Having A Blast with Kyle Devlin

Welcome to today's show. Today is the 13th edition of our Flashback Friday's Series here at Having a Blast.

Today, I'm highlighting a record that came out in the year 2012. This was the first year where I really embraced streaming and starting using Spotify regularly.

This record is one that I missed when it came out. It wasn't until a few years after this that I went back and revisited it.

It's from one of my favorite singers in one of my favorite bands. This record is called "Babylon" by Matt Skiba & The Sekrets.

Matt Skiba put out this solo record in 2012. He wanted it to sound a little bit more "romantic" as he put it in several interviews, than Alkaline Trio.

Cameron Webb produced the record. I know Matt and Cameron get along, as Cameron has done a few Alkaline Trio records at this point.

I love this record. I love every song. I know Matt says he wanted to make a record that sounds like The Cure, The Chameleons, and Adam Ant, but this record sounds like the best that Matt has to offer whether it be solo or with Alkaline Trio. The songs are just really great Skiba tunes.

Some of the songs remind me of early Green Day with some synths thrown in.

A couple of noteworthy items about this record: Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit fame helped Skiba create the aesthetic of this album. I think he even helped write some of the songs or complete some of the songs. Hunter from AFI also helped Skiba with some live performances as part of his backing band along with Wes.

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Hey there friends!

On today's episode, I'm excited to be speaking to my buddy Tyler Harms.

Tyler and I go way back, he played a band called Fourth and Long from St. Louis that we played some shows with.

He moved to KC a few years ago, and I'm always running into him at shows. It's always fun chatting with him.

He mentioned to me a while ago that the newest MXPX record, their self-titled record, has become his favorite of theirs. I wanted to dig into that.

I think it's awesome when a band that has been around as long as MXPX has, can put out an album so well-received from their fans.

MxPx is a self-titled album by American rock band MxPx self-released on July 25, 2018. The band used the crowd-funding website Kickstarter and exceeded their $50,000 goal by over $200,000. A month before the album's release, MxPx released a music video of "Let's Ride." A deluxe edition of the record was also released, containing the original track listing along with four bonus songs and acoustic versions of five of the original tracks.

"Let's Ride" was included in the 2020 video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.

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When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes is the seventh studio album released by American rock band Yellowcard on March 22, 2011 under Hopeless Records. The album has received positive reviews. The album's title comes from a text message sent to a girl by lead singer Ryan Key.

Later in the year, the band released an acoustic version of the album.

In July 2010, rumours surfaced that Yellowcard, who had been on a two-year hiatus, would be reforming. In August, Yellowcard announced they would be returning from their hiatus and would be working on a new album for independent label Hopeless Records. Following the band's reformation, they immediately began working on their new album. Ryan Key, who had previously been in a small project with Reeve Oliver vocalist/guitarist Sean O'Donnell (who was chosen as Pete Mosely's replacement after he declined to return) called "Big If", confirmed that some of Big If's songs were going to be reworked by Yellowcard and included on the new album.

Sessions for When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes were held at Sunset Sound and The Casita, both in Hollywood, California, in October and November 2010, with producer Neal Avron. He handled recording with engineer and Pro Tools operator Erich Talaba; they were assisted by Morgan Strattton at Sunset. Avron mixed the recordings at Paramount Recording Studios in Holly, with assistance from Nicolas Fournier. Ted Jensen mastered the album at Sterling Sound. While in the studio, they released a number of video updates. Some of the studio updates were shown originally on Rock Sound magazine's website.

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On today's episode, I do a deep dive on MXPX's 1998 album "Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo".

Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo is the fourth studio album released by American punk rock band MxPx in 1998. The album title was taken from a letter that a fan had written to the band, complaining that the band was changing and was "slowly going the way of the buffalo".

Due to the success of MxPx's "Chick Magnet", from their previous album, Life in General, the band signed a multi-album contract with A&M. A&M had previously signed a deal with Tooth & Nail to co-market Life in General. This market deal was "cobbled together in order to sign the band", according to A&M chairman Al Cafaro.

Moving away from the sound of Life in General, the band "dirtied things up a little", according to vocalist and bassist Mike Herrera, for Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo. The band refrained from making the album "sound like it was produced in a lab." Greg Hetson of Bad Religion has guest vocals on "The Downfall of Western Civilization".

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Hey there friends!

Welcome to the 11th edition of Flashback Fridays.

On today's episode, I'm going to be highlighting a record that came out in the year 2010.

This record is titled Fluorescent Youth by the band Conditions.

Florescent Youth was the first official full length from the band. They had put out a couple of eps before this one.

The record was released by Good Fight Music, and I believe that label is still putting out releases, they just released this album on vinyl last year in September of 2020. Fluorescent Youth was remixed and remastered by Paul Leavitt, who originally recorded the LP. There are also two all-new bonus tracks, “Broken Kingdom,” which the band recorded during the Fluorescent Youth sessions, and “Give it All,” which the band released as a standalone in 2018.

I like this record a lot, and I feel like the band Conditions was a bit of a sleeper band. It seemed like they were destined to blow up after being added to the Alternative Press Tour in 2011, but I think it may have just not been in the cards.

The record is great, though. It sounds polished and punchy. Big guitars, big drums, and big anthemic melodies. These guys are definitely a band to check out if you're a fan of bands like Anberlin, Saosin, Ivoryline, and even the more melodic stuff from bands like Senses Fail and Silverstein.

I think my favorite tune is called "Better Life", and they released it as a single. It's got a great message. I'm going to play a clip of that now.

And there you have it, my Flashback Friday band of the week is Conditions from Richmond Virginia. Check them out. Their full length after this one that was released in 2013 called "Full of War" is also very good.

