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Writer/actor/director/musician/et al Brendon Small would be a legend if he'd stopped with the creation of his Adult Swim animated series, Home Movies, in the early '00s. Following it up with the heavy metal fantasy comedy of Metalocalypse secured that status for all time when it debuted in 2006. Spotlighting the death metal band Dethklok, whose popularity makes them the seventh-largest economy in the world, Metalocalypse managed to skewer the music industry as effectively as Spinal Tap while also being a wild ride into interpersonal relationships, worldwide conspiracies, and a cocaine-addled clown based on David Lee Roth. The series has been absent since its last special, The Doomstar Requiem, nearly a decade ago. It returns on Tuesday, August 22, with a feature-length series finale, entitled Army of the Doomstar, accompanied by both a soundtrack and a fourth Dethklok LP, Dethalbum IV. Ahead of its release, we hopped on the phone with Brendon Small to talk about Metalocalypse and its history.

Playing bass was love at first pluck for Marty Isenberg. His career as a jazz musician began at the age of 12, after losing his father to cancer the year prior. A skilled amateur musician, Marty's father kept many instruments around the house that he would play for the family. After his death, Marty would pull one of these instruments off the wall and begin teaching himself how to play by reading tablature in Bass Player Magazine. The first song he ever learned was My Own Summer by The Deftones. Playing bass was love at first pluck for Mr. Isenberg. It was a cathartic healing experience, a way to stay connected to his father, and a way to creatively express himself. He went on to study at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where he majored in Jazz Performance and minored in Jazz Composition, and received his Master of Music degree from New York University. He is now a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University where he is the teaching assistant to the jazz department chair Ray Anderson. I spoke with Marty Isenberg via Zoom about his debut recording, The Way I Feel Inside, inspired by the films of Wes Anderson, out now from Truth Revolution Recording Collective.

As a boy growing up in Boston, Jon Coco immersed himself in the music of timeless bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Pink Floyd. Tapping into the music of the ‘70s with an impressive vinyl record collection, he started writing original music and dove into performances in the late ‘80s Boston music scene. Invited by an A&M recording studio head engineer to record songs for A&M, Coco gave in to the eventual lure of Los Angeles and the larger opportunities it promised. An early lesson would come when A&M Records closed their doors while his band was still recording their debut record. After two years as a staple on the Hollywood live club scene, Coco seized the opportunity to try his hand at creating music for a film trailer. This pivot provided many years of work and included his compositions in the marketing campaigns for Oscar-nominated and award-winning films such as The Departed, Batman Begins, No Country for Old Men, Room, and numerous others. Endlessly pursuing his own true north and identity, Coco relocated to Nashville in 2016 to trade the companionship of traffic and airplanes for a mini ranch with horses, donkeys, and chickens. This slower and more relaxed pace, exacerbated by the Covid lockdown, has cultivated an even more intense maturation of Coco's signature style. There is a common element to his music that is as relatable for listeners of a major metropolitan area as for those in rural surroundings, because their source is a man who finds the essential humanity in both. I spoke with Jon Coco via Zoom about his new album, Chasing the Dream, as well as his work composing for film trailers.

The HBO Max series, Peacemaker, the spin-off from director James Gunn's The Suicide Squad has become a massive hit for the streaming service, and not a small amount of its popularity comes from its deft use of music. However, while much as been made of the series' use of under-the-radar or forgotten rock 'n' roll and hair metal, composer Kevin Kiner's work on the series, alongside Clint Mansell, helps set the tone for a show which is by turns outrageous, violent, and surprisingly introspective and thoughtful. Ahead of the Peacemaker series finale, we spoke with Kiner about his work on the series, as well as his past compositions for the Star Wars and DC universes.

Pronounced “Voyager 3,” Detroit's Voyag3r feature keyboardist Steve Greene, guitarist Aaron Greene, and drummer Greg Mastin. Inspired by the soundtracks to vintage horror, action, and sci-fi films, the trio creates experimental rock that owes a debt to pioneers like John Carpenter and shares a kinship with bands such as Trans Am, Teeth of the Sea, and Zombi. Originally directed by and starring martial arts actor John Liu (The Secret Rivals, Invincible Armor) in his only American production, New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was abandoned during production resulting in all original sound materials being lost over time. 35 years later, Vinegar Syndrome acquired the original unedited camera negative and painstakingly constructed and completed the film, with the voice talents of genre favorites: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Linnea Quigley, Michael Berryman, Ginger Lynn Allen, and Cynthia Rothrock, and a score by Voyag3r. I spoke by phone with all three members of Voyag3r about New York Ninja, the band's history, and more.

