The Printer Pod w/ Basic Printer

Hooooo boy! Y'aint readin' that wrong. I had a delightful afternoon chat with one of my biggest musical influences Yoni Wolf. To those who dunno - Yoni has been an influential rapper, songwriter, singer, producer, and performer for decades now. He's made innovative, genre-bending music all along the way that hones in on his sharp, expertly crafted lyricism. These days, he's gotten into a mix of writing more original music and producing other artists. On this Good Friday, we celebrate the god himself with a nice convo about his experience as an artist and how to best present the emotional center of a song through writing.

Attxla is a singer, songwriter, and producer of some heavenly-ass experimental r&b pop music. I could barely even explain it to you, but it's heady, gorgeous, and insanely danceable and SINGABLE. I met Attxla through her being a fan of my music, and it took me one listen of her record to be immediately floored and addicted to her stuff. It is absolutely perfect. In fact, it was one of my most listened albums on Spotify this year - FACTUALLY! She made it into my Spotify wrapped. I was so pumped about her record "Ebb" and had heard it so many times that I was dying to have her on the podcast to talk about it at length while showing it off to you all as well. Seriously, listen to this perfect little album, it will fulfill you. Hope you enjoy this passionate conversation about one of my favorite records with its creator!

Hot dog. Alex Clayton, aka West End Ritos, has been in my musical Nashville rolodex for years now! I met him while playing a show at The Cobra and saw him around on the reg after that. When I booked Miki Fiki for a show with Spirit of the Bear, I was surprised to find that he was their new drummer! Positively blew my mind. And now, my mind is getting blown (what) again - because Alex has been working on some solo tunes and just released them yesterday. Had to have a chat with him about all this progression - SO I DID, and it was nice. Hope you love our convo!

Well well well. The Wrist is finally here...or should I say, it's finally on streaming. Technically it's been around for like 5 months already and if you REALLY wanted to listen to it, you could've. NONETHELESS. To celebrate the more 'worldwide' release of the record, I wanted to get a real, tough-as-nails '60 minutes' style interview to hash out all the grittiness of it. How does one do that? You intentionally hire a hard-hitting interviewer to wrench the answers out of you like a police interrogation. Did I do that? Not really. I hired the very genial Thomas Erwin of Niagara Moon to do it, knowing he'd be kind and interesting in his engaging with me. AND HE WAS! So, enjoy what I like to call 'the definitive Fantastic Wrist interview'...

CASSIDI is (in my opinion) an unapologetic pop artist from Utica, NY. Yes, you read that right! Utica! I thought that was the neatest thing. It turns out she comes from a long line of amazing artists from the area, and being such a force in a lower key city has its benefits - which is one of the main things we talk about on this pod, since I'm from Binghamton, NY (which is a similar existence...and also not far away). Anyhow, enjoy this lovely convo.

Matt is one of those people that you feel so immediately friendly and close to even though you barely know the person or have barely hung out. I say that because that's pretty much our situation. We met first in 2018 when he was interviewing me ahead of my show on tour in Binghamton, NY (my hometown) and it was interesting to know that there was someone out there that was interested in this uncharacteristic show happening in the area. Since then, I've kept tabs on him and have been really happy to see him forging a musical path up there and keeping it alive and innovative since I left. Makes me wanna go back! We talk about Binghamton and all things music for an hour here. Hope ya dig it.

Emily is a musician, composer, singer and songwriter based in Utah. In promoting our music more and more we naturally crossed paths online and found ourselves to have a great rapport with each other. We're both very interested in digging RIGHT to the meat of things when it comes to getting to know new people, so it was very easy for us to crack right into our past problems and current observations on how the world is run and how people get to know each other. Turns out our music respectively reflects our kind of expansive and indulgent creative natures - which was also a nice thing to discover. Enjoy this lovely convo!

Alayna Renae is a dear friend, Jazz singer, and activist in the Nashville area (originally from Kissime, Florida). We have been fairly tuned in to each other for most of our tenures in Nashville and enjoyed each others' performances many times over! I love Alayna's forward thinking approach to music and not feeling beholden to the tenants and pomp & circumstance of the genre she often is operating within (whatever that even means)...we had this convo a while back, maybe in June or July. I have to say, despite when this conversation was recorded, what we go over is as relevant as ever. So, enjoy this lovely convo with Alayna.

