Talk About the Passion

Episode 102 is a conversation with Brian Fair of the band Shadows Fall, in this episode we talk about the formation of that band from his time in his band before Overcast, the scene at the time in Massachusetts, Shadows Fall at the Grammys, as well as a mutual love for the band Into Another as well as the Grateful Dead and Phish, who we both share a love for, and nerd out quite a bit about towards...

I talk with author Jim Ruland about his novel Make It Stop, his obsession with ancient cities, recovery, healthcare vigilantes and how important writing is to him. Although we barely talk about his books on punk rock, his approach to life and his philosophies talked about here epitomize the punk rock spirit. Jim has written a number of books including My Damage - Keith Morris, Do What You Want - T...

In this 100th episode I talk about why this podcast that is mostly focused on hardcore, punk and metal is named after an REM song. Hiding your love for disco as a young Kiss fan, being saved by a Van Halen shirt, being a skinhead and a Deadhead at the same time and other things that make no sense.

Episode 99 is a conversation with Dana Bollen, Dana has two podcasts himself: Two Week Notice and Life Free or DIY which we talk about a bit here. Dana also has worked as a tour manager for bands like Piebald and Unearth, he tells the story of how he went from being a fan of Piebald to them asking him to manage a tour. Travel is a big theme in this episode, as well as the DIY ethic. This was my fi...

Episode 98 is a conversation with Brain Brannon, singer of JFA (Jodie Foster's Army) since 1981. We talk about his time in that band, skateboarding, writing for Thrasher Magazine in the 90's, joining the US Navy after 9/11 and of course more skateboarding. JFA were pretty much the beginning of the marriage of skateboarding and punk rock/hardcore music, or at least the first to wear it proudly. JFA...

Episode 97 is a conversation with Aesop Dekker. Aesop has played drums for a number of bands like Hickey, Ludicra and Agalloch among many others. We talk about him growing up in Florida, moving to the Bay Area and then just talk about music in general. Everything from JFA to Pat Travers! Some great stories, and well thought out takes on music. This was an easy going, natural conversation and I hop...

In this episode I talk about humor in music, from early artists like Martin Mull to punk and hardcore bands like The Dickies and Angry Samoans. I attempt to reassess my opinion of a popular band I long dismissed. And of course Frank Zappa is discussed. Humor is a huge part of music, and the answer to this question is obvious, here I give some examples of why. 

Episode 95 is a conversation with Graham McCulloch. Alongside his brother Rob he was in the hardcore band Negative Approach, playing on both of their records. Later moving on to The Meatmen, which is where we spend most of our conversation. From his first performance with Tesco to tours with the Meatmen in the 80's, there are some amazing stories here. Graham also worked with Void's Bubba Dupree i...

Episode 94 is a conversation with Dean Rispler. Dean is a NY native, and we talk about growing up on Long Island and discovering music there, a life changing Butthole Surfers show, eventually making his way to playing with Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Murphy's Law, Dictators and Richard Lloyd among others. Dean is a great story teller and some of these stories are hilarious, some are crazy, m...

First episode back in a couple of years is a solo episode where I talk about music and it's relation to traveling. What's the best Dischord band for a road trip mix? Should you collaborate with a friend on a travel playlist? What Eagles songs was partly written in the parking lot of a fast food hot dog chain? Find out here!

Episode 92 is another conversation with my good friend Michael Brousseau. On this episode we talk about rediscovering stuff you were into as a kid before you got turned on to the good stuff from your cool friend at school, and realize that stuff is good as well. This is a long loose conversation about music discovery, music listening habits and not having guilty pleasures. Michael has some really...

Episode 91 is a conversation with returning guest Damien Moyal (As Friends Rust, Culture, On Bodies, Damien Done and more) On this episode we are talking about his newest project, a death metal band called Ekstasis and their new release, Paralyzing Impermanence. We talk about how this project came to be, what the future holds for the project as well as what some of the differences are making music...

Episode 28 is me alone talking about record stores. Starting at going to Tower Records on Sunset Strip as a kid to working at a few different record stores in New England, and now in the present time being a frequent customer at various shops. I also answer questions like "Does one need nine copies of the same Minor Threat record?", "Can you really impress a woman just by playing a Replacements re...