Is this thing on? Sorry about the length of being gone. It's been a thing. But we're back, and this installment of Your Favorite Soundtrack sees us talking with Katlyn Conroy about the soundtrack to the 1974 Brian De Palma film, Phantom of the Paradise. Katlyn is a longtime music and movie fan, and her work in bands such as Cowboy Indian Bear, La Guerre, and her two new projects, Cheery and Dooms, means that she's well-known in the Midwest for beautiful melodies and emotionally-resonant songwriting. Therefor, it makes total sense that she'd pick a film with music by the one and only Paul Williams, a man who's no stranger to tugging at the heartstrings.

Director Matt Hinton's documentary, Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury, has a couple of very interesting wrinkles. Not only is the Georgia post-punk band an act you've likely not heard of, the reunited act now features three members who are Eastern Orthodox priests, and director Hinton is part of the band, as well. That's before you get into the fact that Luxury is an often-forgotten part of the early history of Christian label Tooth & Nail Records, or the terrible accident which almost ended the lives of the band members. It's a fascinating story, filled with music you're sure to wish you'd heard when you were in your teens, as it's so richly-layered and evocative, so it was with some excitement that I hopped on Zoom with director Hinton (who now also plays guitar for Luxury) to talk about all of this and more.

A project born in Bristol in 2006 and developed in the bohemian dystopia of Berlin from 2009, Antoni Maiovvi walks the line between retro-synth and horror soundtracks for both real and imagined films. Recently, the musician -- who is one of the co-founders of Giallo Disco Records, in addition to his own endeavors -- has released Church of the Second Sun, a collaboration with prog-rockers ANTA, as well as the latest '80s synthwave album from his Jason Priest alter-ego. I spoke via Zoom with Antoni Maiovvi about horror disco, prog, composing for film, and more.

Formed in late 2014 in South Wales, Punk Rock Factory combine everything you love about 1990s/2000s punk rock, and reimagine classic and hit songs like you've never heard them before. From Meat Loaf to Disney, nothing is off-limits to them. The band rehearse, write, record, mix, master and film everything themselves in one dedicated space that they affectionately call "The Sausage Factory" and have no problem bringing friends along either. To date, Punk Rock Factory has had singers from bands such as Protest the Hero, Bowling for Soup, Mest, Rufio, Belvedere, Ten Foot Pole and more, provide guest vocals on tracks, firmly cementing themselves as a punk rock household name. On the new album, Masters of the Uniwurst, Punk Rock Factory takes on 21 classic TV theme songs including, Arthur, Power Rangers, Saved By The Bell, The Flintstones, Goof Troop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokemon and many more. I spoke via Zoom with all four members of Punk Rock Factory about Masters of the Uniwurst, cover songs in general, and more.

Sorry for the delay on this episode. I got a promotion at work, live shows are returning, and I have been quite overwhelmed. Rest assured, the podcast is still happening. I just needed to catch up on the things which pay money in order to get around to putting together the next few episodes. So, after much delay, here's our episode on composer Max Aruj. Up and coming Los Angeles based composer Max Aruj had two exciting projects release on June 25: the crime drama Lansky from Vertical Entertainment, profiling legendary gangster Meyer Lansky, and the Liam Neeson-starring action-thriller The Ice Road from Netflix. The composer got his start in the industry working at the widely known film music hub Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica, CA where he's worked closely with composer Lorne Balfe on numerous projects, including Ad Astra, Black Widow, and HBO's His Dark Materials. Max first collaborated with Lansky writer-director Eytan Rockaway on the psychological thriller The Abandoned. Their established working relationship allowed them to delve even deeper creatively this time around. The film takes place in two time periods: Lansky in his earlier years and him looking back at his life in the '80s. To reflect this, Max utilized some '80s Vangelis colors as the musical palette, mixed with orchestra. He wanted to create both a sense of darkness and sentimentality to capture both sides of such a complicated figure. The composer also leaned into his Jewish roots by including Jewish colors in the music to reflect Lansky's identity. For The Ice Road, Max collaborated with director Jonathan Hensleigh and his goal was to really play into the classic action tropes and create a next level, bombastic score. Having an archetypal character (led by the iconic Liam Neeson), allowed Max to really dig into the storyline. Once Max had the thematic tapestry nailed down, the rest of the music flowed out. I spoke by phone with Max Aruj about these two films, their differences, and his career.