It's been 2 years in the making...you've been hearing about it left and right...but I'm finally here to tell you that the new album is available for preorder at basicprinter.com/fantastic-wrist-preorderThe podcasts have slowed a bit - I know it! I've been mixing this record and preparing it for mastering as we aim for a digital release in August! By preordering, you are first in line. Alright, printer out! See you soon with more stuff :)

G Mills used to drum in Basic Printer, and he is an amaaaaazing drummer. You can hear him on the last few tracks on the most recent live album, if you want a taste of it! He played a ton of awesome shows with us in Nashville and was the drummer for our two big tours in 2017 and 2018. He had always been making beats before then, but it really took off in 2017 after uploading a beat called "Stoney baloney" which I really really liked. Since then he's made a life out of producing which is pretty nutso tbh. Very interesting path in life and I hope you enjoy seeing his perspective on things!

Graci and I met at the DIY Musician's conference in Austin, TX last summer (where I was presenting) (and where I also snuck into a Generationals concert) and ever since we've stayed in close contact! We have a penchant for orchestration and pouring our hearts into our music, so naturally we've gottena long swimmingly. Not to mention her brand of folksy pop music is SO easy on the ears and delightful! ENJOY our convo!

Smart Objects had been on my radar for YEARS before finally seeing them at Exit/In sometime in 2018. It was exactly what I was hoping for - an angular pop/rock project that was suave, smart, deft and adventurous all in one. It didn't take long for me to get into talks with Ben Harper, who helms the project, where we began exchanging ideas here and there. Serendipitously, I was assigned randomly to cover one of his songs as part of the Nashville Song Swap, where Nashville bands were all tasked with the same challenge. I covered his song "Die Tonight" which was hella fun, and you can hear it at the end of this podcast. Enjoy!

Sometimes, ya just meet a mindblowing dancer candidly on Instagram. You all know this to be true! While we did start out as passive IG lurkers, I quickly learned that Rachael is a MINDBLOWING dancer - every time she'd post a video I'd be positively stopped in my tracks about it. Naturally I asked her onto the pod to get her take on music, creativity, and generall navigating life. I found this talk to be really inspiring and tbh, it kinda made me feel a little bit diff about myself afterward in a great way. So, I hope you take somethin' great out of this talk, and as always, ENJOI!

Another week in nutso world! How are we coping this time?? Well, I meticulously read through a fairly hidden journal that I wrote while on tour in 2018. Some BP fans have checked this out, but mostly this has been kept under wraps. Hey, since all my tour dates this year are being cancelled, I figured this would be a good way to reminisce and try to get the feeling of playing shows back into my life just a lil. If you want to read along and also check out some exclusive vids and pics that go along with everything, head to basicprinter.com/tour-journal.

Ben is in a wonderful band called Peverall, and you may remember me gushin' on them in the past...it's because this is Ben's second time on the podcast! We were both locked in our houses, like ya do in COVID life, and decided that we should have a nice convo and turn it into a podcast since it was probably the best way that we could catch up during this no touchy-touchy time. So, enjoy this convo chock full of music recording, politics, religion, Animal Crossing, and Harry Potter.

This ain't clickbait, folks! This is quite literally my favorite folk artist, hands down. I know my fair share of folk/acoustic music - though I am not a connoisseur by any means. Faint Peter however is undoubtedly one of the best folk musicians I've ever come across. Further, he's a FRIEND of mine. We were first introduced through his music and ever since we've stayed in touch since we were both musicians. Obviously it was a matter of time before he was on the podcast. Curious about what kinda folk BP listens to?! Don't blame ya. Enjoy this convo!

Boy oh boy - I've known Jason for I guess about 7 years now, and we've done tons together. He's sang back up on a ton of Basic Printer shows, we were in a band called Strange Appeal together, and I helped him produce 3 of his records - 2 of which are for his current project, Modern Instincts. We reminisce, walk through our history as friends, and talk about all sorts of things including how much we used to drink...WHAT?! JESSE?! YOU DRINK!?yeah sometimes.Enjoy!

