World of Noise

For the final episode of World of Noise, Bob Ham speaks with Kristen Grainger and her husband about their work together in the folk/bluegrass ensemble True North and with Rachel Frankel and her husband, the leaders of the dream pop group Phosphene.

This week, the artist known as J. Graves joins Bob Ham to talk about her new EP Death Bed and reviving her mom's long-dormant indie label as a platform for women and nonbinary artists, and Jayson Tipp, the keyboardist and leader of Under The Lake, chats about his group's new album Your Horizon Too and about making music during a pandemic.

On another packed episode of World of Noise, Bob Ham speaks with singer/songwriter John Craigie in advance of the release of his new album Asterisk The Universe; Adam Pike, renowned producer and now bassist in noise-rock quartet ILS; and Matt Eiseman, the proponent of psychedelics who fronts the extreme metal trio Tithe.

On this week's show, Lisa Schonberg joins host Bob Ham to talk about the 5th edition of her self-published book The DIY Guide to Drums, an easy to swallow tome for budding percussionists and players looking to raise their skill level; and the members of the indiepop band BOAT are on hand to talk about the creation of their new album Tread Lightly, which was released this month on local label Magic Marker Records.

On this week's show, composer/scholar Alicia Jo Rabins talks about her work creating Girls In Trouble, a feminist study guide for the Torah that includes poetry, artwork, and songs; Alex Schiff discusses his first solo release under the name Blue Canopy; and Todd Goldstein talks about his new album of ambient instrumentals.

On this week's show, Joel Shanahan, the producer and DJ who records as Auscultation, chooses five songs that are important and influential to his work, and Luke Wyland and John Niekrasz talk about their friendship and their new project Methods Body.

On this week's World of Noise, Slim Moon, the once and future head of indie label Kill Rock Stars, joins Bob Ham to discuss his relationship with singer/songwriter Elliott Smith and the work he did helping release Smith's self-titled album in 1995.

On this week's show, Bob Ham speaks with Siren Songs (sirensongsmusic.com), the Americana duo made up longtime friends and singer-songwriters Merideth Kaye Clark and Jen Grinels, about their forthcoming self-titled album, as well as Chris Russell (void1.bandcamp.com), the Illinois-based ambient artist who just released his latest album Destiny through Portland label Spotted Peccary (spottedpeccary.com).

This week, Bob Ham speaks with singer/songwriter Olivia Awbrey (https://oliviaawbrey.bandcamp.com/) about Dishonorable Harvest, her politically-minded album of indie rock that is being self-released by the artist on May 1st, and with Jan Julius (http://janjulius.bandcamp.com/), the experimental producer and performer who wrestles with issues of sexuality and gender within their club-ready pop jams.

This week, Bob Ham spends the full hour with ALN, the multi-instrumentalist who records under the name Mizmor (mizmor.bandcamp.com). Since 2012, the black metal project has been ALN's very personal outlet to deal with a crisis of faith and the absurdity of existence. But as he has released his music over the years, his brutal, unrelenting sound and the messages in his music has earned Mizmor accolades from The Washington Post, Bandcamp, and Treble Zine.

This week, Bob Ham speaks with earthy singer-songwriter Jeffrey Silverstein (jeffreysilverstein.bandcamp.com) about his spacious and dreamy new album You Become The Mountain, and Monica Metzler, the artist who performs and records as Forest Veil (forestveil.bandcamp.com), discusses her ritualist electro-folk sound.

On this week's show, the members of post-punk band Yuvees (yuvees.bandcamp.com) choose a handful of songs that are important and influential to them, including tunes by Captain Beefheart, Brainiac, and Lithics; and electronic musician/sound artists Patricia Wolf (soundcloud.com/patriciawolf_music) talks about her time in Soft Metals, creating music for cellphones and synthesizers, and the joys and pains of going solo.

On this week's show, Bob Ham speaks with Nate Preston, a member of the beloved noise rock quartet Sleetmute Nightmute. The band just had its complete discography reissued by Helicopter Records, the label run by noise artist John Wiese. And he sits down with the members of Zyl, a duo that plays in the fields of heavy rock and experimental music, and will be performing at this weekend's Ceremony of Sludge.

The show begins with Bob Ham interviewing Chris Slusarenko and John Moen, the singer/guitarists for psych-rockers Eyelids, about their band's new album The Accidental Falls, which was recorded using lyrics from Tim Buckley collaborator Larry Beckett. Closing out the show, Bob talks to Jana Cushman, leader of the post-punk trio Darkswoon about the therapeutic qualities of music and the development of their seamy, electronic rock sound.

