The Basements Were Stars

Welcome to Season 2 of The Basements Were Stars. Thank you to all who have tuned in this past year. I kick things off with LG from Dead Leaf Echo. We get into some of his musical background, some Dead Leaf Echo history, the current state of shoegaze, and of course the big dream pop / shoegaze festival, I Have a Dream Pop, that is happening later this week in New York City which Dead Leaf Echo will be a part of. You don't want to miss it.

Follow Dead Leaf Echo:

Bandcamp

Linktree

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

I Have a Dream Pop Festival:

Night 1 Tickets

Night 2 Tickets

Day 3 Tickets

I Have a Dream Pop

Telepathic Windows

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Incidental music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

Welcome to the last episode of the season! V. Paul welcomes Aren Emirsian of the post-hardcore bands, Musa Dagh and Harmful (also of his own solo project, Emirsian, Germany based pop duo, Arem & Chima, and LA Armenian folk duo, Emirsian & Dabandjian) to the pod. This is a great conversation between two old friends. They discuss the making of Musa Dagh's new album, Endurance, the changes the band recently undertook, the constant guiding force both Black Sabbath and Faith No More have been on him and all his projects, also reforming Harmful, and much, much more.

Follow Aren and all his projects on IG:

Emirian

Musa Dagh

Harmful

Aren & Chima

Emirisan & Dabandjian

Musa Dagh: Endurance

Order Musa Dagh's new album, Endurance

Stream Musa Dagh's, Endurance

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Incidental music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

V. Paul Janbazian welcomes one of his absolute favorite drummers to the pod. A member of both legendary Boston bands, Bullet LaVolta and The Juliana Hatfield Three, he brought a sense of pocket, feel, and flair that wasn't very common in indie rock at the time. He is of course multi-instrumentalist, Todd Philips. They get into his musical background/upbringing in Lynnfield, MA, touring with Moving Targets while still in high school, joining Bullet LaVolta, and later Juliana Hatfield's band, his pivot into motion picture advertising, the late great bassists, Mikey Welsh and Jennifer Finch, what he's up to now, and a whole lot more.

Follow Todd Philips and Bullet LaVolta on IG:

@taphilips

@bulletlavoltaofficial

Check out Juliana Hatfield's music:

Bandcamp

Spotify

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Incidental music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

V. Paul Janbazian welcomes long time friend, Jeremy Winter of legendary NJ shoegaze/dream pop/indie rock band, All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors and solo project, Jett Brando to the pod. They sorta/kinda came up in the same music scenes as V. Paul's former bandmates in Sleep Station went to high school with Jer. They go deep into Lemon & Lime history, his musical/artistic upbringing, My Bloody Valentine (actually a lot into MBV), and much, much more.

Follow L&L:

Linktree

Instagram

Facebook

Merch Store

Follow Jett Brando:

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Bluesky

Cherry Red Records' We Are the Beautiful Comp/Box Set:

Streaming on Spotify

4 CD Box Set

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Incidental music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

V. Paul welcomes soulgaze / dream pop pioneer, Danny Chavis to the pod. They reminisce on the first time they met when Apollo Heights opened for TV On The Radio at the First Unitarian Church of Philly. They also get into the early music scene in Raleigh, their influence on bands/artists today, the resurgence of shoegaze music in the last 5 years, and a whole lot more.

Follow The Veldt:

Bandcamp

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Bluesky

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Incidental music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

V. Paul welcomes back SayMo, hip-hop artists/producer/poet/writer to the pod. They continue their conversation from last time. Topics discussed include, songwriting, production, AI, rappers/emcees, classic Armenian musicians, cultural integration in modern popular music, and a whole lot more.

Follow SayMo:

• ⁠Bandcamp⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠Threads⁠
• ⁠Twitter⁠

Theme music & outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Background music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

I'm finally back after taking another long unintended break. Regardless, I'm back and my guest is none other than, legendary producer, Gordon Raphael, the sonic wizard behind The Strokes' first three recordings (The Modern Age EP, Is This It, and Room on Fire) and a bit of their fourth album, First Impressions of Earth. We get into his upbringing in Seattle, his early bands, moving to New York, opening his studio in the Lower East Side, meeting/working with The Strokes, moving to London, and a whole lot more.

Follow Gordon:

• ​Instagram
• ​Facebook
• ​YouTube
• ​Bandcamp

Theme music & outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

Get in touch and support the pod!

This episode is a response to Rick Beato’s video⁠ from last week, the latest offering to the discourse and talk around Wired’s now infamous article on Chaotic Good Project’s illicit marketing tactics and their client, Brooklyn “indie” rock band, Geese. Hopefully this is the last time I have to talk about this. Somehow, I doubt it.

Theme music & outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Background music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

V. Paul welcomes SayMo, hip-hop artists/producer/poet/writer to the pod. They get into microphones, production techniques, the state of modern pop music, AI, System of Down, his upcoming Western Armenian project, and a whole lot more.

Follow SayMo:

• Bandcamp
• Instagram
• Threads
• Twitter

Theme music & outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

Background music by HitsLab • Ievgen Poltavsky, BMI

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production

We're switching things up a bit this episode. I had a good sit down with Matthew Zeitoun (filmmaker/photographer/curator/comedian), co-founder of Phenotype Stages and resident/co-manager of Prototype 237 in Paterson, NJ. We had a nice conversation over a few beers on the patio of our mutual friend Paul Larsen's gallery. We get into our favorite Middle Eastern Paterson spots (both of our families are from Lebanon), his filmmaking and photography background, standup comedy, his various projects at Prototype 237 and Phenotype Stages, and a whole lot more. Thank you to Paul Larsen for providing his space (Paul Larsen Gallery) for this episode.

matthewzeitoun.com

The Patersonian

IG: @matthewzeitoun • @zeitounpromotions • @artistexhibitions • @openfilmscreenings • @phenotypestages • ⁠@prototypepaterson

Theme and outro music by V. Paul Janbazian • Caspian Seal Sounds and Music, ASCAP

The Basements Were Stars is a Caspian Seal production