We all know what's going on - it's quarantine season. Aptly, I have no guest today and am just talkin' about whatever's on the mind. Top of mind is obviously COVID-19, which I talk about at length here. However, I end up getting into how this sense of isolation might affect our music listening happens and why we even like the music we like in the first place. It gets nice and cozy, I promise. Enjoy my monologue!

What a freakin episode.First off, everyone's feeling the Corona vibe right now, and it's wild and it sucks. I hope you're doing great. Stay positive, don't panic, put on some music and just keep it going. Love.Attila Mosley, better known as Attxla, has been a fan of mine for months now. I surveyed my email list looking for ONE fan to hear my record MONTHS before it came out so we could talk first impressions on the podcast. Attila responded and I sent him the demo version of my upcoming record. As a musician himself and generally positive and humorous man, this conversation went swimmingly and there were plenty of a-ha moments and laughs. A treasure I could only hope for in this weird weird time. I hope you enjoy it as much!

Edd and I have been pretty tight ever since meeting kind of passively in 2011. What a kind dude! He has dabbled in about a million different little hobbies and has never ceased to amaze me with his genuine kindness and insistent passion on being a good friend. We dig into our pasts and the variety of pursuits he's gotten into over the years - and also - we talk a lot about my old, terrible records (they're not so bad) that he was around for the writing and releasing of. He still loves one of them DEARLY. Listen to hear all about it!

Michael Kessler of Kytoon is a sensitive and thoughtful producer and songwriter. His project Kytoon is quite quite good - it's sleek and light but not without some bite and moroseness. Michael and I became fast friends through various musical endeavors, and we actually first played together doing an acoustic show at the Bowery Vault. What a time! Since then he has been my go-to videographer for all my wacky videos and an oft available heart-to-heart...er. We have some enormo announcements coming soon also. We've been workin' on something...anyway! Enjoy this convo.

Local music publication Music Mecca asked to interview me, and dang if I wasn't honored af to oblige! We talked about how I got into music, the way I write, my ideal show, and I even shared some snippets from the upcoming record...WOAH...enjoy!

First off, check the latest from Certain Self!SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Amun2yqaO1d72msCG0fe1?si=8nt39pbmQuq69DcYOAbKfwINSTA: https://www.instagram.com/certainselfie/NEW MUSIC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef7WK0vXXUM&feature=youtu.beFEB. 20TH SHOW AT BOWERY ELECTRIC MAP ROOM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/casper-jones-with-certain-self-tickets-86968795007Zeno (aka Certain Self) has been in my life for a long while now, and we've done all sorts of musical things since meeting! He in fact put my first ever record on his label called Newlywed Records back in the day - you know the one, the Basic Printer EP! With all the colorful marquee lights on the cover? Anyway, we revisit our long and illustrious past together and muse on being creative and making music along the way. Enjoy :)

The beloved Aaron Walters and I sat down for another pod to have a big ol' BP check-in. In case you have NO friggin' idea what ANYTHING is, Aaron has been a super longtime collaborator of BP - he's played in almost every show since 2015, had a say in every recording that's come out, and recently has been co-producing this next record with me. I called him in to sort of reflect on this crazy record we've been making and get his thoughts on how he thinks it's turning out.

Bea and I met at a sandwich shop she worked at long ago, and it only took me attending one show of hers to be totally sold on how amazing of a musician she is! Since then we have remained in contact despite our ebbs and flows of actually being in the same place (clumps of run-ins as she puts it!), but our mutual respect and friendship has remained constant. Which is so BEA!Anyhow, enjoy this great convo digging into all sorts of things from mind-mapping, to a man named Charlie Stanhope, and the LGBTQ+ experience.

