The Upful LIFE Podcast

Episode 098 brings a double dose of low end theory, welcoming a pioneering pair of underground bass legends percolating on opposite coasts, both cats deep in the streets and boasting decades in the game, with the catalogues and collaborators to prove it. 0:00 - ep.098 preview 3:30 - High Sierra Music Festival 2026  6:30 - The Upful Update 12:00 - intro: Club d'Elf's MIKE RIVARD [aka Micro] 15:00 -...

Welcome to Episode 097 veteran drummer and percussionist JOHN SPEICE, prominently based in the Austin scene. Best known for work with Grammy-winning Latin ensemble Grupo Fantasma and its psychedelic-funk offshoot Brownout , including their beloved Black Sabbath-inspired side trip Brown Sabbath. Throughout his career, Speice has been core to a diverse array of bands like Money Chicha , Hairy Apes B...

Episode 096 welcomes three-headed prog-tronic hydra lespecial, plus enigmatic bass-wizard Yheti, for an expansive deep dive into their mind-bending collaborative portal - LIMINOID. Framed through the lens of "A Year in the Life of lespecial," the conversations chronicle a monumental run from Jam Cruise 21 in Feb.2025, thru the LIMINOID experience, then NYE marking their 20th anniversary since form...

Your boy is back from paternity hiatus with another banger! Preposterously prolific San Francisco composer, producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist OTIS McDONALD is finally here. Hallelujah! Gov't name Joe Bagale, Otis has turned Hyde Street’s Studio D — a hallowed sacred ground in the annals of funk/rock/hip-hop history — into a potent personal laboratory where he generates/facilitates a st...

In the tailwind of D'Angelo's October 14th passing after a private battle with pancreatic cancer, your humble narrator was shell-shocked in a melancholic malaise. Over a week of confounding parasocial grief eventually gave way to a torrent of inspired creativity & righteous purpose. I found catharsis in embarking on a couple of legacy projects in tribute to the dearly departed.   This very len...

Episode 093 welcomes back POLYRHYTHMICS , the fantastically-funky septet primarily based in Seattle, but these days steadily spreading their net further and wider than ever before. BEN BLOOM (along w/ bassist Jason Gray) appeared on Ep.059 in 2022 , now the guitarist/co-founder returns to chop it up once again, this time with drummer/co-founder GRANT SCHROFF (aka Champagne Bubblebath) also in the...

Episode 092 is all about the underground, from sea to mighty sea; welcome MORiLLO and AIN'T SISTERS! Among my preferred dancefloor generals on the decks across the past decade, it’s high time to tap in with The Dub Cartographer, global bass sorcerer MORiLLO down in L.A. Gov’t name Zach Morillo, the Groundation drummer pulls double-duty as a dynamite producer-dj and modern-day dub maestro. My man w...

It's not every day a decorated Grateful Dead historian / Jerry Garcia biographer slides thru the crib for a nearly 3-hour interview spread across 2 separate sessions. Such was the case over a few days in July when BLAIR JACKSON visited with your humble narrator right here in the ViBE Junkie Studios in Oakland, Ca! Author of 1999's extraordinary, bar-setting bio GARCIA: An American Life; publisher...

Episode 090 taps in with renowned hip-hop culture journalist SHAWN SETARO who recently spent 2 WILD Manhattan months courtside at the Sean "DIDDY" Combs trial reporting daily for COMPLEX . Definitely some different topical topography juxtaposed to the norm for this program. Please rest assured, this is a serious conversation; an insightful, illuminating, sobering look into the lengthy legal procee...

Please welcome The Disco Biscuits bassist/co-founder MARC BROWNSTEIN aka DJ BROWNIE to Episode 089, a particularly wide-ranging, illuminating conversation long overdue but undoubtedly over-delivers. Marc has indeed appeared on a plethora of pods; however, this cosmic convergence is a brutally honest, beautiful breaux-down many, many moons in the making. Tapping in from his family home outside Phil...

Behold the prodigal sons of Asbury Park, NJ! It's a total joy to welcome red-hot buzz band DOGS IN A PILE to the Upful LIFE. This colorful conversation with all 5 members went down mid-Feb. '25, during Jam Cruise 21. Though DOGS are somewhat of a young band, their meteoric ascent certainly shreds for itself. So I wanted a peek behind the curtain, to see what makes these boys tick, and find out wha...

TARRIONA "TANK" BALL, founder/frontperson/visionary of NOLA-based, GRAMMY-winning TANK AND THE BANGAS joins B.Getz for a special broadcast aboard Jam Cruise 21! Episode 087 was recorded around 12noon on Day 5, and Tank brought an insightful, jovial, reflective perspective to the table for a coloful conversation. On the hees of a pair of dynamite performances as part of their second sailing on The...

