In this episode of Pain In The Arts we welcome back returning guest Skye Cusack alongside her sister, emerging writer and artist Chloe Padmore. Together, they share stories of growing up in a creative family. From their father’s childhood 'cool points' system to navigating different age gaps and living an hour apart in Tasmania.

Skye opens up about her publishing journey with Penguin Random House Australia and Magabala Books, while Chloe reflects on finding her own identity as an author and artist. The sisters dive deep into their upcoming co-authored junior fiction novel, discussing how they blend fictionalised superhero lenses with real-life neurodivergent experiences, subjective truths, and family history. They also explore sensitive topics in creative writing, the nuance of 'wokeness' and social awareness, and the power of connection in change-making art.

You might want to listen if:

• You grew up beside someone who made creativity look effortless, and you’ve wondered where that left you.

• You’re cautiously thinking about making something with a sibling, partner or friend.

• You’re a writer looking for new and unique ways to get your book out into the world.

Find Skye on Instagram: @skye_cusack

Find Chloe on Instagram: @CherryPickedCreative

Skye and Chloe both have pieces in a Magabala Books anthology coming out in February.

Pain In The Arts is a weekly podcast about the reality of creative life. Hosted by Breallyn and Lyndon Wesley. One of them never knows the topic until recording begins.

If you enjoyed this episode, the best thing you can do is share it with one person who'd love it.

Support the show on Patreon:

patreon.com/painintheartslife

Subscribe and listen:

Follow on your favourite podcast app or visit paininthearts.life

Socials:

Insta: @painintheartslife

FB: painintheartslife

Theme music by Lyndon Wesley

Produced on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was first released on May 4th, 2026. It was so good connecting with Erik again after so many years. We hope you enjoy the chat!

Erik Parker has been a lot of things; guitarist, vocalist, live sound engineer, recording producer, guitar teacher, Nirvana tribute act, Satanic gospel cabaret performer, and teenage busker in the Frankston Mall. He joins us to talk about what a music career actually looks like when the work keeps shifting and expanding: the burnout, the reinvention, the collaborations you have to book before the beer is finished, and why he had to learn to get nervous again.

It's also a reunion - Erik was one of Lyndon's guitar students about 30 years ago - so there's a warmth and honesty here that goes deeper than the usual career chat. We cover grief, performance anxiety, the wedding gig where Erik refused to learn a Snow Patrol song (and then absolutely had to learn it), and the night his LPG gas tank fell off his car on the Calder Freeway, closing the freeway and ending a run of Adelaide gigs before they'd even begun.

You might want to listen if:

• You’re a working musician trying to figure out how to sustain a career without burning out

• You need someone to tell you it’s okay to still be figuring it out

• You’ve ever had a gas tank fall off your car on the Western Ring Road!

Find Erik Parker on Instagram

Follow the transcript click here

Pain In The Arts is a weekly podcast about the reality of creative life. Hosted by Breallyn and Lyndon Wesley. One of them never knows the topic until recording begins.

If you enjoyed this episode, the best thing you can do is share it with one person who'd love it.

Support the show on Patreon:

patreon.com/painintheartslife

Subscribe and listen:

Follow on your favourite podcast app or visit paininthearts.life

Socials:

Insta: @painintheartslife

FB: painintheartslife

Theme music by Lyndon Wesley

Produced on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Words are being removed from dictionaries to make room for new ones. We think some of them deserve better. Who knows what forgotten little nocturnal marsupial was erased for the word ‘floppy disc’?

This is our small attempt to restore some balance.

Word You Never Heard is a recurring series from Pain In The Arts, drawn from one of our favourite books, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig - a collection of words that fill the gaps, for feelings that exist but have never had a name.

How It Works: In each episode, one of us brings a word from the book. The other has never seen it. With only a handful of clues and less than 30 minutes on the clock, they have to work out what it means, or build their own definition from scratch before time runs out.

Today’s Word: Licotic

Can you guess the definition before the clock runs out?

Pain In The Arts is a weekly podcast about the reality of creative life. Hosted by Breallyn and Lyndon Wesley. One of them never knows the topic until recording begins.

If you enjoyed this episode, the best thing you can do is share it with one person who'd love it.

Support the show on Patreon:

patreon.com/painintheartslife

Subscribe and listen:

Follow on your favourite podcast app or visit paininthearts.life

Socials:

Insta: @painintheartslife

FB: painintheartslife

Theme music by Lyndon Wesley

Produced on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.