About Lowkey Hellish presents: MAKE // BREAK, a Survival Guide for Creatives, Hosted by Lance Marwood
MAKE // BREAK is a creative industry podcast for artists who want the truth, not the pitch. Hosted by Lance Marwood and presented by Lowkey Hellish, his imprint at V13 Press.
Each episode is a long-form conversation with musicians, songwriters, producers, and industry veterans about what actually works in a post-development industry (touring, streaming, content, community) and what it costs (burnout, ego, identity, obscurity).
Make art. Break algorithms.
Joel Gale Turned Down Amazon and Built a Career on Word of Mouth
Joel Gale is a Toronto commercial photographer and the owner of Joel Gale Imaging, shooting corporate headshots, events, product work and video since 2016, alongside the musician portraits, album covers and live shows he started with. In this episode of MAKE // BREAK with host Lance Marwood, Joel traces the distance between the studio career his photography program promised and the $200-a-day product shoots he actually got, the pandemic pivot to headshots that became his bread and butter, the Amazon job he turned down, and a decade of work built entirely on word of mouth. A frank look at surviving as an independent freelancer when budgets keep dropping and AI keeps coming.
In this episode:
• The studio dream vs nine-hour days shooting products on white for $200
• Losing a part-time contract and being thrown into full-time freelance with no plan
• The pandemic pivot to corporate headshots, and how a 200-person shoot day runs
• Turning down Amazon twice, and the clients he keeps out of his portfolio
• Ten years of work with zero self-promotion, a near-bankruptcy in 2024 and a best year in 2025
• Why both of them think community is where creative work goes next
Guest links:
→ https://www.joelgaleimaging.com
→ https://www.instagram.com/joelgale.imaging/
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→ Listen on all platforms: https://pod.link/1831627966
→ Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_
→ Follow: https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish
→ V13 Media: https://v13.net
→ V13 Store: https://v13.store
→ The Cherale (horror novella): https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS
→ Newsletters: https://v13.net/newsletter/
Contains explicit language. Subscribe and leave a review if this one helped you.
22 Sept 2026
John Penman on Anxiety, Imposter Syndrome and Doing It Anyway
John Penman, drummer for Detroit hard rock band Armada Lodge, took a pay cut on purpose — leaving restaurant management to stock shelves so every spare thought could go to the band. On MAKE // BREAK, he tells Lance Marwood how the trade works: affirmations on the bathroom mirror, a rolling whiteboard planning Armada Lodge six months out, section-testing songs with ads until the data humbles you, and RuneScape as nervous-system maintenance. It's the most practical systems conversation the show has aired — and it only exists because Penman sent a cold email and refused to treat silence as a no.
In this episode:
The deliberate pay cut: stocking shelves to buy back brain space for the band
Affirmations, bedtimes and a rolling six-month whiteboard
Section-testing songs with ads — and getting humbled by the data
Anxiety, imposter syndrome and not letting the horse into the city
A self-booked tour and the cold email that made this episode exist
Guest links:
→ https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TTblhnGaob5EH1umVfK27 (https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TTblhnGaob5EH1umVfK27)
→ https://www.instagram.com/jnpnmn/ (https://www.instagram.com/jnpnmn/)
—
→ Listen on all platforms: https://pod.link/1831627966 (https://pod.link/1831627966)
→ Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_ (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_)
→ Follow: https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish (https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish)
→ V13 Media: https://v13.net (https://v13.net)
→ V13 Store: https://v13.store (https://v13.store)
→ The Cherale (horror novella): https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS (https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS)
→ V13 newsletters: https://v13.net/newsletter/ (https://v13.net/newsletter/)
Subscribe — and then send the cold email you've been sitting on. Silence isn't a no.
15 Sept 2026
Streaming Can Wait: Jonny Hetherington on How Art of Dying Is Betting On Their Fans
Jonny Hetherington is keeping Art of Dying's new album off streaming entirely — vinyl, CD, and digital download only. Two decades, eight albums, a Warner deal through Disturbed, and 200 million streams later, the frontman tells Lance Marwood on MAKE // BREAK exactly why: the maths that never recoups, the 1,000-stream rule that pays new artists nothing, the AI clog, and the analog revival pulling fans back to owning music. It's the clearest case this show has captured for going direct-to-fan — plus the $12,000 Suburban story every band signing a major deal should hear first.
In this episode:
Two decades in: busking, Disturbed, Warner, and 200 million streams
Keeping the new album off streaming — vinyl, CD, digital download only
The 1,000-stream rule and the maths that never recoups
AI artwork fatigue and spotting fake bands in seconds
Bandcamp, the analog revival, and direct-to-fan done right
Guest links:
→ https://artofdyingmusic.com (https://artofdyingmusic.com)
→ https://artofdying.bandcamp.com/ (https://artofdying.bandcamp.com/)
—
→ Listen on all platforms: https://pod.link/1831627966 (https://pod.link/1831627966)
→ Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_ (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_)
→ Follow: https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish (https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish)
→ V13 Media: https://v13.net (https://v13.net)
→ V13 Store: https://v13.store (https://v13.store)
→ The Cherale (horror novella): https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS (https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS)
→ V13 newsletters: https://v13.net/newsletter/ (https://v13.net/newsletter/)
Subscribe — and then go buy an album straight from a band you love. That's the whole model.
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