Talk About the Passion

Episode 88 is a conversation with Tony Erba. Tony is a veteran of the Cleveland punk and hardcore scene, doing time in a number of bands, Face Value, Fuck You Pay Me, Nine Shocks Terror and many more. In this episode we step a little bit away from the hardcore world and talk about hard rock, boogie rock and not having guilty pleasures when it comes to music. This was a lot of fun to record, Tony is hilarious and a great storyteller. Welcome back to Talk About the Passion. 

In this episode I talk to my friend Isaac Turner (Episode 82) about Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy, three dark records from the early 70's (Time Fades Away, On The Beach and Tonight's the Night) that were recorded and released during a period in Neil's life where he was just coming off the huge success of Harvest and the deaths of two of his closest friends from drugs. We have a casual conversation about each of the three records, Ike is a huge fan so it was great to have him talk about these records. 

In this episode I talk with Kevin Grant about the latest record his band Wire Lines released called Harvest Verses. This is Kevin's second appearance on the podcast (First being episode 38) Here we talk about how the new record came about, what it was like to put it together during a pandemic, and Kevin goes into detail about the meaning behind some of the songs on this record. The new record on Blind Rage Records is great and it was great to have him on to talk about it and get some background on it. 

On this episode I talk to Steve Risteen and Jamie Sciarappa who both did time in the Boston hardcore band Slapshot, and Jamie was also a member of SS Decontrol. Slapnot is a band comprised of dozens of ex-members of Slapshot gathering together to play a show on November 21, 2021 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Slapshot as well as to give fans and friends the opportunity to sing on stage with various members providing the music part. We get into how exactly this will work, what it's like playing these songs this many years later as well as their time in Slapshot in the 80's into the 90's. Although short, this was a great conversation and I am looking forward to seeing this live! 

Episode 84 sees Bob Mayo return for a third appearance on the podcast, this time we are talking about the "point of entry" phenomena wherein the first record you hear by an artist orients your idea of what they should sound like. We talk about getting into bands like Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Cheap Trick and Iron Maiden to name a few. When you first heard Judas Priest did you then move backwards through their catalog, or were you there for the beginning of some of these bands? We talk about the new Iron Maiden record and what other bands are still putting out solid records as well as how being a fan of music and a collector informed how he presented the excellent reissues of his band Wargasm. Look for a second episode soon where we get into underground and thrash metal!

In this episode I talk with film director, producer, musician and host of the New York Hardcore Chronicles about his life as a fan of the Grateful Dead. As someone prominent in the early Boston hardcore scene as well we go from Radio City Music Hall seeing the Dead in 1980 to the Gallery East seeing bands like SSD and Bad Brains. What's it like to hang in both of these scenes? With Drew's great story telling skills and sharp memory he paints a picture in an hour that is interesting the whole way through. 

Episode 82 is sort of a two part episode. The first 1/3 of the episode I talk about seeing King Crimson this past summer as well as some other updates. The rest of the episode is a conversation with my friend Isaac (Ike) Turner. Ike is an English professor from Kalamazoo, MI who teaches a class on the history of rock and roll. We talk a bit about that class, how he got into music from punk rock stuff like the Circle Jerks and later in life the Grateful Dead. This was a lot of fun to record, this was my first time ever talking to him on the phone and the casual lad back nature of the conversation made Ike a great guest I'll definitely have back on. 

Episode 81 is a conversation with my friend EK who has played drums in Sick Of It All, Warzone and many others. This is his second appearance on the podcast and we talk about his time in Warzone a bit more and what it was like working with Dr. Know, what he's been up to lately on the musical front (Note: The musical project EK talks about in this episode no longer exists, unfortunately this episode was already done and edited before that!) This was a fun talk, it's always great to catch up with people you've known forever. 

Episode 80 is a conversation with Eddie Sutton, best known as the vocalist for New York Hardcore/crossover band Leeway. In this hour plus casual conversation Eddie gives an update on his health (Eddie was diagnosed with cancer in early 2020), talks about the importance of being a hardcore kid, drug addiction, touring with the Bad Brains and how he keeps his head up and maintains a humble, down to earth hopeful person throughout all of the ups and downs life has dealt him.  

On episode 79 I talk to my friend Keith Bennett (Boston's Wrecking Crew, Panzerbastard) for the third time. Keith gives me a deep and personal insight into his last year which began extremely dark as he talked about on Episode 57 to the present sober Keith. This was one of the most candid conversations I've had on this podcast and I'm glad Keith wanted to share his story of sobriety. The honesty and happiness in his voice even when talking about some intense and dark times makes this one of my favorite episodes I've done. 

