I Hate Music

MDF!  Maryland Deathfest!  When Baltimore, Maryland becomes a seething mass of humanity clad in black clothes and wristbands.  MDF returns after two years to host a million and a half bands over five days, and I Hate Music is there, recording on location, day by day, to give everyone the updates.  We know you are dying to know which breweries we hit, what food we consumed, what bands we watched --...

Why would I care about The Grammys?  What the hell is The Recording Academy?  What do they even do?  Vinyl albums are made by little magicians and wizards, right?  It's pure magic and no one knows how it's done, right? In this episode our good friend, and all around bad-ass, Amy Dragon joins us to discuss these topics and shed some light on these misunderstood subjects.  We talk about attending Th...

I Hate Music travels down south to Houston, Texas to catch a Texas-sized load of bands during Hell's Heroes Fest 2024.  Each day we recorded from our hotel room, recapping the previous night's bands and events, then once back home we discuss day three and wrap up the entire festival as a whole.  We discuss highlights, lowlights, what makes this festival great and the general ups-and-downs of atten...

From the About the Author section of Alex Stupak's "Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook." "Alex Stupak earned recognition as one of the world's most innovative pastry chefs while leading teams at progressive cuisine icons Clio, Alinea, and wd-50. But innovation only counts, he figured, if you push yourself out of your comfort zone, and so he left that world to cook Mexican food, a cuisine...

Eddie, Vic Rattlehead, Snaggletooth, Korgull the Exterminator, The Not Man, Sargent D. -- what is the purpose of a mascot in music?  What makes a mascot good, and what makes one bad?  Why does it seem like mascots only appear in metal music?  In this episode we examine a few mascots in metal and try to figure out why they exist, and if they are an important part of the bands they represent. We als...

We are back once again, this time to reminisce about metal fests we've attended, compare notes on fests we would like to attend, and look forward to fests we will attend in the future.  What are our favorite festivals, and our favorite festival experiences?  What makes a good festival and what lead to the popularity of fests in America and Europe?  Which festivals are run the best, which ones have...

In this episode we dive into the complicated world of collecting, and of course, record collecting to be specific.  Purchasing physical media from artists we love is very important to us, but how do you manage all of it financially and logistically?  Where do you draw the line and when has it gone too far?  We discuss, contemplate, and pontificate on the mechanics of being a die-hard music fan and...

Mortiis has been an outlier and a legend in dark music for decades.  From being an original member of Norwegian Black Metal band Emperor, to his solo work as Mortiis, to the suicidal ambience of Vond, Mortiis has often been misunderstood, yet he has blazed his own path with no regard for trend or what could be deemed successful.  Now, decades later, the genre Mortiis arguably created has had an ex...

We are fighting the Christmas spirit this year by discussing the trend of Metal bands writing about money-grubbing, lying, megachurch owning evangelists in the '80s and '90s such as the infamous battle between Deicide's Glen Benton and Christian Talk Show Host Bob Larson.  We also share our favorite albums from 2023, including picks from Spirit Possession, Frozen Soul, Phobocosm, Blood Incantation...

In this episode we are joined by Canadian composer and guitarist Nathanael Larochette (Musk Ox, The Night Watch, Solo) to talk turkey about all our favorite Thanksgiving songs and more importantly, discuss why acoustic music, and particularly acoustic guitars, are metal.  We share with each other how acoustic music has impacted us, why we think it works in a metal context, and pontificate on why w...

Nick and Jason kick off the episode by catching up a bit before getting into some fascinating and terrifying listener emails.  They then dive into the theme of Halloween in music, which of course, devolves into related themes such as Fall and Horror films.   Discussions of time traveling for the sake of witnessing historic moments in musical history and which bands took some getting used to for Ja...

You can't deny this episode.  From protest music of the '60's, to punk, thrash metal, and grindcore, musicians and artists have been warning us about climate change for decades, but why aren't we listening?  We have no idea but we sure love the music.  We discuss politics in music and environmentally aware bands like Nuclear Assault, and D.R.I, as well as discuss climate changes within music such...

I Hate Music is back!  After a much needed vacation, we finally got sick of putting our feet up and sipping on cocktails and decided we missed this too much to retire permanently.  During our vacation we had a lot of time to reflect, and ponder our history and what we are doing.  We realized we needed something different, something to revitalize our spirits and inspire us to move further into unch...

