I've chased this interview for years. The Menzingers are without a doubt one of my favourite bands. Having been a fan for so long, I feel as though I've grown up with them in a way, experiencing the weirdness of being in your 20s in an age where everything seems primed to keep us in a state of suspended adolescence. Their earnest and sincere songwriting won me over from the moment I first heard 'Chamberlain Waits', and I've stayed with them ever since. A lot of their thoughts echoed my own as I drifted through my 20s and into my 30s. It was surprising and wonderful to find out that their new album is a meditation on what it's like to move into your 30s, and I think that's got a lot to do with why 'After the Party' resonates with me so much.

Tom is a very nice chap. Let that be said from the outset. Continuing to be humble in the wake of their continued success. In many ways, it feels like The Menzingers have been building up to 'After the Party', and as Tom discusses in the interview, they've looked at each record as the next one towards the perfect Menzingers' record. Perfection is impossible of course, but progress is not and it was really awesome to be able to spend some time talking to Tom about that progress, their drive to keep at when everyone was telling them to stop, and so much more. 

Also, I'm fairly sure the interview took place in the world's most echo-y room. But hey, ambience amirite?

I hope you enjoy this interview.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Unsung we chat about Foo Fighters' self titled debut album and ask if it's really worthy of inclusion in our canon of classic albums. On this particular occasion, the public voted no (I'm releasing these a week behind our main feed), but you can still voice your opinion on if that's the right or wrong call over on our Facebook page.

If you want to know more about the podcast head to www.unsungpod.net and subscribe to our feed there. As ever, reviews and comments are appreciated!

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I like looking in on previous guests with this podcast. It's good to check in and see how things have been.

We’re back to the start with this one. Conor was my first guest on this podcast, and with the release of their long anticipated, and slightly delayed, debut album, it seemed only fitting to bring him back on to the show so we could talk about their fortunes in the two and a half years since our previous conversation.

Things have changed for the band since our first chat. They’ve lost members, gained new ones, toured extensively, recorded in legendary surroundings and went through all the different stages a new band goes through as they find themselves and their sound.

Talking to Conor made me realise how far we’ve both come since this wee podcast began. Our approaches to our creative ventures have changed over the years but we’re still in it, doing our own things, learning as we go along and absorbing new information in the process. In the whole time I’ve been doing this podcast Dialects are the only band I’ve featured who I’ve known since the beginning of their career.

It’s been great to see his band grow. I’ll never forget our first chat in the back of their tour van. It’s exciting to follow the growth of a band from the beginning, to see them realise the potential that you always presumed they had.

Makes you wonder if it’s the same for everyone.

I hope you enjoy this conversation.

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This is episode two of Unsung Podcast, a new podcast that I'm a co-host on.

We're asking you to listen to Jane Doe by Converge and vote on if you think it should be added to a discography of all time great records. You can vote on this episode by going to https://www.unsungpod.net/episodes/2017/12/21/episode-2-jane-doe-by-converge

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Back in my car for this interview. This time it was on a freezing December night where the thermostat was definitely in the minus figures, so when we got inside I turned the engine on and the AC up to get some heat into the damn thing. You can probably hear that in the interview. I think it lends it a certain ambiance. You are, of course, welcome to disagree.

P.O.S approaches hip hop in a punk rock way. I initially heard him when a friend turned me onto his song ‘De La Souls’, which features Greg from The Bouncing Souls. This was around the time Never Better came out. I got both Never Better and Audition on the same day and was impressed by his approach. Those two albums are mostly loud and abrasive, and both feature contributions from punk rock singers (as mentioned, Greg from the Bouncing Souls, and Jason from Kid Dynamite on a track called ‘Terrorish’ on Never Better). I read an interview at the time which said he was just making hip hop people could skate too. That sums up a lot of what Audition and parts of Never Better sound like. It’s loud, brash, snotty and in your face.

We Don’t Even Live Here came next and he’s right when he calls it a dance party. It’s mostly electronic and it goes hard. It seemed a bit of a left turn to begin with, but like everything else it’s got the same abrasive nature.

His new record chill, dummy is a lot more laid back. It’s also great and we do harp on about closer Sleepdrone/Superposition at length in this interview. I’ve never heard a hip hop song – or any song – like it.

I met him a couple of times when he hit Glasgow to support Never Better. He was the consummate gentleman, of course, and I was just as impressed with his work ethic and ethos as I was his music. When I was thinking of guests I wanted on this podcast before I begab, he was definitely up there. So in a way, talking to him fulfils another long held dream I had for this podcast.

Goals. We all gotta have em.

And so we move to this interview, which is certainly up there with some of the most fun ones I’ve conducted. He was so up for it, really game for a chat and having a bit of a laugh. The whole thing is easy and flows really well. I didn’t even get to look at my questions, instead just riffing as I went. That’s how I know it’s a good interview.

I hope you enjoy it.

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I’ve been incredibly fortunate with this project. It started off as just an experiment to become familiar with how to podcast. Since then I’ve managed to tick a bunch of my favourite artists off my interview bucket list.

This live episode is another one I can tick off the bucket list.

We’ve all heard our favourite podcasts doing live episodes and to be honest, I wasn’t even entirely sure how I was going to do my own version of it. The truth is though, is that it was just like any other episode – a laid back chat with interesting folk.

Book Yer Ane Fest was superb. I highly recommend it. Even if you’re not au fait with many of the bands playing, it’s worth heading down just to soak up the incredibly good-natured vibe all on its own. To be asked to be a part of it, and to do something I’ve been dreaming about for years, was an incredible honour.

Big thanks to Derrick, Kenny and Jonny for allowing me the chance to do this silly little podcast in a live setting, and for taking some time out of the business of running the festival to sit and chat for half an hour or so. It means the world to me.

This was recorded live in Deacon Brodie’s at 12pm on December the 3rd 2017 (the day before my 32nd birthday, no less) and I think it turned out really quite well.

I hope you enjoy the episode.

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