Anti-Heroes with Zach Blair

Jonathan Hischke is bass player with vast and eclectic experience’s touring, recording and as a session musician. He’s played with Hella, The Shins, Cigar, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Broken Bells and is a founding member of Dot Hacker and Anywhere. The two discuss Jonathan’s diverse career and the challenges of being a session musician. He shares how he got started in music, his decision to focus on ba...

Zach sits down with Gwar’s newest axman, Tommy Meehan, aka Grodius Maximus. Tommy discusses his experience joining Gwar and the impact they had on him as a teenager. Tommy shares his journey as a musician, starting with his early influences and his love for unique and interesting guitars. Zach and Tommy talk about juggling multiple bands and the challenges and rewards that come with it. Tommy refl...

Duane Denison is a songwriter, guitarist and founding member of Tomahawk, The Denison/Kimball Trio and most notable, the widely influential, The Jesus Lizard.  In this episode Zach and Duane discuss Duane’s unique style and the influences that shaped it. They talk about the music scene in Texas, the importance of playing new material, and the balance between playing old hits and new songs in live...

The season opener of Anti-Heroes starts off with a bang with the great Walter Schreifels ! (Uncle Wally” if you’re nasty). Walter is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer.  He has played with seminal hardcore bands Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits and is a founding member of Quicksand, Rival Schools, and Walking Concert. To say that Walter is a massive influence on Zach is an understatement. The t...

In this final episode of season 5 Zach gives thanks and recaps. Thank you to all the listeners and guests. We'll be back with season 6 before you can learn a Rise Against guitar solo! (Please share your solos in if you beat us!) Thank you to all of our sponsors and listeners, please support them! Episode support by Distrokid and Jim Dunlop Episode support by Thunder Road Guitars Mentioned in this...

Zach talks with one of his all-time idols and inspirations, Andy Kerr from NoMeansNo!!! Throughout his career Andy has been very elusive, even going so far as to never crediting his real name on the records he’s played on. Pre-internet, this proved very tricky for a young Zach to find out who was playing his favorite riffs in one of his favorite bands, No Means No. Zach finally gets to meet the ma...

Zach talks with Ryan 'Fluff' Bruce, the creator of the popular YouTube channel Riffs, Beards & Gear. They discuss Ryan’s journey from working at Boeing to becoming one of the most successful guitar YouTubers. Fluff tells us how he started making videos as a hobby during his lunch breaks and eventually turned it into a full-time career. He also talks about the early days of YouTube guitar chann...

Zach talks with touring comrade and friend Ryan Patterson. Ryan is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and founding member of Louisville based bands Coliseum and FOTOCRIME. Ryan and Zach discuss the inspiration behind FOTOCRIME and how the project has been an avenue to explore his post punk leanings. Ryan shares his penchant for hollow body guitars, they talk odd pedal choices of seminal hardcore band...

Zach talks with bass player Greg Norton! Greg is former bass player of the great Hûsker Dû. Since Hûsker Dû disbanded in 1998, he founded the band Grey Area and has continued to perform and record with various projects including Gang Font, Porcupine and most recently UltraBomb. Zach and Greg discuss his early bass playing, his gear choices, influences, and life after Du. Greg shares his current ge...

Zach talks with new friend Jesse Matthewson. Jesse is singer and guitarist for Winnipeg based band KEN Mode. The two talk Jesus Lizard, Canadian Content Laws, and the wonderful music that Winnipeg has produced over the years. Zach and Jesse bond over playing in bands with their siblings and the glory of the touring in vans. We hear some special guitar nerdery and hear a few tunes. #jessemathewson...

Robb Flynn is the guitarist of heavy metal legends, Machine Head. Not only does Zach love Machine Head, but he's an absolute fanboy of Robbs previous band VIO-LENCE!! He's worn out many copies of what he considers their seminal record, Eternal Nightmare, and finally, Zach meets Robb. The two discuss Robb's choice to exclusively play baritone guitars for the bulk of Machine Head's career and how th...

In this Ep Zach talks with longtime friend and fellow Austinite, Alex Gehring. Alex is the bass player for shoegaze heads, Ringo Deathstarr. Zach and Alex share their experiences of joining bands in their youth, the world of wonders and downsides of never-ending tours and how they their seasoned selves see touring these days. Alex tells Zach how her stepfather’s influence started her rock n roll j...

Season debut of Anti-Heroes starts off with a bang with Zach's "guitartner" and longtime comrade Tim Mcllrath from Rise Against. Zach forces Tim to talk about gear and all the nerdy stuff that usually elicits an (understood) eyeroll. Even though they have spent most of their days together for 17 years, they don't ever really talk about their approach together, as players, how they divide up parts...