Aaron Zvi Felder is a visual artist, comedian, and general pontificator. I've seen him do improv comedy many times, and even more times than that, I have listened to his podcast 'Audio Based Content', which is a podcast featuring long-form improv comedy scenes. Sometimes, I've even listened to episodes twice they were so funny. I'm honored to say that in light of this very podcast featuring him, he featured ME on Audio Based Content trying my hand at some improv comedy! It was very difficult and I believe I was not that funny, but Aaron was GD hysterical. Get a taste for the man here, then hop over to his channel and hear that nutso episode!

Dang! Cassidy and I have been orbiting each other for a bit now. We'd see each other perform in a number of contexts, been in the same crowd many times, hold a lot of the same friends, and even collaborate with a lot of the same people. I had heard that Cassidy was a friggin badass forever now, and I finally got the courage to ask her to play a BP show. Her virtuosic skills and appreciation for left field stuff made it a perfect match. So excited to play with her on 3/20! Enjoy this awesome convo where we talk about her upbrining, songwriting, classical piano, familial relationships, and self-revelations.

Rye and I met at a battle of the bands in my hometown about...6 years ago? Crazy! He was a senior in high school then, and I was a senior in college. I thought he was insanely talented (because he is) and it led me to support his local shows and actually end up guest singing with his band the Goodfruits at a local venue called Cyber West Cafe (which was an awesome place that unfortunately closed recently...). There's a recording of that on YouTube that is actually decently interesting where we do the Pokemon theme amongst many other things.Anyway, Rye recently moved to Nashville and has been digging into the scene with success in my humble opinion. Was great to catch up. Wish him the best and look out for him on the Nashville STAGES! Also go to his bandcamp!ryejackson.bandcamp.com

Boy oh boy where do I STAHT! Corrin and I are tight-ass friends both committed to music and developing communities around what we're doing. She's been doing it for way longer than me - in fact she sold 80,000 CDs of her first album on MYSPACE just by talking to people. She's helped me learn how to get my music out there more and she's a huge reason why this podcast exists and why you're even aware of who I am :') I hope you enjoy this canonical conversation!

New Year's? WHO CARES! The point is I have NEW PODCAST MUSIC and have a lovely interview here with Jacob Milstein. Hard to say when precisely I met him, but it was certainly through our mutual friend Mick (a past podcast guest). Jacob is a fascinating creature who's temperament i find to be inspiring and deft. He's a fantastic musician who's interested in directly connecting in real and raw ways, and that also goes for his talents in improvising - we clarify that it is not precisely 'improv comedy', but that's a decent basis for what I mean when I say improvising. In any case, I also find him to be hysterical. Sit back and enjoy as you hear our candle-lit conversation over wine.

Flesh Eater is a fledgling-ass band in Nashville that makes what might be loosely called 'experimental pop'. I came across them through the bassist Max, who approached me through a cold Facebook message to Basic Printer. We've all been friends ever since! Flesh Eater and BP had played a show together that I threw at the East Room in March of 2018, and since then we've been sure to play again and attend each other's shows. Eventually Flesh Eater were gearing up to release their debut studio singles, and they kindly asked me to produce them - to which I graciously obliged. The songs are finally out, I'm happy to say! We talk about all sorts of things, but I am particularly glad to be part of such an inventive band and even happier to give them the attention they deserve. ENJOI!

Ross Collier is an Omnichordist as well as an Omnichord aficionado, collector, and reseller. He has been a friend of mine for a while since he came over to buy a banjo off of my old roommate 2 years ago. We immediately resonated and I ended up giving him a synthesizer to go home with as well. Since then he has been an endless beacon of creativity and positivity and I have always been delighted by our run-ins

Episode fifty oh HALEEE. I have to say for the 50th episode and this marking a little over a year of doing this podcast, this episode couldn't be more underwhelming. There was little time and a lot to report, so I'm taking this episode to keep you updated on what's up in BP world as well as answer some questions that were posited in an IG story. Happy stupid holidays EH?

