The Curator Podcast

By Mark FraserTV & Film Arts Music

The Curator Podcast episodes

October 29, 2015 23 - John Niblock from Vasa
Someone in a local music scene somewhere is always talking about how they watched band X grow, or how they’ve seen their music mature over the years. I’m not gonna be that guy. You’ve heard it all before.I knew John before I knew of his band Vasa. Our paths crossed when he was somehow added to the writing staff of Daily Dischord, a music website I used to (sorta still do?) run. I’ve seen him grow as a writer and over the years I guess his band have just always been there. Once I heard about his band, once I met the man himself, they seemed to be omnipresent in the Glasgow music scene and wherever his band was not, John was.I’m not going to talk about how much Vasa have changed since 2011. What I’m going to say is far more direct – their debut album ‘Colours’ is a triumph. You’ll hear us talk extensively about the record itself in the interview, but I think it’s important to mention how interesting it is. It’s dynamic, with huge production, odd and engaging arrangements, and with no shortage of hooks.Their ascension has been as well earned. Their star will, I think, continue to rise.This is the first interview I’ve ever conducted at home. I went mic to mic, breaking out the SM58 and leaving on the capsule mic for some ambience. There’s weird noise in the background from time to time, and occasionally you can hear us laughing for what seems to be no reason – that’s because my pet rabbit was out and about, causing trouble and generally being an adorable wee bastard.Highlights include: How he’s waiting for the band to say something incredibly stupid in an interview Having been sitting on the album for ten months The reason Cynthia was added to the album Heavy, happy post rock Blaine as the primary songwriter Being heavier than most post rock bands Moving away from being a post rock band to just a general rock band And not being a math band The attraction to playing instrumental music stemming from hearing This Will Destroy You How Europe is so far ahead of the UK when it comes to playing shows and having friendly promoters with receptive crowds Shout out to Bloc in Glasgow for being one of the very few places that have a European style outlook on music – free entry, rider, food and payment Ruminating on why European shows are different from British ones John Niblock Loves Mudvayne (In a Non Ironic Way) Getting into bass, learning from Intronaut and Primus The John Niblock Toilet Graffiti Nexus and a shout out to Fecking Bahamas Why bass and not guitar Writing hooks in songs and how Blaine has a natural talent for writing them Asinine questions in interviews about the lack of vocalist and the origin of the name Where the drive to keep touring comes from Love for the new defunct The Darien Venture, Crusades and DIRTDRINKER The annoyance of not seeing bands fulfil their potential Being a relentless gobshite and talking to everyone The Creative Scotland application process The album recording process at The Ranch with Neil Kennedy and Daly George And my embarrassing bandsJohn's one of the easiest guys in the world to chat to and I think that come through in this interview. I hope you enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Vasa - The Angry DomeVasa - Ergonomic KeyboardVasa - Poseidon's KissLinksYou can buy their debut album over on their website. The vinyl is beautiful. Buy one.You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.Shoutouts to Bloc and Fecking Bahamas.Photo courtesy of Monster Sound Collective.You can see the John Niblock Toilet Graffiti Nexus here.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing. New episode! I spoke to John from @vasaband about their debut album, Euro tour and bass inspiration: https://t.co/Ca7IoACWxi — The Curator Podcast (@thecuratorpod) October 29, 2015
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1 hr 2 min
October 22, 2015 22 - The Sinking Feeling
On this episode I have The Sinking Feeling. They’re a really awesome Glasgow band and basically they deserve all of your attention.Like a few local bands I’ve grown to like, I first came across The Sinking Feeling when Steven from Struggletown Records started talking about them. At the moment we’re sorta in the middle of this grunge and emo revival thing, only the bands are not as contrived and as trite as they were in the direct aftermath of both those musical trends.If you haven’t heard the band before then perhaps the most obvious bands to compare them too are perhaps later Title Fight, The Promise Ring and Tiger’s Jaw.The band were nice enough to allow this interview to take place in their practice space, which also turned out to be the same place I interviewed Steven.This is perhaps the most comfortable and easily the most free wheeling chat I’ve had so far. Originally I had three mics on the go, with the band sharing two and one for myself but because of the different levels of speaking I had to pair it back to my backup mic – the capsule mic on the Zoom H6. The result is really ambient, so you get the sound of bottles clinking and people moving in their seats etc.I think it gives it a really cool rough and ready feel, and makes it feel quite laid back. Let me know what you think of it, if people are a fan I’d be keen to do more like this. It's also way less hassle to set up.