Today I am joined by Blake Luley, a songwriter who releases music as Rainwater. I first came across Rainwater’s album “Saturn Return” shortly after it was released on Furious Hooves, the label that also released my own album Sisyphean a few years ago. As it turns out, Luley and I shared another connection, as he used to play in the bands Howth and Air Waves in Brooklyn, NY. These days Luley lives in Seattle where in addition to writing music he works as an elementary school teacher. Rainwater’s most recent album “In-Between” came out on August 13th and it trades in the more ornate production of “Saturn Return” for a more insular take on Luley’s soft rock inspired sound. This seemingly chill aesthetic serves as the backdrop for a group of sounds grappling with grief and anxiety. Luley and I had a great conversation about the album, becoming a father, finding new music in your 30s and much more.

https://rainwatermusic.bandcamp.com/

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/

Some off the cuff thoughts on the new Between the Buried and Me album, the finale to The Rebuild of Evangelion, and what it means when an artist decides to return to an older project.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-human-instrumentality-podcast/id1549740529

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/album/you-cant-do-this-alone

Siddhu Anadalingham of Semaphore and Andrew Noseworthy of People Places Records joined me to talk about the long running prog metal band Between the Buried and Me. The three of us all got into the band during their come up in the 00s hardcore scene, but have all since fallen off after the band swerved deep into the prog zone. Since BTBAM are set to release the sequel to their beloved 2007 album Colors this month, I figured it was the right occasion to talk over the band's strange career and legacy. I had a lot of fun, hope you dig it!

Semaphore:

https://semaphoretheband.bandcamp.com/

Andrew Noseworthy:

https://anmusiccomposer.bandcamp.com/

Lamniformes:

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/

This is the audio version of a newsletter that I wrote about the passing of former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. You can read the text version of it at the following link:

https://lamniformes.substack.com/p/joey-jordison-was-number-1

Calder Hannan is the host of the YouTube Channel 'Metal Music Theory', where he analyzes riffs from cutting edge metal bands with equally cutting edge music theory concepts. He also plays some really gnarly death metal of his own in the band Florid Ekstasis, and is working on a PhD from Columbia in music theory, so he really knows what he's talking about! I've loved watched Hannah's videos on YouTube so I was psyched to have him on the podcast to talk about how he comes up with his videos, his thoughts on the state of metal in academia, the tensions between academia and pop music theory, why people love to talk about Meshuggah so much, and much more!

Here's the links to his channel, music, and patreon:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIrOOZeidxZjoDRFdLqabmA

https://www.patreon.com/metalmusictheory

This is the audio version of my latest newsletter, which you can find here:

https://lamniformes.substack.com/p/throat-clearinginput-update

Today I am joined by Derek Allen, the singer and guitarist of Lower Automation, a high energy math core band from Chicago. Lower Automation are about to release their self titled debut full length on Zegema Beach on July 12th. Recorded in a five day stretch during the summer of 2020, the album is a blistering and nerve-racking listen. Allen and I have crossed paths a few times in both the Chicago and while Lower Automation were on tour a few years back, so I was delighted to finally have him on the podcast to talk about his early interest in industrial music, why he’s attracted to rhythmic complexity, his unique approach to vocals and much more.

https://lowerautomation.bandcamp.com/

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/

Today I am joined by drummer and guitarist Stephen Schwegler. I first became aware of Steve through his drumming in the band Pyrrhon, a chaotic and cutting edge death metal band from Philly. Pyrrhon are something of a scene unto themselves, as each of the band’s members extend into similarly mind bending projects. Steve’s project along these lines is Seputus, a collaboration with Pyrrhon vocalist Doug Moore. Seputus just released their second album, Phantom Indigo, a dense psychedelic death metal record inspired in part by the book Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. I had recently picked up the very same book off the street in Brooklyn, so I was psyched to give it a read and talk to Steve about his new record, as well as his background in engineering, the inspiration he draws from movies and much more. Thank you for listening.

Seputus:

https://seputus.bandcamp.com/

Pyyrhon:

https://pyrrhonband.bandcamp.com/

Weeping Sores:

https://weepingsores.bandcamp.com/

Lamniformes:

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/album/you-cant-do-this-alone

This episode is the audio version of an article that I wrote earlier this year about how a heady concept about the nature of sound from the producer SOPHIE could be applied to how I think about the drums. If you'd like to read the text version, you can find that here:

https://lamniformes.substack.com/p/the-monophonic-ear

Last Friday I dropped my first music video, for the song "Hypothermia (Saint Thrillah Mix) so I thought it'd be cool to have my good friend Richard Gin, who directed the video, on the podcast to talk about his experience shooting DIY shows in the NY DIY scene over the last decade and a half, his recent work photographing birds, and of course the process of making a music video during a pandemic.

You can find Gin's work here:

http://www.richardgin.org/

https://www.youtube.com/user/richardginorg

Here's my music:

https://lamniformes.bandcamp.com/