Happy show day to me! Being that I'm opening for the inimitably emotional Pepper tonight, I thought it might be commemorative to dig through some of my old diary entries from a since retired Tumblr blog account of mine. I read through an extensive and emo recounting of a week long trip I took, I talk through 4 prose-y vignettes I wrote, and also read through 5 poems of mine. If you want to dig through the whole blog at your leisure, head to kpsandlcs.tumblr.com :)

Pepper and I have had a kinship for a little over a year now, which is interesting to think about because it feels like much longer ago. We share a similarity in one key way - we are both emotional as all hell. What's more is that our music is an obsessive over-dictation of that truth. Since knowing each other we have both grown tons as musicians, and she is releasing her debut EP in a week at The Basement - with me! We thought it appropriate to bring this thang full circle. Enjoy our conversation and as always, feel free to email me at jesse@basicprinter.com. Hella love!

The title of this podcast will only make sense if you make it to the extreme end of the podcast. But, trust me, it IS relevant. Casey Dayan from Under The Rug has always fascinated me while working with him. He always seemed like such a silly, quirky free spirit whose creativity just flows outwardly and fearlessly. A well-known fact about him is that his mom died not long ago, and that inspired a lot of really heart-wrenching music. Under The Rug's newest record, Too Far Away, is a concept record about rock climbing - an activity the band did a lot of while just trying to settle their hearts and minds during trying times.Tickets to The Basement: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/pepper-said-basic-printer-the-basement-tickets/9929675Get a free Basic Printer CD: https://free.basicprinter.com/cdUnder The Rug's Website: http://undertherugmusic.com/

I can only give the hottest of damns when it comes to this episode. I interview a Basic Printer fan of 2 years - Jeff Elliott. Jeff had been aware of my music since 2017, but had not really been on my radar until recently when he was a more active supporter (for which I am very grateful). In our interactions, it came up that he was interested in being on the podcast, so I had to oblige. It was so insanely kind to talk with him and hear his story regarding my music, and that he is empathetically and enthusiastically wanting to work in the mental health space. A very on-brand guest indeed. He's also an acapella singer!

Drunk Hug - it's a song I often refer to as "my favorite song I've ever written". I suppose it's best described as an "orchestral synth ballad." In my tenure, I've learned to try to challenge how vulnerable I can get on a song - but stating the first name of the person the song is about in the chorus was something I wasn't sure I was ready for. I've been wanting to break this song down for a while, and I get a little sentimental doing so. I hope you enjoy!FREE CDs: https://free.basicprinter.com/cdTICKETS TO THE NASHVILLE SHOW ON 11/13: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/pepper-said-basic-printer-the-basement-tickets/9929675

Jake Knox dm'ed me on Instagram pretty much out of nowhere, and I was delighted to find out that he wanted to be on the podcast! So, EVIDENTLY, I obliged. Jake Knox is an indie electro pop musician that makes Owl City-ish songs and comes from a world of music academia by way of EDM touring. His music is neat and totes makes me understand my own music more, in an interesting way. Also - announcing a new offer in this podcast: if you want my first CD for free, merely go to free.basicprinter.com/cd and grab your very own piece of history!

I met Ted through some pretty extraordinary circumstances. Now before you go off envisioning some sort of meet cute in a coffee shop, relax. Obviously it happened on Instagram. Anyway, we go over that story, which led us to immediately play a show together in July which was so perfect. Since then I've been curious to talk to Ted as the music of his project Miki Fiki is truly insatiable, and I urge you to go listen to his stuff after this podcast.

The irony of today's pod is that Taylor and I met in a way that was relevant to a song she wrote, and one that we heavily discuss on this podcast. Her lead single, "Conversations", was about the shallow mundanity of networking in an 'artsy' city. What could otherwise be such an enriching & activating activity became one of malaise and nepotism, she found. In her phase of networking all she could, she met me. It led us to become good friends and collaborators! I've been wanting her on the pod forever now and glad to finally do dis. Enjoy our conversation about conversations!

Justin and I have had a long history! We played in two different rock bands in college, started a YouTube channel, he drummed on a bunch of Basic Printer tunes (one of which you definitely know), and he even shot and edited the Child Grows music video. I had him on the pod to talk about many things, but the centerpiece was "creativity". We talk about how the definition/identity of being creative could be a lot more mundane than you think, and we talk about how we hope people can find empowerment in the small ways that they live creatively. Supah glad to talk to him again, hope ya enjoi!

