25 O'Clock

Back on Episode 25, Scott was Dan's first live guest on his first live show. It was only fitting that he come back for a full episode. Scott talks about his unique approach to songwriting, which includes writing songs fully improvised from the top down. Dan and Scott talk inspiration, improvisations, Guided By Voices, Ween, those people at open mics who aren't performing (and why they're there), and their love of the Philly music community. 

Jake Lewis lives in Brooklyn, but came from a very religious family growing up in Central PA. Dan and Jake have a very frank and honest talk about Jake's full on rebellion in his teen years, his need to settle down by the time he was 20, and how it's all influenced his music from it's beginnings to now. Jake has a new record out called 'Honey Moon', and it's an amazing blend of singer-songwriter folk and ambient, almost psychedelic tones and arrangements. 

Ever since Dan started the show, he’s been trying to get Ben Tinsley on the mic to talk. It’s been over two years, and it finally happened. Ben and Dan talk about their mutual history together, playing the same clubs and bills together, the strength of their little community for a short time, and all the life that happens to you as you get older. The discussion includes:  guitars, love and respect for their fellow musician friends, recording a record completely on your own, and how to keep being creative amidst the many demands of adulthood. Happy holidays to everyone, and a Happy New Year from 25 O’Clock!

Dan met Thom years ago when Thom had just moved to Philadelphia, in a big city for the first time. They would run into each other on and off for nearly a decade. Now, Dan gets the full story on Thom. They talk about Thom's rural roots, his love of Django Reinhart, making a whole record through the voice of a character, and his latest album, 'Marvin The Giant'. It's the first album that Thom has ever put his real name on, and it's (obviously) an important one. 

Bob shot film of Dan's old bands, and after recently reuniting at a record release show, they discovered they have a ton in common. They talk Bob's origins as a film and video maker, his time living in a small town and just making films for the heck of it, how to build yourself a network of artists to work with, and their memories of 90s MTV and movies and how it shaped them. Bob is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker, as well as a walking film encyclopedia.  

This week, Dan takes a break from the usual guest interview. Instead, he highlights some unreleased performances form past guests (including Abi Reimold, Bruno Catrambone, and Stephen Lorek) as well as some studio tracks from new and upcoming albums from guests like Nicklas Hughes, James Hearne, and Pilkington. Check out any guests you may have missed at 25oclockpod.com!

Rachel was Dan's introduction to the Wilmington, Delaware music scene. And there IS a Wilmington music scene, smarty. Dan and Rachel talk about her new EP, "Enough", getting floored by talented kids using technology to make amazing art, Elvis Costello, quieting the voice inside that tells you to give up, a mutual love of Pretenders' front-woman Chrissie Hynde, and how to just keep making your art amidst your crazy life. Also, Dan talks about his seminar on podcasting for college students at this year's CBI conference in Philadelphia. 

Ross and Dan met once, briefly, a few years ago, and never saw each other again until they sat down for this conversation. This is one of those good, ol' fashioned musician nerd outs. They talk Peter Gabriel, Phish, and XTC. They also talk about Ross' extensive discography, including three full-length releases in 2015 alone, his days as part of Amos Lee's band (including a tour with Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello), and his desire to never stop writing songs. 

Brian Walker plays under the name A Day Without Love, and talks with Dan about what it is to be one of the only young black men playing indie rock in a white-dominated DIY scene. It gets heavy, it gets real, and the two explore what the impact of race is in a seemingly all-inclusive art form. A Day Without Love’s newest LP, “Solace”, is out now on Sounds And Tones Records.

Dan brings another former band member on the show to catch up. Nicklas Hughes and Dan toured and played together for many years, and now Nick has a new solo album, 'Games', out very soon. They cover Nick’s growing up (which Dan kinda knew about), his songwriting and recording process for his new record (which Dan didn’t know about), and just sorta catch up on life things, as two old friends do. Fun fact: Nick is the first performer to have reverb applied to his voice. It weirds Dan out a bit.