Passion Pod

Michael Sieben is an Austin, Texas based illustrator and the current managing editor of the hugely popular Thrasher Magazine. He is also the co owner and artist behind Roger Skateboards. Michael grew up skateboarder and earned himself a bachelors degree in fine art before finding his way into the skateboard industry. From making little local zines for fun to writing and editing the most successful skateboard magazine of all time, Michael has a lot of stories to share.

Sprig of That is a tabla, fiddle, and guitar trio that play midwest-raised and globally inspired acoustic folk music. The band consists of Krissy Bergmark on tabla, Isabel Dammann on violin, and Ilan Blanck on guitar. Sprig of That came to Eau Claire and performed at Forage as part of the All Ears Listening Session series. I was lucky enough to catch their live performance and record an interview with each member after the show. With the recent release of their new album "Bloom", there was plenty to talk about.

In this episode we discuss how to form a band, how to come up with a good name for a band, how to improvise when performing live, how to maintain a band when the members live in different places, how to balance work life and touring, how to find your own sound, and much more.

Sol is an established hip hop artist based in Seattle. He has been a full time musician for over a decade and recently went on a cross country tour with his friend and fellow music artist SonReal. I was able to catch him before his show in St. Paul for this interview.

Adam Accola is one of the main people running Colab EC and is also a member of the board of directors for Converge Radio. My show originally premiered on Converge Radio several years ago and has been a weekly, and now twice a week, radio show ever since. Converge Radio is Eau Claire's local independent station that plays a wide variety of music, talk shows, and much more. Colab EC is Eau Claire's premier collaborative co working space. Since Adam and I have spent so much time working together on various things over the years it just made sense to finally have him on the show.

The Gully Boys are a 4 piece band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They performed at the Brickhouse in Eau Claire, WI on Saturday December 3rd 2022. I was able to sit down with all 4 of them to record this interview before their performance. In these interviews we discuss how the band was formed, touring the country, playing covers, winning Minnesota's "Best New Band" in 2018, adding a 4th member, recording music, and much more.

Daniel Donato is a guitarist and singer/songwriter originally from Nashville, Tennessee. Daniel started busking at the age of 14 and grew his skills considerably when he started playing in the famous Don Kelly band while still in high school. At first his dream was to become a studio musician and play on every major country record, but instead he felt the need to start creating his own music. Still only 27 years old Daniel has become a force to be reckoned with in the industry. His band "Cosmic Country" is really something you need to see in person to fully understand how special they are. Thankfully they have been on tour after tour almost non stop for some time with no end in sight. In this episode we discuss how the crew came together, how to carve your own path, ways to slow down, and why it's all worth it.

Willy Santos is a professional skateboarder from San Diego, California. Willy's skateboarding career has spanned decades with too many incredible moments and stories to ever tell in one sitting. In this interview we discuss sending in his one and only sponsor me tape, meeting Tony Hawk at a schoolyard, getting courted to ride for Birdhouse, skating in the first X Games, owning a skateshop, building his board brand (Willy's Workshop), Couch Curb pillows, coaching olympians, and so much more.

Lawrence Lanoff, or better known as Lawrence the Energy Master, is a renowned director, author, tantric expert, and shaman. Lawrence grew up in New York and had a pretty crazy childhood to say the least. His career spans decades with way more to cover than possible in one interview. This episode will really get you thinking and open your mind to new ways to look at life.

Lorraine D'Alessio is a Los Angeles based model turned lawyer. Lorraine grew up in Canada and began modeling while still attending high school. From a young age she was already flying all over the world to work. Trying to deal with all the immigration laws and regulations every time she got off the plane wasn't exactly the easiest thing to handle. Lorraine chose to continue her education and became a lawyer in order to help talented individuals navigate the same challenges she had to in the past. She started her own law firm and things have really taken off since. Tune in and hear about the side of the industry that nobody talks about.

Monsee is a creative director from the east coast that works and resides in Los Angeles, California. He's worked with countless big names including Ciara, JoJo Siwa, Beanie Segil, Travis Barker, etc. He's also good friends and works with Mikaila Murphy and Courtney Sanderson who were both guests on the show previously. Tune in and hear his journey from drawing sabertooth tigers as a kid to directing music videos for some of the best in the business. I bet you didn't know he used to work for the Smithsonian. Yeah, that is only one of the many stories you're going to want to hear.