Couch Riffs

The newest episode in a series with independent builders and makers in the music world! Adam Grim is not a shy man. He loves to tell a story and he certainly has some to tell. He also builds great guitar and bass amps (and has a line of pedals and builds Satellite Guitars!!!) in San Diego, CA. Check out his website: satelliteamps.com and his instagram (@satelliteamps) to see his beautiful looking...

This is the first in a series of episodes through the end of 2019 featuring independent music instrument builders and makers.  Keith Horne has been hand building Marvin Guitars since 2015 and is doing amazing work. His website announces, "They don't make them like they used to. So I do" and its true! His list of clients include Christian Martucci (Dee Dee Ramone/Stonesour/Black Star Riders), Acey...

This Episode of Couch Riffs Podcast we are SO happy to have our first woman and one of our favorites of all time: Kim Warnick of The Fastbacks. If you don't know Kim or The Fastbacks you're missing out. She's essentially the queen of Seattle punk rock and played bass and sang in Fastbacks from 1979-2001 before joining the amazing Visqueen along with another incredible woman musician, Rachel Flotar...

The youngest of The Conspirators by many years, Frank has the amazing position of holding it now for one of the most (if not THE most) recognizable and well-loved guitarists of all-time, Slash. This also practically makes us 2nd cousins. This Couch Riffs Podcast conversation with Frank Sidoris was so fun it was 2 hours long before we even realized it! So, it is broken up in to 2 parts, episode 22...

Part 2 of my very long and fun conversation with Frank Sidoris of Slash's band, Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!  Thanks for listening! Please check out the other Couch Riffs Podcast episodes and don't forget to watch the Couch Riffs video performance series. Its available on IG, FaceBook, and YouTube. If you're enjoying Couch Riffs and you want to be sup...

My guest this week is the always-a-good-time, shred loving guitarist Eric Howk of the band Portugal. The Man. Eric is a veteran of the Seattle music scene, a great player, a smart musician and writer, and an awesome asset to any band I've seen him play in. Eric is also a wheelchair user which creates touring situations where awkward and seemingly inconvenient situations for other touring musicians...

Couch Riffs is very happy to have Luke Doucet as a guest. I've been a longtime fan of Luke's music and, in particular, his guitar playing. We cover a lot of stuff here, but don't really talk much about guitar playing, oddly enough. But, I mean, how boring is it to TALK about guitar playing. Playing guitar is much more fun. We do manage to talk about drugs, 70s/80s glam music, homophobia and drugs,...

This week Mike talks with Christian Martucci, a rock 'n roll lifer who had the talent to make some higher level stuff happen and the persistence and patience that it sometimes takes to have your number called. And, it couldn't have happened to a more humble and nice dude. His career is a perfect example of doing it for the right reasons, letting opportunities present themselves, and knowing when t...

Ryan Waters is as cool as they come. And, he's a wicked guitarist. And, possessing those two qualities will get you in to some great situations which Ryan most certainly has. His resume includes playing or recording with Sade, Pink, Liv Warfield, Prince, CeeLo Green, Roadcase Royale, Roberta Flack, and lots more. Ryan is currently out on tour filling guitar duties in the amazing Heart. Not a hint...

Dave Kushner is the guest on this episode of the Couch Riffs Podcast and I LOVED having him as a guest. Dave's career is one built out of persistence (and talent, of course). He cycled through many bands and projects over the years, as many musicians do, before landing the opportunity to play in Velvet Revolver, the band formed by former G'nR members Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum along with singer S...

Rob Balducci was a humble and cool fella to hang with for an afternoon and a Hell of a guitarist. He has released 3 albums on Steve Vai's record label, Favored Nations, and is currently preparing material for another collection of melodic hard rock instrumentals. His sense of melody is really tasty and if you have a penchant for this kind of guitar playing I encourage you to check out his music. H...

Ben is 13 years old and totally crushing it already. He has a bright future ahead of him and I'm extremely excited to see what he does with his talent and opportunities. If he stays on the course he's on I assure you we'll be hearing about Ben for years and years to come. For now, Ben is using his summer between 7th and 8th grade to tour and make a record.  A big shout out to Ben's parents and ALL...

