As The Story Grows

Chapter 241 - "Playing In Bands Has Been My Primary Social Outlet" ...as read by Ryan Brogan of East Ghost This week, I’m super excited to introduce East Ghost frontman, and my friend, Ryan Brogan to the podcast. As you’ll hear in this episode, Ryan and I go back and I have a deep connection with East Ghost. Ryan talks about the musical influence of his brothers, East Ghost’s origins, history, and...

Chapter 240 - "I Had To Explore Other Areas of Music" ...as read by Chris Ratzlaff of Fallstar This week, Fallstar frontman Chris Ratzlaff joins the podcast. Chris also fronts Northlander, also on Facedown Records, and Cobra Cobra on his record label, Rat Family. Chris chats about the influence that Mxpx had on him, choosing to go with Come and Live instead of being pitched to Solid State (and the...

Chapter 239 - "There's No Barriers" ...as read by Brittany and Cathrine from Common Ground Collective This week I’m excited to welcome Brittany Hughes and Catherine Yi from Common Ground Collective to the podcast.  Britt and Cat discuss their musical backgrounds, how they ended up working at Hopeless Records and how that experience influenced the early days of Common Ground. We then discuss transi...

Chapter 238 - "Learning How To Let Go" ...as read by Adam Boose of Golden Streets of Paradise This week, Golden Streets of Paradise drummer Adam Boose joins the show. Adam is also a mastering engineer who runs Cauliflower Audio. Adam has been the man remastering the Steadfast Records Zao and Brandtson reissues. Golden Streets of Paradise just released their second full-length record, Throes, on St...

Chapter 237 - "We Wanted To Do Something In The Opposite Direction" ...as read by Ricky Terrell of All Hallowed This week we welcome Ricky Terrell from dance punk outfit All Hallowed to the podcast. Ricky and I walk through his musical journey, how Ryan Adams changed his perception on music, having Aaron Gillespie play drums for All Hallowed, and the merits of sharing all the songs before releasin...

Chapter 236 - "If I Didn't Have Material Ready, I'd Be Way More Under Stress" ...as read by Julian Rosen of Common Sage This week we welcome Julian Rosen, frontman for the band Common Sage. Julian gives an overview of his musical influences and his band evolution, plus writing, recording, and not releasing music. Grab some Common Sage tunes - https://commonsage.bandcamp.com/ You can also check out...

Chapter 235 - "I Can Learn How To Play Bass" ...as read by Rob Horner This week we welcome former Zao bassist Rob Horner to the podcast. Rob talks about the West Virginia underground scene he came up in, the bass he acquired by trading a Playstation when he first joined Zao, and lots of talk about his time in Zao. We also talk about The Minus Tide, a project Rob was involved in in the early 2000’s...

Chapter 234 - "You Can Always Come Back" ...as read by Séamus Scanlan This week, I’m excited to share my chat with Séamus Scanlan. Séamus is a new artist on Common Ground Collective. Séamus talks about growing up in Philadelphia, how improv helped him overcome stage fright, and how he started releasing music. We also discuss lullabies and Séamus' ambient project, Níos Moille. Go download Tacony -...

Chapter 233 - "I Wanted To Make An Album By Myself, For Myself" ...as read by Nate Parrish This week, we welcome Nate Parrish to the podcast. Nate released his debut solo record, I’m A Wreck, in 2020. Nate talks about being in a worship band signed with Integrity Records, how he got involved in Kutless, and his punk rock roots that he showcases on I’m A Wreck. Nate is also a visual artist and we t...

Chapter 232 - "There's A Great Redemptive Story In All That" ...as read by Arthur Green of Living Sacrifice Kicking off 2021, the metal onslaught continues as we welcome Living Sacrifice bassist Arthur Green to the podcast. Arthur and I discuss his musical background, including the bond that led to Eso Charis, his initial intimidation when he joined Living Sacrifice, and how Covid impacted the ban...

2020 Retrospective This week we have a very special “best of” episode. I have clips, featuring interviews we’ve done throughout the year. In order of appearance, you’ll hear from Cliffy Huntington of the Huntingtons, Andrew Godwin from Embodyment, Ted Cookerly of EDL, Shawn Jonas from Zao, Greg Jehanian from mewithoutYou, Ryan Parrish from In Parallel, Maggie Gently, Josh Kembel of Dogwood, Luke E...

Chapter 231 - "As Much Said As It Is Felt" ...as read by Patrick and Avery from Whitehall This week I’m excited to introduce Patrick and Avery from the band Whitehall. Whitehall is another new act from Common Ground Collective. The band just dropped "Good Guy" the first single from their upcoming debut full-length "Swordfish Catcher." The guys talk about their influences, playing house shows, and...

