Adrian Has Issues

On this week’s episode I once again have the pleasure of speaking with Seattle-based guitarist Ro Panuganti. It’s been some time since our last podcast conversation, so there was much to discuss. Ro recently released his latest album entitled “The Ocean.” Released through the GameGrooves Alliance, “The Ocean” is a sprawling 8-track instrumental progressive metal tribute to the music of The Legend...

The Adrian Has Issues Podcast celebrates its 10th anniversary! Joining me on this special occasion is one of my closest friends, Atlas. We started what would be my first-ever show Adrian & Atlas Have Issues back in 2013 and the rest is history. I am not exaggerating when I say that if it weren’t for Atlas there would be no podcasting at all. Our show was an irreverent tribute to our friendship...

Here it is, folks—the first post-hiatus episode of Adrian Has Issues! Joining me in the co-hosting chair is none other than Eileen aka The LatiNerd. We sit down for a thought-provoking conversation with the co-founders of Oneshi Press: Jayel Draco (Lead Designer) and Lynsey G Editor-In-Chief). Oneshi Press is an independent publishing company with a strong emphasis on community and inclusion. Thei...

This week’s episode finds host Adrian King picking up where he left off on what was the final mini-episode installment. Adrian further elaborates on his role as an artist and seeks to reestablish his personal relationship with the creative process, as well as teasing a future project involving some output from the creative community.

Allison Martin is a trombonist with nearly 20 years of performance experience and a Bachelor’s Degree in music education. Having played as a soloist and in ensembles since her youth, Allison was well on her way as a professional player in orchestra before stepping away from music entirely. After years of studying abroad in Japan, Allison has returned with a renewed spirit and destined to make her...

East Bay Area musician and audio engineer Ian Cowell returns! Continuing the conversation from Episode 176, Ian tells the story of how a series of situations involving mistaken identity with another Cowell served as the catalyst for meeting some incredible individuals in the VGM/Synth community. Adrian and Ian also provide their thoughts on the importance of virtual VGM concerts, videogame music c...

The “Minisode” format was intended to be a more intimate and personal account of Adrian’s thoughts and feelings on pop culture and creativity outside of the conversational tone of the standard episodes. In this final entry, Adrian continues a train of thought that was started in Minisode 10. Adrian attempts to redefine what it means to be a creator and podcaster and the role both play in artistic...

This week’s guest is Ian Cowell, an East Bay Area musician, producer and engineer. His incredible style ranges from synthwave, progressive rock, lo-fi and chip music. He has incorporated them into these truly unique arrangements of original music and videogame covers. Ian has been building a steady following in the VGM community with guitar-shredding prowess and irreverent humor. Ian capped off 20...

Grant Henry, known best by his stage name Stemage, is a composer, session player, and audio engineer. He is the creator of Metroid Metal, performed with Viking Guitar and the guitar player for the Emmy-nominated animated series Steven Universe. His credits also include Ikenfell, Chicory: A Colorful Tale and Runner3. Recorded at the start of 2022, Adrian chats with Stemage about his experiences wri...

On this week's episode, Adrian chats with Allen Brasch, the owner and editor-and-chief of GameGrooves. Founded in 2018, GameGrooves aims to celebrate the Videogame Music community with blogs, podcasts and albums that feature music artists from a number of genres. Allen details the origins of GameGrooves as well as the events that lead up to the company's most successful album to date: A ska tribut...

In this week's episode, Adrian is once again joined comedian and writer Mario Candelaria (Ashes, The Chart, Tales From The Pandemic). The duo start off discussing the inspiration behind Mario's latest comic "Fog Line," but the conversation takes several irreverent yet poignant turns featuring takes on Lethal Weapon 2 and Mad Men & more. Mario also goes on a deep dive into his love for hit R&am...

Ro Panuganti is a musician who specializes in guitar-driven music in the vein of progressive rock/metal that have become staples within the videogame music community. His covers have ranged from classic game/movie franchises from The Legend of Zelda and Undertale to Frozen and Hamilton. After building a following through these releases and his YouTube channel, Ro embarks on the next leg of his mus...