Travis & I were brought together by Basic Printer, actually. He caught us at a SoFar show with no idea he'd be seeing an experimental synthpop band play. The next day, I saw his band. Months later, we played a show together. Whaddya know! After a night of burgers and metal music, we decided fairly spontaneously to record a conversation of ours - initially inspired by my talk over dinner regarding having a crush on a girl. So, he lent me his wisdom on that topic - however also look out for Super Smash Brothers, a friend with a scandalous nickname, and the Beach Boys.

Jo is someone that I'd been peripherally aware of and consistently impressed by for years. However, we finally met in Feb of this year when we both played a huge show at Exit/In. Now, we are preparing to play a big show together at Mercy Lounge in Nashville on 9/26! I invited her over for a podcast so we could get to know each other a bit and just talk about some good 'ol music. I was surprised to find we share a passion in naming horses in video games silly things. Stay tuned for that tidbit!

Ben Peverall is a songwriter who writes for a big and sophisticated backing band for his self-named project. It's kind of hard to explain his music - picture a cross between the proggy leanings of Little Tybee and Reign Of Kinda cross referenced against early 2000's emo attitudes such as Dashboard Confessional...but then filter all that with the regality of Grizzly Bear. Yeah, obviously his music is something that really compels me and is something I really dig. We talk pretty densely about music, but I open up this podcast with a short story about how I got rejected from a girl recently, so at least listen for that. Bang!

Welcome to episode two of the Printer Pod subseries, 'Hella Personal Rants'. On these episodes, I mostly just talk about anything that comes to mind - usually pertaining to what's been going on in my personal life and my current emotional state. In this one, I talk about butt rock lyrics, a thing I made called the 'Time Machine List', and how I got back into running. I also mention a secret contest that you have to listen for in order to enter! Good luck and enjoy.

James and I met in late 2017 on Facebook. Ya know how this goes. Pretty immediately, we set up a show in Columbus and had a great time. Since then we kept closely in touch and have paid attention to each other's outputs. I've been so regularly impressed by what James is doing and am mega inspired to level up after seeing all the things he does. He's coming down to Nashville to play a show with Spirit of the Bear for the first time, and so we thought it would be appropriate to introduce you to him ahead of the show. He'd love to meet ya at there! Enjoy this convo with the v talented young man JIMMY HARKOOO

This week I brought Aaron on to have a conversation about how the next record's been coming along. We touch on the process we're taking for making it, reference a lot of the themes that I'm attacking, and even drop a few song titles WOAH! Hope you dig dear Aaron here, please give it a listen so he knows he's LOVED and will come back.

For this week, I go through 5 albums that I absolutely love lately. The albums are...Clarence Clarity - No NowTyler, The Creator - Flower BoyTobacco & Aesop Rock - Malibu KenBoy Eats Drum Machine - Hoop & WireLemonade - Pure MoodsI hope you enjoy digging into my taste a little more, and I hope I showed you one of your next fave artists!

Boy oh boy (eats drum machine)! Boy Eats Drum Machine is an indie artist who fuses turntablism, saxophone playing, and playful homegrown production into expressive pop collages. He has been one of my all-time favorite artists since college and I've taken enormous influence from him. After a number of peripheral interactions over Instagram, I managed to convince him to come onto the podcast for a chat! It was totally a dream come true and I'm crazily honored. You can find his music all over the usual streaming services and I hope you'll go seek him out, if you love my stuff, you'll love his. 

The headline is not a joke. I interview a real, actual forest troll named Scufflemöss Treemen. Confused? Not sure why, I feel I was pretty clear. Incredulous? Well, that I'd understand. To be succinct, Scufflemöss is a forest troll that lives in the outskirts of Nashville, is a fan of metal, holds a weekly livestream show called 'Bedtime Stories' (of which I was a guest), is a generally active member of the music community and has done a lot to foster his very own community - the Scufflemöss Fruend Club. He's kind, fascinating, and definitely a little scary at first look. I hope you enjoy this convo.