Episode 78 is part of a new series of episodes focusing on a new or up and coming band. On this episode I talk to leader of Miami, FL band Euro-Asia Pedro Ortiz about how he came up in music as well as his process creating music alone and with various different players. Included in this episode are three songs from the new release Signals: A New Vision, Remote World and You Thought Wrong. The Signals release is available on all streaming platforms as well as on their Band Camp page https://euro-asia.bandcamp.com/

Episode 77 is a conversation with Brian Gathy. Brian hosts the excellent podcast End on End which is covering the entire Dischord Records catalog by release. Brian along with his co-host Jeff do an amazing job digging deep into these records, and have had a who's who of Dischord related folks on the podcast. We of course talk quite a bit about Brian's time getting into music in Washington DC, seeing shows at The Wilson Center and we talk about the process of podcasting, something I was looking forward to talking about. Great conversation, great guest. Brian will definitely be on the podcast again. 

Episode 28 is a quick update on the podcast and an excuse to fill in two old episode numbers that needed to be replaced. There is a quick 7 Seconds story here as well as some cool news about the podcast. A regular conversation episode will be back next week. This episode includes the song "Skies Filled With Wizards" from my old band Presley. 

Episode 76 is a conversation with Steve Brooks, Steve is best known as the guitar player and singer of bands Torche and Floor. I've been a big fan of both of these bands who play some of the heaviest and catchiest music around. We get into where that inspiration came from to create the music in those bands, starting like a number of my guests, with Kiss, and we end up in the present where Steve gives me an update on what Torche has been up to so far in 2021 (hint: new music has been recorded) Steve was a great guest, as one of my favorite musicians working today I appreciate him taking the time to chat. 

Episode 75 is another conversation with Bob Mayo of the Boston area metal band Wargasm. This episode almost serves as a prequel to the first one we did (Episode 27) where we mostly talked about the history of Wargasm. Here we talk about the music that Bob grew up with starting around 1978 with Sabbath and Kiss, hitting the NWOBHM in 1980 and going up to around when thrash metal hit. Bob is a great storyteller and loves talking about music, I'm glad we were able to talk again and plan to do some more episodes in the future. 

Episode 74 is a conversation with founder of death metal band Dismember, Fred Estby. Dismember were a pioneering death metal band out of Sweden and Fred I talk about how that band came about as well as his roots way before that in the metal tape trading world. Fred is an amazing story teller, check out his story about Dismember facing obsenity charges in London because of one of their records. This was one of the episodes that made me remember why I like doing this podcast. Thanks Fred! 

Episode 73 is a conversation with Kenny Chambers who is most notable for Moving Targets as well as playing in a number of other bands including Jones Very and Bullet Lavolta. We talk about the history of Moving Targets, the different lineups he's had through the years including how he hooked up with his current rhythm section who are amazing and have recorded a bunch of new music including 2020's excellent Humbucker record. Kenny is one of my favorite songwriters of all time and is a humble and nice guy, I'm glad I was able to hear some of these stories. 

Episode 72 is a conversation with Enoch Thompson who you may know as Skeeter Thompson. Enoch has played bass for the band Scream for over 40 years now. Rather than start at the beginning of time like I normally do we start in 1981 and talk about his time in Scream from their first tour with Government Issue to trips to Europe, recording various records and more recent shows all the while forming a family like bond with his bandmates that still exists today. Enoch also talks about a number of current projects as well. Music is in his DNA and his bands music has been a big part of mine so it was great to talk to him here.

In this episode I talk with photographer Nathaniel Shannon about his journey from Michigan to New York, photographing such artists as King Diamond and Dismember to marches in New York after the murder of George Floyd. All of his stories are great and he's extremely passionate about all of his work as you will hear in this episode. I will definitely have Nathaniel back on in the future. 

Episode 70 is a conversation with Chris Johnson. Chris is recording and mix engineer from the Boston area who also plays in the bands Summoner, Deafheaven and Doomriders. We talk about how he got interested in the sound end of music as well as performing music. How he got into the band Deafheaven and what that's has been like. Chris has his hand in a number of different projects and is extremely passionate about all of them which made him a great guest for the podcast. 