Episode 90 is a conversation with musician Joseph Grillo. Joseph has and does play in a number of bands including Garrison, Gay For Johnny Depp, Her Head's On Fire and Judas Knife among many others. We talk about most of the projects he's been involved in, as well as what it was like to record with J Robbins, the process of recording the Judas Knife record with Drew Thomas at God City.  Joseph was...

Episode 89 is a loose conversation with my friend and returning guest Kevin Grant about the band Black Flag. We have an essentially open discussion about the band, how we got into them, their records, the 82 demos, the many connections to skateboarding and much more. This was a lot of fun to do Black Flag are one of my favorite bands and it was great to talk to have Kevin on again to talk about on...

Episode 88 is a conversation with Tony Erba. Tony is a veteran of the Cleveland punk and hardcore scene, doing time in a number of bands, Face Value, Fuck You Pay Me, Nine Shocks Terror and many more. In this episode we step a little bit away from the hardcore world and talk about hard rock, boogie rock and not having guilty pleasures when it comes to music. This was a lot of fun to record, Tony i...

In this episode I talk to my friend Isaac Turner (Episode 82) about Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy, three dark records from the early 70's (Time Fades Away, On The Beach and Tonight's the Night) that were recorded and released during a period in Neil's life where he was just coming off the huge success of Harvest and the deaths of two of his closest friends from drugs. We have a casual conversation ab...

In this episode I talk with Kevin Grant about the latest record his band Wire Lines released called Harvest Verses. This is Kevin's second appearance on the podcast (First being episode 38) Here we talk about how the new record came about, what it was like to put it together during a pandemic, and Kevin goes into detail about the meaning behind some of the songs on this record. The new record on B...

On this episode I talk to Steve Risteen and Jamie Sciarappa who both did time in the Boston hardcore band Slapshot, and Jamie was also a member of SS Decontrol. Slapnot is a band comprised of dozens of ex-members of Slapshot gathering together to play a show on November 21, 2021 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Slapshot as well as to give fans and friends the opportunity to sing on stage with...

Episode 84 sees Bob Mayo return for a third appearance on the podcast, this time we are talking about the "point of entry" phenomena wherein the first record you hear by an artist orients your idea of what they should sound like. We talk about getting into bands like Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Cheap Trick and Iron Maiden to name a few. When you first heard Judas Priest did you then move backwards...

In this episode I talk with film director, producer, musician and host of the New York Hardcore Chronicles about his life as a fan of the Grateful Dead. As someone prominent in the early Boston hardcore scene as well we go from Radio City Music Hall seeing the Dead in 1980 to the Gallery East seeing bands like SSD and Bad Brains. What's it like to hang in both of these scenes? With Drew's great st...

Episode 82 is sort of a two part episode. The first 1/3 of the episode I talk about seeing King Crimson this past summer as well as some other updates. The rest of the episode is a conversation with my friend Isaac (Ike) Turner. Ike is an English professor from Kalamazoo, MI who teaches a class on the history of rock and roll. We talk a bit about that class, how he got into music from punk rock st...

Episode 81 is a conversation with my friend EK who has played drums in Sick Of It All, Warzone and many others. This is his second appearance on the podcast and we talk about his time in Warzone a bit more and what it was like working with Dr. Know, what he's been up to lately on the musical front (Note: The musical project EK talks about in this episode no longer exists, unfortunately this episod...

Episode 80 is a conversation with Eddie Sutton, best known as the vocalist for New York Hardcore/crossover band Leeway. In this hour plus casual conversation Eddie gives an update on his health (Eddie was diagnosed with cancer in early 2020), talks about the importance of being a hardcore kid, drug addiction, touring with the Bad Brains and how he keeps his head up and maintains a humble, down to...

On episode 79 I talk to my friend Keith Bennett (Boston's Wrecking Crew, Panzerbastard) for the third time. Keith gives me a deep and personal insight into his last year which began extremely dark as he talked about on Episode 57 to the present sober Keith. This was one of the most candid conversations I've had on this podcast and I'm glad Keith wanted to share his story of sobriety. The honesty a...