Pod Castanova

The guys talk about music production, approaches to drum programming, making the bad guy lovable in a lyric, and the Nashville co-writing process.

In this episode, the guys talk about seeing musical legends at the hardware store, the work of Quincy Jones, and rockstar genes.  They also listen to and analyze an older soul track and a newer pop song.

To celebrate Thanksgiving coming, we had Grammy nominated songwriter, music director, and producer extraordinaire Jon Jackson, Jr come by the studio for a fun episode of the podcast.  Jon has been touring and working in the studio most recently with the amazing Macy Gray.  He has a unique perspective on the music industry after working as a professional musician at the top of the game in New Orleans, Nashville, and Los Angeles...3 cities with booming music scenes and very different industries.  Not to mention, Jon happens to be one of our oldest friends and just a generally rad guy.  We talked about bands recreating their successes after a huge record, discected the form of "Who Let the Dogs Out", and the songwriting process.

The guys talk about how musicians and artists get paid, strategies some artists have used to promote themselves online, super fans of bands, and Mike Judge

Scott jams out on some yacht rock, Tyler talks about how the studio came together, and the guys talk about co-writing and collaborating with other musicians and writers.

Scott gets back from a month in LA.  Tyler talks about being at the CMT Awards and meeting Pharrell, and recording your music mobile on the road.

The guys talk about what qualities they think define hit songs, artists building themselves as brands, Tyler talks about opening for Billy Gibbons and how he pranked them, and Scott talks about the time he DJ-ed a dinosaur themed wedding.

In this episode, the guys talk about Bonnaroo and Jazz Fest, their undying love for Dr. John, and the time Scott played with Shania Twain.

We caught up with Los Angeles based hit songwriter Dave Kuncio at a really exciting time.   It was the day after the song "Somewhere on a Beach" he co-wrote for Dierks Bentley went #1.  Not only has this guy written songs for Selena Gomez, Ty Dolla Sign, and Nico & Vinz, but he also almost became an NFL football kicker.  He talked with us about getting started in music, bowling with Alicia Keys, and how his songs ended up on the radio.

Sarah and Ian are not only married, but they tour the country together putting thousands of miles on the Van-tasy promoting their own brand of indie, soulful Americana music.  They have built a loyal following and have a lot of really great stories from it all.  Sarah's powerful voice and unique story also led her to reaching the top 20 on season 8 of NBC's the Voice.  She & Ian are hilarious together, and they definitely didn't hold anything back.  They also play an original song "Granddad" off of their upcoming record "Monster" at the end of the episode.