Episode 69 is a two hour long conversation with my good friend Al Quint. With his fanzine Suburban Punk which turned into Suburban Voice Al reached countless people with issues packed with tons of record and live reviews, interviews and photographs of the punk and hardcore scene. On this episode we talk about his early musical influences from the first show he saw at The Rat with the Plasmatics to how we started his fanzine Suburban Voice. Al has always been a great story teller, I worked with him, was in a band with him so this was a comfortable and laid back conversation that covers a lot of ground, I'm glad some of these stories I've heard him tell and ones I was there for are told on this episode.  Thanks Al!

Episode 68 is a conversation with musician Rich Thurston who has played with a number of bands from Culture to Terror to On Bodies and his current projects Treason and Lowest. We get into all of these projects as well as others and what it was like to get into hardcore in Florida. Rich has some great stories from that era of his life. A great guest I will definitely have back. 

Episode 67 is a conversation with drummer Wes Keely. Wes has played with a number of bands, most notably Walls of Jericho, Earthmover and Until the End. On this episode we talk about those and other various bands he has played with as well as the amazing story behind his drum kit sliding prevention technology company KBrakes. I had a great time talking with Wes, a driven and passionate person who is just the type of person I love having on. 

Episode 66 is a conversation with Josh Welshman. Josh sings for the death metal band Defeated Sanity. In this episode we talk about how he went from being a fan of Defeated Sanity to becoming their singer, their record from 2020 called The Sanguinary Impetus, and their tour with Origin in March of 2020 that was cut short as a result of the pandemic. This was a great conversation, Josh is enthusiastic and passionate about music and made a great guest. 

Episode 65 is a conversation with Damien Moyal. Damien has been in a number of bands, notably As Friends Rust, Morning Again, Culture as well as one of his newer projects Damien Done. We talk about how he got into music, we go through his various bands and what it's like to be a musician in the midst of a pandemic. Great conversation with a very talented and passionate artist.

Episode 64 is a conversation with Christian McKenna. Christian started the record label Translation Loss which includes bands such as Mouth of the Architect, Rosetta, Cable as well as some of the bands he's involved in including Hex Inverter and Empty Flowers. We talk about growing up outside of Philadelphia and the music he listened to as a kid. Most of this conversation is very loose and we hit on a lot of different subjects and artists in a short amount of time. It's always great to have guests on with tastes all over the map, and Christian certainly listens to everything. 

Episode 63 is a conversation with journalist, drummer Joel Gausten. In this episode we talk about growing up in New Jersey, his time as a teenager in the 90's rehearsing with The Misfits who were auditioning new singers at the time, playing in The Undead, as well as Pigface and Electric Frankenstein. We talk aboutwhat it's like to interview famous musicians and not "fanboy" out. Joel is a great storyteller and was a perfect guest for Talk About The Passion, also thanks to his knowledge and love of all genres of music. 

Episode 62 is a conversation with Douglas Sherman, guitar player for the Boston based metal band Gozu. Douglas and I had a pretty loose conversation, while we talked about him growing up and how he got into music we talk about life during the COVID-19 pandemic, what the future holds for entertainment as well as funk music, film and a number of other subjects. Douglas is a hilarious guy and is passionate about the music and film he likes which made him a great guest and hopefully we'll get him on another episode in the future. 

Episode 61 is a conversation with Randy Larsen, this is the second time Randy has been on the podcast.You may know him from his bands Cable and Empty Flowers. On this pretty free form episode we have a conversation about various subjects including the ending of Cable, a new musical project he's involved in now as well as a bunch of different bands we go back and forth about. This was a lot of fun and I love talking to Randy about music, especially in a loose format like this. 

Episode 60 is a conversation with my friend Julia Agron about cannabis and hemp, particularly in Massachusetts where marijuana is now legal recreationally as of 2016. Julia grows hemp and has been involved in many different arms of the hemp and cannabis industry, we talk about the road to getting marijuana legalized in Massachusetts as well as. come of the challenges cultivators are having the last couple of years. This was a different episode than normal but it was extremely informative and I was happy to hang with an old friend. 

Episode 59 is a conversation with Eric Komst. Eric grew up in Boston (Jamaica Plain to be exact) and was around music as a kid playing in his first band with friends, including Jordan Knight who would go on to be a New Kid on the Block. Later on EK got himself into a number of great bands like Straw Dogs out of Boston and then of course Warzone and Sick of it All. I had a great time talking to EK, he's a great story teller, a well spoken and good hearted guy I'd definitely have on again. 

