The Curator Podcast

As anyone familiar with the band knows by now, there is a lot to be said about Dillinger Escape Plan not just musically, but also in their ethos and approach to being a band. Torrents of column inches have been dedicated to their impending demise and the deluge will no doubt continue long after, but if you’ve heard their latest record or seen them live, it’s altogether unsurprising that they have chosen to end things on their own terms. Not because they've ran out of ideas - they're just as incendiary, captivating and straight up as mental as ever - but because everything up until this point has been thoroughly thought through.In my research prior to this conversation, Ben said in another interview that Dillinger put more thought into ten seconds worth of music than most bands do for whole albums (I would link it but when I research using old interviews they all just seem to coagulate into one big heap of words, so I’ve forgotten the source. Sorry). It is this calculated approach, compositionally and artistically, which has defined DEP’s music since the beginning. So with this knowledge in mind, it’s perhaps much easier to understand why the band decided to come to a controlled stop – if everything is laboured over for maximum effect, then it’s fitting that should the book be closed with just as much precision.This is the second time I’ve spoken to Ben. The first, as regular listeners may recall, was back in 2015 at Hevy fest. It was the briefest of brief conversations. This is twice as long (and then some), but it’s still quite short. Being in the thick of it, doing an interview back stage, is one of the coolest things, but it does mean you’re often pushed for time. Which is a shame, particularly in this case cause I didn’t even get around to asking Ben any of the questions I had written down. We could’ve sat for another 20 minute, that’s how easy the conversation flowed.It was also cool that he recognised me. I never expected that to happen. I never expect anyone to recognise me after an interview – why should you? You see so many faces on tour; cities and venues start to blend into one. I think it’s silly to expect someone to remember you after such a short interaction.What I can say about this interview though is that Ben does seem quite settled with the fact that this part of his life will soon be over. We’re all excited to see what the band goes on to do next, and I’m sure they are too. When they figure it out.I hope you enjoy this interview.

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Ah, nervousness. It either paralyses you or forces you into some kind of jittery, energetic action. It’s not unusual to be somewhat nervous before an interview – you never know what a person is like or if they can actually be bothered talking to you on that day – but jumping into it head first with lots of prep makes the experience way more tolerable, and a little less daunting.Being a huge Against Me! fan I naturally had a list of questions for Laura that was as long as my arm. I don’t have heroes per se, just people whose work I really like. Laura Jane Grace falls into that category for me, and Against Me! are a band whose music has resonated more with me as I’ve grown older.That is to say, I’m a massive fan. So you can imagine what it was like to finally chat to her.Now here’s the thing, given that Laura Jane Grace had released a memoir and a record in 2016, the sheer volume of press she did must’ve morphed from a mildly irritating, sometimes fun necessity into something more akin to an excruciating gauntlet. With days perhaps becoming like an endless stream of faces and questions, most of them looking the same and asking painfully similar questions.Then there’s the people who have interviewed her – Marc Maron, The Guardian, The Intendent, Rolling Stone, Grantland, Kerrang!...then me: some little nobody with a tiny podcast in a small city in wee Scotland.There was absolutely no getting away from the weight of all that, so to say that I went into this with no small degree of trepidation would be a slight understatement.My approach to this interview was to try to make it slightly different than the others she’d done this year. In the weeks leading up to it, I had no idea it was happening. Then suddenly, a few days before I was told yes, let’s do it. So I read a lot of interviews. Tons. I absorbed as much as I could about Laura Jane Grace the person as opposed to musician whose work I was already more than familiar with.With her memoir Tranny having just been released, and with most interviews addressing that, I decided that I’d stay away from that topic as much as possible. Not just because it seemed to be a running theme in all of the press she’d done, but also because it was damn near impossible to get a copy of it in Scotland, meaning I hadn’t read it. Instead I focused on the thing that I love about Laura and Against Me! – the music. This is about creativity after all, and I wanted to get as deep an insight into her creative process as possible in the allotted time. In the end, I think it turned out really well.And I hope you agree. Do let me know. This was a huge deal for me (it’s honestly difficult to express it in words) but I hope you enjoy what you hear.Featured MusicIntro: David Szesztay – CombatMusic Bed: Podington Bear - Pink GrapefruitOutro: Blue Dot Sessions – InessentialI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.

