Alison Mosshart is always in motion. Whether she's performing with The Kills or The Dead Weather, painting, making videos of her travels - she's always creating and moving. We caught up on a recent Saturday evening while a crazy storm was passing through her adopted hometown of Nashville. Crazy to think its been one year since we went into pandemic lockdown. We talk about what she's been up to over the last 12 months, battling stir craziness and taking 4 road trips across the country, talking to our moms during the pandemic, Bob Dylan's new album, favorite Nashville restaurants, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis' new album, encouraging friends to get vaxxed, falling in love with music and following Fugazi on tour. The Kills are also celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their album Blood Pressures! Give it a listen!!

This week's guest is songwriter, producer, guitarist, composer extraordinaire Blake Mills. We discuss being kids of the 90s and how Blake got his start as a listener and guitar player, up to his present day work as a solo artist and producer. Blake has 4 solo albums under his belt and recently collaborated on an album with legendary bass player, Pino Palladino. This album is called 'Notes with Attachments' and it's an instrumental jazz album unlike anything you've heard. Highly recommend giving it a listen. You'll also hear stories of his work with Alabama Shakes, Laura Marling, Perfume Genius, John Legend, Jay-Z, Bob Dylan and so much more. Most importantly, Blake is an insanely nice guy and I'm so humbled he was a guest on the show. PS. You'll also learn about his culinary prowess at making all varieties of oatmeal ;) A true renaissance man! 

I first met Steve Lavin in 1993 or 1994 as an 11 year old camper attending his Lavin Summer Basketball Camp in Northern California. To interview him 27 years later for this passion project of a podcast is absolutely amazing. Even back in the 1990s he was a larger than life figure with a passion for people and stories. Coach Lav served as head coach of two of the most storied college basketball programs - UCLA and St John's. He's also been a professional sports broadcaster for 12 years. This opportunity resulted in him working with the GOAT Brent Musburger at ABC/ESPN. And he's most recently joined the broadcast teams at Fox Sports, CBS Sports and the Pac 12 Network. 

We discuss attending his camps, a phone chat b/w my Dad and his legendary father - Cap Lavin, growing up in a sports and liberal arts dominant household, power of re-framing and staying focused on helping his players and teams achieve their potential, becoming head coach at UCLA and St. John's, becoming a sports broadcaster, life philosophies and "letting gifts reveal", an interesting theory about Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers, and fond memories of Kobe Bryant.

This one is coming to you from BROOOOOOOKLYN! This week's guest is Tomer Blechman, chef/owner of Miss Ada's in Fort Greene and the newly opened Nili in Carroll Gardens. Miss Ada is an inviting neighborhood restaurant in the heart of Brooklyn’s vibrant Fort Greene. They serve Mediterranean food with a twist and believe you me it is DELICIOUS. Blechman grew up in Israel, pursued a career in shiatsu therapy, and at the age of 28 transitioned into the culinary world. Miss Ada is a 3 time Michelin rated restaurant with a relaxed but vibrant environment. It's about community, it's about good food, it's about seasonal ingredients and it's about Fort Greene! 

Carlos Quirarte is the owner/restaurateur of The Smile, Smile To Go, Old Rose, Jane Ballroom and Ray's Bar in New York City. In this interview, we learn about Carlos' up bringing in the Mission district in San Francisco. Then we hear about his foray into fashion, throwing parties, opening The Smile, and doing his best to manage the impact of the pandemic. At the end of the day it's about community and creating awesome places for his friends. If you love restaurants, food, NYC, and good people who know how to bring good vibes - this is your episode.