Del Casher may not be a household name, but you've undoubtedly heard his music. He was a member of the famous Wrecking Crew, played on Lawrence Welk, recorded Frank Zappa's first demo, backed Elvis Presley, and built guitars with Les Paul. His many inventions include the Wah-Wah pedal and the Ecco-Fonic, influencing the development of electric guitar playing.In 1976, Casher was commissioned to write and record a soundtrack for Italian Stallion, a re-branding of the 1970 film The Party at Kitty and Stud's, which saw Sylvester Stallone's first on-screen appearance. While even Stallone called the film "horrendous," the soundtrack for Italian Stallion stands on its own as a musical masterpiece. Over 40 years later, with the help of ORG Music, Del Casher dug up his original master tapes and assembled a record's worth of material for the soundtrack's first ever release. Italian Stallion will make its long overdue debut with a vinyl pressing, exclusively for the second RSD drop on July 17.I spoke by phone with Del Casher about the release of Italian Stallion's score and his legendary career.

The six-part Netflix documentary series Amend: The Fight for America, is executive produced and hosted by Will Smith and features a number of luminaries including Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal, and Yara Shahidi among others, and explores the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—which, in 1868, promised liberty and equal protection for all persons—as America's most enduring hallmark of democracy. Amend has wall-to-wall music, including Osei Essed's score, which is intermixed with inspiring pop hits throughout. Essed describes the score as "modern minimalist, meets orchestral Americana." The composer is a lover of simplistic music and making textures interact with harmony and various instruments. English horn, bass clarinet, and electric guitar are some of the most prevalent featured in the music. I spoke via Skype with Essed about the score for Amend and how it fits into his career.

Los Angeles native artist Joe Cardamone has lived a few lifetimes while leaving a wiry dent in the global underground music and film scenes. The band that Joe fronted for 17 years, The Icarus Line, formed in East Los Angeles in 1998. Over the course of six albums the punk agitators became an underground phenomenon and the most dangerous punk group of their generation. The cult band the never gave up. Cardamone's new album, Quarentina, was birthed from the necessity for distraction and expression. Life gets real hectic real fast and when you are getting dragged down into the sea you better learn to swim. Out of this chaos came some uncut gems, a batch of cool mini songs about love and pain. Tracks done in one or two passes just to grab the moment, not think, and keep flying. A force of nature, the album features 19 songs that were recorded in the matter of a few weeks after the dissolution of a relationship. Sounding so direct you feel like you are in the room with him, Quarentina is the most stripped down, raw and intimate Joe has ever sounded on a record. I spoke via Zoom with Cardamone about his new album and the accompanying short films for it.

Netflix's Kid Cosmic -- from Craig McCracken, creator of the Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends -- follows the adventures of an imaginative and enthusiastic boy who lives with his free-spirited Grandpa in a sparsely populated desert town. The Kid’s dreams of being a hero seem to come true when he discovers 5 Cosmic Stones of Power in a wrecked spaceship. He forms a team of local heroes to stop an onslaught of alien attacks to steal back the stones. Though the Kid and his team are the good guys, they’re really bad at it,and the Kid learns that his fantasy of being a hero is very different from the reality of what it actually means to become one.A major part of the world of Kid Cosmic is the music. Composer Andy Bean not only did the score for the Netflix series, but also created a series of bands from whose dusty 45s we hear their music, such as the psychedelic garage of Dr. Fang and the Gang, Cepha Pond and the Muzzy Hill Boys' rockabilly, or the joyous R&B of the Soul Contributions.I love, love, love this show and the soundtrack, so it was a real treat to nerd out about all of this -- and even a little bit of Ducktales -- in this conversation with Andy Bean.

The new film from director Chris White, Electric Jesus, tells the story of an '80s Christian heavy metal band, 316, and their struggles, trials, and travails trying to make it in a world in which Christians fear metal and metalheads aren't exactly fond of Christians. It's a heartfelt, really truly honest movie that finds new angles in following a struggling band on their first-ever tour, with fantastic performances both in the acting and the music which makes up so much of the film.It helps that the music of Electric Jesus was written by Daniel Smith of indie rockers Danielson and sounds just like it could be found in the bins next to Stryper, Barren Cross, and Holy Soldier's output. The songs will lodge themselves in your brain pretty readily, and I've definitely added one or two to some recent playlists.I spoke with director White and composer Smith about the making of Electric Jesus' soundtrack, the film itself, and more. A note: this Q&A sounds weird because Zoom was being really weird and I had to scramble to record my audio.