A supreme honor & privilege to welcome scintillating saxophonist/composer NUBYA GARCIA to Episode 086. At the dawn of her first US headlining tour, the UK-based sorceress was kind enough to tap in for a deep, insightful chat on a smattering of salient topics with numerous delightful detours. Your humble narrator has been paying rather close attention to this dynamic, shape-shifting artist sinc...

Episode 085 kicks off with the return of STS9’s ALANA ROCKLIN! The beloved bassist delivered one of this program’s most popular conversations [#66, Spring 2023]; Rocklin was kind enough to come back for another round, a shorter interview recorded mid-Feb.2025 aboard Jam Cruise 21. We linked up on my cabin balcony for a discussion that covered the band’s long-awaited return to The Boat (and Alana’s...

All the way from Brussels, Belgium - please welcome ECHT! bassist FEDERICO PECORARO to episode 084! An honor and privilege to connect across the world with a member of one of the most exhilarating bands I’ve had the good fortune of stumbling upon in many, many moons. An idiosyncratic quartet since 2017, ECHT! (Brusselier for ‘The Real Thing’) is remarkably adept at reverse engineering electronic m...

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome back NIGEL HALL to The Upful LIFE Podcast. Member of my favorite band Lettuce. Co-founder and former member of The Nth Power. Collaborator to dozens across genre and generation. My dear friend of a decade plus. Virtuoso musician, otherworldly vocalist, transparent human being. Inspirational cat who takes no shorts and keeps it as real as it gets, and on this ep...

Episode 082 offers a bit of a different trip than the usual Upful LIFE Podcast. This program is focused entirely on Asheville NC & surrouding Appalachia in the wake of unimaginable destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene in late September. The Asheville music and arts community is a beacon of light and creativity, full of ambitious artisans, dreamers n' doers whom I admire. The good folks of A...

Welcome back the lovely and talented singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ms. ANNA MOSS. One-half of beloved political folk-hop duo Handmade Moments , the NOLA-based chaunteuse has launched an absolutely sensational solo project under her own name, leading a larger band on guitar and vocals, and she released a fantastic debut LP ‘Amnesty’ in March 2024. We checked in w/ Anna at the end of a jam...

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Phish “retirement” shows, hop in the wayback machine to revisit the historic, chaotic, at-times catastrophic Coventry festival, hosted in northern Vermont way back in August 2004. Twenty years later, Episode 080 colorfully unspools an oral history of this fateful weekend, reflecting upon the legendary traffic jam, difficult weather and its consequences, plus...

Twas an honor and privilege to welcome legendary DJ/producer/multi-instrumentalist GREYBOY to Episode 079!! A career highlight for this program to facilitate a wide-reaching, ever-rare interview with the man born Andreas Stevens, who's pioneering 90's work on Ubiquity Records set, raised, and re-raised the bar for West Coast acid jazz and trip-hop. Greyboy's solo canon is long revered for blurring...

Welcome Florida-bred, Denver-based electronic producer duo MZG to Episode 078! Zach and Charles Weinert are wildly talented yet humble and hilarious, studio wizards who can cook up with the best in the game. Many of us have long been convinced these two handsome gents are destined for superstardom, if not global EDM domination. I've had the privilege of watching the evolution of their craft, caree...

Welcome NY-bred, Nashville-based PETER LEVIN, a keyboardist/singer/producer to Episode 077! A veteran of multiple music scenes, bands, and geographies, Peter Levin has written/performed with numerous artists who've appeared on this show, & dozens more who have not. A well-respected musician, songwriter and producer, across 3 decades Peter has collaborated with legends like the late, great Greg...

Agent 23 aka Cactus aka Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, welcome to The Upful Life Podcast! A founding member of pioneering Asheville-based live hip-hop collective Granola Funk Express (GFE). A progenitor of "family hip-hop" with his Secret Agent 23 Skidoo project, which took home a Grammy in 2019 for Best Children's Album. Cactus is a published author of several books, and a prolific educator around the c...

Live n' direct from their studio in Vienna, Austria, iconic electronic producer/DJ duo KRUDER and DORFMEISTER tap into the Upful LIFE.  On Episode 075, Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister pull up for a colorful, career-spanning conversation, both fellas waxing nostalgic, and piloting the wayback machine through the pair's prolific, pioneering journey in sound. Our chat starts at the 22min mark. 0...

Welcome ROGERS STEVENS, guitarist/co-founder of Blind Melon - as well as Towne & Stevens - to Episode 074! A dream come true for your host, an unabashed lifelong Blind Melon fanatic. Rogers joins the pod from his cozy home studio just outside Philadelphia for a 90-min conversation about his career - past, present, and future. A peek inside Rogers' process making records with Nathan Towne, and...