Bob Ham spends the hour with Dave Allen, co-founder of International Anthem, a record label from Chicago that has making huge waves around the world through its well chosen roster of artists that exist in the fluid realm where jazz, hip-hop, experimental, and ambient flow together. Allen stopped by the XRAY studios to talk about the history of the label, its recent partnership with Nonesuch Records, and its unique aesthetic.

Bob Ham sits down with Nicholas Salas-Harris, PDX Jazz's new Artistic Director, to talk about the 2020 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival and his long career in the music biz, and, in a new installment of Take Five, singer/songwriter Mo Troper chooses five tunes—including classics by XTC, Dear Nora, and Bob Dylan—that were important to his development as an artist and that helped inspire the work on his new album Natural Beauty.

On this week's show, Bob Ham spends the hour with Keeley Davis, a recent transplant to Portland who is a rock lifer, having started his career with the beloved post-hardcore group Engine Down and moving on to play guitar in Sparta and, in 2016, joining At The Drive-In for their reunion tour and most recent album in•ter a•li•a. These days, he's using his creative energies fronting Via Vale, a heavy rock trio featuring Red Fang drummer John Sherman.

This week, Bob Ham spends the hour with Prashant Kakad, aka DJ Prashant, the DJ, promoter, dancer, and musician who, 10 years ago, started Jai Ho!, a regular dance night celebrating Bollywood, bhangra, and world beat music. He's having a big blow out on January 31st at the Whiskey Bar to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Jai Ho! and stopped by the XRAY studios to talk about how the show began and where it's going.

On this week's episode, Bob Ham speaks with experimental artist Avola (avola.bandcamp.com) about finding her way into the noise scene in San Francisco and Portland as well as collaborating with Australian duo Dead and local hero Daniel Menche. Later in the show, you'll hear a new edition of Take Five with singer/songwriter Bart Budwig (bartbudwig.com), who chose five songs important to his development as an artist including a Stax Records classic, a bit of alt-rock, and some outlaw country.

On this week's episode, Bob Ham is joined by the musician and sound healer Treneti (treneti.com) to talk about the evolution of her work and her first album Psalms of Saturn, and Steve Rosborough, a recent transplant to Portland and the founder of the brilliant label Moon Glyph Records (moonglyph.com), who will share music from the label and the story of how it all began.

On this week's show, DJ Bob Ham speaks to Madison Sturdevant, the curator and organizer of Girlfest (https://www.facebook.com/girlfestNW/), an annual event celebrating female and nonbinary musicians, which is going down this weekend with four events scattered through the city; and Sophie Enloe, a fiddle teacher and musician who helps organize the 21st annual Portland Old Time Music Gathering (http://bubbaguitar.com/gathering/), which lets lovers of folk, bluegrass, and various old school Americana sounds join together for five days and nights of concerts, workshops and jam sessions.

On this week's show, DJ Bob Ham is joined by local journalist Cervanté Pope and fellow XRAY DJ JBJ to talk about our favorite Portland albums of the year. They include records by Sleater-Kinney, Donte Thomas, Y La Bamba, Rich Halley, and more.

On this week's episode, DJ Bob Ham talks with three songwriters making music for kids—Kelli Welli, Red Yarn & Zazzy Zoe—about the thriving market for indie music for young people and their place in it. You'll also hear an interview with jazz guitarist Anson Wright about his art, his activism, and his new album Only Love.

On this week's episode, we delve into the world of tribute bands with the help of Jason Fellman, the drummer in Journey tribute act Stone In Love and the promoter for a bunch of other tribute acts through his company J-Fell Presents, and Liz Ghiz, the "Debbie Harry" in Blondie tribute band Glass of Hearts.

On this week's World of Noise, DJ Bob Ham speaks with modern composer Gabriel Kahane about his new role as Creative Chair for the Oregon Symphony, and Parker Hall, the front man for the new band Rules, chooses five songs that have influenced his work as a songwriter and a jazz drummer.

On this episode of World of Noise, DJ Bob Ham celebrates the 35th anniversary of the first album by new wave band Animotion with the help of Bill Wadhams, the band's co-founder. They talk about the group's history, break up and the legacy of their huge hit "Obsession."

On this week's World Of Noise, DJ Bob Ham is joined by Amy and Angie Sabin, the twin sisters who are first time bandmates in the darkwave/post-punk group Shadowlands, and up-and-coming rapper Bocha, who highlights five songs that inspired his move into a career in hip-hop.

On this inaugural episode of World of Noise, DJ Bob Ham speaks with members of the organization bringing the music of the Indian subcontinent to Portland, and members of two jazz ensembles about their collaborative concert.