25 O'Clock

Matt Nestor, drummer of Apple Juice Jones, reached out to Dan a bit ago to tell him the story of the band and the tragic loss of their frontman, Teddy Kradzinski. Dan was moved by the story, so he invited Matt and bassist Mike Bennett over to talk about it all. Matt and Mike talk about the early days of the band, living in a house together during the pandemic and practicing and playing for hours every day, Teddy's incredibly prolific catalog, losing him suddenly, and how they decided to not only keep the band going, but to continue to ressurect a mountain of material featuring Teddy's voice and guitar. With the help of Michael Cumming and Logan Roth at Treacle Mine Studios, they were able to put out 'Angel Number 77', and the story of how it came to be is amazing. Apple Juice Jones have new singles out now, as well as live recordings, all at their Bandcamp.

Dan has been a fan of Moustapha Noumbissi ever since he first heard him on WXPN's Philly Local show. Moustapha talks with Dan about growing up in Belgium, the culture shock of switching to an American school in Upper Darby when he was 7, playing college basketball, always being fascinated by guitar and songwriting, and how a One Direction concert that he was forced to take his sister to changed his life forever. He praises his producer Lee Clarke, his band, and the Philly music community for helping him on this amazing path he's on. Moustapha's latest single, "Heaven", is available wherever you get digital music. He'll be part of Philly Music Fest, which is all week this week around town. Go to Philly Music Fest's website for all the info about this week long fest.

Photo credit: John Vettese

With Philly Music Fest nearly upon us, Dan talks with Samantha Gongol and Jeremy Lloyd of Marian Hill in lieu of their PMF performance on 10/11 at World Cafe Live. Sam and Jeremy talk about meeting in middle school, turning a one-time collaboration into a decade-long group, their early opportunities, the role that MP3 blogs played in their early success, and where they're headed these days. Philly Music Fest is October 9-15, at multiple venues throughout Philadelphia, go to their site for ticket info, lineup, scheduling, and all the organizations that benefit from this fully non-profit music fest.

Dan talks with Suzanne Sheer, Philly based/Pittsburgh born singer-songwriter extraordinaire. Suzanne opens up about her latest LP, 'Blue Hour', her new singles, coming from a very music familiy, music school in New Mexico, and how the pandemic shaped what would be her current trajectory. Suzanne talks about the joy of meeting and talking to people after the shows who are moved by her music, the perils of being a social media creator, her relationship with her two producer/collaborators, LOTITS and 3XPO, and the huge role that Philly venue Warehouse On Watts has played in her life. Suzanne has two new singles out now, "Baby 4 Life" and "Off Limits", both available wherever you get your digital music.

Dan converses with singer-songwriter Julia Pratt about her life, both in music and out: moving around a lot as a kid, living in China and Vietnam as an ex-pat, early songwriting, playing guitar for only about a year, and the opportunities that have come her way recently. Julia talks about her recent collaboration with Philly band Mt. Joy, opening for Hozier at World Cafe Live, writing songs for Disney, and how she's always aware that, at any moment, all this could go away. Her newest single, "A Little Love (feat. Mt. Joy)", is available now wherever you get digital music, as well as her previous singles. She's part of this year's Xponential Music Festival, as well as the Philly Music Fest in October.

Dan has been listening to Julian Booker on WXPN for a long time, especially on Sleepy Hollow every Sunday morning. Julian sits down to talk about growing up in a music and radio house (his father was in the broadcast biz), working after school and summers in the production booth, his early days producing concerts for The Blockley in University City, moving to Ardmore Music Hall and being part of Rising Sun Presents, his love for music from around the world, as well as his time on the road with artists like Marc Benevento and Karina Rykman.

And speaking of WXPN, don't miss Xponential Music fest, 9/22-24 at Wiggins Park on the Camden Waterfront. Three days of amazing music, all curated by WXPN. Weekend and day passes available at xpnfest.org.

Dan is always glad to talk to Nik Greeley, which is why this is Nik's third full length episode. And they always seems to talk at a time when Nik is going through a period of growth and change, whether it be in his personal life, or with his band, The Operators. Dan and Nik talk about coming back after the pandemic, working in the concert industry at Rising Sun Presents, and stepping back from talent buying to fully commit to his music. Nik opens up about always working on his mental health, keeping the bad habits at bay, and how focusing on himself and his band has been a huge help in that, as well as being part of the Johnny Brenda's and The International Bar family on the hospitality side. Nik Greeley and the Operators have a brand new EP out right now called 'Scatterbrain', available wherever you get your digital music. The band will also be playing at Xponential Music Festival on Sept 22nd, as part of WXPN's 3 day concert festival, now in it's 30th year. Photo by Lisa Schaffer

Dan and the ethereal duo Love? Said The Commander have been wanting to make this episode happen for quite some time, and it finally happened. Kate Hall and Chris Bishop talk about meeting on CraigsList (his first original band, her umpteenth), deciding to be a two-piece, sparse songwriting (they call it "maximal minimalism"), live performing, their excellent YouTube series 'Spaces', and why they choose to do nearly everything for the band (recording, videos, etc) in house. Their newest release is a 13 minute song suite called 'Breathing Room', which has also been released as an EP. 'Breathing Room', 'In The Kitchen', and the rest of their discopgraphy is available on their site and wherever you get your digital music.

Dan sits down with Kevin Hanson (The Fractals, Huffamoose) to talk songwriting (he's a songwriting professor at University of the Arts), the up-and-down ride that was Huffamoose in the 90s and early 00s (including a last minute gig on the Woodstock '94 mainstage), working with The Roots, Jay-Z, Jill Scott, Victor Wooten, and so many more as a session guitarist, famed Philly music club The Fire and then-promoter Derek Dorsey, and how The Fractals feel like they have "more juice" these days than ever before. The Fractals' latest single, "Christopher Walken", is out now and available wherever you get digital music, and don't forget to check out the video as well. Also, Sweet Juice Fest is Saturday, July 22nd, 1:30pm to 9pm, at Rigby Mansion in Philadelphia. Artists include Shamir, American Trappist, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, and more. Get your tix, it will sell out! Do not miss it, this fest grows better and better with each year.

Dan sits down with Phillip and David of Your Next Favorite Band, a podcast out of the Lehigh Valley in PA that's very much in the spirit of what 25 O'Clock is about: finding and discovering new music. Phil and Dave talk about how they met, starting the podcast only a year or so ago, and the wide variety of great music in the Lehigh Valley (with a lot of talk about Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA). They also brought along some music to play guest DJs, so look below for the clickable playlist. Your Next Favorite Band livestreams every Tuesday night at 6:30pm EST on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook, and the podcast version goes up Thursdays, available wherever you get your podcasts. 1) Tioga- Just My Body

2) Groove Merchants- Midnight Mountain Queen

3) Billy Bauer Band- So I Love

4) Ruby Dear- Spirit Go

5) Corrinne Mammana- This & That

6) The Witherbees- Mo(u)rning

7) Seth Witcher- I Hate Love Songs

8) Slingshot Dakota- Casino Night