Rock 'n Roll Ghost

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with actor Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds, House of Games, The Simpsons, The Godfather Part III). Mantegna discusses his career, touching on behind the scenes of David Mamet's Things Change, his time on Broadway doing Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed the Plow, as well as working with Francis Ford Coppola on The Godfather Part III. 

The Chicago actor also touches on his time on Criminal Minds as well as his upcoming Amazon series from Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), Forget Normal (also known as On the Spectrum), about autistic young adults living together in a "protected home environment" and their families.

Mantegna is the recipient of two honorary streets named after him - one in Cicero, IL where he grew up, the other in Chicago. It was a huge pleasure getting to talk to this iconic actor and great Chicagoan.

Links:

Joe Mantegna Official Site

Joe Mantegna on Twitter

Joe Mantegna on Facebook

Joe Mantegna on Instagram

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with musician Eric Hilton (Thievery Corporation) about his latest solo album, out now, Ceremony. Ceremony is Hilton's 3rd album released in the past year and he tells the Ghost that he's anticipating releasing a few more in the same span of time.

Hilton discusses making the new album, how he tends to record a lot of music with thematic intentions that get collected for individual albums - one day he could record a song for one possible release, the next another for a completely different one. He also touches on Thievery Corporation being on an extended hiatus. The band has a great "lost" tracks album that could make an appearance down the road, Hilton says, but he doesn't expect for him to tour as a part of the band again, stating that touring is not something he enjoys very much.

Ceremony is described as "interstellar psychedelia," which is apt, albeit with the relaxed groove that Thievery Corporation fans have come to expect. Since first hearing Ceremony, I placed all three of Hilton's solo albums into a playlist for work and reading, something I highly suggest. 

Available now for purchase and on streaming services from Montserrat House Music, Eric Hilton's Ceremony is a treasure of an instrumental odyssey.

Links:

Eric Hilton Official

Listen to Eric Hilton's Ceremony

Purchase Eric Hilton's Ceremony

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with filmmaker Andrew Baird about his new film Zone 414 starring Guy Pearce (LA Confidential, Memento, Iron Man 3) and Travis Fimmel (Vikings, Die in a Gunfight). The film concerns a man (Pearce) sent on a mission to find the daughter of a wealthy man (Fimmel) in a walled off area, Zone 414, that is primarily inhabited by synthetic humanoids. As he gets deeper into the search, things aren't what they appear to be.  

Baird discusses making the film, the switch of Pearce and Fimmel in the lead role, and teases his next film, One Way, starring Kevin Bacon, Fimmel, Drea de Matteo, Storm Reid and Machine Gun Kelly.  

Zone 414 is in select theaters, as well as on VOD now.

Links: 

Zone 414 

Andrew Baird on Facebook 

Zone 414 in theaters 

Zone 414 on iTunes 

Zone 414 on Vudu

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with two Michelin-starred chef Curtis Duffy, of Chicago's Ever, about opening a high-end restaurant in the middle of a global pandemic, how the restaurant business has changed in terms of respect and behavior, the constant need for change and improvement, working alongside his right-hand man for years - Ever's general manager Michael Muser, and what he actually likes to do when he's not spending every minute in his restaurant.

Links:

Ever Restaurant

Ever Restaurant on Facebook

Ever Restaurant on Instagram

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with musician Andre Xcellence (aka Xcellence!) about his career, the new music he's working on, his new single and video "Buy Me Some Love" and its direct answering to The Beatles, why he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as an "out" artist as well as the airport incident that led to a trip to the dentist's office right before our interview.  

Links: 

Andre Xcellence on Spotify 

Andre Xcellence Official Site 

Xcellence! - "Buy Me Some Love" 

Andre Xcellence on Facebook 

Andre Xcellence on Instagram

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with filmmaker Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro) about his latest film, The Protege, starring Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton, exclusively in theaters August 20th.  

Campbell, speaking from Budapest where he was in pre-production on his next film,  Memory, starring Liam Neeson, discusses making The Protege, including the various production changes that needed to be made causing some upheavals during shooting.   

He also dives into his past work, frankly admitting that he shouldn't have made Green Lantern - even though he feels his cut of the film was better than the result, as well as jump starting two different James Bond iterations (Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye and Daniel Craig in Casino Royale), which were among the most successful in the film franchise's history.  

Links: 

The Protege 

The Protege trailer 

The Protege clip

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with musician/author/actor David Duchovny (Truly Like Lightning, The X-Files, Californication) about the release of his third album, Gestureland (King Baby/Westbound), out August 20th.

Duchovny discusses his late foray into music, his level of expertise on the guitar, how he writes his songs, incorporating his bandmates more since his debut and the enjoyment he gets from touring.

He also touches on his next acting role, in Judd Apatow's upcoming Netflix movie, The Bubble, about the making of a big action film during quarantine. His novel, Truly Like Lightning, released earlier this year, is also being worked up as a pilot for Showtime.

Links:

David Duchovny Official Site

David Duchovny - "Layin' On the Tracks"

David Duchovny - "Tessera"

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with filmmaker Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Naked Gun 33 1/3, 50 First Dates, My Spy, Anger Management) about his work directing six of the eight episodes in the debut season of Heels (begins August 15 on Starz).  

Starring Stephen Amell (Arrow) and Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), Heels is about a Georgia family involved in independent wrestling and the drama that surrounds them. Segal discusses making the show in the era of Covid-19, how Jack Nicholson got cast in Anger Management opposite Adam Sandler, Leslie Nielsen forgetting who he was after they made Naked Gun 33 1/3, working with a variety of former wrestlers in his career (Dwayne Johnson, Dave Bautista) and much more.

Links: 

Peter Segal on Twitter 

Heels on Starz

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with musician Steve Kilbey (The Church) about his newest release, Steve Kilbey and the Winged Heels' The Hall of Counterfeits.  

Kilbey discusses making the album with funding from a patron, working with the guys in the Winged Heels in shaping the far ranging musical stylings found on The Hall of Counterfeits, as well as charting the ebbs and flows of The Church over the past 40 years.   

Links: 

Steve Kilbey Official Site 

Steve Kilbey and the Winged Heels on Bandcamp 

Steve Kilbey on Twitter 

Steve Kilbey on Facebook 

Steve Kilbey on Instagram

Welcome back to the Rock 'n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this week's episode, the Ghost speaks with filmmaker Collin Schiffli (Animals, All Creatures Here Below) to discuss his latest film, Die in a Gunfight starring Diego Boneta, Alexandra Daddario, Wade Allain-Marcus, Travis Fimmel and Billy Crudup. Die in a Gunfight is available now via video on demand.

Schiffli goes into detail about the long process it took to get the film, written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp) made from his first read of the script through mere weeks before production began and having his planned budget slashed in half. But, in trying times, it made him lean into his scrappy beginnings making short films while a student at Columbia College in Chicago. 

The conversation also touches on his first two feature films, both of which were written by and starred David Dastmalchin (Ant-Man, Blade Runner 2049, as well as the forthcoming The Suicide Squad and Dune). Schiffli describes having first seen Dastmalchin in The Dark Knight and, with both of them living in Chicago at the time, pursued him for a student film he wanted to do. The pair ended up in Los Angeles and became fast friends, resulting in working together further.

Links:

Collin Schiffli on Twitter

Collin Schiffli on Instagram

Die in a Gunfight Official Site

Die in a Gunfight On Demand