Meet Jim Perry | Podcaster with Euphomet and Founder of DEFY Wrestling

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jim Perry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jim, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I really thought to myself, “you have learned how to take insight and use creativity to make things for someone else. What would that look like now if you did that for yourself?” I sort of used that as a way to convince myself to take the plunge and quit my full-time job knowing that, I can’t be scared of what I don’t yet know, because that insight, when needed, can be found.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The projects I create, whether that is DEFY Wrestling, or my podcast Euphomet, are both about connecting people and the suspension of disbelief.

In this place, magic happens. Internal dialogs and opinions are replaced with the intention to celebrate a divergent reality where seemingly, much more is possible and it’s all there for you to experience too.

I like to create for others, but it’s ultimately an expression of something internal, I get that. I think to have a substrate, a “product” that isn’t directly me helps me camouflage and collaborate much easier? I try and stay pretty damn unseen as it relates to DEFY and in Euphomet, I like to present myself as but a narrative tool for context, to help the audience better understand a story or character. To better relate.

Being included is important. And to create experiences that people can feel included, if anything, in a communal suspension of disbelief, is what I really enjoy.

DEFY Wrestling which runs shows in Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland is like seeing Wrestling at a punk show. Some of the best wrestlers from around the world join us to mix it up with homegrown talent. It’s bright costumes and real blood. It’s violent theatre. It’s not what you see on TV it’s more connected to the Cities we run in and up close and personal. Luchadores fly over your head and it’s extremely exciting being right on top of the action. At a DEFY show in Seattle, fans were surprised by Jon Moxley from AEW showing up un-announced to be put on an absolute classic No DQ match against local kingpin Schaff. You never know what will happen.

My other main project is Euphomet. It’s a podcast series about the unknown and our relationship to it. I travel the country and embed myself with individuals who have experienced paranormal events that have somehow shaped their lives and make a narrative documentary feature on them. The stories are intimate, often very scary, and I’m really happy to have found a great audience. I’ve recently started an AM Radio show called Nite Drift to accompany the podcast. It really allows me to dig deeper into the philosophy of the unknown with thought leaders, mystics, creatives, and experiencers. Occasionally I broadcast the program from a studio in Santa Monica to an AM radio station in Seattle called KKNW 1150 AM. I”m encouraging people to check that out every Sunday evening at 5pm.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
You can usually find me in Highland Park and that is where I’d take them too. We’d spend an afternoon eating our way through the neighborhood. Dan Dan Noodles at Joy, grab Donut Friend across the street, and zag back over to Cafe De Leche and a stroll before catching a show at Lodge Room.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shout out goes to my DEFY promoting partners Matt Farmer and Annie Tunnicliffe. It’s because of them that DEFY runs as well as it does and that I can sleep at night knowing the problems I’ll need to solve as an owner are smaller than they otherwise would be.

We try and take care of each other, share a lot of laughs, and also have faced all of the stress that comes along with operating a small business, and in particular, all of the weirdness that is “the entertainment industry”. From humble beginnings, we have together built a touring event brand of international esteem and that is a pretty cool thing that we try and remind each other when stuff gets crazy.

Instagram: @itsjimperry

Twitter: @itsjimperry

Other: You can find my work at euphomet.com and defywrestling.com