This week on The Anti-Heroes Podcast it's just Zach! He gets intimate. He opens up. He dishes and he pontificates. Zach talks about the past year, he reflects on this past season, looks to the next season and he laments the loss of an icon and idol, the inimitable Geordie Walker from Killing Joke.  Last, Zach thanks you for all your support and invites you back for another season. Happy Holidays a...

Anti-Heroes Ep 32 is up! Zach interviews Dale Crover, greatly influential drummer for the Melvin’s, Nirvana, Redd Cross and founding member and guitarist for Altamont. Zach see's Dale not only as one of rock n rolls all-time greatest drummers but world class guitarist and songwriter. Dales shares his influences, his favorite guitar players, some of his favorite guitars and why making solo records...

Today on Anti-Heroes! Paul D’Amour! Paul is a multi-instrumentalist, engineer, and producer. He has recorded and toured extensively with Ministry, Lusk, The Replicants and is a founding member of Tool. Though bass guitar is his main "live' instrument, he sees himself simply as a musician who wants to make interesting art and he'll play any instrument he can to make that happen. Zach and Paul talk...

This is a special episode for Zach. He gets to sit down with two of his closest friends, Ian MacDougall and Fadi El-Assad from the Riverboat Gamblers. They been through thick and thin; terrible jobs, health scares, successes, failures and all the ups and downs of a tight, long-time friendship. In this episode, Fadi tells us how dad taught him guitar basics and how finding punk in North Texas chang...

"ITS ZACH'S BROTHER, Donivan Blair!!! This is both the first "sibling" and the first "bass player" episode of Anti-Heroes. Donivan has played bass for Hagfish, Only Crime and is now the bass player for The Toadies and has toured and recorded extensively for over 25 years. He also holds a first degree black belt in Taekwando. In the episode, the two talk Donivan's tenure with The Toadies and he sha...

In Ep 28 of Anti-Heroes Zach chats with his dear friend, Steph Carter. Steph is not only the guitarist for Lyoness and Gallows, but head of education at Marshall Amplifiers. The two discuss early touring days together, particularly a world tour that took them to Australia, Japan and Europe. Steph shares Gallows unexpected instant success and the difficulties navigating it with his sibling, singer...

Baroness guitarist series continues this week with Gina Gleason! In addition to Baroness, Gina has toured and performed with Cirque du Soleil, Brendan Smalls ((Dethklock), Jon Anderson (YES), Carlos Santana and Jello Biafra. She is also a founding member of Misstalica and Queen Diamond. Gina shares her amazing and unique background playing guitar in a Cirque Du Soleil production and how she naviga...

Episode 1 of Season 4 is upon us! John Baizely is the rhythm guitarist and singer for Savannah, Georgia based Baroness. He is also and prolific painter and has contributed works to a wide range of artists (Kylesa, Metallica, Pig Destroyer, Gillian Welch, Flight of the Concords) on posters, t-shirts and record cover design. In this episode the two discuss Johns's musical background and how that has...

This week Zach talks with Josh Newton of Shiner and super group The Dammed Things. Not only is Josh a ripping guitarist, but he’s also a sought-after guitar-tech for the likes of Fall Out Boy, Kings of Leon and Band Of Horses. Zach couldn't be happier to sit down with one of his favorite guitarists from one of his favorite bands. Josh shares his experience as a "lefty", the two discuss the power o...

Randy Randall is the guitarist, co-producer and founding member of No Age. In this episode, Randy tells us what it's like to be guitarist that covers both bass and guitar duties. He shares what he's gleaned from non stop touring and his method for band longevity. The two talk about the wonders of the POG pedal, Randys set up and we hear a couple tunes. Episode sponsored by Jim Dunlop and MXR. Visi...

Yvette Young is the singer, guitarist and founding member of the band Covet. On this episode Zach and Yvette discuss her classical piano background, her other life as a visual artist and how originally picking up the guitar was a way to cope with some personal struggles (something that she and Zach have in common). Yvette also shares the evolution of her band Covet, her view on amp modeling and wh...

Bryan Giles is a guitarist and song-writer for the ultra-heavy Portland based Red Fang. From the crushing riffs to the intricate song structure, Red Fang is a band after Zach's own heart. In this episode, , Zach and Bryan discuss the riffage duties of the two Red Fang guitarists and how that lends to their overall sound. Zach and Bryan share their guitar influences and the significant role that me...