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I have Boston Manor's first EP downloaded on an external hard drive somewhere. That's not a brag or anything, by the way. In fact, I'd forgotten that I even had it until about a week before this interview. It brought back memories of another band called This Sudden Injury - I'm pretty sure it was their singer that recommended that EP on Facebook a few years ago. It's called Here/Now and to say that they've grown as a band is something of an understatement.That's what bands are supposed to do, right? Their sound is supposed to change and grow because that's what people do. I'm not the kind of person that spends a lot of time reflecting on the way a band's music grows over time. I'm more the sorta guy that takes the music for what it is in that particular moment. Each record tells the story of where a band are in their lives.Which is perhaps why their debut album Be Nothing is as refined as it is. It's the sound of a band that's not only spent a lot of time in each other's company, but that has taken the influence of relentless touring - personally, professionally, musically - and created a document of that time, whether it was deliberate or not. The result is wonderful. Be Nothing is a cracking record, and it's very easy to see why they continue to strike a chord with people.Ash and Mike are just the loveliest dudes, and this podcast is a pretty fun chat. We cover a fair amount of ground in 20 minutes. What's also impressive, and definitely worth sharing because y'know ego and stuff, is that I didn't have access to my questions so it was really just a case of me trying my hardest to remember what they were and rolling with it.It's probably one of the most "rough and ready" podcasts I've done so far and I really like it. I don't know if I'm eager to repeat the questionless experience, but I can't fault the vibe it brings.We talk about touring, growing as musicians, breakfast food, sketchy neighbourhoods in America and the fear of President Trump. Fun times.I hope you enjoy the interview.Featured MusicIntro: David Szesztay – CombatMusic Bed: Doctor Turtle - I'm What You'd Be Without Her (Long Version)Outro: Blue Dot Sessions – InessentialI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.

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When I interviewed Jim Adkins in September 2015, it was a pretty big milestone. I set out with a list of a bunch of people I really wanted to interview and I’ve made a pretty big dent on that list, and there’s more to come.Given how much I love Jimmy Eat World, I was more than keen to have a chat with Tom when the band came into Glasgow recently. So I guess I can tick another off that goddamn list.In my interview with Jim I spoke about how seeing the music video for ‘The Middle’ on MTV2 was a pretty big deal for me. It opened my eyes to a whole new musical world. As a punk kind, connecting with something so tuneful, melodic and emotionally upbeat was met with a healthy degree of trepidation. But I rolled with it. Bleed American is a great record for sure, and it still holds a huge place in my heart.However, my journey into Jimmy Eat World’s discography did not start with Bleed American. Sure, it’s an important album for me, but as was somewhat customary in the days before YouTube, poor working class teenagers took to file sharing programs in order to find music from bands they liked. Sometimes you heard a song on the radio. Sometimes on a music channel. Or sometimes you read about it in a music magazine. But no matter how you came into contact with it, inevitably it was downloaded and stored some on your computer.I used to make mix CDs of my favourite songs and listen to them on my discman. I'd say it was a simpler time, but when it comes down to it, it was a lot of faff for not a lot of music.In among the deluge of JEW songs I acquired during my initial spurt of piracy, I came across ‘Blister’. Given my general ignorance at the time, my first impression was that I was listening to a different band. As it turns out, I wasn’t.That song is what made me fall in love with Jimmy Eat World. I haven’t looked back since.Getting the chance to talk with Tom was great. As you can tell from the interview he’s a pretty thoughtful dude. The interview is quite good humoured, and he’s an absolutely lovely guy too.Featured MusicIntro: David Szesztay – CombatMusic Bed: Lobo Loco - Turtle ParadeOutro: Blue Dot Sessions - InessentialI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.