Composer Emile Mosseri has, in his short career scoring feature films, worked on some very notable productions. He scored director/producer Joe Talbot's debut, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, has worked with Miranda July on Kajillionaire, and also tackled the second season of the Amazon series, Homecoming. His latest score is for Lee Isaac Chung's Minari, a drama about a Korean American family trying to make their way as farmers in rural Arkansas. All of these might be very different films, but Mosseri's scores for each help define the world in which they take place through superb use of melody and pop sensibilities. I spoke with the composer by phone about his process.

Acclaimed multi-disciplinary music masters in their own right, Benji Merrison and Will Slater are now creating sounds for the screen together, calling upon their collective experience from a music and arts education, work producing and touring records, as well as composing for Film and Television. Both from the Midlands, UK, their paths first aligned when they were commissioned as a duo to score the popular BBC David Attenborough series Dynasties in 2018, for which they received nominations from the IFMCA and News and Documentary Emmys.In December 2020, global audiences were charmed by Meerkat: A Dynasties Special, the spectacular opening episode of series two. Playing ‘the puppeteers of people’s emotions’, Benji and Will carved out their own palette of sounds for the score, with the full OST album released February 26 on Silva Screen Records. Crafting their character as composers and defining a musical language that enhances the viewing experience, the combination of stunning visuals and music makes for a wild multi-sensory adventure.I talked about all of this and more with Will and Benji in a really fun international conversation.

Gilded Audio, the creative production force behind the podcasts Amy Schumer’s 3 Girls 1 Keith, OTHERtone with Pharrell, and The Pet have launched something entirely different. The Gilded Audio Music Library offers media makers a place to browse organic and beautifully crafted instrumental and atmospheric music to purchase at an affordable price for any creative project (podcasts, films, commercials, etc.) in need of that perfect musical vibe. The Gilded Audio Music Library was built in response to the bland, stock flavors found in traditional music libraries. It’s meant to benefit media makers in that it offers them a new place to find exciting music that nobody else is using, but it’s also a great new source of income for the hard-working bands and artists providing the songs. We talk about the creative process, library music in general, and the whole history of Gilded Audio with the company's Andy Chugg and musician Sam Skarstad.

Formed in 2013 in Toronto, Martin Macphail, Dean Rode and Tristan Tarr make up the award winning trio Blitz//Berlin. Since releasing their debut album Distance in 2015, the band has created three critically acclaimed instrumental albums, and composed the original score to feature films, shorts, and movie trailers, including the recent sci-fi horror comedy, Psycho Goreman. Blitz//Berlin's music for films like The Void, and the trailer for Bad Times at the El Royale, show just how diverse the trio's music can be, so it was a real joy to talk about all of this -- but especially Psycho Goreman -- with the group's Martin Macphail on the very day the film hit Shudder.

I'd like to apologize for the delay on this episode. As we went to record, the trusty Nady six-channel mixer we've been using for the last decade died a quick and horrible death. This necessitated a trip to downtown Lawrence to track down a new mic input for the computer. Big thanks to Guitarma for having the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 in stock (and affordable), letting us get right back on our feet. We're still figuring it out, so apologies for any audio weirdness in this episode. Chase the Horseman is a band, film composer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, and producer. They also grew up in Lansing, Kansas, and attended the same high school as I did. Chase currently makes music as both a composer and as Chase the Horseman, and it's all intricate and beautiful. We talk about growing up in Lansing, making music, working with director Gigi Saul Guerrero, and scoring not one, but two installments of Hulu's Into the Dark series.

This is an episode that's been two years in the making. Can you believe it? We first invited Jon Dobyns to come on the show to discuss his musical project, Alone in the Woods, and his work with the anime soundtrack reissue label, Tiger Lab Vinyl, back in November of 2018, but due to the man's incredibly busy work schedule, it didn't happen until November of 2020. Then we went on our annual holiday hiatus, and so on and so forth, but I'm happy to say that this is a very wide-ranging, awesome interview, that's totally worth the wait, and we're sneak-previewing a couple of cuts off Alone in the Woods' new album, Help Is Not Coming, which goes on sale this Thursday, February 4, at noon eastern. Check it out!

Royal Dagger Ballet is Tristan Bechet’s first album as a solo artist after Flux Information Sciences, electronic rock duo SERVICES and Sauna Kings. The result is an edgy, opulent and mesmerizing compilation of genre-defying industrial experimentalism. Engaging in modern electronics, synthesizers and drum machines, each track is its different world, some cinematic and melodic and others rhythmically chaotic, industrial and cacophonous. Born in Portugal but raised between Brazil and New York City and now living in Paris, Tristan’s idiosyncratic approach to music uses a collision of electronic sound design. He has also composed for brands like Nike, Karl Lagerfeld, Dior, Chanel, Givenchy and The Creator’s Project, his works featured by The New York Times, Nowness and beyond. He is currently composing for a psychological drama horror film currently in the works. We spoke about all of this and more at the end of last year.

