Talk About the Passion

Episode 27 is a conversation with Bob Mayo. Bob is a founding member of Massachusetts thrash metal band Wargasm who operated between 1985 and 1995. Bob talks about getting into hard rock and metal in the 70's and 80's, how he got Wargasm together and then walks through the whole story of that band. Wargasm were an amazing metal band who have an amazing story and Bob is the perfect story teller to...

Episode 26 is a conversation with JJ Gonson. JJ is a photographer from the Boston area who has shot everyone from Youth of Today and the Descendents to Janes Addiction, Nirvana and everyone in between. JJ's photographs of bands on stage, off stage as well as her amazing shots of the crowds at hardcore shows in Boston from the mid 80's to the early 90's are amazing and capture moments in time that...

Episode 25 is a great talk with my friend Mike Lucantonio. I've known Mike since I was a child and we talk about his connection to my family and getting into music as well as his times years later playing with thrash band Temporary Insanity (the story of how his song My Brush was first recorded is hilarious), his time in the seminal Boston band GangGreen as well as numerous other musical endeavors...

Episode 24 is a conversation with Boston area musician Darryl Shepard. Darryl has played guitar with numerous bands including Milligram, Slaughter Shack, Slapshot, Road Saw and many others. We talk about every single one of these bands and more. Darryl is a very funny guy, a great story teller and is a perfect example of the hard working Boston music veteran. Darryl truly loves playing music and i...

Episode 23 is a conversation with Scott Helland. Scott has been playing music for over 30 years, getting his start as a teenager forming the hardcore bands Deep Wound and Outpatients. We talk about both of those bands, as well as his various musical projects he's been involved in through the years and ones that are still very active. Scott is an extremely passionate and intense guy, especially tal...

Episode 22 is the longest episode yet, at almost two and a half hours. My guest is Steve Karp, guitar player and founder of the New York Hardcore band Yuppicide. Steve is one of the funniest people I know and is a hell of a story teller. Steve is a perfect guest for this podcast, as you'll hear he is intensely passionate about everthing he talks about here and I was glad he talked about so much in...

Episode 21 is a conversation with my friend Chris Lordan. I met Chris from the hardcore scene when I was a teenager in the suburbs of Massachusetts. We talk about music for the first part of this interview, we also talk about his job in education as well as the book he wrote called The Factory: A Journey Through the Prison Industrial Complex. As you will hear in this episode, Chris is a well spoke...

Episode 20 is a conversation with Nate Newton, most known as the bass player for hardcore band Converge. Nate also is in Doomriders and Old Man Gloom. We talk about all three of those bands as well as how he got to work with Cavalera Conspiracy, and we get a bit into skateboarding which ties the whole episode together. Nate is a down to earth, passionate guy and it was great to have him as a guest...

Episode 19 is a conversation with my friend Allison Dick. Allison is a stand up comedian in the Boston area. We talk about her experiences in that world as well as her time involved in roller derby in Boston. Allison and I briefly thought about doing a podcast together which we talk a little about. Check this episode out and find out where she'll be performing next. 

Episode 18 is a conversation with Jonah Jenkins. Jonah is best known as the vocalist for seminal Boston hardcore/metal band Only Living Witness. We talk about his time in that band as well as other bands he's been involed in like Milligram, Miltown and his current band Rawradarwar. He also talks about a new project he's involved in that sounds great. Although shorter than most episodes this one is...

Episode 17 is a conversation with Buz McGrath, guitarist from the band Unearth. We talk about the origins of that band, some pretty crazy tour stories, as well as the song writing process he uses to write music for Unearth. We go all over the place in this hour long episode.   Unearth are a metalcore band from Massachusetts who formed in 1998 (Note: I mentioned knowing Buz and Point 04 in "the ear...

Episode 16 is a conversation with my friend Christopher DeBari. You may know Chris from his time in Today is the Day, recording the epic Sadness Will Prevail record, which he talks about in this episode, as well as how he joined that band. Chris also tells some intense stories about times music and life collided to create some powerful memories and emotions. I had a great time hanging with Chris a...

