Book Narcs

This episode we talk to wonderful Leslie Simon! Leslie is the author of Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide To Emo Culture, Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide To Your Favorite Music Scenes—From Punk To Indie And Everything In Between, and Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, And Other Misfits Are Taking Over The World. Her work has appeared on MTV.com, The Frisky, The AV Club, CrimeFeed.com, Huffington Post and WSJ. She is also a recovering Diet Coke addict with an unhealthy obsession for pop culture, double-duty household items and the wine glasses Olivia Pope drinks out of on Scandal. We had an incredible time talking to Leslie about everything she has worked on, along with so many of the books she has enjoyed. This episode goes long, but hang on because Leslie was SUCH a blast to chat with, and she has a lot of wisdom. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

This episode features musician and all around super cool dude, Bill McShane! Bill used to sing and play guitar in Ultimate Fakebook. Now he sings and plays guitar in The Pride of Erie PA! He also has a mega-top-secret-awesome-job that we aren't at liberty to discuss (listen to hear him kind of explain it). We talk to Bill about all of these things and more, including his love of horror and science fiction. Good times were had by us, and good times will be had by you. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

Today's episode features local musician and coffee entrepreneur Lee Carter! Lee was a part of the former band Party House, is a part of a new instrumental project called E/Z/R/A, and is co-owner of the popular new coffee house in Minneapolis called Five Watt Coffee. We talk to Lee about some of his favorite books and get into our opinions on book clubs. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

On this episode we talk with Brian Schwarz, the first novelist on our podcast, who is currently promoting his first full length novel called Shades. Brian tells us about his writing process, what the experience has been like so far, and lets us in on a few of his literary inspirations. Stick around for a reading by Brian, and get a taste of what his book is all about. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

On this episode we sit down with Bryan Atchison and Neil Olstad from the dance party kid adult band Koo Koo Kanga Roo to talk about their favorite kid books and their own books "Cat Party" and "Unicorns R Real." Come along with us on this adventure of a conversation and see how long you can keep up with the lunacy. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

We chat with the famously talented writer, musician, and speaker Jonah Bayer from the band United Nations, the podcast Going Off Track, and contributor to MySpace's Music Blog. He is also the co-creator of the web series Sound Advice with Janessa Slater and the former Music Editor of Alternative Press. There are also way too many additional accomplishments to list! In any event, listen to Jonah talk about his favorite books. He even treats us to a reading of one of his favorite passages. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

This week we have the incredibly quick, clever, and funny Ben Thornewill on the podcast! He makes up 1/3 of the band Jukebox the Ghost and his duties include vocals, piano, and keyboards. He gives us a taste of his book history, which includes some Russian greats as well as a series that sheds some light on the whole "Jeeves" phenomenon. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

We talk books and history with the wonderful Adam Levy, from the Honeydogs and And The Professors. Adam also teaches song writing and music at McNally Smith College of Music. On this episode, Adam educates us on a variety of his favorite and latest non-fiction finds. This is also Book Narcs' debut of our new and improved podcast, we have upped our quality game. Thanks to McNally Smith College of Music for producing our podcast!

Justin and Lindsay answer questions posed to them from the lovely Book Narcing community. 

Justin and Lindsay talk to their dear friend Thomas "Tommy" Rehbein! Tommy is the noise master behind the guitars in Farewell Continental, and he has his own musical project International Karate. He talks to Book Narcs about a wide range of literary geniuses including Chuck Klosterman, Aaron Cometbus, Brennan Manning, and Robert Farrar Capon, and Justin and Tommy express their love and knowledge for all things music and 90s. Stay tuned until the end for a song from International Karate. Segments: "Katie's Krap."

Justin and Lindsay talk to their friend, comedian and actor, Nels Lennes in this episode. Nels is the co-founder of the only long-form improv theater in Minnesota, HUGE Theater. In regard to books, we get into all things Dune! We also chat about author HP Lovecraft, and the books Inferno and The Prophet. 

We talk to the current air guitar champion OF THE WORLD, drummer for Ultimate Fakebook and The Dead Girls, and creator of Scene-Stealers, Eric "Mean Melin" Melin! Eric talks all things satire, sci-fi and pulp, specifically James Ellroy, Kurt Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams. Eric has some mean recommendations to give everyone, so get ready. Stick around until the end of the episode to listen to The Dead Girls' song "It's All Happening" featuring our very own, Justin Pierre!

Justin and Lindsay talk to Crissy Herron, who is a business advice guru and the mastermind behind IndieBizChicks.com! Crissy talks about her entrepreneurial adventures, some of her favorite books, and she absolutely blows our minds with some major J.D. Salinger trivia. Listen, learn, and we promise that this podcast will make you want to read everything J.D. Salinger for the first time, or for the 30th. Addtional segment: "Katie's Krap." Minor plot spoilers: Nine Stories and Catcher in the Rye.

Today's mini episode comes directly from the Vans Warped Tour and features Nick (Guitar/Vox) and Jonathan (Drums) Diener from the band The Swellers!  There are so many wordsmiths and book readers on this tour, we felt we should tap into their minds and let you in on what they dig in terms of the written word. And these boys dig some pretty radical words. This veers from our established format a bit as none of us knew what we were going to talk about prior to recording. But the Brothers Diener definitely cover both side of the literary spectrum (if by both sides you, like me, Justin, mean fiction and non-fiction). Oh, and at the end of the episode listen to the song "Hands" from their latest album Running Out Of Places To Go. Enjoy. AUDIO NOTE: Due to heavy traffic coming in and out of the vehicle we recorded in, the levels bounce around a bit.  

Justin and Lindsay have Gabe Douglas from The 4onthefloor onto the podcast. Gabe talks about his musical projects and his deep love of books. We specifically focus on A Song of Ice and Fire series and Eating Animals. Stick around until the end of the episode to listen to the band's single "King of the Jungle" off of their new album Spirit of Minneapolis. We had fun with this merry man. Spoilers: A Storm of Swords/Game of Thrones Season 3 (52:25 - 01:06:22).

Justin and Lindsay have their first guest on to the show: singer and songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs! Jenny talks about what books influenced her growing up and persuades us to read some of her favorites. Listen to her song "Love for Long" off her album An Unwavering Band of Light following the podcast. We think the Wolverine Quotient of this song is through the roof. Very minor spoilers: The Great Gatsby and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Justin and Lindsay introduce themselves in this first episode with their Book History. Additional segments include: Fun Facts with Intern Jack and Katie's Krap. Spoilers: None.