And we're back. Every year, it seems like I hope we're going to keep going through the end of the year, but then end up taking Thanksgiving through New Year's off to deal with the day job. Thanks for waiting. I think you'll be pleased with this episode as our comeback. From 1989-2004, musician Paul Hartnoll was one half of the legendary electronic music duo, Orbital, along with his brother, Phil. While the pair have reunited several times in the intervening years, since that time, Paul Hartnoll has released a pair of solo albums – The Ideal Condition and 8:58 – and has begun scoring various films, documentaries, shorts, and even the second season of Peaky Blinders. His latest work is the score for the Welsh crime thriller, Concrete Plans, directed by Will Jewell. I spoke with Hartnoll about his scoring work and how Orbital's music found its way into many, many different areas of entertainment.

New Wave band Berlin has gone through multiple incarnations during its four-decade tenure, seeing members – including lead singer Terri Nunn – come and go over the years. After Nunn rejoined the band in 1980, the underground success of Berlin's second single led to their debut EP, Pleasure Victim, which spawned the national hit “Sex (I'm A...)” in 1982, followed by “The Metro” the following year. The band's music would go on to be iconic, thanks to the massive success of the Giorgio Moroder written and produced song, “Take My Breath Away,” featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 action film, Top Gun. That song would go on to win both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and has come to the band's defining cut. The band would break up in 1987, and while Nunn would reform the band–sans any other original members–in the late '90s, it wasn't until an episode of VH1's Bands Reunited in 2004 that the group's founding players would get together. However, just last year, fellow founding members John Crawford (bass and synthesizer) and David Diamond (synthesizer and guitar) reunited with Nunn once again for the band's Transcendance album. Now, Berlin–with Crawford, Diamond, and Nunn–release Strings Attached, a re-imagining of many of the band's best-known songs with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. That album is out this Friday from August Day, and it was a real joy to hop on the phone with Nunn to discuss the band's catalog, the new album, and performing once again with Crawford and Diamond.

Established by producer and director Charles Band in 1986, Empire Pictures quickly became notorious for the horror-comedy classics made during its brief but legendary lifespan. With wild special effects, outrageous humour and over-the-top horror action Ghoulies, Troll and TerrorVision were three of Empire Pictures finest works, and each movie featured an unforgettable score by Charles' award-winning composer brother Richard Band. Now, these scores have been carefully remastered and are presented for the very first time on half-speed mastered, limited-edition 180g coloured vinyl in stunning packaging with liner notes from the composer. Ghoulies features the full uncut original soundtrack, available for the first time ever, and includes a bonus 7inch featuring Fela Johnson’s "Dancing with a Monster" and "Surrender" as heard in the movie. Troll features the complete soundtrack, and TerrorVision features the special director’s cut soundtrack. Each release is housed in a gatefold sleeve with full movie gallery, OBI belt, and random video store stickers, plus full liner notes by Band. We spoke with Richard Band via Zoom about his career and these amazing reissues.

Director Hu Guan's film, The Eight Hundred, might have only played briefly in stateside theaters before Covid shut everything down, but the Chinese war drama has taken in over $450 million worldwide since it released at the beginning of August. Just a little after it was released, I spoke with music supervisor Fei Yu and composer Andrew Kawczynski about the music of the film, and how the music was put together on a global scale.

Composer Sam Ewing has slowly but steadily made a name for himself over the last few years, thanks to his work with the massive talent that is composer Bear McCreary on shows like The Walking Dead and films like the Happy Death Day series. However, Ewing has also started doing work on his own, and the composer's first solo score, for director Frank Sabatella's vampiric horror, The Shed, was just released on vinyl from the folks at Enjoy the Ride Records. We spoke with the composer by phone about his career.

From 1983 to 1989, and from 1993 to 2001 Jeff Pilson was the bassist for hard rock band Dokken. Over the course of the band's lengthy career, Pilson co-wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including the two tracks included in 1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors. The theme song has become rather iconic, as has "Into the Fire," which plays over the film's opening sequence. He was briefly a member of Dio in the mid-90s, and as if that wasn't enough, Pilson now plays bass for Foreigner, whom he's been with since 2004. Throw in the fact that the bassist also played on the soundtrack for the Judas Priest-inspired 2001 film, Rock Star, as well as appearing in the film, and we have a lot to talk about.