Episode 58 is a conversation with Richard Brown of The Proletariat, a Massachusetts based band formed in the early 80's, The Proletariat spent time in the hardcore scene (including tracks on the This is Boston Not L.A. compilation) playing with the likes of SSDecontrol and Minor Threat, while adopting a sound that was part Gang of Four part Wire but with an anger much more intense than most of their counterparts. We talk about how Richard got into music as a kid and go pretty deep into the history of the Proletariat. Richard is a great story teller and was a perfect guest!

Episode 57 is a candid conversation with my friend Keith Bennett. This is Keith’s second appearance on the podcast, the first episode (# 14) was an origin story about how he got into music, his bands, most notably The Wrecking Crew & Panzerbastard. Recorded in early April 2020 during the Coronoavirus pandemic this episode starts off pretty dark and then I throw some records at him, the second DYS album, Celtic Frost – Cold Lake, and other divisive albums from our world we talk a bit about those types of records as well as when el established bands would change singers.  I had a great time talking to Keith, his love and passion for this music is deep and real and I’m glad I got to take us there for an hour.

Episode 56 is a conversation with Nate Newton (Converge, Old Man Gloom, Doomriders) that took place over the phone in late March of 2020 during the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. We talk quite a bit about how this has affected creative people who create for a living, what he's been doing to stay busy and focused. Nate also talks about the great new Old Man Gloom record and what it was like to play his late friend Caleb Scofield's music with Cave In. This episode has some heavy overtones but as always, Nate is a pleasure to talk to and is a great guest for this podcast. 

Episode 55 is a conversation with Duncan Wilder Johnson a Massachusetts based musician, writer, spoken word performer, photographer and film maker (He made the excellent Sam Black Church documentary Leave Behind a Groove in the Earth: The Sam Black Church Story) We talk about his time playing music, doing spoken word shows around the world, as well as how he got the Sam Black Church film made. Duncan was a great guest, he's an extremely enthusiastic and passionate story teller and I would love to have him on again. 

In this filler episode I'm stuck indoors during the Coronavirus pandemic letting you know I'm old and like to tell stories, I tell you how many times you've heard Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull, argue that Stairway to Heaven is not the most overplayed Zeppelin song, recall the last time I was stuck indoors during a snowstorm in 2015. Also tacked on the end of this is the track "Jennifer Lopez" from my old band Presley. This song is occasionally featured at the end of episodes and faded. I figured since it's just me talking I'd leave the whole song. Enjoy. 

Episode 52  & 53 is a two part long, free form conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee about the late Neil Peart. Rush is a big band for the three of us and with the news of Neil passing in January of 2020 we gathered to hang out and talk about all things Neil from our first impressions of him to fascinating detail about some of his drum sets through the years. This is a long conversation and it get's silly and/or salty on occasion but the ship is always steered back to Rush and Neil Peart. 

Episode 52  & 53 is a two part long, free form conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee about the late Neil Peart. Rush is a big band for the three of us and with the news of Neil passing in January of 2020 we gathered to hang out and talk about all things Neil from our first impressions of him to fascinating detail about some of his drum sets through the years. This is a long conversation and it get's silly and/or salty on occasion but the ship is always steered back to Rush and Neil Peart. 

Episode 51 is a short episode where I talk about an upcoming project happening with the Boston Hardcore aspects of this podcast, my introduction to hardcore music in Boston in the early 80's and I start off on a sad note and talk about the death of Reed Mullin who I learned died a couple hours before I recorded this. 

Episode 50 is a great conversation with Glen Stilphen. Glen plays bass in the band Northern Skulls, and got his start playing bass for Gang Green as a teenager during their Another Wasted Night era along with his brother Chuck. We talk quite a bit about his time in that band as well as the time that lead up to that and what he's been up to since. His new band Northern Skulls are great and I'm glad we talked a bit about their formation and song writing process. Glen is a great story teller, funny and down to earth guy that was a great guest. 

Episode 49 is a dive into guitar players, and not the same ones you always hear talked about. We talk about the more unheralded guitar players from Jim Babjak of The Smithereens to Geordie Walker from Killing Joke. There are a few more well known names on here but we wanted to shine a light on less-household names. As with other episodes I've recorded with Brian and Guy this one was a lot of fun and the passion the two of them have for everything they talk about here is always front and center. 

Episode 48 is a conversation with James Koury of Boston based metal band Meliah Rage. James is one of the original members of the band and in this episode we talk about the long history of the band, from the formation in the 80's to what the band is up to now. James is a great storyteller and has some cool stories about growing up outside of Boston and how he found music and the journey it took him on including a great story about showing up at Boston singer Brad Delp's house as a teenager, becoming friends with Brad Whitford's of Aerosmith's mother and some great touring stories. James is extremely passionate about music, and made the perfect guest. 