Alright! I hope you all are doing well out there in real life. I hope you're having fun and listening to your favorite records, because the universe knows we need it right now. I'll talk to you guys soon.

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Hey friends!

Today I'm excited to be speaking with someone that I've wanted to talk to for a while. Mr. Jed Dion, the host of Talking Records Podcast. I can't say that without hearing the Chris Demakes intro podcast theme.

Jed is a fantastic human. I really appreciate him taking the time to chat with me.

Sometimes, I think people who host podcasts get a little podcasted out, so I really appreciate his time.

Jed is a big reason why I started Having A Blast. I was turned on to his podcast by my friend Jonathan Langston when he interviewed Jake from the band Strung Out. And I've been listening ever since.

We talk about getting into punk rock, playing in punk rock bands, falling in love with music and identifying with punk music.

Jed is also a 5th grade teacher, so we discuss what that's like as well.

I had so much fun talking to Jed, I feel like we could discuss music for hours. He has always seemed like an insanely likable and humble dude on his podcast and I can confirm that he is indeed exactly that and more. Check out his podcast wherever you listen and check out his Instagram @talkingrecords as well for updates.

Without further ado, please enjoy this fun convo with Mr. Jed Dion, host of Talking Records.

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Hey there friends!

Welcome to the show. I hope you all are doing fantastically well out there. Staying safe and staying active.

Today, I'm extremely excited to talk to my buddy Josh Kemble from the band Dogwood.

Josh and Dogwood were extremely kind to myself and my band Gametime. They took us out on the road with them in 2003 and we had a lot of fun.

I remember watching them every night and I really learned a lot from those guys.

Josh is currently the executive chef for Harvest Kitchen in San Diego California.

We talk about the cross pollination of food, being in a band and punk rock.

We discuss what it's been like to collaborate with some of our favorite artists with music and the podcast.

This was a lovely conversation, I'm so glad I was able to speak to Josh. He's a very sweet, kind,  and humble person.

So, without further ado, please enjoy this multiple-topic convo with Josh Kemble from Dogwood.

Dogwood is a punk rock band from Escondido, California founded in 1993. Their music has been compared to that of The Offspring, and they list Bad Religion, NOFX and Lagwagon as musical influences.

The band caught the eye of Tooth & Nail Records. In 1999, More Than Conquerors was released, followed by Building a Better Me in 2000, Matt Aragon in 2001, and Seismic in 2003. In 2004, Tooth & Nail released a Dogwood greatest hits album titled Reverse, Then Forward Again.

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When I Hit the Ground is the second studio album by American rock musician Ace Enders, using the name Ace Enders and a Million Different People. The album was released on 17 March 2009 through Vagrant Records. The album peaked at number 15 on the Top Heatseekers chart and number 44 on the Top Independent Albums chart.

Arthur Carl "Ace" Enders (born April 19, 1982, in Hammonton, New Jersey) is an American musician. Enders is the lead singer and guitarist of the band The Early November. He is also the lead musician, songwriter and co-producer in his band, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business. He has also released music under the name Ace Enders and a Million Different People.

In December 2008, Ace Enders and a Million Different People released the single "Bitter Sweet Symphony", a cover of The Verve song, on the iTunes Store. The song involves multiple artists including Mark Hoppus, Aaron Marsh, Craig Owens, Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, Bryce Avary, Kenny Vasoli, Matt Thiessen, and Duane Okun. All of the proceeds from the song went to VH1's Save the Music Foundation.

Ace Enders and a Million Different People released its second album, Enders' third solo album, on March 17, 2009, through Vagrant/Drive-Thru Records. The album is titled When I Hit the Ground.

Ace Enders and a Million Different People went on tour with The All-American Rejects on the I Wanna Rock Tour starting in early April 2009.

On today's episode, I do a deep dive into the making and history of The Used' Self-Titled album. We talk about the origin of the band, the demoing process, the release, and the recording process.

I give my thoughts on the album and why I think it resonated with fans as much as it did.

We also discuss the role of John Feldmann as the producer of this album and the sound that spawned from this time period to define a genre and time period.

It was fun to revisit this classic.

The Used was released on June 25, 2002 through Reprise Records.

The album's sound has been described as screamo, emo and post-hardcore. "The Taste of Ink" is "pretty much about being frustrated and maybe biting on a pen", according to McCracken. McCracken said "Buried Myself Alive" was "about a girl. It's about drugs. It's about loss. It's about being alive, about living". "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" was inspired in part by McCracken's past experiences with drugs. He said it was about "drugs and alcohol and loss and love... and just being stoked that things are always going to get better or always gonna get worse and that's such a great thing". "Blue and Yellow" is about McCracken and Allman's friendship, as the latter explains: "When the band started to really pick up... we were almost not being friends anymore because we were focusing so much time on the band and not on each other".

On today's edition, we're highlighting a record from the year 2008.

The record I've chosen today is the third official full length from Chicago's very own The Academy Is... The album is called Fast Times at Barrington High.

I love this record. I think it's one of the most expertly crafted pop rock albums. Sonically, it still holds up and the recording and production is quite good. I love every song. It's a very bright Summery record. The songs have big anthemic choruses. The lyrics and melodies get stuck in your head. There's nothing too complex.

Fast Times at Barrington High is the third and final studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released in August 2008.

It was named the 46th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the high school to which William Beckett and Adam Siska went,[3] and a play on the title of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The album cover photo was taken by William Beckett's sister, Courtney Beckett, and shows William sitting on a couch with Naomi, a friend of the band.[citation needed]

I feel like this was the record that should have put The Academy Is into the realm of pop stardom. It may have just been a year or two too late. I'm not really sure why radio didn't grab ahold of any of the singles from the record.