Talk About the Passion

#44: Get On The Mic (A Conversation About The Beastie Boys With Brian Smith)

In this episode of Talk About the Passion Brian and I talk about one of our favorite bands, the Beastie Boys. We share our experience first hearing them and what they meant to us early on and what they mean to us now. We talk about their legacy on pop culture, underground music, and hip hop. Going through most of their catalog album by album and song by song, this is a bit of a deep dive but also a loose episode that meanders a tiny bit but mostly stays on course, just like their discography, as we discover here. Join two friends talking about one of their favorite bands. 

#43: Loose (A Conversation With Daniel Brockman)

Episode 43 is a conversation with Daniel Brockman. This episode, recorded over the phone, is named after The Stooges song of the same name, the nature of this episode is indeed pretty loose. We don't really get into Dan's former Boston area bands Medea Connection and The Hidden at all but instead focus more on his experiences writing about music, interviewing artists from Danzig to Robyn Hitchcock. Daniel has some unique and fascinating takes on music and I've always enjoyed talking to him about music. His writing has appeared in such places as Vanyaland, Spin and Rolling Stone. 

#42: Reaction Making Impact (A Conversation With Brian & Guy About Rush)

On episode 42 I sit with my co-hosts Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee and we talk about Rush. Five minutes before we hit record we each wrote down five Rush songs and we would then go around the table and talk about the songs, why we picked them, some we gave a little background and history. We get deep enough that long time Rush fans should enjoy our takes on these fifteen songs but never too far out there that a non fan won't appreciate the conversation and hopefully track the songs down themselves. This is the first round table episode with Brian and Guy and we look forward to doing many more like this as well as other subjects and formats. 

#41: Even In His Youth (A Conversation With Duane Bruce)

Episode 41 is a conversation with Duane Bruce, Duane is best known for his work as a DJ on WFNX out of Boston (Well, Lynn), Massachusetts. He got into radio at a very young age, listening to and eventually working in radio in Maine where he grew up. We talk about his time as a DJ and how he eventually made his way to Massachusetts and everything else in between. Duane is a great storyteller and has some great stories about everyone from Stephen King to Nirvana who this episode is named after. Duane has a current radio show called American Debauchery and also authored a book called Hang the D.J. which talks about his time in radio.

#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. 

#39: Chemistry (A Conversation With Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee)

Episode 39 is a conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee. Brian and Guy are lifelong friends and also collectively have a group called Four Way Anal Touchfight. They talk about the origins of that project here. We spend over two hours talking music from their formative years, sharing music with each other and by the end of the episode you'll understand why the title "Chemistry" (after the Rush song) is so fitting. We talk about everything from Rush to Gorilla Biscuits to Asia to the B-52's and Krokus. As we talk about in this episode Brian and Guy will be appearing on some future episodes as well. 

#38: Break My Body (A Conversation With Kevin Grant)

Episode 38 is a conversation with Kevin Grant, this first episode of 2019 is a long episode and it covers a lot of ground. Kevin talks about Fall River, MA where he is from, what it was like growing up there. We talk at length about his experiences singing in a number of bands including The Hidden, Gaskill and his latest project Wire Lines. Kevin has some fascinating ideas about music and what role it takes in his life as well as to people in general. This episode is named after The Pixies song Break My Body, Kevin references the record that song came from (Surfer Rosa) and talks about his experience recording music with Steve Albini. Kevin is an intense and intelligent guy, his ideas on hardcore music and what it means to him are very much in line with myself as well as most of the guests I've had on, he was the perfect guest for this podcast. 

#37: My War (A Conversation With Randy Larsen)

Episode 37 is a conversation with Randy Larsen. You may know Randy from his band Cable who have been putting out good quality heavy music since the 90's and are set to release a new record next year as he explains late in this episode. We talk about how he got into music, other musical projects he's been involved in as well as his guest hosting on the Everything Went Black and Metal Matters podcasts. Randy was a great guest for this podcast, his enthusiasm and humble, down to earth personality made this feel like I was talking to an old friend. 

#36: Death Comes Ripping (A Conversation With Mark Vieira)

Episode 36 is a conversation with Mark Vieira. Originally from Massachusetts and now on the west coast we talk quite a bit about his time getting into music on the east coast. Mark has been around the music scene in various roles for years, currently he manages a number of bands including 1349, Ringworm, Tombs, The Atlas Moth and The Casualties among many others. Mark has some great insight on the music scene, not just the heavy music scene where he works, but the music industry in general. He knows his stuff and has a lot of great opinions and ideas on music. Mark is a great story teller, his enthusiasm is infectious and he was the perfect guest for this podcast, especially when it comes to passion. 

#35: Spillage (A Conversation With Michael T. Fournier)

Episode 35 is a conversation with author Michael T Fournier. Michael has authored a few books including the 33 1/3 series book on The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime record, his work appears in Maximum Rock & Roll, Razorcake and RS500. We talk about growing up in New England and getting into music, his writing both fiction and writing about music. Michael is a great writer and made the perfect guest for TATP, his enthusiasm and knowledge of music is extensive as shown in his writing, so it was great to be able to sit down and talk to him in person.