Episode 47 is a conversation with my friend Jeff Morris, Jeff was a founding member of The Bruisers. We talk about his time in that band as well as how a couple of upcoming reunion shows came to be. Jeff grew up north of Boston and talks about getting into music at an early age, his first time at a hardcore show and everything else that happened in between. Like all of my guests, Jeff's story takes a similar path (Although I don't think Kiss was mentioned once!) and he is a great story teller so his memories and thoughts on music are all worth hearing. This was a great episode to record and it was great catching up with an old friend. 

Episode 46 is a deep and long dive with my co-hosts Brian Smith and Guy Weatherbee about live records. More than just a discussion of our specific favorite live records, we get pretty loose and open about the live album as an archive of a band at a certain point in time, infamous "fake" live recordings, and we somehow manage to cover everyone from the usual suspects like Rush and Kiss to artists like Dave Brubeck and Sammy Davis Jr. This was a lot of fun to record and there will most likely be a volume two to this one 

Episode 45 is a conversation with Chris Giguere. Chris plays guitar in the band Conclave, he has also done time in Tenebrae and Panzerbastard. In this episode we talk about growing up in Blackstone, MA which borders Woonsocket, RI. As the title indicates and as a good amount of these episodes go, Kiss is an early influence on Chris so we of course talk a bit about them, as well as other heavy music, classic rock music and everything in between. Chris made a great guest, he and I have a lot of the same ideas and opinions on music and life so this conversations is natural and sounds like I'm talking with an old friend, when in fact we had just met. 

In this episode of Talk About the Passion Brian and I talk about one of our favorite bands, the Beastie Boys. We share our experience first hearing them and what they meant to us early on and what they mean to us now. We talk about their legacy on pop culture, underground music, and hip hop. Going through most of their catalog album by album and song by song, this is a bit of a deep dive but also a loose episode that meanders a tiny bit but mostly stays on course, just like their discography, as we discover here. Join two friends talking about one of their favorite bands. 

Episode 43 is a conversation with Daniel Brockman. This episode, recorded over the phone, is named after The Stooges song of the same name, the nature of this episode is indeed pretty loose. We don't really get into Dan's former Boston area bands Medea Connection and The Hidden at all but instead focus more on his experiences writing about music, interviewing artists from Danzig to Robyn Hitchcock. Daniel has some unique and fascinating takes on music and I've always enjoyed talking to him about music. His writing has appeared in such places as Vanyaland, Spin and Rolling Stone. 

On episode 42 I sit with my co-hosts Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee and we talk about Rush. Five minutes before we hit record we each wrote down five Rush songs and we would then go around the table and talk about the songs, why we picked them, some we gave a little background and history. We get deep enough that long time Rush fans should enjoy our takes on these fifteen songs but never too far out there that a non fan won't appreciate the conversation and hopefully track the songs down themselves. This is the first round table episode with Brian and Guy and we look forward to doing many more like this as well as other subjects and formats. 

Episode 41 is a conversation with Duane Bruce, Duane is best known for his work as a DJ on WFNX out of Boston (Well, Lynn), Massachusetts. He got into radio at a very young age, listening to and eventually working in radio in Maine where he grew up. We talk about his time as a DJ and how he eventually made his way to Massachusetts and everything else in between. Duane is a great storyteller and has some great stories about everyone from Stephen King to Nirvana who this episode is named after. Duane has a current radio show called American Debauchery and also authored a book called Hang the D.J. which talks about his time in radio.

Episode 40 is a conversation with Kevin Norton. Kevin played bass in the excellent Boston hardcore band Eye For an Eye and now he's still playing music with his current band The Eulogy based out of Southern California. We talk about growing up in Lynn Massachusetts and what it was like getting into metal and hardcore in the early and mid eighties when metal and hardcore were regularly crossing over. Kevin has never stopped and his passion for music make him a perfect guest for this podcast, his work in the labor movement is discussed as well and Kevin talks about how being involved in the hardcore scene has informed his career and work ethic. 

Episode 39 is a conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee. Brian and Guy are lifelong friends and also collectively have a group called Four Way Anal Touchfight. They talk about the origins of that project here. We spend over two hours talking music from their formative years, sharing music with each other and by the end of the episode you'll understand why the title "Chemistry" (after the Rush song) is so fitting. We talk about everything from Rush to Gorilla Biscuits to Asia to the B-52's and Krokus. As we talk about in this episode Brian and Guy will be appearing on some future episodes as well.