Tanner Anderson.  I hate the word talent, but people like Tanner make me rethink my aversion to the concept.  I've been fortunate enough to call Tanner a friend for quite awhile now, and am overjoyed to watch him evolve and grow as an artist particularly with Obsequiae.  If you like "Non Serviam", with a touch of "Skydancer", and a sprinkle of "His Majesty at the Swamp," and if you don't need me t...

Daniel Lake is a contributor to Decibel Magazine, but as of late, he has been more in the public eye due to his book, USBM.  The book dives into the motivations, histories, and music of a number of heavy hitters in the United States Black Metal scene, and I wanted to learn more about his process of researching and writing this gem.  So, please pass the aux to Daniel, and join us as we talk about b...

Lawnmower Deth.  Often ignored, usually misunderstood, but has been a staple in my ears and in my heart since the early '90s.  The boys from Nottingham took quite the hiatus and are back with a new album after a 28 year gap; their first record since 1993's "Billy."  In this episode I talk with Pete Lee, vocalist for Lawnmower Deth, and we listen to a couple new songs, an old song, and discuss vari...

On Episode 46, Dylan Neal of Thief came on the show and played us a bunch of crazy music.  This time, Dylan and I sit down and listen to the new Thief album recently released by Prophecy Productions entitled "The 16 Deaths of my Master." Dylan shares with us production techniques, reveals hidden gems within the songs, and we discuss the themes and ideas within the music. This is, without a doubt,...

Feral Season is good.  Feral Season is damn good.  The band's debut album, "Rotting Body In The Range Of Light," out on Profound Lore records harkens back to the second wave of Norwegian Black Metal, but without truly biting the style, or sound.   Karl and I delve into a couple songs off of the album, discuss the writing process and the themes behind the record, an manage to listen to some of his...

I always assumed that episodes with my daughters would not be as engaging, or appreciated, as episodes with notable musicians, but listener feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for these breaks in the normal programming.  So, we are back with “Listener Requests Part III” with Ione Walton.  These installments tend to blend podcasting with sound collage at times, and this is no different.  Ione...

Today we tell the humidity to take a hike, and we delve into the minds of Hunter Ginn and Gael Pirlot; two linchpins in a long-running yet vibrant collective based out of Georgia.  Together these two are members of Canvas Solaris, Plague Psalm, and Gorging Shade, and through the duration of this episode, we listen to, and discuss, each of these fascinating projects. Hunter, Gael, and I also talk a...

Toby Driver is one of the most engaging and important musicians currently active.  His resume is astounding, his persistence is unmatched, and his work is always challenging, fresh, and most importantly, inspirational and enjoyable.  Toby may be best known for being the leader of the often confounding Kayo Dot, but his music spans many genres, bands and projects.  I sat down with Toby to discuss a...

Don't call it a comeback.  Genghis Tron have returned after a 10 year hiatus with one of 2021's best and most compelling records, Dream Weapon.  The band has been through a lot of changes in that time, personally and musically, an even with line-up changes and a decade of growth and evolution, Genghis Tron still sound like themselves, and at the same time, sound like no one else. On this episode t...

I was first made aware of Tim Smolens when I discovered Estradasphere.  Tim was the bassist and producer for the incredible, genre-hopping, Bungle adjacent band.  As I delved further into the works of the various members, it became clear that Tim has a unique musical personality and vision.  Today, Tim has assembled a super group of sorts in High Castle Teleorkestra, featuring members that have pl...

Derek Rush is a lifer.  In my mind, that's about the biggest compliment an artist could receive.  Derek has been highly involved and productive in so many facets of music, it's not only daunting, its intimidating, and I can't conceive of him ever stopping.  Derek is perhaps best known for his work as the head of the Chthonic Streams label, and his music under the names of A Murder of Angels, Decem...

Today guitar virtuoso Nathanael Larochette joins me to guide us through the twisted trails and rough seas charted by his band The Night Watch on their latest album, "An Embarrassment of Riches."  We listen to the album in its entirety; dissecting, discussing and reveling in the creative process.  You may know Nathanael from his work with Musk Ox, or perhaps his beautiful guitar interludes on Agall...