Talk About the Passion

#64: Watcher Of The Skies (A Conversation With Christian McKenna)

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. 

#63: Search And Destroy (A Conversation With Joel Gausten)

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. 

#62: Frame By Frame (A Conversation With Douglas Sherman)

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. 

#60: Let It Grow (A Conversation About Cannabis With Julia Agron)

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. 

#58: On Returning (A Conversation With Richard Brown)

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!

#54: Help I'm A Rock (Solo Ramblings While In Crisis)

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. 

#49: Careful With That Axe (A Conversation With Brian & Guy About Guitarists)

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 17: Find The Arise (A Conversation With Buz McGrath)

Episode 17 is a conversation with Buz McGrath, guitarist from the band Unearth. We talk about the origins of that band, some pretty crazy tour stories, as well as the song writing process he uses to write music for Unearth. We go all over the place in this hour long episode.  

Unearth are a metalcore band from Massachusetts who formed in 1998 (Note: I mentioned knowing Buz and Point 04 in "the early 90's", I should have said "late 90's", doh!) They are one of the best live acts around. Buz is an amazing guitar player, and a hilarious guy with some great story telling skills as you'll hear on this episode. 

Episode 15: Candy Girl (A Conversation With Angie C. Shaw)

Episode 15 is a conversation with Boston area DJ Angie C Shaw. Angie is a close friend of mine so of course it was a natural conversation. Her lifelong love of music and the enthusiasm to talk about the stuff she loves made her an obvious choice for the podcast. We cover a lot of ground from her early days in radio through the current state of terrestrial radio. Angie is a great story teller and there are some good ones here, including some cool behind the scenes stories with some big name musicians. Angie was on WFNX in the early 90's right as Nirvana broke and into the early 2000's, she now can be heard on the classic rock station WZLX 100.7 FM. Enjoy!

Episode 7: Red Shoes (A Conversation With Gretchen Shae)

Episode 7 arrives a day late and a little shorter than all of the other interviews I've posted. Regardless, this was a great conversation with my friend Gretchen Shae of the Boston based band The Knock-Ups. She talks about the role her mother and godparents played in her musical development, getting back into playing music after a break for a few years, getting to play on stage with U2 in Boston in front of thousands of people, teaching at Berklee as well as being on the board of directors for New Beginnings Re-Entry Services which helps incarcerted women re-enter society after prison. 

Gretchen is an extremely driven person and was a perfect guest for the podcast, enjoy!