Laughing Monkey with Shawn Ratches

* **00:00** – Introduction and welcome to Dave Rude from Tesla * **00:22** – Discussing the new album and the "economy of albums" in rock today * **01:28** – Why Tesla chooses to release singles versus full albums * **02:17** – How the new covers record came together "by accident" * **03:03** – Exploring the vocal-focused direction of the new album * **04:48** – Balancing original...

Paul Booth is an American tattoo artist and multidisciplinary dark surrealist from Boonton, New Jersey, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. After beginning his tattoo journey in the late 1980s through an apprenticeship in New Jersey, he developed a signature black-and-gray style centered on macabre, psychological, and surreal imagery. Rather than follow standard flash trends, Booth built...

I spoke with Karl Agell about the story behind Legions of Doom, a band born from a heavy kind of history. In the aftermath of Eric Wagner’s passing, what could have remained only a tribute to the past slowly became something more active and alive. Karl talked about how the project grew out of grief, friendship, and unfinished creative momentum, with musicians choosing not to let that chapter simpl...

Davy Vain’s story starts before Vain the band ever broke out. He first built a name behind the scenes as a producer, then stepped forward as a frontman and songwriter when he formed Vain in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1986. After early buzz, club shows, and a growing reputation, the band signed with Island and released No Respect in 1989, an album that never became a huge chart smash but earned...

Boris T. is the online name of Boris Behara, a Croatian musician and YouTube creator best known for metal-focused videos and for leading the one-man project Tryglav. His channel originally started as “Tryglav Official” before expanding into broader content about extreme metal, music culture, and underground scenes. As a musician, he is tied to black/death metal, with Tryglav described as a Croatia...

Wino is officially heading back into the studio to begin work on a new The Obsessed record, marking the start of an exciting new chapter for one of doom’s most enduring voices. With fresh material now taking shape, the upcoming album promises to carry forward the band’s signature weight, soul, and uncompromising spirit while opening the door to what comes next. At the same time, Ritual Arcana is d...

Australia's own Rose Carleo Band returns with a bold, soul-stirring new album, 42 Days , dropping today. A deeply personal and sonically rich collection, this release captures the essence of resilience, transformation, and raw human emotion. 

Riley Pinkerton doesn't just front Castle Rat — she is the Rat Queen. Songwriter, guitarist, costume-maker, prop-builder, and self-appointed monarch of a medieval doom metal kingdom of her own design, Pinkerton has spent the last several years turning a Brooklyn doom band into one of the most theatrical and beloved acts in underground heavy music. Castle Rat formed in 2019 and found their iden...

Henry Rollins has spent the better part of a year buried in tape from October 1977 — a finished Cramps album, produced by Alex Chilton at Ardent Studios in Memphis, that sat on the shelf for nearly fifty years. It's coming out August 21 as Gravest Gravy on Vengeance Records. Rollins and Ian MacKaye handled the restoration and mixing together through their RAM Prod. partnership. "I sent the...

The final chapter of The Alarm carries a weight that goes far beyond music. Before his passing, Mike Peters completed what stands as a powerful final statement — an album shaped by perseverance, reflection, hope, and the same unbreakable spirit that defined his entire career. For decades, Mike Peters was more than just the voice of The Alarm. He became a symbol of resilience inside and outside of...

Former Hüsker Dü bassist Greg Norton returns to the spotlight with his hard-hitting new band UltraBomb, bringing punk rock energy, melodic aggression, and raw intensity back to the forefront. Featuring an all-star lineup of veteran underground musicians, UltraBomb is quickly making noise with new music and an expanding tour schedule that reconnects fans with the spirit and urgency that made Hüsker...

Legendary Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin joins the show to discuss the band’s powerful new release, Symphoniqïne . In this interview, Away talks about the creative vision behind combining Voivod’s progressive metal sound with a full symphonic experience, revisiting the band’s classic material in a completely new way while still pushing forward artistically. We also discuss the evolution of...

Legendary psychedelic punk innovators Butthole Surfers are finally preparing to release their long-lost album After the Astronaut , a record originally shelved in 1998 following the commercial success of Electriclarryland . In a recent conversation with drummer King Coffey, he described the album as a return to the band’s experimental roots, driven by electronic textures, industrial rhythms, and t...