This installment of Your Favorite Soundtrack sees us talking with Greg Dedrick about the soundtrack to the 1985 Tom Holland film, Fright Night. Greg -- aka Greg D -- is a podcaster who hails from Kansas City. Dave is, along with Jenius McGree, the co-host of the Kansas City-based Nightmare Junkhead and Nerds of Nostalgia podcasts, as well as the host and co-host of many cool live events, Covid quarantine restrictions allowing. Greg and Jenius have been cool enough to have me on multiple episodes of Nerds of Nostalgia and Nightmare Junkhead, so it was great to finally have Greg on to talk about all things vampiric.

An ode to Giallo, '70s crime flicks and French new wave cinema; Bastien Keb’s third album, The Killing of Eugene Peeps, is an imagined score of downbeat anti-ballads, cinematic instrumentals, psychedelic-folk and warped soliloquies. Set for an October 9 release via Gearbox Records, the album was oiginally made in three parts: film score, soundtrack and incidental music. The record develops in a dream like state, a narrator periodically guiding the listener between songs of longing and regret. We spoke with Bastien Keb about his cinematic influences, and the making of the new album.

The Dutch symphonic metal masters known for their love affair with horror, Carach Angren, released their sixth full-length, Franckensteina Strataemontanus, on June 26 via Season of Mist. The record explores the story of the “real” Dr. Frankenstein, Johann Conrad Dippel. Dippel was a mad scientist in Germany who performed sick experiments that even included failed attempts to reanimate dead animals, among other things. The album explores the stark reality of this madman while incorporating fantasy elements from the Frankenstein monster mythos.In addition, composer and musical mastermind Ardek has composed music for a number of other bands, including Lindemann, Pain, Ex-Deo, and more. He has even tried his hand in film and scored the horror movie Pyewacket, exercising a diverse and incomparable scope of musical talents. We spoke with Ardek earlier this year about the band's literary and cinematic influences.

Composer Jackson Greenberg's theme song for Netflix’s hit docuseries, Explained, went viral earlier this year, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon and taking on a life of its own. It's a bop and a half, and we discussed its unusual rise to fame with the musician, as well as his work on the FX/Hulu documentary, AKA Jane Roe, and other reality projects, earlier this year.

Less Than Jake has been making music since the mid-'90s, and their ska-punk sound is just as popular now as it was during the third wave's heyday. The man behind the drum kit, Vinnie Fiorello, is the mastermind behind many of the band's most popular songs, and so it was a real treat to get him on the phone to talk about the band's work in films like Good Burger and Scream 2, as well as his latest project, the Inevitables.The Inevitables' Kickstarter ends at midnight EST on Thursday, September 3.

The Psychedelic Furs have been making moody, beautiful rock music since 1977. Despite a hiatus for the better part of the '90s, when founding members Richard Butler and Tim Butler founded Love Spit Love with Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer, the long-running band is still going strong. After reuniting in 2000, the Furs have toured regularly, and thanks to the use of their songs “Love My Way” and “The Ghost of You” in Call Me By Your Name and Stranger Things, respectively, the band continues to find new fans over 40 years on.Last month marked the release of Made of Rain, the band's first new material since 1991's World Outside. Thanks to the work of collaborator Fortus as producer, along with deft mixes from Tim Palmer, the new material hearkens back to the band's classic '80s singles, while still fitting in alongside modern indie and alt rockers. The sound on Made of Rain is vast and powerful, ably demonstrating that the album is well worth the long wait.I hopped on the phone with bassist Tim Butler and speaking with the musician from his Kentucky home, we discussed Made of Rain and its creation, as well as the band's lasting cinematic influence.

Starting with Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco & the Time Rippers at the beginning of this year, blogger and YouTuber Troels Pleimart, aka the Space Quest Historian, began reorchestrating the scores to the classic Sierra sci-fi comedy games. Three successful Qrates crowdfunding campaigns later, he's on to his biggest project yet -- a double vinyl release for Space Quest V: Roger Wilco – The Next Mutation. We spoke to him about how this all came to be.Fund the Qrates campaign for Roger Wilco V.

The Vandals' 1995 album, Live Fast Diarrhea, gets a snazzy 25th anniversary vinyl repress this week from Craft Recordings. To celebrate, we spoke with both the band's guitarist, Warren Fitzgerald, as well as bassist Joe Escalante, about the music of Glory Daze and their appearance in the Penelope Spheeris cult classics, Suburbia and Dudes, as well as the new Live Fast Diarrhea repress.

