Vinyl Emergency

Episode 193: MLB Pitcher John Axford


Listen Later

While on the Milwaukee Brewers roster in 2011, major league pitcher John Axford created a buzz among indie-rock baseball nerds by forgoing the standard jock jams and using Refused's "New Noise" as his game entrance music. While exposing thousands to the Swedish hardcore band’s chaotic screams and atonal, pummeling instrumentation, the choice also garnered some vocal complaints from opposing coaches and TV announcers. Nonetheless, Axford led the entire National League in saves that season, so who knows if some of the song's lyrics ("Good frames won't save bad paintings") don't indeed secretly speak to pitching. Around this same time, his interest in vinyl records began to blossom, leading him to hunt down Japanese Metallica pressings and connect again with his family’s classic Christmas LP’s. Since then "The Ax Man," as fans have dubbed him, has reached the World Series (with the 2013 St. Louis Cardinals), and done time with the Pirates, Dodgers and Blue Jays, among other organizations. Most recently, Axford represented his home country of Canada in last year’s World Baseball Classic. On this episode, we explore how his dad's vintage Edison phonograph somewhat influenced Axford’s current big budget stereo set-up, his fandom for LP subscription service Vinyl Me, Please and why he won't clean his grandparents' fingerprints off their old records. We also dive into John's recent trip overseas, to a quaint Dutch village where his great uncle's heroism during WWII is cemented and honored forever. Follow @johnaxford on Instagram. PLUS, music this week from Milwaukee band Dramatic Lovers!
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Vinyl EmergencyBy Jim Hanke

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

159 ratings


More shows like Vinyl Emergency

View all
Sound Opinions by Sound Opinions

Sound Opinions

1,963 Listeners

All One Song: A Neil Young Podcast by Aquarium Drunkard

All One Song: A Neil Young Podcast

232 Listeners

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast by Marc Maron

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

29,472 Listeners

Kreative Kontrol by Vish Khanna / Entertainment One (eOne)

Kreative Kontrol

238 Listeners

Talkhouse Podcast by Talkhouse

Talkhouse Podcast

140 Listeners

Turned Out A Punk by Turned Out A Punk

Turned Out A Punk

1,016 Listeners

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds by Nate Goyer, Record Collector, Music Fan, Vinyl Maniac

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

513 Listeners

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend by Team Coco & Earwolf

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

59,158 Listeners

Life of the Record by Life of the Record / Talkhouse

Life of the Record

216 Listeners

Chris DeMakes A Podcast by Chris DeMakes

Chris DeMakes A Podcast

864 Listeners

The First Ever Podcast by Jeremy Bolm

The First Ever Podcast

446 Listeners

SmartLess by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett

SmartLess

57,612 Listeners

That's How I Remember It by Craig Finn & Talkhouse

That's How I Remember It

146 Listeners

Bandsplain by The Ringer

Bandsplain

441 Listeners

The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast by The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers

The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast

1,908 Listeners