Chip Chats

Karl Kuehn 's album, Blue Water , released under the name Gay Meat , was written under the worst possible circumstances. The former Museum Mouth drummer/singer's mom Karen suffered six grand mal seizures in a row in 2018 causing a traumatic brain injury. And as Karl put his touring life on hold to care for his mom, he found that writing songs about what he was going through was a bit thera...

Chip Chats is not turning into a "sad dads" podcast, but the conversations about losing children and the grief journey is an important one. In 2021, as a 14-year-old, Nell Smith recorded an album of Nick Cave covers with The Flaming Lips and performed "Red Right Hand" on the Stephen Colbert Show . Now that Nell had caught people’s attention, she started working on her own music...

Ben Kweller , Rocky Votolato and I are members of a club that we didn't ask to join, don't want to be in, and can never leave. All three of us lost children suddenly and unexpectedly - Ben lost Dorian on February 27, 2023, Rocky lost Kienan on December 6, 2021, and I lost Liv on June 4, 2018.Hopefully, by the three of us sharing our stories, we can offer insights into what it's like to...

Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins joins me to discuss the new compilation, Industry and Seduction, featuring a comprehensive package of early material, MTV hits, post-Thompson Twins material, B-sides and more.

Michigander's debut, self-titled full-length album is packed full of hooky earworms with insatiable choruses that you'll be singing along with the first time you hear the songs. Michigander's Jason Singer is one of the greatest humans I've ever had the chance to chat with - and this is the third time we've had this opportunity. We talk about songwriting, working with co-writers...

Members of the San Diego band Mrs. Henry drop by for a post-holiday discussion about their epic concept album, Keep on Rising , and discuss their The Band tribute act, Chest Fever . Guests: Daniel Cervantes, Blake Dean, Jody Bagley Music heard on this episode comes from Mrs. Henry's Keep on Rising - https://mrshenry.bandcamp.com/album/keep-on-rising Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagra...

With a new album - his first in 10 years - hitting streaming services and stores, Sebastian Bach joins me on this episode to talk about Child Within the Man , his vinyl collection, the inspiration for the song "Hard Darkness," his favorite new song ("(Hold On) To The Dream"), why he doesn't stick with a consistent band lineup and what fans should expect when they come to se...

Stewart Copeland  opens up about the influx of Police-related projects in 2023 — including two albums and a book — which he sees as an opportunity to create space for pursuing his other passions in the upcoming year. In this interview with the legendary  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  drummer, Copeland delves into his deep affection for composing orchestral pieces, shares the emotions evoked when enc...

With an illustrious five-decade, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career as one half of the Hall and Oates duo coming to an end, John Oates discusses how writing and recording his own material has made music fun again. Oates has a handful of sold-out tour dates to end the year and he shares what fans should expect from these shows, from how he'll tell stories behind the songs to what might be on the...

A bucket list interview, I had the chance to chat with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Andy Summers of The Police on my birthday. Andy released a coffee table book of his photographs called A Series of Glances during the summer of 2023 and has spent time on the road doing a mixed-media performance including music, storytelling and sharing photos from his collection. For tour dates and more in...

For nearly 30 years I've been trying to find a recording of the March 9, 1994 Blind Melon concert at the State Theater in Detroit, Michigan. Lead singer Shannon Hoon spotted me in the crowd and said my name from the stage. Getting a copy of the show has been my white whale - I've been searching forever and never thought I'd find it until I interviewed Blind Melon guitarist Rogers Steve...

Pop-punk veterans Samiam released their ninth album, Stowaway , in March. On this episode, guitarists Sergie Loobkoff and Sean Kennerly join me to discuss the making of the album, the challenge in keeping a band active for 30+ years, how they feel about pop-punk music in 2023, songs that remind them of certain specific moments in their lives, eating hot wings while drunk and more. Visit http://sam...

Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule joins this episode to discuss the music he grew up with, the band's new album, Peace ... Like a River , this summer's Dark Side of the Mule tour and more. Gov't Mule tour info and news: https://mule.net/ Gov't Mule live show downloads: https://www.nugs.net/govt-mule-concerts-live-downloads-in-mp3-flac-or-online-music-streaming-1/ Follow Chip Chats on...