Despite hailing from Jersey City, New Jersey, and only being 35 years old, composer Joseph Trapanese has rapidly ascended to join the ranks of today's most exciting composers. Due in no small part to the composer's work with such musical luminaries as French electronic acts M83 and Daft Punk (the latter of which he helped compose the massively-successful score for Tron: Legacy), along with his work composing scores for films as diverse as the live-action Disney remake of The Lady & the Tramp or musical The Greatest Showman, Trapanese seemingly defies categorization. It's a fascinatingly broad selection of work in a very short time, and so we were very excited to get the chance to speak with Trapanese about his career up to now.

Ten years ago, on May 16, 2010, famed metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio died from cancer. In the intervening decade, there have been myriad tributes to the departed singer, including a hologram tour featuring original members of his band. For the tenth anniversary of his passing, the band Appice – featuring legendary drummers and brother Carmine Appice and Vinny Appice – put together a lockdown tribute to Ronnie James Dio, featuring their song, “Monsters and Heroes,” originally recorded for their 2017 album, Sinister.I spoke with Carmine Appice–who’s drummed for everyone, including Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, and Ozzy Osbourne–about his relationship with Dio, how the tribute video came to be, as well as a discussion regarding Appice's involvement in the seminal 1988 heavy metal horror film, Black Roses.You can find an abridged text version of my conversation with Carmine Appice at the Pitch.

Director Jared Barel's The Incoherents sees four 40-somethings each mired in some sort of midlife malaise reunite their '90s indie rock band. Written by Jeff Auer, who also plays the lead role of Bruce, the film explores friendships, marriage, and life in general through the eyes of these guys, just trying to play the songs they love. Alex Emanuel, who plays the role of Jimmy, served as music supervisor, and along with Jeff Auer, wrote the original songs the band performed in the film. Emanuel recruited some friends -- guitarist Sean Eden of Luna and drummer Kevin March of Guided By Voices -- to perform on the tracks as well, resulting in a collection of tunes which perfectly capture the era in which they were supposed to have been written. We spoke with Alex Emanuel ahead of the film's release back in April to talk about all of this, and more.

Composer Joe Kraemer has worked on such films as Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher, and The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, among many other movies and television programs. He's absolutely aces at blending action themes and emotional resonance. Thanks to his work for author Andrew Cartmel on the Vinyl Detective soundtrack release -- for which he composed the book's theme -- we were able to connect with him for a career-spanning interview, which we conducted way back in February.

In the May Mother's Day installment of Blumhouse Television and Hulu's anthology event series, Into the Dark, Delivered, a pregnant woman’s life is upended when she realizes someone close to her has darker plans for her and the baby. Directed by Emma Tammi, who did The Wind, and starring Tina Majorino, Natalie Paul, Michael Cassidy, and Micah Parker, the episode is creepy as hell, thanks to a really dark turn from Majorino, but also thanks to the score by composer Ben Lovett. Lovett had previously worked with director Tammi on The Wind, but has also done a slew of work with director David Bruckner, such The Ritual and The Signal. We talk about Delivered and Lovett's work with Bruckner, as well the recently-released The Dark Red, out now from Dark Sky Films. There may also be AJ Bowen content.

Director Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 film, Strange Days, stars Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore. It's set right before the millenium, and borders on the dystopian. The film was an absolute bomb, despite the star power in it and behind the scenes -- it was co-written by James Cameron, after all -- although, in the last 25 years, it's come to be regarded as an underrated diamond in the rough. Several major scenes in the film feature live musical performances, and one such performance early on features the Kansas City hard-rock / post-hardcore band, Season to Risk. Though featured prominently in performance and -- as we'll hear -- being on set for two whole weeks -- the band's song, "Undone," didn't make the soundtrack release alongside such acts as Lords of Acid, Prong, and Tricky. We talk about all of this, and the upcoming reissue of Season to Risk's Men Are Monkeys. Robots Win. with the band's frontman, Steve Tulipana.

It's our 100th episode! Holy smokes! We can't believe it. NBC's hit show Songland's 2019 winner, Katelyn Tarver, released her latest single, "Feel Bad," at the end of March. Leading Nashville group Old Dominion recorded her song "Young," and the Songland-winning track was featured on a Joseph Khan-directed Jeep TV commercial which Tarver also starred as the main character in. Tarver also lays claim to a hefty acting resume in addition to her music career - she recently starred alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in HBO’s Ballers. We talk about all of this in a really great interview.

