Figure Eights: A Music Podcast

Join me as I talk about the making of the song "Tethered". It was written by Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum / Golden Smog / the Scarlet Goodbye) and I. Nick Leet - Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar Dan Murphy - Vocals, electric guitar, bass, keys Chad Wheeling - Electric guitar and backing vocals Mark Devaraj - Drums Kayla Wheeling - Backing vocals

Get a first listen of my new solo album "Detours" along with some stories behind the songs. Album is available on the High on Stress Bandcamp page this Friday, May 2nd.

Join Nick as he talks to Peter Jesperson.  Topics include: discovering and managing the Replacements, Twin Tone Records, Oarkolk, New West Records, Curtiss A, Slim Dunlap, board games with Tommy Keene and so much more. Great talk!

Join me as I speak with author, Madeline Bocaro, about her book "In Your Mind - the Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono." Madeline also write the Sparks Fan Club Newsletter! 

Join me as I chat with one of the great rock drummers of today, Jon Wurster. We talk about punk rock, cleaning windows, comedy, Ryan Adams, Tommy Keene, being in the right place at the right time and so much more. Great talk!

This week on the Figure Eights Podcast! I talk with Rebecca Sorensen and Katy Vernon about the Morningside After Dark event. Rebecca founded the event 13 years ago with the late, great Laurie Lindeen. We also pay tribute to Laurie. Morningside After Dark is an arts event in Edina, Minnesota that features musicians, artists and writers performing their works in the Edina Morningside Church basement...

Join me for my conversation with Laurie Kaye. She takes me through her life, career, interviews with Mick Jagger, David Bowie, George Harrison and Paul McCartney, cultiminating with her interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Dakota in NYC on the day of John Lennon's death. Great conversation on a deep and sad topic.

Join me as I chat with award winning filmmaker, Don Hardy. We talk about his new music doc, "Linda Perry - Let it Die Here." It's a fantastic and courageous documentary. We discuss legacy in a disposable culture, living in the moment, taking chances and work results vs self worth. It's a great episode. Hope you dig it as much as I did.

Up and coming band alert! Check out my conversation with Alex Fuller from the rock band, Pullstring. We chat about their formation, influences and their brand new record, "Out with the Old." Oh yeah, lots of the Replacements talk in this one. Check out their band. They are fairly new and they rock like you remember rock to be.

Join me as I chat with Steve Bowman (Counting Crows / Third Eye Blind / the Bittersweets / Luce). We talk about opening for Bob Dylan the Rolling Stones, playing on David Letterman and SNL, working with animals, teaching and more. Nice guy. Tune in!

Join me as I chat with Jim Brunzell (Director of the Sound Unseen Film Festival). Movie Maker calls Sound Unseen  "One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World." The festival is a unique, cutting edge "films on music" festival that started in Minneapolis 25 years ago. We discuss his upbringing, upcoming festival guests, John Doe, Linda Perry and more and I also learn that his dad was a WWF/WW...

Join me for the 4 year anniversary episode as I talk with Lisa Umbarger (the Toadies). We talk about her time in the Toadies, touring in places like North Dakota, her parents hanging out with Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor, the ghost of tour buses past, podcasting and the reasons why the Toadies made the kids sad...

Join me as I talk to record producer/engineer, Steve Fisk. As a musician, he has been in bands such as the instrumental alternative/indie rock band Pell Mell and the electronic band Pigeonhed . He has long been associated with the Pacific Northwest music scenes recording such artists as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Unwound, Ben Gibbard, the Wedding Present, Beat Happening and much more!...

Matt Keating is a fantastic songwriter from New York City. We talk about his solo career, Steve Earle, living near the World Trade Center, opening for the Cranberries and ummmm…DAVID BOWIE! You can catch him on Thursday at the Driftwood in MPLS with his band “The Bastards of Fine Arts”. Great guy and fun conversation.

Blake Smith returns to the show and brings along his co-conspirator, Rick Ness. Join us as we talk about coffins, weird shows, unimpressed bartenders, Minneapolis, Oasis and the great yacht rock fall out.  Fig Dish will reunite for two sold out shows next week in Chicago. They are also putting out their previously unreleased third record, "Feels Like the First Two Times." Always a pleasure to dish...

Join me as I chat with Dakota Shakedown about their history as well as their brand new album "We All Spin Together". We talk about run ins with Keanu Reeves, getting played during the Super Bowl and the night that Night Ranger sent them down a dark path.

Join me as I chat with Twin Cities radio icon, Brian Oake. We cover a lot of topics including the ups and downs of the radio industry, the band that changed his life, the greatest concert he's ever seen and the joys and occasional downsides of interviewing musicians. Great chat!

Thomas O' Keefe is a tour manager musician and author, best known for his work with Weezer, Antiseen, Whiskeytown, D Generation, Mandy Moore, Train and more!

Join me as I talk to record producer, Brian Paulson. We discuss his adventures producing Wilco, Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, Slim Dunlap, Slint, Archers of Loaf and more. We touch on his relationships with Jeff Tweedy, Steve Albini, Peter Jesperson, Bob Mould and others. Great talk, great records!

Dan Murphy is an American musician best known as the the lead guitarist of Soul Asylum from 1981-2012. He is also a member of Golden Smog and the Scarlet Goodbye. We chat about Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, the Grammy Awards, Rolling Stone Magazine, the Replacements and more!

Join me as I chat with Jesse Malin guitarist, Derek Cruz. We talk about his decade and counting w/Jesse Malin, playing with Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) and Debbie Harry (Blondie) and head butting Paul McCartney.

Join me as I talk to my High on Stress bandmates about our "final" album "Leaving MPLS" and our return with "Hold Me In" Fun chat if you like band breakups and reunions.

Join me as I chat with Steve Albini. Steve is a key figure in the American underground music community since the 1980s. He's led bands Shellac & Big Black and has recorded some of the great albums of all time including Nirvana "In Utero," Cheap Trick "Rockford", Nine Inch Nails "the Fragile", Page & Plant "Walking into Clarksdale", Guided by Voices "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars", Jawbreaker "...

Check out my conversation with filmmaker and photographer, Kevin Kerslake. Kevin has directed documentaries on Joan Jett, Nirvana, Ramones, Bob Marley and more. He's made music videos for Nirvana, Prince, Rolling Stones, REM, Sonic Youth, Soul Asylum, Iggy Pop, Soundgarden, Bob Mould and more. Fun talk. He's a wizard.

Join me as I talk to Producer, Engineer, Mixer, John Agnello. John has worked with such diverse artists as Cyndi Lauper, Twisted Sister, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tommy Keene, Screaming Trees, Drive by Truckers and the Hold Steady. Such a fun guy and great conversation. Tune in!