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Every episode is fraught with some kind of technical challenge. I can give you examples of this which happened on this very day.Today's interview was supposed to be with Andy Falkous from Future of the Left. I wrote a lengthy blog post discussing how I'd been averse to Skype interviews in the past and explaining that from now on I'd be doing more of them. I mentioned how there's a lot of interview podcasts where the interviews are conducted over Skype, and that whilst face to face interviews are not uncommon either, most are Skype based. That's totally cool, and having been in the position where I sometimes struggled to find guests because bands I liked weren't coming to Glasgow on tour, that Skype interviews would simply have to be the way forward in order to encourage new, diverse guests.Then I began to edit the interview and realised there were problems with the audio on my end. The app I used to record the interview had corrupted my audio in such a way that recovery is not possible. That's one thing I didn't talk about in that blog post - my reluctance to do Skype interviews was because of the potential for stuff to go wrong. And it seems like that's exactly what happened.However, I'll be able to salvage the interview, and it's a stroke of luck that I actually have a bank of content ready to go. So on this episode I have an interview with Paul Wolinski from 65daysofstatic. Paul is a wonderful chap, and we had a really great time talking about the band, his musical life and all the amazing things they've done in their career so far. We go in to some pretty extensive detail about the No Man's Sky soundtrack and talk a lot about the process behind it, and how writing to a deadline, in what is essentially the mother of all fan service projects, helped the band realise some fundamental things about their music and creative process that they may not have otherwise come to understand if it wasn't for the soundtrack.We also talk about how the band interrogated their own music in order to offer up as many different versions of their songs, and pieces of songs, as possible so that they could be used in the game.This is a fantastic interview and we had a lot of fun doing it. I'm grateful that he took the time to have a chat.Now, there's also something else I should say about this interview. Half way through the support band start playing and you can hear them relatively clearly. It's an odd thing for sure, but I don't think it's at all distracting. Podcast producers will tell you that it's basically impossible to edit around music, so there are a couple of things in here that I generally would have edited out but couldn't due to the background music.Nevertheless, this is a cracker and I hope you dig it.

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The Curator Podcast: Season Two, Episode 1 - Joe Danher from FOESIt’s good to be back.If you’ve missed me then rest assured, I’ve missed you too dear listener.This is season two and as you may have noticed, things are a little different sonically. The format is still roughly the same (for now, that’ll evolve more gradually) but there’s a marked textural difference to the sound. I hope you like it.Feedback would be appreciated.On this episode I’m talking to Joe from FOES. He’s the band’s guitar player and manager. We had a really brief, cool chat in a Wetherspoon’s pub on the night of their show in Glasgow earlier this year. I’d loved to have chat some more but we were a little pushed for time.I had do some soul searching because for a while I genuinely thought I was done with the podcast. That’s why I didn’t return in September as planned. I even had some opportunities to interview some really great artists but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.This interview with Joe really got me buzzing again, and I’m grateful he took the time to talk to me. Without that chat, this podcast would have simply ceased to exist.FOES are a cracking band, and you should definitely check out their new album The Summit Lies Skyward which is out now on Basick Records. Joe is a thoroughly nice chap and the band have worked very, very hard over the course of the past couple years to obtain the following they have. I hope they continue to grow and go from strength to strength musically.Check out the video for "The Everest" below and go catch a show already!Featured MusicIntro: David Szesztay - CombatIncidental music:Podington Bear - Pink Gradient (part of the Sound of Picture Production library).Blue Dot Session - InessentialI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.

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Hello, dear listeners. I'm glad you've made it this far. I never did manage to reach the fabled number 50. Actually, if you count the couple of wildcard episodes I only made it to 49.Bummer.ANYWAY, have no fear. The podcast is not dead. it's already been on hiatus for a month and I'm probably gonna extend that to September. Then I'll come out all guns blazing. I'm gonna try to chuck in a couple of weird special episodes, but we'll see how that goes.Have a great summer and I'll see you in September for season 2.