Author Grady Hendrix is a big time favorite here at the From & Inspired By headquarters. We've interviewed him twice for movie site Cinepunx, and eagerly devoured his books from Horrorstör to We Sold Our Souls, as well as his scripts for movies like Mohawk and Satanic Panic. The man's got his finger on the pulse of what we love about clever horror, and we've been eagerly awaiting his latest book, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, which is out tomorrow, April 7, from Quirk Books. So, it was a real pleasure to invite Hendrix onto the podcast to discuss his new book, as well as the vampire rock which helped influence it.

A celebrated singer/songwriter whose soothing voice has entranced millions of listeners, Lauren Wood has parlayed a variety of talents into a career spanning over four decades. Best known for a pair of adult contemporary smashes -- "Please Don't Leave," a duet with Michael McDonald, and the Pretty Woman soundtrack's "Fallen" -- Wood also saw her music featured in films like Police Academy 3: Back in Training, as well as singing the end title song for the hit NBC sitcom, Just Shoot Me. Being as how Pretty Woman was released on March 23, 1990 -- making the day this episode drops its 30th anniversary -- we couldn't have been more pleased to speak with Lauren Wood about Pretty Woman and her 40 plus years in the music business.

Writer Andrew Cartmel's series of Vinyl Detective novels became an instant favorite of mine after discovering the first installment at Lawrence's Raven Bookstore at the end of 2018. Since then, I've gone on to devour all four volumes in the series of novels about a London-dwelling music afficionado whose business cards state that he can find any record for anyone -- for a fee. They're utterly charming books, and fans of records, cats, and coffee -- such as myself -- will find themselves racing through each installment, each of which is filled with witty banter and fast-paced action. We spoke with Cartmel from his home in London about the books and last year's soundtrack release for them.

Composer Paul Zaza has scored innumerable classic films, from the holiday feelings of A Christmas Story, the reggae-inflected tones of Popcorn, the country-tinged My Bloody Valentine, and the classic slasher tones of Prom Night, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In recent years, his scores have seen reissue from the likes of 1984 Publishing, Strange Disc, Waxwork Records, and Terror Vision, in many cases bringing these complete scores to a wide audience for the first time. We spoke with the composer about all of this and more earlier this year.

Writer/director Maggie Levin’s My Valentine is the latest installment in the Blumhouse Into the Dark series for streaming service, Hulu. Influenced by some of the biggest pop scandals over the past decade, My Valentine follows Valentine, whose songs and artistic identity have been stolen by her ex-boyfriend/manager - and shamelessly pasted onto his new girlfriend/protégé, Trezzure. Pop songs play a huge part in the film, and they were all composed and performed by Dresage, also known as Keeley Bumford, who -- along with her musical partner, Mark Hadley -- additionally performed the score for Levin's movie. We spoke with Bumford the day My Valentine dropped on Hulu about the film, as well as her work for other programs such as Ever After High and Riverdale.

If you've seen the original 1990 movie, you'll remember that, over the end credits was a hip-hop song called "Turtle Power," relating the plot of the film. It's become one of those cultural touchstones for so-called "90s kids," and I distinctly remember owning the cassingle as a kid. But what of Partners In Kryme, the duo who performed the iconic track? We reached out to the group's MC Golden Voice -- aka Richard Usher -- to talk about TMNT, the group's history, and more.

Siddhartha Khosla is an award-winning film and television composer, and singer/songwriter/producer of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot. The Emmy-nominated Khosla is best known for his work on the hit NBC series, This Is Us, but he's also composed for Hulu on shows like Marvel’s Runaways and last year's Looking For Alaska. We spoke with Khosla right before the holidays about all of this, and more.

At the end of October, Lawrence, Kansas, art supply store and gallery, Wonder Fair, released two soundtracks for their store. Musician Jade Rose composed an album entitled The Sounds of Wonder Fair, Volume 1, and co-owner Paul DeGeorge and his brother Joe, along with musician Jon Linn, produced Sounds from the Haunted Bathroom. Site-specific soundtracks have been a thing before -- see also Light In The Attic's Japan Archival Series triple LP, Kankyo Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990, as well as RPM Records' Gypsy Creams & Ginger Nuts - Sounds That Swept The Supermarkets for but a couple -- but we've never had a chance to discuss this sort of thing on the show. We sat down with Jade and Paul at the Lawrence Public Library's Sound+Vision Studio the day after they played a release party for the recordings and discussed how everything came to be, which is why this is likely the best-sounding episode we've ever done.