Everything Went Black Podcast

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these difficult times.  Like most of you, I have more time on my hands than I'm accustomed to so I'm going to put up these entries while we push through this thing.  If any of you have any of your own stories or comments, please feel free to send them to me as mp3's or wav files and I'll cut them into the next episode.

Intro: "Alarma" - Breach

Outro: "Untitled" Der Blutharsch

Jeff and I get together to talk movies amidst all of the chaos and disinformation surrounding the Corona Virus Pandemic.  What better movies to talk about than 2011's Contagion and the Terry Gilliam classic 12 Monkeys from 1995.

Jeff and I are back with another movie episode. Be give out rundown on Richard Stanley's "Color Out of Space" his long-awaited return to feature films. We also talk about "The House that Jack Built" a movie that Jeff cited as one of the best films of the last decade which, much to my chagrin, I just got around to watching.

Intro:          "Yellow Sky" - Deth Crux

Outro:          "Spectre" - Former Worlds

I’ve known Jeff for a long, long time; uncomfortable long.  In addition to being the former bassist for the legendary band, Isis, Jeff is a horror movie fanatic like me so we took this opportunity to catch up and talk about our favorite horror movies of the past decade.

Intro:                    “Memories” – Johann Johannsson

Outro:                  “Escape from the Train” - Hildur Guanadottir

Happy New Year Everyone.  One of my best friends Ralph Schmidt of the excellent band Ultha, joins us for a trans-Atlantic discussion of one of mutually favorite movies of the past year, the Todd Phillip's directed Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro. Despite the "woke" crowd denouncing the movie as "just another angry White Man" movie, the film killed it at the box office pulling in over a billion dollars. We touch on some important social topics such as the increasing move toward a "new conservatism" and cancel culture. Dig in!

Intro / Outro:  Ultha "No Fire, Only Smoke"

Not only is it the end of the year, but it's the end of another decade.  I run this episode solo and list my top 10 records of the last decade as well as some ruminations of where we are as a culture in my opinion.

Halloween, by far is my favorite time of the year. It has it's own soundtrack that accompanies the darkening skies and is a primer for winter, the mightiest season. My good friend, Ron Martinez, the vocalist of the legendary Final Conflict, bassist in The Lower Class Brats and the man behind Crawlspace Booking joins me for a recollection of our favorite music and movies that capture this beautiful time of year. Oh yeah, this is the "director's cut" of the Metal Matters episode that went up a few days ago. Ron and I went deep.

Intro:     "Don't Fear the Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult

Outro:    "Halloween" - Samhain

A few week’s ago, I reviewed “Knucklehead” the debut novel by Adam Smyers.  Through the magic of social media, Adam and I were able to connect and he was kind enough to be this week’s guest.

Adam is an attorney, martial artist and self-proclaimed mediocre bassist. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and cats. Knucklehead was the sole title shortlisted for the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Intro:          "Scarecrow" - Ministry

Outro:          "Stay Close to Me" - Bad Brains

When I was a kid, New Wave was starting to seep into the minds of suburban youth across the country. The Cars were the first band that I cam across that deflected me from my steady diet of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.  When I heard of Ric Ocasek’s passing, I felt like I should put out an episode reflecting the impact his music had on me during the formative years of my life

Intro:          "Since You're Gone"

Outro:         "Drive"

Knucklehead – Adam Smyer

In addition my normal reflections on an abnormal world, I review “Knucklehead” the debut novel by Adam Smyer. It was one of those books that stayed with me days, weeks after I read it.

Check it out!

https://www.amazon.com/Knucklehead-Adam-Smyer/dp/1617755877

Intro:                    “Cleaved Asunder” – Diocletian

Outro:                  “Don’t Give in” – Cro Mags