• Be yourself, never die• The genesis of the band at Langside College• BB King, Eric Clapton, Santana’s Smooth and Jo’s orchestral background• Paramore and Christian bands• A bit of religious discourse• The Sinking Feeling – patter thieves• How disparate influences actually united the band• The introverted nature of the band• But always appreciative• The subjectivity and selfishness of art• Some words about Tumblr…• Lots of love of Ian Mackaye• And lots, lots more awesome chatI later found out that this was the band's first interview. I rather suspect there will be many more.I hope you enjoy it.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).The Sinking Feeling - UglyThe Sinking Feeling - SkeletonsThe Sinking Feeling – SnakebloodLinksAll of those songs and more can be found over on the Struggletown Records bandcamp or over on their own bandcamp.You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
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1 hr 4 min
October 15, 201521 - Casey Crescenzo from The Dear Hunter
This podcast is primarily about creativity, and over the course of the past twenty episodes I’ve spoken to some pretty productive people. Casey Crescenzo is probably amongst the most productive. Over the course of ten years The Dear Hunter’s oeuvre is as impressive in its scope as it is in its musical diversity, with their album/EP collection ‘The Color Spectrum’ comprising 36 songs all on its own. Which is wonderful, because the genre hopping nature of their music is about is staggering as the sheer volume. As you’ll find out when you listen to the podcast, Casey is the kind of guy who treats songwriting like a job and it’s this approach which many productive artists seem to share in common, whether they’re aware of it or not. Except, Casey is a super passionate and insightful guy, and is just so thankful that he gets to do what he does. There’s no lengthy story in this week’s show notes about how I first got into The Dear Hunter. Instead, all I can offer is rumination on their music – it’s deep, it’s cinematic, it somehow feels weighty. How people classify progressive rock music is anyone’s guess, but to me this just feels like epic rock music, and that’s why I’m drawn to it. It’s bursting with ideas, it’s driven by a strong sense of narrative yet still somehow feels hugely personal. They are, in just about every single way, the exact opposite of the punk rock that I grew up listening to. Except, their sound is more immediate than most prog bands. There’s a peppiness to the melodies which means that hooks come thick and fast, and never leave your head. Highlights include:

The connotations of the very term “prog rock” and the diversity of that genre
He tries not to pigeonhole the sound because it can limit the creative scope
The music he grew up on sounds nothing like his band
Casey thinks that perhaps one of the reasons they aren’t a huge band is because they aren’t in a specific genre
Coming from a creative household and when Casey remembers wanting to be a guitar player/songwriter
When people who consider themselves high art conduct interviews like they’re special, I never look at myself like that. I just think, this is a way for me to speak.
Parents being receptive to being a musician, but also being wary because they’d seen the pitfalls of being a career musician
His parents worry more about Casey when he does something different as opposed to worrying about the pressure of the work
“Do the thing that you believe you should do – don’t worry about what they’re going to think until it’s too late”
“The moment when I worry about people think is when an album is finished, mastered and ready to go out”
On the fear of having your art accepted - “As a creative person it should only be self-expression, but that’s the scariest thing: if you’re doing it only out of self-expression, at some point it goes through a filter and becomes a product…and it’s up to whoever buys it to think whatever they want about it.”
Wanting people to take away something from a record that you put into it, and hoping that the opposite doesn’t happen
Wanting to give people what they want after letting him do The Dear Hunter for ten years, but it doesn’t have any bearing on what he’s doing when he’s doing it – only after the creation is complete does the hope and fear set in
It’s taken a lot of hard work to find an audience for The Dear Hunter
It’s good that there are musicians out there that still makes music that makes people think and isn’t all about creating hits
Music as a product is okay, but it’s a different world from the kind of world bands like The Dear Hunter operate in where people want music that provides them a little bit more
The discipline of creating music and treating it like work comes from his parents
The feeling of euphoria after completing a piece of work is worth any amount time or work
We chat about the graphic novel for Act I
How Kevin Pereira making the orchestra for Act IV happen
How Act IV is like the culmination of every element The Dear Hunter have incorporated into their sound
And a whole bunch more stuff!
Casey is a very open and honest guy, and his passion shines through in this interview. I hope you enjoy it.
Featured Music
Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here). The Dear Hunter - The Old Haunt The Dear Hunter - Wait The Dear Hunter - Ouroboros I make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.