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So, this week The Curator Podcast is one year old. I'm not gonna say too much in this blog because I say a lot in the podcast. Here's the facts.The podcast is one year old!After episode 50 I'll be taking a break and moving to a season based format. And each episode will be fortnightly.Thank you to everyone that has helped out, donated their time, listened to the podcast, spoken to me about, been interviewed and helped arrange guests. Every single one of your is a wonderful human being and you made this worthwhile.Here's to another year!If you stick around to the end you will finally get to hear the song I use for the intro in its entirety. I used it cause I really like that riff at the start...

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I am continually surprised that none of the people that I’ve met whose art has affected my life in significant ways are unpleasant. I always seem to expect some kind of aloof quality in the people I meet whose work has impacted me. It’s always wonderful to realise that they are just human like you or I. We put such people on a pedestal; they become more than human because they possess a skill which is unique. So far, everyone I've met has been lovely.Don’t tell me that you’re not the same.Art which we find monumentally influential affects us for personal reasons. Our heroes become legend to us because their creative output has an ineffable quality which transcends speech, it speaks to us deeply, intimately, profoundly. Sometimes it only resonates with you at a specific point in your life, and as you grow older the influence fades. Some of these influences change into nostalgia. Some are timeless. Vinnie Caruana, like Jim Adkins, Dan Andriano, Ian MacKaye and others before him, sit in that timeless category for me.This is discussed in the podcast, but ‘Forty Hour Train Back to Penn’ was a seminal record for me. As someone who had grown up thinking that pop punk was just The Offspring, Green Day and the like, and had subsequently developed an aversion to pop punk after listening to Rise Against, The Movielife seemed like the perfect bridge between those two punk worlds - more aggressive pop punk, which had more emphasis on the punk than the pop.And that’s what I think nails the singular genius of Vinnie Caruana and Brandon Reilly. Their talent lies on taking a lot of that punk rock edge and adding some layers of melody and hookiness to it. That in itself is not a new thing, or even a unique thing, but their songwriting style is vastly different to anyone else's. It doesn’t feel like it’s aping mid 90s pop punk, it feels like a more melodic version of bands like Lifetime or Kid Dynamite, but it still has lashings of influence from great pop songwriters . It’s easy to see why Drive-Thru records found them appealing, but to me it always felt like they didn’t quite belong there.Then there’s the evolution. Vinnie’s style changes and matures a lot as his career continues. I am the Avalanche leans much more toward melodic hardcore territory than The Movielife ever did. Peace’d Out is more straight up hardcore and their EP is still a favourite of mine.His solo stuff hews closer to pop more than anything, with many songs on Survivor’s Guilt skewing more power pop than anything else, but it still has that unmistakable, undeniable Vinnie Caurana songcraft.I loved talking to this guy. So humble and thankful for what he’s been allowed to do, and he seemed like a genuinely happy dude.I hope you enjoy the interview.

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Some people may remember the amount of “hype” there was around PUP’s first record away back in 2014. It took me a while to listen to it because for some reason I remember it taking ages to get released over here in the UK. I finally managed to hear it when I found the whole thing on YouTube.

It took a while to land. I don’t think I was in the right place to appreciate it at the time, but it did worm its way into my head and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. In fact, it was Dan Ozzi’s review over at VICE which really made me listen to the band a little harder. Then it was a cover of “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” for the AV Club when I properly realised I loved this band.

Why it took me until 2016 to see them is anyone’s guess, but there it is.

Their new album drops on May 27th 2016 and it’s pretty fucking good. I’ve had it for a few weeks and I’ve grown to adore it. There will be reviews, lots of reviews I suspect, which will laud the band on this is a natural progression, that this is a band operating on the next level, and all of it is valid. But honestly, fuck all that. Listen to the damn record. Make up your own damn mind. If you like the band, you’ll probably love it.

I recorded this interview immediately after Modern Baseball, and Stefan was very generous with his time. He probably regretted it immediately afterwards because when we got back to the venue they were just setting up to go on.

Anyway, the interview that follows is awesome. It was a nice relaxed vibe, and you can tell that he really, deeply loves what he does. You can also tell he’s thought about the band and his life intensely over the past couple of years.

I hope you enjoy the episode.

 

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