Sonny Mayo is one of my favorite people I've met and when I say ever I mean ever. When I simply think about him I usually feel better and smile. That's his way. We met, like many of my acquaintances and friends, on tour under rock circumstances and we've stayed in touch.  Sonny has been in a number of great touring bands but has most recently been focused on sharing his energy with Rock to Recover...

This episode features my good friend, musician, engineer and producer, singer/songwriter, and all-around good and decent human being, Joe Reineke of The Meices, Alien Crime Syndicate and, most recently, Society of the Silver Cross which has been making waves with their dark and heavy music and visually striking videos. Their new album has been earning much deserved praise in advance of the 6/28/19...

This episode's guest is the charismatic, mysterious, unlikely guitar hero Mrs Smith. Mrs Smith first came on radar a couple of years ago after some videos of street-shredding/busking came across my screen. I've been quietly following along since and it is quite entertaining. I reached out to see about a guest spot back in November 2018 and have actually played bass for Mrs Smith at a live show in...

Vivian Campbell has had a great career playing in legendary bands since the early 80s. Sweet Savage (as covered by Metallica), Dio's original band for the first three albums (Classic KILLERS, all three), Whitesnake (stepping in to cover John Syke's place), and for the last 27 years Def Leppard who was inducted in to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year (2019). Vivian is currently out to...

I'm honestly not sure how this slipped by and went unpublished until now. I mean, Shane recorded the intro that I use on every single podcast for crying out loud. At any rate, Shane Enholm is an open book and anyone willing to read the big words (and the subtext) through his many social media posts, mostly IG videos, already feel like they know him. I certainly did. But, each time that you tune in...

On this episode of Couch Riffs Podcast I had the pleasure of hosting the guitar/bass team from Buckcherry, Stevie D, Kelly Lemieux, and Kevin Roentgen. We played Nights On Broadway by The Bee Gees and it was a gas! If you haven't seen it please go check it out on IG, YouTube, of Facebook.  We cover a few things in this conversation including the new album, road rage, guitars, and the sexual power...

My guest on the Couch Riffs podcast this week is one of the earliest Couch Riffs performance guests from pre-podcast conception. Timo Ellis is an incredibly multi-talented musician with a mind tuned for thrashing convention. As always, Timo and I didn't talk about the weather when we hung out. We cover drugs, classic metal, Grateful Dead, random thoughts, and his career timeline amongst other thin...

This is the complete conversation during my hang with Jared James Nichols in which the entire video was loooooost! NO! That's okay, the show was  salvaged and I got a good video episode still. Please go check it out! Jared is currently on fire and for good reason: he's amazing and just as genuine and cool as he is talented.  I had such a great time making this episode and the song we performed, Al...

I've known Nabil for over 20 years, been in two bands with him, and clocked countless van miles with him. He's one of the most consistent and rock solid humans I've ever known and I'm happy to call him my friend.  Being a big Soundgarden fan, Nabil picked this week's Couch Riffs song and he crushed it! I totally clammed ALL of my weird little bits, though. And, that's how the cookie crumbles here...

To say that Brad Houser merely impacted my musical life is hardly true. He almost entirely put me on a course, in fact. I must've seen Critters Buggin' 25 times in Seattle in the 90s and when I couldn't find myself a guitar gig I got myself a bass gig. Brad was my guy. I even started a band with some friends that was our answer (read: attempted rip off) to Critters, an instrumental band consisting...

What can I say? John Roderick is like my brother, driving me crazy much of the time but I love him a lot. Like anyone close to John I've spent countless hours having discussions with him, like this one, late in to the night. Usually with some iHop pancakes and strawberry milkshakes..... We've been in two bands together. One as bandmates (Harvey Danger) and one with him as the leader (The Long Wint...

What can I say? John Roderick is like my brother, driving me crazy much of the time but I love him a lot. Like anyone close to John I've spent countless hours having discussions with him, like this one, late in to the night. Usually with some iHop pancakes and strawberry milkshakes..... We've been in two bands together. One as bandmates (Harvey Danger) and one with him as the leader (The Long Wint...

Alex Skolnick is one of the most versatile guitarists in the metal game and was waaaaay ahead of the curve when it came to shred metal guys taking a step outside of the metal world. And, being such an amazing player he is an incredibly cool and humble guy, clearly happy to be living a life creating and performing music. It might seem weird to some that I would mention a musician being absolutely h...