Links
'Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise' is available now through Equal Vison Records. You can get it, and the rest of their discography, over here. Please check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

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1 hr 11 min
October 08, 2015 20 - Sean "Slug" Daley from Atmosphere/Rhymesayers Entertainment
WARNING: I recorded this interview on my phone due an SD card issue. The audio quality is dicey. The chat itself though? Awesome. Slug even recorded an intro for this one!On this episode of The Curator Podcast I spoke with legendary rapper, and one of the founders of Rhymesayers Records, Sean ‘Slug’ Daley from Atmosphere. It was an interview that almost didn't happen.We all make mistakes, right? If I listen to some past episodes I can hear my mistakes quite clearly, but at least I recorded those interviews. I almost didn’t get a chance to record this one.After a work trip to London, whereby I’d recorded some people talking at a conference, I arrived home and threw together last week’s podcast (the one with B. Dolan). I then booked this interview with Slug, and I couldn’t have been more excited.I rolled up to the venue on time and was led through The Garage’s labyrinthine backstage area into a nice room with two couches massive leather couches and of course, Slug. I sat down, pulled out my microphone, the Zoom H6 recorder that I use for all of my recording and my headphones. I turned the recorder on and my heart sank: 'No SD Card Present'.In the last blog post I briefly chronicled my “hip hop journey". While it did indeed begin with ‘A Healthy Distrust’ by Sage Francis in 2005, that year I also came across ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’ by Atmosphere. So you could say that the tide turned for me after hearing those two records.I’ve been a fan of Atmosphere ever since, and talking to Slug was a momentous occasion for me (and hopefully for this podcast). So you can imagine how I felt when I realised that I had no SD card in my recorder.I told Slug about my stupidity and he suggested using my phone. I pulled out my iPad to check my questions only to find I had no mobile signal backstage and thus no way to access my questions…We looked through my iPad for the voice recorder app - it was conspicuous in its absence. In the end, we used my phone and I just did my best to try and remember all the questions I’d written down.The resulting interview is shorter than I’d have liked, but a lot of time was taking up by trying to find a solution to the various problems I had. Is it possible to look less professional than I did that day? It seems unlikely.In the end though, we had a cracking conversation that went in a couple of unexpected directions. We lingered a little more on Slug’s creativity than I expected, which was ace. I had a bunch of questions about Rhymesayers that I just couldn’t remember, yet the insights he gives are utterly fascinating and absolutely made the hassle worth it.Highlights include:*Getting more sleep on the road than at home*Rhmyesayers being 20 and how Slug doesn’t really reflect on their legacy because he’s so focused on what his community are doing*The search for the perfect song*How to know when you’ve written that perfect song and how close Atmosphere have come to it*Being more an introspective lyricist…*But also appearing to be even more introspective when writing about fictional characters like on ‘When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that Shit Gold’*The dichotomy of how being an artist who makes art for a living can be both fun and a curse because of how dependent people get on having to make art to make ends meet*Slug embraces that dependency as part of his relationship to music*“Just because people might like a song or two I’ve made has no bearing on how I see myself”*The importance of having passion*How passion and hunger has changed the longer Atmosphere have been doing this*Some Prince chat and the “genius” of Prince’s Batman recordAfterwards Slug showed me out and he went to speak to the fans in the queue outside the venue. I’ve never saw an artist do that before whilst I’ve been in their company. It was very fucking cool. Slug is one of the nicest and most intelligent dudes I’ve interviewed on this podcast and I could have spoken to him for hours about his craft.And of course, later that night Atmosphere absolutely crushed it. I love seeing hip hop live, it’s a concert experience unlike anything else.Maybe next time I’ll chat to Ant. I hope you enjoy this episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Atmosphere - Pour Me Another (Another Poor Me)Atmosphere - Fortune'Pour Me Another' can be found on the album You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having.'Fortune' is on the latest official Atmosphere album Southsiders.