In this week's episode we interview Luke Jenner of The Rapture. If you're a fan of the 2000s music scene in New York City then you undoubtedly know their hit House of Jealous Lovers and being the first band from that era to bring dance music into the fold. We discuss: (13:30) COVID and Luke's solo album and what The Rapture have been up to, (16:45) growing up San Diego and learning about his family's history of mental illness, (33:00) Luke's advice for becoming a professional musician, (39:40) Luke's deep connection with his lifelong friend and drummer for The Rapture, Vito Roccoforte, and the start of the band in San Francisco, (52:15) moving to NYC and linking up with DFA Records, (67:55) Luke's contribution beyond music as being a happy person and maintaining happiness in the digital realm, (72:00) what he learned from Philippe Zdar, (80:25)  our shared experience of losing a parent to suicide, (110:00) how a therapist articulated to Luke the power of choosing himself and the ramifications of that decision, (114:30) meeting musical icons David Byrne, David Bowie and Robert Smith of The Cure, (125:00) what The Rapture were up to when COVID hit.

This week's guest is renowned Souther pastry chef and James Beard award winning writer, Lisa Donovan. You can also add author to her list of accolades as she recently published her memoir, 'Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger.'

What's there to say? Lisa is a real one. Funny AF too. She conducted the interview from her car in the parking lot of her local Publix in Nashville. Topics discussed:  amazing-ness of New Orleans and being allowed to be who you are, going through her first book tour during COVID times and managing the vulnerability hangover, the process of writing her  memoir, how trying to find meaning in her choices led to writing the book, addressing what needs to change (culturally, politically, economically) to improve the hospitality industry, the influence of music on her writing, living in north Georgia and loving the artistic universes of R.E.M. and Wayne White.

First joint interview! In this week's show we'll discuss: recording on the road from Martha's Vineyard, watching the debates and stress eating, lobster rolls, and trying to maintain PMA.

Also, very excited to host Amber Mundinger & Tamara Deike, co-founders of Bring Music Home. Bring Music Home (BMH) is capturing iconic music venues and the personalities behind them in more than 30+ cities and counting to be showcased in a book and film archive. BMH will raise funds for these venues and the people and artists who sustain them. We'll discuss a shared deep appreciation for music, state of the live music biz, mental health in the music community, humanity behind the scenes of the various music venues, and how NIVA is voicing these concerns to Congress. These two badass women are operating from a place of passion and BMH is a true labor of love.

This wasn't the episode we intended on releasing this week.  Just yesterday Gabe Stulman, restrauteur/owner of the Happy Cooking Hospitality Group, announced the closing of Fedora. COVID, again. This one really hit close to home.  In honor of this amazing restaurant we wanted to humbly share a few personal stories of days gone by. Our thoughts are with Gabe, everyone that worked at Fedora, and the broader Happy Cooking group. Rest in power, Fedora! And lobby your elected officials to provide relief to small businesses!  Lean in, be proactive, get vocal - this s**t matters!

Very excited to share this week's episode and our interview with Sean Tillmann (aka Har Mar Superstar). What's the best way to best describe Mr Tillman? Songwriter, singer, showman, actor?? As far as we can tell Mr Tillman is a stone cold entertainer. Mr Tillmann has recorded 6 solo albums and earlier this year released the debut of his new band, Heart Bones, a collaboration with Sabrina Ellis.

His over the top and occasionally scantily clad live performances have seen him touring with The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Afghan Whigs, and Lizzo. Oh, and did we mention he famously squared off against Ben Stiller in that hilarious dance off scene in the remake of 'Starsky & Hutch'? That's right, he's an entertainer.

We caught up with Mr Tillmann from his home in Minneapolis. In our standard fashion the convo was wide ranging and revealing. Topics discussed: coming up in the early 2000s, playing the UCLA quad after staying up all night watching Law & Order, overcoming personal obstacles and learning from prior mistakes, working with Cult Records, being on tour when the country went into lockdown, raising funds for local music venues, donating supplies to the local Minneapolis community in wake of social unrest, not being complacent and importance of voting, attaining a fresh perspective on life and just learning to keep on keepin' on.  It gets a little self help-y but we promise it's all worth the listen :)

Above all Mr Tillmann is a proper dude. We thank him for coming on the pod and loved hearing about his journey. 

PS. Thank you to  the unofficial sponsor of this week's episode, Alka Seltzer! We're a major of fan of your tropical punch flavored candy medicine!