Chapter 230 - "Start A Band With Songs That Everybody Already Knows" ...as read by Jamie Hilsden of Man Alive This week welcome Jamie Hilsden from Man Alive to the podcast. Jamie is also the brains behind the new Christmas punk group, The Myrrhderers. Jamie talks about growing up Canadian in Israel, the early days of Man Alive and being an overseas band trying to make it in the States. Then we dis...

Chapter 229 - "The Life and Death of A Plea For Purging" ...as read by Andy Atkins from A Plea For Purging This week I’m joined by former A Plea For Purging frontman, Andy Atkins. Andy breaks down the band’s swan song release, The Life and Death of A Plea For Purging. The Life and Death turns 10 in 2021 and it was fun getting to go through my favorite Plea record with Andy. We chat about the lead...

Chapter 228 - "I Let It Flow A Bit More" ...as read by Kiliyan Maguire from Charming Liars This week, I’m excited to introduce Kiliyan Maguire from Charming Liars to you guys. Charming Liars is a pop rock band from LA. Kiliyan chats about the impact hair metal had on him, translating the band’s sound in a live setting, and breaking free of the album cycle to keep fans engaged. https://www.charming...

Chapter 227 - "None Of This Should Be Relevant Right Now" ...as read by Daniel Howe of Ray Gun Solace This week we welcome Daniel Howe from Ray Gun Solace and The Natural 20s to the podcast. I chatted with Danny the day before the election, so politics was on the brain. Danny talks about his musical background, the anxiety from the 2016 election that led to him writing Reagan Zealous, and the musi...

Chapter 226 - "We Were Doing Things That People Thought Weren't Good Until They Became Good To Other People" ...as read by Matt Carter of Emery This week we welcome Emery guitarist and Labeled Podcast host Matt Carter to the show. Matt and I discuss Emeryland and how the band’s approach to making music has helped them in the pandemic. Plus we deep dive into Emery’s sound and podcasting.  Emery - h...

Chapter 225 - "This Is the Perfect Time To Make Things" ...as read by Jake Ciccotelli from Overgrow This week we welcome Overgrow frontman Jake Ciccotelli to the podcast. Overgrow has a new ep coming out on December 4th via Common Ground Collective called Hear Your Voice Again. This was a super fun conversation about songwriting and creativity in the time of Covid. We chat about Jake’s early hardc...

Chapter 224 - "We Didn't Want To Be Considered A Nostalgia Band" ...as read by Stacy Hilt of The Casket Lottery This week I’m exited to share my chat with The Casket Lottery and former Coalesce bassist, Stacy Hilt. The Casket Lottery will release their new record, Short Songs For End Times this Friday, November 6th. Stacy chats about the chaotic early days of Coalesce, The Casket Lottery’s origin,...

Chapter 223 - "I Wanted To Be The Pop Punk Girl" ...as read by Maggie Schneider of Glimmers This week we welcome Maggie Schneider from Glimmers to the podcast. Glimmers is another artist that came to my attention via Brittany Hughes at Common Ground Collective. Glimmers started as the solo project of Maggie. She slowly put together a a backing band, recorded an album, and decided that this was a b...

Chapter 222 - "Young Culture" ...as read by Alex Magnan from Young Culture This week I’m excited to introduce Alex Magnan from the band Young Culture. Young Culture just dropped their debut, self-titled, LP on Equal Vision Records. It’s a fun debut and the energy on the record came through in my conversation with Alex. We chat about how tough it is to be sitting on a new record and not being able...

Chapter 221 - "This Actually Makes Sense" ...as read by Rob Froese of Friend Club Records This week, I’m excited to be joined by Friend Club Records co-founder Rob Froese. I’ve enjoyed getting to chat with all the various bands from Friend Club and decided it was time to chat with Rob. Rob and I chat about the friendships that led to Friend Club starting and the quick 6 month rise in popularity. ...

Afterdark - Underoath Discography Discussion We’re switching things up this week. No interview. Instead I’m sharing last week’s episode of our Patreon Podcast, After Dark. Recently I’ve decided to take inspiration from our friends at Discography Discussion and deep dive different band’s catalogs for the Patreon show. Last week I was joined by longtime listener and Patreon member Ben Pike to discus...

Chapter 220 - "Introducing Maple Hill" ...as read by Joel Beckwith from Maple Hill Maple Hill is an an emo/pop punk band from upstate New York that just released a brand new single called Playing House via Common Ground Media. Joel chats about getting into music, his influences, joining Maple Hill as a rhythm guitarist before switching to bass, the theme of the new single and future of the band. I...

Chapter 219 - "All Of My Friends Online" ...as read by Matt Hartman and Adam Baker of Bares His Teeth This week I’m excited to finally share my chat with Adam Baker and Matt Hartman from Bares His Teeth. There’s a lot of fun conversation about growing up as fans of hardcore and the scene both guys came through, as well as a quick look into both Matt and Adam’s band history. Then we talk about how...