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35 min
October 02, 201519 - B. Dolan
As I get older I find myself growing to appreciate hip hop more and more. In my teens it didn’t grab me in the same way punk or metal did, and naively, I shunned it. My guest on this episode is rapper B. Dolan and he, alongside Sage Francis, was one of the artists who forced me to realign my expectations of what hip hop is, was and could be.The truth of the matter is that when your exposure to a particular genre of music comes solely from mainstream sources, it can be quite difficult to find something worthwhile. Like all teenagers, I rebelled, and in doing so I rebelled against the chart and dance music which was common in between my groups of friends in high school and in my neighbourhood. I took solace in the angst of “alternative” music.A lot of that chart music was hip hop and no, it wasn’t particularly good hip hop. As someone who had deliberately placed themselves outside of mainstream art, I found that when I looked back in to find some shred of meaning, all I could see were empty messages and a sense of disappointment.That’s not to say that it is impossible for popular music to carry a message. Now that I’m older I can see such a view is quite patently nonsense, but in the naivety of youth I certainly felt that.So in my teens, my flirtation and subsequent rejection of hip hop was the result of two things:A) to me, the stuff that was on the radio or on MTV had nothing to say to me. I was looking for something political, something which raged and had teeth. 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Nelly and the other hip hop that circulated when those artists were at their peak, was empty to me.B) I had no one to guide me. It was easy to find people who could introduce me to new rock music. Literally no one I knew had any inkling of hip hop beyond whatever was coming out of the radio that week.For many years I lived my life ignoring hip hop, thinking that it was all violence and misogyny.About ten years ago that changed. A friend opened me up to “underground” hip hop, with Sage Francis at the head it.At the risk of coming across like a snob, I’ve always found the entry point for hip hop music to be quite high. Perhaps it’s because I’m a snotty punk kid at heart – those short, sharp stabs of music are certainly designed to make you think, but the message is fleeting, it’s difficult to hold onto before you’re off onto the next song. A hip hop record is more layered and more complex, it demands the full investment of your time. It requires repeated listens and time to unfold in your head.But I appreciate them. I enjoy spending time with an album, deciphering lyrics and meanings, getting underneath the complexity of the music and living inside it.Prior to this interview it had been five years since I last saw B. Dolan play. Weirdly it was five years to the exact day, in the exact same venue. In that particular instance he was supporting Sage Francis, an artist who also happened to be responsible for introducing me to B. Dolan on Twitter some years before.Fallen House, Sunken City, which bizarrely only came out five years ago but it somehow feels longer, is an album which pulled me out of a musical slump I’d fallen into. It’s an awesome record, and one of my favourites. Although I do think his new one, Kill the Wolf, might usurp that.Highlights include:
Getting into fights at the Westmoreland service station
A shout out to Passion of the Weiss
Obession with music
An almost encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop
A little bit of Prince
Recording and producing 'Kill the Wolf'
B. Dolan's evolution as a songwriter
B. Dolan is a super nice guy, and to hear him close with The Hunter at the show later that night was a pretty huge deal for me. Also, Buddy Peace absolutely killed it. To see an MC and a DJ work together to create such a tight live show was amazing. Honestly if you get a chance, you should see him.I hope you enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).B. Dolan - AlrightB. Dolan - Which Side are You On?You can find 'Alright' on the album Kill the Wolf, which you can find over on Strange Famous Records. I make no claim to the copyright of these tracks.Links You can find B. Dolan on Twitter, Facebook, Bandcamp and his website.The Passion of the Weiss interview can be found here.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
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35 min
September 23, 201518 - Alan Bissett: Novelist, Screenwriter, Playwright and Activist
My guest on this episode is renowned author, screenwriter and playwright Alan Bissett. If you don't know him from his excellent prose and theatre work then you may know him from how active he was for the Yes campaign during the 2014 Scottish Referendum.But to me, he's a novelist first and foremost. He'd probably disagree with that, yet that's how I got into his writing so I guess that'll always be my perception of him.When I began studying Scottish Literature in first year of university, I was motivated (in no small part by some weird sense of cultural nationalism) to spend the time away from the course texts and to absorb other Scottish writers. Trainspotting is a book we're all familiar with, and naturally that happened to be the only Scottish novel that I'd read going into uni and the relatively older age of 24. That book then turned up as a course text in my first year because, well... why wouldn't it?Re-reading it, and realising I had access to a huge library and a vast reservoir of Scots literary knowledge, I spent my time in between essays, exams and course texts pulling as many different books as I could from between the stacks of the Glasgow Uni library. I devoured