XPol

Chad Matheny is a trained physicist, former biology teacher, web developer, musician, audio engineer, music business lecturer and philosophy enthusiast. He has released several albums and toured the world under the name Emperor X. He also operates a jazz and experimental music venue in Berlin called Donau115.

The progress so far and the shape of things to come.

Jonathan Pieslak is a composer, music theorist and professor at the City College of New York. His current academic research is focused on the cultural dimensions of terrorism and of political violence. He's the author of Radicalism and Music: An Introduction to the Music Cultures of al-Qa’ida, Racist Skinheads, Christian-Affiliated Radicals, and Eco-Animal Rights Militants. He also the author of several metal music theory papers, including the seminal Re-casting metal: Rhythm and Meter in the music of Meshuggah.

Jason Haaheim is the principal timpanist at the metropolitan opera orchestra since 2013, and he is a former neuroscientist. He explores and analyzes the challenges faced by musicians and artists willing to perfect their craft in the 21st century on his blog and in his deliberate practice bootcamps. His approach combines subtle artistic sensibility and rigorous scientific thinking.

Simon Horn, also known as Charlie Bly, is a singer-songwriter, producer, musician and educator hailing from Australia and currently based in Germany. He has played over 2000 concerts worldwide, with several bands and musical projects, including Frank Gambale, Michael Lane, and Vimala. In this episode with discuss the evolution of the music industry, the impact of mass media & internet on listening habits, songwriting, branding, and finding one's tribe, teaching students,  the continued importance of playing live, and more.

Rémi Gallego is the musician and producer behind the Algorithm and Boucle Infinie and a Front-End Developer (creator of Winampify). His music and his video game soundtracks explore the intersections between metal and electronic music, and generally his art is deeply influenced by the evolution of technology.

Calder Hannan is a Music Theorist and post-graduate student at Columbia University. In this episode we discuss his research in Extreme Metal Studies and his analytical approach to the music of Meshuggah, Car Bomb, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried and Me, Anomalous, Bell Witch, … We also touch on the idea of heaviness, issues of form and genre admixture in metal music, ear training for metal musicians, the evolution of extreme metal studies and of the field of music theory, and much more.

Nick Morrison is a French and American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, with experience in jazz and world music. We discuss his education in the Chicago free jazz music scene and at the New England Conservatory, the evolution of jazz and music education, tradeoffs in music and culture in the age of information, mentorship and student/teacher relationships, individualism, and much more.

Dr Olivia R. Lucas is currently Assistant Professor of Music Theory at LSU and got her Ph.D at Harvard University for the dissertation: Loudness, Rhythm and Environment: Analytical Issues in Extreme Metal Music. In this episode we discuss her research on bands such as Meshuggah (music and light show), Sunn O))), Botanist and Panopticon, as well as the influence of the internet on the recent evolutions of metal music, local versus global trends, the emergence of the field of extreme metal studies, ecocriticism, the changing place of women in the metal scene, her auto-ethnographic approach to music as an embodied experience, and more.

Description: Gaby Sforza is a singer/songwriter of Italian and Japanese origin. In this episode we discuss his music, different methods he uses to write songs creatively and spontaneously, writing for film and video games, his point of view on cultural differences as a third culture kid, mindfulness and meditation, and much more.

Chris Angel Walker is the singer and guitar player of the rock band Substereo and a former officer in the Royal Danish Army. In this episode, we discuss his experience in the army and later as a blue helmet in the UN, and the impact it had on his outlook on life. We get into his band Substereo, and have a conversation about creativity, integrity, and artistry in the modern world.

A short presentation of the podcast and of its goals.