Jared James Nichols continues to establish himself as one of modern rock’s most explosive guitar players with the upcoming release of his fourth studio album, Louder Than Fate . Scheduled for release on June 5, 2026 through Frontiers Mussic,The album showcases Nichols at his heaviest, rawest, and most emotionally driven point yet. Known for his aggressive pick-free playing style, thick blues-rock...

From the earliest chaos of the Norwegian black metal movement to some of the most experimental extreme music ever recorded, Attila Csihar remains one of the most unique and unsettling voices in heavy music history. Best known for his work with Mayhem, Attila delivered the haunting vocals on the legendary album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas — a release that helped define black metal forever. His style...

Angry Anderson (born Gary Stephen Anderson on August 5, 1947, in Melbourne, Australia) is best known as the longtime lead vocalist of the Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo, a group that became one of the defining acts of Australian pub rock alongside AC/DC and The Angels. Rose Tattoo formed in Sydney in 1976 and built an international reputation with songs including “Bad Boy for Love,” “Rock ’...

00:00 - The "Dangerous" Autobiography Geoff discusses his finished autobiography and why his lawyer thinks it's currently too "dangerous" and litigious to release. 00:30 - Welcome & Catching Up Shawn welcomes Geoff Tate back to the show and they recap his recent tour successes. 01:12 - Operation Mindcrime 3: A Labor of Love Geoff talks about the process of releasing the new...

00:00 - Introduction & Song Selection for the Tour 01:19 - Welcome Back to Laughing Monkey 01:43 - Exploring Erik's "Perfect" Career Path 02:19 - Defining the Musical Identity of the New Solo Album 03:03 - Influences: From Karaoke Roots to Genre-Bending Covers 03:47 - The YouTube Channel as a Tool for Healing 04:52 - Challenging Vocals & The Whitney Houston Cover 05:51 - Soul-S...

00:00 Introductions and the "Seven Degrees of Nick Oliveri" 01:00 Reconnecting and Performing with Queens of the Stone Age 05:00 New Projects: The Blast Record and Joining 13 08:20 Geography of Rock: From the Desert to the Swamp 09:40 Solo Work, Mondo Generator, and The Dwarves' New Record 11:45 The Creative Process and Balancing Multiple Bands 16:45 Life on the Road: Scheduling and &#...

Alex Mitchell remains one of the true survivors of the late-’80s New York hard rock scene. As the founder and voice of Circus of Power, Mitchell helped build a band that mixed street-level biker culture, sleaze rock attitude, and bluesy hard rock into something distinctly their own. Formed in New York City in 1987, Circus of Power quickly developed a reputation for loud, dangerous live shows and a...

Venom Inc. are entering a new chapter with a refreshed lineup, new energy, and new music in the works. This is not just about looking back at the history of Venom or replaying the past. The band is focused on what comes next. Led by Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, Venom Inc. continue to carry the blackened, aggressive, old-school metal sound that helped define generations of extreme music. The curren...

I recently interviewed Joe and Chuck from Carnivore A.D. to talk about the band’s new EP, their current touring plans, and the creative process behind the new material. The conversation dug into how the songs came together, what drives the writing, and how the band balances honoring the brutal legacy of Carnivore while still pushing forward with its own identity. Joe and Chuck shared insight into...

Taime Downe is back for his first interview in a while, and the conversation covers exactly what Faster Pussycat fans want to hear: touring, the band’s legacy, the writing and recording process, and what is next. Rising out of the mid-1980s Hollywood rock scene, Faster Pussycat built its reputation on a sound that sat somewhere between glam, punk, and sleaze rock, with early staples like “Babylon,...

Talking with John Bush was a reminder of why he remains one of heavy metal’s most respected frontmen. In our interview, Bush discussed Armored Saint’s new album, Emotion Factory Reset, due May 22, 2026 via Metal Blade, describing it as a record that pushes the band forward while still sounding unmistakably like Armored Saint. The band’s official bio frames it as a new chapter built on diverse song...

Chris Reifert remains one of the most important and recognizable figures in death metal history. After first making a major mark as the drummer on Death’s Scream Bloody Gore, he went on to found Autopsy in 1987, helping shape a far filthier, darker, and more depraved branch of the genre. With Autopsy, Reifert became central to the band’s unmistakable identity, combining savage drumming, sickened v...