Kelman, Crichton Smith, MacCaig, Gray, Spark and then moved onto more contemporary authors like Bissett, Louise Welsh and Robertson among others. Boyracers was one of the first contemporary novels I read.I went on to read Pack Men, as it was his most recent at the time, and then Death of a Ladies Man. Welsh was important to me because it demonstrated that people could write in Scots and "get away with it"; Kelman was vital to my literary development because it was the first novel I read in Glaswegian, and it contained characters the likes of which I'd met in my own scheme when growing up; but Bissett was more relevant, largely in part because I found it easier to identify with teenagers from Falkirk than I could with twenty-something heroin addicts in Leith or a blind guy in Glasgow. As I look back on that period of voracious reading, I now know it was because the community he depicts in Boyracers, and later again in Pack Men, is so similar to ones I know.This podcast is a very cerebral chat. I hope you don't find it too dense. Highlights include:
Creativity always seemed natural, he kept coming back to that when he was young
Came to realise writing was a career when he was doing a PHd
Being shortlisted for the Macallan Prize is when he realised writing was a thing
Coming from a TV household with no creative family
You only start to realise the themes of your writing when people start to talk to you about
Scottish writing and the themes of identity of community, and how those mainly seem to come from writers who are not from the landed gentry
How Alan finds this to be more powerful and valuable than writing about rich people having drawing room affairs
The object of growing up is like to get out of your community and how that leads to a sense of guilt when you do
How current writers that he’s been working with seem to reflect the difference in community now than in the generation before – Boyracers was filled with hope, but it’s hope that the current generation of teenagers don’t feel
There’s a generation of young theatre makers like Steph Smith, Catrion Evans, Kiron Hurly, Gary McNair, Rob Drummond and Nick Green who are doing politically explicit work
The radical spirit that theatre had in the 70s with John McGrath etc feels like it’s coming back
Yet it’s harder for Scottish novelists to be political because of the global competition
It’s very difficult for political novels to get through
How Late It Was, How Late was prophetic about the struggle people face with the DWP now, despite it being written in the mid 90s
People want to escape reality instead of experience or read about what people actually feel say and do
American cultural colonisation is greater than ever despite the narratives of big media franchises like Game of Thrones or Marvel films not being culturally specific
Our obsessions with these universal cultures mean that local cultures – their stories, dialects, art – are slowly being erased and neglected
But that’s not to say we should protect our cultures by allowing them to remain untouched, rather there should be cultural spaces where local culture still exist – we must preserve minority culture
It’s difficult to know what our default cultural tastes would be when entertainment is controlled by media conglomerates
The artist’s that feel that they have some kind of social responsibility at least signals that they are willing to make a stand that’s bigger than just them as an individual
We get caught up in the rights of the individual above all else and it’s not surprise because that’s capitalism but we have to perverse the work that we do
Moving to writing plays is as much about the economic reality of writing novels and how difficult it is to pay bills as a full time writer when it takes a long time to write a book
Many novelists are stimulated into over production because of the fear of having their livelihood taken away from them, Alan can’t work like that
There’s also an energy in Scottish theatre that wasn’t quite there in Scottish literature
Theatre is more immediate but a novel is more powerful because of the mental experience is deeper
Yet a play can react quicker to current events whereas a novel takes time
The full scale demolition of masculinity in Death of a Ladies Man
The alpha male pursuit to anoint great works of literature
And how that pursuit can be destructive, and the way that has affected the mental health of many great writes, such as James Joyce
However ambition is required to power you through being creative
Yet a lot of female writers have a completely different mindset, which often makes them better writers
The Caledonian Antisyzergy and the dual identity of Scots which is reflected in referendum result
The referendum was Scotland finding out what it is was – Scotland doesn’t know what it is or what it would spring towards whilst it’s still part of the union
Alan finds that interviews aren’t fun anymore because they talk about politics…
So we make it fun by talking about Marvel
And the seemingly infinite expansion of franchises
We have a shared love for blockbuster moves despite them being more disposable than ever
Alan’s favourite film is Jaws and compared to current CGI films, it feels so handmade
The shift in the 70s in blockbuster films which shook everything up in terms of how big budget films are made, and how that shift would not happen now because of CGI
We agree Marvel Studios are good at retaining artists’ singular vision in a big budget blockbuster setting
Disney used to feel like a benign company that used to make kids films every year, and now they seem to run Hollywood
There are, however, more nourishing forms of entertainment
WHY ARE ADULTS WATCHING KIDS FILMS?! And whey to complain about them when they’re not FOR adults?