This episodes features a conversation with Tarek Jafar and Justin Tessier of the Canadian rock duo The Blue Stones . Having released their third album, Pretty Monster , in November 2022, the duo is finally getting the chance to do a headlining tour in the U.S. We chat about the tour, song inspirations, bands we've outgrown, merch, and what's on their camera rolls. The Blue Stones tour date...

Blind Melon guitarist Rogers Stevens and bassist Nathan Towne began writing songs together in 2017. During the pandemic, the duo continued writing and started recording those songs. In May of this year, the debut album from TOWNE & STEVENS dropped onto streaming platforms and is filled with classic '70s rock sounds. For more info on TOWNE & STEVENS check out: https://www.instagram.com/...

Mike Portnoy's name is one of the most recognizable in the hard rock community. As the co-founder of Dream Theater (1989-2009), Portnoy's either recorded or toured with artists such as the Transatlantic, Sons of Apollo, Metal Allegiance, Neal Morse, and Avenged Sevenfold. In 2012, he hooked up with Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan to form the supergroup The Winery Dogs who released their third albu...

Guitarist Paul Crook joined Meat Loaf's band, Neverland Express, in 2003 and has been in the band ever since. When Meat Loaf's health took a turn for the worse in 2016, Neverland Express began playing shows, with Meat Loaf's blessing, with American Idol season 13 winner Caleb Johnson handling vocals. The band's purpose is to celebrate Meat Loaf's musical legacy while adding their own flavor to the...

I love talking about music. I love talking about music with friends. As a way to recap 2022 - from albums to concerts to things we're looking forward to in 2023 - I invited those friends that I love talking about music with to join me at the first ever CHIP CHATS roundtable. Featured on this episode: Jason Bodak Mike Lovins (The Reel Gay Movie Show Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/35bk9k8yq...

Armored Saint's John Bush joins me for this episode of CHIP CHATS from a tour bus somewhere in Texas. Armored Saint is in the midst of a nearly sold-out national tour with W.A.S.P. and things couldn't be going better for the band that formed in the early '80s. In this chat, John and I discuss setlists, meet-and-greets, John's appearance in the Huey Lewis and The News "The Heart of Rock and Roll Vi...

Joe Lekas and Ben Douglas of the Nashville, Tennessee band Palm Ghosts join me for this episode to talk about their new album, Post Preservation , writing lyrics, touring during the pandemic, the soaring price of concert tickets, the (un)importance of release day and much more. If you're expecting country music, you're in the wrong place - Palm Ghosts are way more influenced by '80s/'90s UK rock a...

On the eve of The Cult's eleventh album (Under the Midnight Sun), I have the chance to have a lengthy conversation with guitarist Billy Duffy who talks about splitting time between L.A. and the UK, playing new music on tour, The Cult's influence on grunge, classic rock radio and more.

This is why you should always interview the opening band! Had it not been for Soundgarden's publicist declining an interview request I made while as a college student in 1991, I may never have met Blind Melon. The friendship I made with those guys early on continues today as I just had the chance to hang out with guitarist Christopher Thorn who is now a member of The Afghan Whigs. While I have a l...

Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens recently collaborated with The String Revolution to honor Randy Rhoads' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by covering the Ozzy Osbourne song, "Crazy Train." It's a unique twist on the heavy metal classic involving string players and Stevens' Flamenco guitar work.  In this conversation, Stevens shares how he got involved with the project, what the...

We were all surprised to learn of the passing of Bob Saget on January 9, 2021. Bob played America's dad as Danny Tanner on Full House and was a well-respected comedian whose stand-up performances are legendary. In 2019, I started a podcast at my day job where I asked employees to share personal stories with me. One of my co-workers, Jeff D'Anza , came on my podcast to share a story about meeting B...

What more can you say about the guitar legend Zakk Wylde ? Zakk got his start playing in Ozzy Osbourne's band in the late '80s before forming Black Label Society in 1998. BLS will be releasing their 11th studio album, Doom Crew Inc., on November 26. I had a chance to chat with Zakk about some of the new songs, touring, taking time off the road during the pandemic, making videos, meeting fans, New...