Talk About the Passion

#84: Point of Entry With Bob Mayo (Pt. 1)

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!

#76: Somewhere In Time (A Conversation With Steve Brooks)

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. 

#75: Remember Tomorrow (Another Conversation With Bob Mayo)

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. 

#61: Mad World (Another Conversation With Randy Larsen)

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. 

#57:Bad Fun (Another Conversation With Keith Bennett)

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.

#48: Get The Lead Out (A Conversation With James Koury)

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. 

#40: So Long Ago (A Conversation With Kevin Norton)

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. 

#31: Restless Dreams of Youth (Angie C Shaw interviews me)

In this special one year anniversary episode, former guest, radio personality and my good friend Angie C Shaw talks to me about where I grew up, how I got into music and how I got to doing this podcast. 

Episode 27: The Chase Is Better Than The Catch (A Conversation With Bob Mayo)

Episode 27 is a conversation with Bob Mayo. Bob is a founding member of Massachusetts thrash metal band Wargasm who operated between 1985 and 1995. Bob talks about getting into hard rock and metal in the 70's and 80's, how he got Wargasm together and then walks through the whole story of that band. Wargasm were an amazing metal band who have an amazing story and Bob is the perfect story teller to get through all of the ups and downs they went through. Bob's lifelong love of music as a performer and a fan is on display in this episode and makes him a perfect guest for TATP.