Gut Feeling

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is with Shira Blustein, the Calgary-born, Vancouver-based restauranteur behind celebrated vegetarian spot the Acorn and the newly launched Lila.

Shira has also been a part of punk and indie music for the past 30 years, including time spent with Mediaucracy, Chupacabra, Blood Meridian, Hard Drugs, the Choir Practice, A Pale Blue, Ashley Shadow, and more.

Throughout our talk, Shira touches on: meeting her Lila partner at a band photoshoot in 2010; Calgarian crust punk; who barfed at her first punk show; signing to V2 Records; film industry sound design; connections to Black Mountain, the Black Keys, Destroyer, Kylesa, Thor and more; and her new Cure cover band, Strawberries and Cream.

Hello! It's nearing the end of 2023, and per tradition I've invited Adam Mitchell onto the podcast to get into some of his favourite records of the year — this time including music from Guided By Voices, Park Hye Jin, Home Front, and People's Temple.

Adam also weighs in on traveling to Mexico to record a 7-inch as a member of punk outfit Pura Mania; upcoming projects from both Spectres and Madness Cartel; and dialing into third-wave ska classics in happenstantial fashion.

That's it until 2024!

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is an interview with Tom Thacker, the Fraser Valley, BC-raised founding guitarist of pop-punkers Gob, and longtime member of Sum 41.

Throughout the talk, Tom touches on: getting Gob off the ground with co-founder Theo Goutzinakis; bringing punk rock shows to suburban Langley, BC in the '90s, and possibly dusting their Punk Strikes Back concert series off in 2024; record store jobs; the sonic influence of Vancouver hardcore; running away from a bull on his way to a bush party; and whether or not original Gob drummer Wolfman Pat was in fact Andy Dixon from d.b.s.'s dad.

Gob's recent round of vinyl reissues are out now through Dine Alone Records, while Tom's also bracing himself for a mega-tour supporting Sum 41's upcoming final album, Heaven :x: Hell.

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is an interview with Jordan Blilie, the onetime co-vocalist for surrealistic hardcore outfit The Blood Brothers. The band recently delivered a deluxe anniversary reissue behind 2003's Burn, Piano Island, Burn, which is out now via Epitaph.

Throughout the talk, Jordan touches on: the dynamic, daring, and essential tandem he maintained with co-vocalist Johnny Whitney; the difference between vocal confidence and vocal competence; going into "survival mode" in the studio; working with Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit); making a truly bizarre major label debut; and plying one's trade as a "grotesque mess."

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is an interview with Vanessa Heins, a Toronto-based photographer who has worked with artists in the worlds of punk, folk, pop, hip-hop, and so much more for more than 20 years.

Throughout the talk, Vanessa touches on: growing up in Vancouver; getting her start behind the lens in high school while taking photos of her friends' punk bands (including future members of Said the Whale); setting a scene comfortably; an upcoming tour with City and Colour; and memories of shoots with the likes of Alexisonfire, Beastie Boys, Carly Rae Jepsen, U.S. Girls' Meg Remy, John Prine, Sister Ray, and more!

You can find Vanessa's work over on Instagram.

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is with Jack Duckworth, the Vancouver Island-born, Glasgow based musician currently crafting darkwave odysseys as Soft Riot. The synth-heavy solo project's snarky, urgent and playful new No album comes out August 11 through Jack's own Possession Records and the Netherlands' Wave Tension Records.

Throughout the talk, Jack gets into: Soft Riot's latest collection; finding his way back to guitar; cosmic coincidences; Vancouver Island punk in the early '90s; playing his first-ever show with an Acid casualty fill-in singer; hitchhiking; the quaintness of early internet culture; and his time in bands including The Forgotten, Anthony Monday, Slough of Despond, The Measure, and Radio Berlin.

The latest Gut Feeling Podcast goes down the '90s straight edge hardcore rabbit hole with Dead Quiet vocalist-guitarist Kevin Keegan, who got his start as the 14-year-old drummer for Kelowna, BC's Decoy.

Throughout the talk, Kevin gets into: building up his drum chops to Metallica's Kill 'Em All; getting pulled into his local hardcore scene as a teenage wunderkind; the Refused show Decoy were supposed to play; road trip chaperones; why he ultimately switched over to guitar; voice acting; dog walking; and more!

You can also find out more about the making of Dead Quiet's most recent album, IV, over here through my feature for RANGE magazine.

Hello again! The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is an interview with Justin Gradin, the Vancouver-raised, and soon-to-be-L.A.-based multi-disciplinary artist whom most recently released his debut graphic novel, Mystic Debris (out now via Fantagraphics).

Throughout the talk, Justin gets into: Mystic Debris' somewhat biographical origins; upcoming audio-visual projects with Grammy winner and onetime roommate Tobias Jesso Jr.; the ways our bodies hang onto trauma; transcendental meditation; learning to play drums behind his surf rock-loving dad; early bands w Gossip's Nathan Howdeshell; starting up underground punk venue the Emergency Room; making music videos for White Lung and Louise Burns; how he lost his job at a Toys 'R' Us; and more!

You can also find out more about Mystic Debris, as well as Justin's favourite drummers of all time, over here through my feature for RANGE magazine.

Hello again! The latest Gut Feeling Podcast is an interview with Mark Palm, the Seattle-based vocalist-guitarist for contemporary power pop titans Supercrush, and a Vancouver-grown hardcore kid at heart.

Did you realize that this Saturday (April 15) marks the twentieth anniversary of the first ever live performance from Vancouver's Go It Alone? Mark sure hadn't, so I gave him a call to drum up some old memories about the early days of the band.

Throughout the talk, Mark gets into: earnest, emotional hardcore lyrics; recording a demo as a duo, but building out the line-up a year later as a quintet; the fatal flaw of naming your group Go It Alone; early shows and the first West Coast tour; East Vancouver's Second Ave punk house; questionable guitar tone; the Vancouver Gold EP; and how the band looked by the end of 2003.

Back in the present, Mark also offers up some details on Supercrush's forthcoming covers album, and the new compilation he's putting together around some of his favourite Seattle-area bands.

Hello, hello! The latest Gut Feeling podcast is an interview with Murray A. Lightburn, a longtime member of orchestral pop group the Dears who is also about to release his third solo album, Once Upon a Time in Montreal.

Murray has described his latest full-length as an "audio version of a biopic," inspired by the life of his father William, a jazz saxophonist who passed away in 2020. It’s a contemplative, massively moving collection of jazz, folk, and r&b-styled moments, all of which being anchored by the golden tone of Murray’s tenor-baritone vocal.

Throughout the talk, Murray gets into: early memories of singing in church; moving from teen cover bands to the Dears; learning to sing "from the belly"; when to forgo falsetto; his father's sax style; how vocal range evolves; his recent instrumental score for filmmaker Chandler Levack's I Like Movies; bread-baking; his mother's radio show; and more!

Once Upon a Time in Montreal is out this Friday (03/31) through Dangerbird Records.