the Party,” off the 2022 RJD2/STS album Escape from Sweet Auburn.
Damon Mosley and Darryl Dunning II join forces to help people feel seen
Filmmaker Damon Mosley spent the bulk of his adolescence living on 20th Street in Columbus’ Bronzeville neighborhood. Nearly 40 years later, following stints in New York City, Los Angeles, and Peru, he moved back, returning to the exact same street on which he once dwelled as a child.
Matthew Ellis reckons with the impacts of religion in ‘Little Heresies’
In the late teenage years before Matthew Ellis broke from the fundamentalist Protestant church in which he was raised, he often found he was the one dragging his family to weekly services, consumed from an early age, he said, with “a driving desire to be good.” “And raised the way I was, the right thing was believing in God and going to church,” Ellis said in the days before the release of his debut poetry collection, Little Heresies, which he’ll celebrate with a reading at Two Dollar Radio...
Laura Ellstrom masks up for Alley Islands
Artists will often say that inspiration can arrive from anywhere, but Laura Ellstrom currently has proof to this idea painted on the exterior wall at the downtown gallery Blockfort, her masked figure having initially emerged when she spotted a loose strand of hair stuck to her shower wall in a shape suggestive of a rabbit.
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