Bothering the Band

Our awesome producer, Abby, saw Seán Barna open up for Counting Crows in Boston last year, and made it a mission to bother the intense and empathetic songwriter. On the cusp of releasing his second full-length record, An Evening at Macri Park, Seán Barna has become a defining voice in the art of queer storytelling. Here, he tells tales of his experiences living in NYC, Los Angeles, D.C.,...

Brooke Singer, of New Zealand's French for Rabbits, is the only musician we've heard of who sends handwritten thank-you notes when you buy a record. Fresh off the release of 'The Overflow', her emotionally intelligent music is evocative of land and sea, awash with glistening layers. Just as she makes a concert hall feel like a living room, Singer makes this bonus episode more magical than we...

We first fought for The Muslims when we heard their track 'Fuck These Fuckin Fascists' and we can't believe we got Ba7Ba7, QADR, and Abu Shea on the pod. Drawing from the influence of the most legendary artists and revolutionaries of our time, they have successfully synthesized the “fuck you” energy of the oppressed into an ass-kicking, head-smashing, fascist-punching sonic experience. This all-qu...

We sat down with Andy Valenti and C.J. Johnson (and their manager Claire) of Oh He Dead, the DC-based indie soul band with haunting harmonies to talk bridges, fridges, curfews, cushioned toilet seats, the pronunciation of the word 'Crayon' and much more crazy shit in this wild episode of Bothering the Band, which is the first of season 2!

Designer, Muralist, Rapper, Radio Host, Pugs Atomz is a true Hip Hop renaissance man. His Music and Art have been featured in TV shows, movies, commercials, sporting events and video games. We talk about Chicago, underground 90s Hip Hop, scars, cars, graffiti tagging the moon, and his latest album, Test Drive, which came out in 2021. Our interview with him makes the last episode of Season 1 of Bot...

We have a special Christmas Eve Bonus Episode coming down the chimney for ya! MadLeo is a singer-songwriter and actress taking on the music scene with pithy lyrics and bold dark pop production. Despite a few technical glitches in this episode, MadLeo channels her inner extrovert with us to reminisce about basketball, Florida, traveling, and more.

Buick Audra is a Grammy-award-winning musician, writer, and activist living in Nashville. She is the guitarist, primary songwriter and vocalist in the melodic heavy duo, Friendship Commanders. She has a forthcoming full-length album called Conversations with My Other Voice, as well as an accompanying memoir. Not only is her music filled with courage, clarity and fire, but she is hilarious and help...

When we first started this project, Shad was at the top of our list of artists to bother. We can't believe it actually happened! The Canadian alternative hip hop sensation, and host of Netflix's Hip Hop Evolution, is anything but average. Smart, sweet and funny, he definitely lived up to our expectations, answering silly questions about beating Drake in one-on-one, reading poetry, bloggi...

Our wayward host, Ryan Buynak, was recently on Talking Schmidt, a podcast hosted by Eric Schmidt and Greg Burmeister, in which they interview some of their favorite comedians, artists, and musicians. They were on our podcast and they shared ours on their channel, and now Ryan is on their podcast so we wanted to reflect the gratitude and share theirs on ours. Confused? Just listen and lau...

We sat down with Tommy Prine, son of the late legendary multi Grammy award-winning artist, John Prine, to talk about how he has crafted his own unique sound over the years. We also talk about dogs, video games, fridge cigs and more. Tommy is delighted to share news that his debut album is finished (not-yet-released) and he is proud to follow his dad’s example of bringing songs and s...

We bumped into Tyler-Simone Molton and John Renaud of the Atlanta-based band Lesibu Grand (pronounced Less-EE-boo Grand) via Zoom and became fast friends, realizing we share a lot in common. They share stories about dreams, hope, hot glue guns and more. They even invite us to bowl wheels of cheese into bottles of wine with them.

Live from New York City, it's Bothering the Band with Greg Burmeister and Eric Schmidt of the podcast, Talking Schmidt. They join host Ryan Buynak, with whom they have been friends with for a long time, to discuss working for David Letterman, their favorite R Kelly song, their least favorite basketball players, Mick Jagger’s dick or Bruce Springsteen’s butt, Eric's comedy career, Greg's music...

