Conan Neutron’s Protonic Reversal

It's Episode #101 of Protonic Reversal! Your hosts, Conan and Josh, are in a sour mood, due to living in the world. But never fear, a phone call with Lindsey Charles of the Cell Phones cures what ails them! After some discussion about Refused (overrated? Or rated just right?) and the fascinating concept of changing a band's structure by adding in another ill-fitting member out of rock history.

Oh, shit, it's the hundredth episode of PROTONIC REVERSAL! Thrill as Conan, Josh, and special in-studio guest Jeff Moody wrangle GUEST AFTER GUEST for two and a half hours! Get ready to hear such scintillations as:

-Chris Frey on navigating medical crises on a European tour!

-Christian Lembach on stage rocking with a bum knee!

-Sohrab Habibion on the new SAVAK album!

-Josh Newton on Glazed Baby and mysterious Bandcamp apperances!

-Dale Crover on bootleg shoes and Siri!

-Tom Hazelmeyer on carrot cake!

-Rick Valentin on album sequencing and punk rock professorin'!

-Andrew Falkous on parenthood and moving to London as a grownup!

-NOT Steve Albini!

And, believe it or not, EVEN MORE! (Although not more guests, tho, that's all the guests.) Two and a half hours of entertainment and artistic motivation awaits you, friend!

Porch - Dickhead

Whores - I see you are also wearing a black t-shirt

Savak - Alive in Shadows

Shiner - The Egg

Sie lieben maschinen - meat is meat, love is murder

Dale Crover - Bad Move

Future of the Left - Eating for None

Poster Children - Blatant Dis

Shellac - Steady As She Goes

Shellac Crow

Shellac - The End of Radio (Closing Theme)

Yes, yes! It's true, Conan and Josh talk to the one and only Rick Sims of the mighty Didjits. It's in the second hour, so strap in for some first rate entertainment or music or get that fast forward button ready.

-Just Fred (the record and the dude)

-The Cassette Revival

-The Killer + Tony Clifton

-Time Bomb Tom

-Touch & Go 25

-Didjits Reunion(s)

-Solos and quick hooks.

-The Gaza Strippers as a 4 course meal

-Writing Songs for the Supersuckers Record

-The Lee Harvey Oswald Band are assholes.

-Rey Wesham

-The Offspring

-Sound Design for Theatre

Songs played:

Fred Schneider - Whip

Didjits - (Mama Had A) Skull Baby

Didjits - Max Wedge

Piper - Who's Your Boyfriend

Mr. Bungle - The Stroke

Lee Harvey Oswald Band - Surrender Earthlings

Didjits - Under the Christmas Fish

Didjits - Plate in My Head

Supersuckers - Born with a Tail

Fred Schneider - Bulldozer

Shellac - The End of Radio (Closing Theme)

What if Yella from NWA sang the hit of Yellow the band (of "Oh YEAAAAAAH!" fame), that and a few other things before Conan and Josh dive right into the remarkable Eugene Robinson and his many bands, projects, sojourns and creative exploits. Eugene conducts himself with alacrity and poise and a good time is had by all!

-The origins of Sal Mineo (The band)

-Making art worth a good God damn

-spending 12 hours in France and playing a show

-not playing where you oughtn't

-Advocating the encyclopedia of the voice.

-Singing what your soul calls out

-Old HC fellas that don't really "get" Oxbow.

-Charating a musical course with no reference points

-Shit talkers being good people to have around / speaking honestly

-Getting hit on by one's idols.

-the equivalent of automatic writing.

-martial arts.

-"Hey Frenchy, put the chainsaw down"

- Compartmentalizing "Fight"

-Writers vs. People who can write.

-To Arms, two legs and the magic of subtlety.

-Whatever happened to Dukowski

-Cross-Cultural experience vs cross-class experience.

-Where the stories come from

Songs played:

Oxbow - Clean Well-Lit Place

Xiu Xiu - Sharp Dressed Man

Sal Mineo - the Primary Bell

Black Face - I Want to Kill You

Oxbow - The Finished Line

Shellac - The End of Radio (Closing Theme)

On this episode, Conan and Josh have a chat with Mike Blaha of the Blind Shake and countless variations thereupon! Topics include, but are not limited to:

-collaborations and being open

-subbing in bands mid-tour

-Blind Shake vs. solo writing

-air-drumming auditions

-Chipotle!

-the Blaha health regimen

-surfin' with John Reis

-working through new songs on the road

-"Play 'Hurrican!'"

-acoustic vs. electric

-"I watch Netflix as much as the next guy"

-expressing more emotion

-attempting to book a show before this podcast ends

-living in small boxes

-joining Castle Face Records without changing the band's sound

-the equal desire for safety and adventure

-keeping ears open to young bands

-Iowa

-the conceptual Blind Shake

Then Mike had to go load out for his solo show, so we ended up talking not exactly about Twin Peaks (although there are a few spoilers if you haven't watched through episode 8 yet) but more about fandom and experiencing it real-time.

Conan and Josh kick off the show with a brief discussion of big shows from the past weekend, then have a great chat with J. Robbins! Topics include:

The songwriting process:

-Bendy guitar loop overdubs

-Reviving/rewriting old songs and playing acoustic shows

-Shading confessional songwriting

-The integrity of a band and its members vs. being the sole songwriter

-Going out on a musical limb

-Collaborative projects

-Using the studio as a compositional tool

Stories of various recording projects:

-Roomrunner

-The great moment when a recording project sounds like a record

-the Dismemberment Plan

-What a producer's role is and/or what it should be

-the Monorchid

-Shiner

-Hand-editing 2-inch tape

-Coliseum

The grand story of his brief time playing with Scream:

-"J., EVERYBODY knows 'Ballroom Blitz.'"

Jawbox's influence, and how influence works in general:

-Creating your own culture

We almost entirely avoided discussing politics!

Music played:

Jawbox - FF=66

J. Robbins - Our Own Devices

Jawbox - Won't Come Off

Shellac - End of Radio (Closing Theme)