About Brad Miskell

One thing led to another and I let it.

That should probably be my epitaph, though it’s not like I consider myself this David Carradine (as Kung Fu), will-o-the-wind type dude. I will never attain such enlightenment. I’m not good with detachment.

Like most Americans, I’ve bounced around a lot: Rocky River, Ohio, Rensselaer, Indiana, Golden, Colorado, Seattle, San Francisco, New York City and Venice, Calif. These are the places I’ve lived.

(When plotted on a map, they form a symbol meaning “one thing led to another and I let it”. For a time I considered taking it as my name, but nixed the idea after I couldn’t pronounce it.)

I’ve bounced around jobs. I was a Broadway “gypsy” for a decade. I dug the odd jobs between shows —mercenary work dancing in Olympics ceremonies or Miss America Pageants — because they got you inside the belly of the big pop beast for a good look around and I am curious.

I concentrated on writing music for a time. My band played New York City clubs. We played CBGB. I taught a hip-hop class in the East Village in those days to pay the rent.

I’ve made art, collaborating with artist Judith Barry on mixed media pieces and video installations that have shown at MOMA and other places.

I’ve done a bunch of TV and Internet projects for media megaliths like Viacom and acquisition bait like Sonic Net. They got me working with interesting characters: virtual reality guru Jaron Lanier, tribute album auteur Hal Willner, or writing about classics like Philip K. Dick.

I’ve done design work sometimes — books, websites. I designed the literary zine-turned-mag Fish Drum for years.

I started doing journalism in the mid-nineties — getting paid (even modestly) to be curious seemed like a good idea since curiosity had me running around as it was (see all of the above). I’ve written about AIDS (which has claimed the lives of so many of my friends) and design and everyday people and mutant vehicles. I’ve written for The New York Times.

Venice, Calif., has been my home for the last seven years. It’s our home base for Underground, which — did I tell you? — is an awesome gig. Indulging our collective curiosity about people pursuing their passions is pretty damn amusing. And pretty much everything I’ve done has led to it…or at least comes in handy doing it.

XO...Grasshopper