Episode 15 is a conversation with Boston area DJ Angie C Shaw. Angie is a close friend of mine so of course it was a natural conversation. Her lifelong love of music and the enthusiasm to talk about the stuff she loves made her an obvious choice for the podcast. We cover a lot of ground from her early days in radio through the current state of terrestrial radio. Angie is a great story teller and t...

Episode 14 is a talk with Keith Bennett. Keith is a veteran of the Boston hardcore and metal scene and has played in multiple bands, most notably Wrecking Crew in the 80's and currently PanzerBastard. Keith talks in length about getting into music as a kid, his stories are intense and hilarious. Keith speaks from his heart and gets into some pretty heavy subject matter at times, and yes there is s...

Episode 13 is a conversation with my friend Mark McKay, founding member of Slapshot. Mark and I talk about all different types of music from The Clash to Kiss and Dead Can Dance, how Slapshot came to be and their role in hardcore history. We share similar stories of meeting a grumpy Henry Rollins, his love of reading and he talks about some amazng writing endeavors he's involved in right now. This...

Episode Twelve is a conversation with Kevin Cafferty. We talk about the film he made called It's a Bash about RI band Neutral Nation, growing up in Rhode Island, his radio show he had for a long time as well as his work in television. Kevin is an interesting and funny guy and I learned quite a lot from him. 

Episode 11 is a conversation with my friend and former bandmate Breaux Silcio. Breaux and I talk about him growing up in Louisiana. Him moving to Massachusetts and his journeys through different genres of music. This episode is a long one at almost ninety minutes. Breaux is an intersting and smart guy and we talk quite a bit about Rush, Kiss, Sabbath and everything in between. 

Episode 10 is a conversation with Boston area musician Kevin Patey. Kevin played in the rockabilly band Raging Teens, and now performs under the name Jittery Jack performing rockabilly/50's inspired rock and roll. He talks about growing up in England and discovering music on the radio, moving to the United States as well as a comprehensive story about how the Raging Teens formed around the rockabi...

Episode 9 is a conversation with my friend Tommy Hardy. He's sometimes called Tommy Somerville, here he's my friend Tommy Hardy talking to me about music, comedy, the band Kiss, growing up in Somerville, Massachusetts, the infamous "Rosalita Man" video, more Kiss as well as more personal stories. Tommy is a great story teller, an all around hilarious guy. Check it out. 

A long conversation with my friend Richard Guerin who works for Orange Mountain Music, the company that releases the music of Philip Glass as well as other artists. Richard is also part of Salem Classical, bringing live classical music to Salem Massachusetts. Richard is from the classical music world with little knolwedge of the hard rock music world I come from and I know little about classical m...

Episode 7 arrives a day late and a little shorter than all of the other interviews I've posted. Regardless, this was a great conversation with my friend Gretchen Shae of the Boston based band The Knock-Ups. She talks about the role her mother and godparents played in her musical development, getting back into playing music after a break for a few years, getting to play on stage with U2 in Boston i...

Episode 6 is a talk with John Brookhouse, vocalist and guitar player from Worshipper, a great metal band out of Boston, MA. John talks about getting into music as a kid in Maine, through college as well as some of the other musical projects he's been involved in throughout the years. John talks about how they recordd a Pink Floyd cover for an upcoming tribute to The Wall, as well as his involvemen...

Today's episode is a short one. This is not an interview episode; like the first episode of the podcast this is just me talking. I talk about some myths I heard as a teenager involving Ozzy Osbourne, Dio and Neil Peart, how the larger than life rockstar aren't as larger than life as thet were in my time. I talk a little about growing up in Swampscott, MA and what type of enivornment that was for l...

Episode four is a talk with tattoo artist and owner of Hope Street Tattoo in Providence, RI, Michael Brousseau. We talk in detail about his artwork and how he went from an early love of Mad Magazine, to grafitti, to tattooing and everything in between. We spend a good amount of time on hip-hop music as well as 90's indie rock. Michael talks in detail about the infamous "Guilty of Being Delicious"...

Episode Three of Talk About the Passion is an in depth conversation with my friend Jason Kooken. Jason talks about his time growing up in New Jersey, Washington DC and other parts of the country. His time getting into hardcore in Washington DC just as the "Revolution Summer" hit, his time serving in the Coast Guard as well as working as a policeman in Massachusetts. He also talks about his recent...