Temple of Bleh

In this episode I speak with music industry titan Miles Leonard. Miles needs very little introduction, having launched the careers of some of today's most popular artists. Miles was with Roadrunner UK from 1993 to 1995, and here he shares his memories and reflections on that time. Don't forget to check out some of the written interviews found at https://www.templeofbleh.com.

In this episode, Mike Gitter and I shoot the breeze, and celebrate the 15th birthday of a formative music landmark for myself, Dragonforce's 'Inhuman Rampage'. Mike is a music industry veteran, with a career spanning over 30 years in music journalism and A&R. Given he spent 12 years at Roadrunner Records, and is directly responsible for kickstarting the careers of some of my favour...

This week I have some actual metal news to rattle on about. I've sacked off Metal Tat because there's just simply too much Anthrax stuff, and I go into the story of Ian Gillan's tenure with Black Sabbath! On the Sabbath bit - I do nab a bit of audio from the below YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppR838nSNX8

In this episode I'm lucky enough to be talking to the legendary Bob Gruen. Bob was John Lennon and Yoko Ono's photographer throughout the 70's, and that is just one of the many many accolades to his name. Bob was also the photographer for The Great Kat, who was a Roadrunner artist in the late 80's-early 90's. We talk about Bob's new book, Right Time, Right Place, as well as...

No normal episode this week as I've been working on this :). I say it in the intro, but this is effectively a proof of concept before I go into the proper "History of" episodes in earnest. I just thought The Great Kat was worth shining a light on in the meantime, as she's an incredibly compelling musician and person. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this one, and check out The...

In this episode I speak with Wally van Middendorp, who had two runs with Roadrunner Records - firstly in the mid-80's, and secondly in the mid-2000's up until 2012 as the Senior VP of International. This conversation was a sheer pleasure on my part, Wally hit the ground running on all the interesting tidbits and landscapes that I wanted to find out about how the label operated on the day-t...

[WARNING - pretty naff audio on my side. Turns out my mic wasn't calibrated properly. It's still hearable, but bearable? YOU DECIDE] In this episode I speak with Kurt Shore, who produced The Great Kat's debut album Worship Me Or Die! Kurt was extremely courteous with his time, and guided me through his memories of his producing days, as well as his time with Kat. Fast forwarding to the...

This week in news, old men come out to do new things, Metal tat officially overtakes actual news in volume and substance, and I dive into two of the dumbest instances of a new-ish phenomenon, Dimebag Darrell death conspiracies.

Today I'm joined by The Pump Room's very own Cress and Ali to start a new once-a-month series - in which we determine which band has the best brew. In this episode we just shoot the shit and draw beers for the first 4 rounds of the tournament - more details (including the tournament bracket) can be found on our respective socials; Temple of Bleh - https://www.facebook.com/TempleOfBlehPod T...

Today's another light news day, sadly - but there's new music from Scour, Electric Hydra and Horse the Band that I had a bash at listening to! Also plenty of metal tat just in time for Christmas! Tom and I dive into the dirty world of Twitter diplomacy, as well as brand dialogue and tactics that creators use to drive traffic!

Today I'm joined by Heathen's very own David White, as part of our History of Roadrunner Records series. Heathen had only one record on Roadrunner - Victims of Deception , released in 1991. We talk a lot about Heathen's new record , Empire of the Blind, the interactions with Roadrunner in the late 80's/early 90's - then David absolutely overdelivers on the question "have yo...

This week I'm catching up with Aardshok's Metal Mike again, but this time with a slightly less business-oriented approach to the Roadrunner story. Mike's depth of knowledge and experience in the metal world is truly something to behold and appreciate, so please check out Aardschok at the links below. If it's available to you, subscribe to the mag, if it's not - support any way...

Raw is out galivanting in the Andes so I'm on my tod again this week. Luckily there's a little more news to go on - and Jim's Friend Tom (JFT) stops by for an assist. Since I've pumped out a load of interviews the past few weeks to support the ongoing History of Roadrunner Records [HORR] series, we've had a bunch of new subs and listeners - which I'm extremely grateful for....