On this very special (and different) episode of Bothering the Band, we have Tom Arnold. Yes, that Tom Arnold. Actor, Comedian, friend of Chris Farley, former Husband of Rosanne, and co-star of Arnold Schwarzenegger. But what you don't know about Tom could fill a freaking warehouse. He is sweet. He is a doting dad. And yes, he is a musician, having grown up playing music in country western bands, a...

Indie Electro Singer-Songwriter and Ukulelist, the artist known as Boxout creates music that spans multiple genres, combining elements of electronic, hip hop, pop punk and indie music. His nostalgic yet heart-pumping tracks reflect his commitment to an original style while also paying tribute to his musical influences. He is a sweet boy from Chicago who is blowing up, and was nice e...

Getting to bother Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce, the "Jack O" and "Pierce" who make up the seminal duo Jackopierce, was a long time coming. Our host was introduced to their tunes in high school from his friend Mark Hill, so this episode is important. Jackopierce are celebrating 30 years of making music that has amassed a loyal following of millions of fans across the globe. They have shar...

Samantha Crain is a Choctaw songwriter, musician, producer, and singer from Shawnee, Oklahoma. Her outstanding music hit our radar when one of her songs was featured in an episode of the new FX/Hulu comedy/drama series Reservation Dogs. Bless her heart, Samantha talked with us about poetry, her favorite kind of tape, and fixing old radios, amongst other things. She even finished the interview...

We constructed a well-built episode of Bothering the Band with Ben Rogers who has been going places and turning heads with compelling songs and captivating performances for a while. We love his style of music and love his role on the Amazon show, Loudermilk. Listen as we bother him about coffee snobbery, building stuff, the pronunciation of Syrup, lies, and There Will Be Blood.

This is a very coincidental episode of Bothering the Band with Anna Lies and Ryan Kenter of The Vaughns, an indie pop rock band from New Jersey. We happened to catch them on the day a vomit streak ended, and talked about "classic" films, Taylor ham pork rolls, Von Dutch hats, and the time they played an actual gig in the Newark Airport. Get in on the fun like a dancing giant sexy sloth!

What's Dunn is done! We had a ton of fun with Allie Dunn on this BONUS EPISODE of Bothering the Band. The singer/songwriter who was born and raised in NYC, but now lives in Nashville, chatted about ribosomes, having "the talk" with her mom (shoutout to Anna), using loofahs, Chef Boyardee, and making puns with her last name. Her new EP "Good as Gone" is available on all streaming platform...

Some fine action on the pod with Tyson McShane and Chris Morin of the awesome band Slow Down Molasses, whose new album Minor Deaths just came out and is damn good. We traverse shifting sonic territories with the fellas and talk about skateboarding, peeing in the shower, the taste of post-punk sunshine, and grammar (their band name does not have a comma in it any longer!).

Kerry Alexander, front-woman for Minneapolis-based indie rock Bad Bad Hats, has a special power of transporting listeners to certain places and times. She does this with music, but she also does this in her episode of Bothering the Band. With an overall lightheartedness and the cadence of a standup comedian, she answers our silly questions about blankets, bad habits, kissing God, keeping butter in...

We had so much fun bothering Junyor and Moon, the aliens of the band 4 Minutes Later. They dislike third person bios, but they liked us, and their new song "Holding on to Nothing" is a banger! We asked them about the best way to hide a boner, the color of mirrors, and why the hell they put dead birds in the fridge. 4 Minutes Later and their alien-pop music is about to take Earth by storm, and some...

We are positively charged for this episode of Bothering the Band with Danielle Durack, a phenomenal Phoenix-based songwriter, whose most recent album, No Place, drew the attention of Pitchfork, NPR, and us, of course. If you care about indie rock's next generation, Danielle Durack is rapidly solidifying herself as a must-know name, and we got to ask her some super silly questions, like can she nam...

It is May Rio's personality and deftness that shine and make this buttery BONUS EPISODE the unexpected journey that it is. On her debut solo album, Easy Bammer, which came out on June 25th, May Rio was inspired in part by time spent touring with Poppies, as well as the year the world went into lockdown. From couch surfing to preferred laundry detergent, we dive deep, even shitting on white br...

Brace Yourself for a badass episode of Bothering the Band with FELICITY, a Hard Rock/Pop Punk Band From Orlando, Florida, whose debut album 'Dear Universe' came out over the summer and continues to gobble up a gajillion streams on Spotify. Listen to their music and then listen to us bother them about falling down, bouncing back and forth between more metal-sounding songs and more pop punk songs, a...