On this week’s episode Adrian welcome back Cody Carpenter to the podcast. Cody is a third generation musician and has lent his unique talents to a plethora of projects including the 2018 film Halloween and The Lost Themes trilogy, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and performed with his father John Carpenter and Daniel Davies. In addition to his projects under the pseudonym Ludrium, Cody has been pr...

On this week’s podcast, Adrian is joined by Eileen Melendez aka The LatiNerd and returning guest, comic book writer/letterer Erica Schultz (Daredevil, Forgotten Home). Erica’s latest title The Deadliest Bouquet from Vices Press focuses on three sisters who are forced to confront a complicated family legacy when investigating their mother’s murder. Adrian, Eileen and Erica examine the book’s themes...

On this week’s guest is singer/musician/YouTuber Lacey Johnson! Armed with boundless enthusiasm, razor-sharp wit and a monster-slaying keytar, Lacey covers music from games like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and many more. In addition to her YouTube channel, Lacey is also known for energetic live performances that have been making a statement in the Video Game Music community. Lacey shares her exp...

On this week's podcast, cartoonist Alex Schumacher returns! In early 2020, his semi-autobiographical webcomic "Decades of (in)Experience" through Antix Press had celebrated 200 episodes. Now a year later, Alex talks about the decision to conclude the strip as well as rebrand his other project, the satirical shenanigans of Mr. Butterchips. Embarking on the next phases of his personal and creative e...

On this week's podcast, Adrian chats once again with veteran punk rocker Mikey Erg (The Ergs, Worriers) Fresh off the release of his new self-titled solo album, Mikey discusses his "Return to punk rock" and his experience writing and recording a new album in the midst of a global pandemic. Adrian and Mikey also reflect on the absence of live music, share concert-going regrets and the underrated pu...

This week’s guests are composers Aivi & Surasshu. They are a chiptune and piano duo, comprised of pianist Aivi Tran and sound designer Steven "Surasshu" Velema. The two have created a significant number of songs for the award-winning Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future. The duo have been making waves for their work on the soundtrack for the indie RPG Iken...

On this week’s episode, Adrian teams up with Talking Like A Teen co-host Ashley Burgy for a conversation with voice actress Jennifer Hale. Jennifer has lent her voice to a plethora of animated series (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Powerpuff Girls) and videogames (Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid) and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most female videogame voices. Jennifer talks abou...

This week's guest is Fallon Goskowski. Fallon is a singer, thespian, the founder of Access BOSS...and Adrian's older sister. Adrian & Fallon reflect on what it was like growing up as Blerds to now being parents to both organic and digital children and express their thoughts on what it means to be Black while fighting to exist and be seen in traditionally White spaces.

This week's guest is David Pepose, the writer and co-creator of the Ringo Award-nominated comic Spencer & Locke as well as Going To The Chapel. from Action Lab Danger Zone. As the comic book industry experiences huge shakeups in publishing and distributing, creators like David Pepose are looking to more crowdfunding ventures such as Kickstarter to appeal to a wider audience that might not have...

Jono Diener is a musician and comic book writer based out of Flint, Michigan. He’s performed in bands like The Swellers, Baggage, and No Trigger to name a few. Diener put together A Comic For Flint: HOPE released by Source Point Press, and is featured in the anthologies Maybe Someday (A Wave Blue World), and Everything Is Going Wrong: Comics on Punk and Mental Illness in addition to his self-publi...

On this week’s episode we’re featuring the comic book “mixtape” entitled Tales From The Pandemic. Taking inspiration from quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, writer Mario Candelaria (Ashes, The Chart, The Good Fight Anthology) assembles a talented team of artists including our other guest Adam Ferris (The Good Fight Anthology, Unlawful Good, Baroque Pop). Mario and Adam give listeners a candi...

This week’s episode features a 2x bonus of videogame music awesomeness! The first half of the show features Ro Panuganti. Ro is a YouTuber, multi-instrumentalist and videographer, specializing in covers of videogames and films in the style of rock and progressive metal. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the popular role-playing videogame franchise “Mother”/”Earthbound,” Ro talks about co-produci...

Celebrating 7 years as a podcaster, Adrian further examines the “culture of creativity” on a deeply personal level. In asking listeners a question, Adrian also comes to a realization that will undoubtedly shape future podcasts for years to come.