In this entry to the History of Roadrunner Records I speak with Rob Beaton, producer of early 90's Roadrunner thrash bands Heathen, Exhorder and Defiance. Rob's an incredibly interesting dude and I was extremely privileged to speak with him about matters pertaining to the 'loudness wars', mixing the trailer to my favourite Star War, as well as Roadrunner's place in the music bu...

The legendary Metal Mike joins me for a chat about Roadrunner Records today. If you're watching on the video part of this - you'll understand when I say my entire face is aching from grinning all the way through this talk! Now this one has a bit of cringe in it from my side, as I keep pushing Roadrunner business questions but Mike, as he correctly says, is the music guy - he was placed in...

Tonight I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Andrew Field of APF Records. APF is a UK independent label dealing with the more heavy side of music, specifically Stoner/Doom metal, with a little Thrash and Grindcore thrown in for good measure. In addition to discussing some of the bands that reside on APF Records, Andrew and I speak about the mechanics of running a small independent label in...

In October I was joined by author, A&R exec and music nerd extraordinaire Howie Abrams. Howie was Director of A&R and Product Management at Roadrunner for the best part of 5 years in the early-mid 90's. We cover all sorts in this chat, from Type O Negative, to most accessible hardcore bands, and even football (UK). Howie is an exceptionally articulate and smart guy, and I'm super p...

In this episode I speak with Gary Levermore of Third Mind Records. Third Mind was a UK Electronic/Industrial label that pushed some of the staple artists of the genres, such as Front Line Assembly, In the Nursery and Controlled Bleeding. Gary tells the story of how Third Mind partnered up with Roadrunner Records in the early 90's, in that somewhat confusing time in the narrative when the label...

In this episode, I speak with Andy Saunders. Andy headed up the alt-rock arm of Roadrunner (Emergo) in the UK from 1989-1992 before moving on to Creation Records then forming his own company in 2000. Andy and I discuss some of the challenges of working under the Roadrunner model as he attempted to expand the label's alt-rock roster in the early 90's. There's some great insight as to ho...

Raw is out fellwalking or something today, so Jim's Friend Tom stepped in for the feature section - in which we discuss Magic the Gathering, and the Illuminati of Consumer Expectation. Spiderman is the paperweight holding all this barely-releasable tinfoil together. Additionally Jim gets audibly upset that Dave Grohl turned up to work on his bi-annual 'wholesome content' cycle, and a b...

In this episode I speak with guitarist Garry Pepperd of NWOBHM legends Jaguar. Jaguar had only one record with Roadrunner, This Time , released in 1984. Garry tells me the story of Jaguar and their relationship with Roadrunner Records, ensuing activities including the resurrection of Neat Records in the late 90's, as well as reflecting on the metal scene in general. I'm very grateful to Ga...

This entry into the History of Roadrunner Records [HORR (I'm sticking with it)] is with Kyle Thomas of Exhorder and Floodgate. Kyle is an example of the Roadrunner 'Double Dip' meaning he was signed to the label with two acts - an incredibly rare occurrence. Kyle has three albums on Roadrunner Records, Exhorder's Slaughter in the Vatican and The Law , and Floodgate's Penalty ....

Another one for the History of Roadrunner Records series - this episode I chat with Steev Ricardo! Steev was pivotal for creating the Roadrunner you know and love today, in that he opened the first US office for the label in 1986, along with Holly Lane. We talk about Steev's hectic tenure with the label, The Great Kat, and the Unsung Hero (Holly Lane). Check out Steev's podcast, Blowin&#39...

This week I'm joined by Defiance's Mike Kaufmann. Defiance had 3 LP's with Roadrunner Records and are generally revered as one of the key progressive-thrash bands to emerge from the Bay Area. Mike was super accommodating with his time, and we discussed some of the finer details of working with a label like Roadrunner in the late 80's/early 90's - including producer preferences,...

This week there was barely any proper news, just mostly people popping their heads out the woodwork to endorse something or other - so we generally focused on the sub-par interesting news items this week. Having said that we've got a new logo drawn by the extremely awesome 'terbangtinggi' on fiverr - which makes us feel legit. Raw also suggests that the longer a band name is - the wors...