Society aims to keep us in a state of permanent adolescence
Some Scottish Literature chat – James Robertson is a genius, he’s so far ahead of every other Scottish author. Also, Louise Welsh, Kirsty Logan, John Niven, Sophie Sexton, William Letford, Richie McCafferty, Laura Marney, Rodge Glass, Zoe Strachan are all people to watch
Also James Hogg – Confessions of a Justified Sinner is ESSENTIAL literature
Lots of show notes here. Apologies for the length of the post. I hope you enjoy the episode!Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Suede - The Next LifePink Floyd - Comfortably NumbMartyn Bennett - MoveAll music can be purchased on iTunes and the digital retailer of your choice. Or in a record store. You know they still exist, right? I make no claim to the copyright of these tracks.LinksGo buy any of Alan's books from a book store. A bricks and mortar one. That’d be well good.You can see his website here to see what he's upto in the theatre world. His twitter and facebook are also pretty cool.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
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1 hr 16 min
September 17, 201517 - Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World
The old adage boldly states that you should never meet your heroes, and I guess that's said by people who've experienced meeting their heroes and being bitterly disappointed by it. I can gladly say that with Jim Adkins, that's not the case.I first saw the video for 'The Middle' on Kerrang! TV way back in 2001. I didn't have satellite or cable TV at the time because my family weren't particularly well off, and I think I came across it when I was at the house of my then girlfriend. I was 16 years old.I've carried Jimmy Eat World around with me ever since. Bleed American is an important album for me, it demonstrates a grasp of pop sensibilities that never felt like a compromise, that always felt natural and heartfelt. So meeting Jim was one of the most daunting things I have ever done. He is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and so incredibly grounded despite the huge success Jimmy Eat World have had.As we grow older a lot of the music we used to like loses its shine, your tastes change and things fall away (I think I still have a couple of Korn and Marilyn Manson albums kicking around back at my mum's house, and I think that says it all really). For my particular tastes, punk has always been the exception to that rule.Jimmy Eat World are not, of course, a punk band. Yet there's always been something about the honesty of their music which resonates with me even as I grow older. In my opinion their music has a timeless quality which goes beyond genres or trends.Jim talks about it briefly in the interview, and I think he's right when he says that if you create honest music you'll create an honest connection with people that sticks. And that, I think, just about sums up my feelings on Jimmy Eat World's music.Highlights include:
Jim opened himself up to the possibility of doing anything this year and it turned out to be a solo record
That doing it on his own is a somewhat terrifying but its good when it’s done
Being a musician and a music fan came at the same time for him
He’s only recently come to the realisation that being a musician is what he does
His drive to keep writing is the desire to keep challenging himself
Having to keep the songwriting muscles active or you risk losing your edge
It’s okay to write something crappy
You never know where an idea is going to land, you might cannibalise it later for another thing
Adversity teaches you something, self-growth is almost like inspiration but not all art has to come from pain
Songwriting fills a void nothing else does
None of the band had any idea they’d last as long as they did and it just kinda turned into something successful
If you’re honest with yourself about your interests, people will get it and come along for the ride with you
If you’re honest with yourself about what you find rewarding then people will have an honest connection with you that sticks
Me being starstruck with Jim
And Jim being starstruck with seeing Heart
Jim still gets excited to see where the set goes
The single series was brought about almost as an experiment
It’s a lot these days to ask people to check out an album
The music industry has changed – some avenues are seen as exposure and others and viewed as money making schemes
The solo stuff is inspired by the 50s/60s songwriting construction – more concise songs
Jim's solo stuff is cracking and I urge you to check it out. It gives you a totally different insight into his musical abilities and there's something really refreshing about the way he delivers his version of 50s and 60s style pop. It's not trite or cliche, it's just honest and concise. A trait many artists would do well to recognise.I hope you enjoy this interview and I apologise for my nerves. And also the chewing gum.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Jim Adkins - I Will GoJimmy Eat World - KillJim Adkins - Girls Just Wanna Have FunI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.'I Will Go' and 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' can be found on Jim's solo EP/7" single series, which you can get on iTunes and here.'Kill' is from the album Futures which is amazing.LinksCheck out Jim on Twitter and Facebook.Jimmy Eat World can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37 min
September 10, 201516 - Joshua Bannister from Milk Teeth
This is the last of the interviews I conducted at Hevy festival back at the start of August, and is a pretty great short and sweet conversations with Josh from Milk Teeth.The band had just played their set on the main stage not long before this interview, and in a bizarre twist of fate it turned out that Josh and Becky were being interviewed by the people who were in the tent next to us mere moments before this chat.You'll also be glad to know that I was sober for this one.Highlights include:
Playing shows both for the fans that love it and for themselves
Creating art is selfish, even when you’re doing it to a crowd
Being okay with the fact that not everyone likes your music
They used to get angry that people wouldn’t be into their music at shows but now they do just do it for themselves and for the fans that love it
You have to want to do it because you need to go through playing to people who don’t care and busting your ass for very little before you get to the place where people appreciate you
Being very humble about the opportunity he and his band have to make music
Elliott Smith and the way he stopped wanting to play live but had to do it anyway
You have to be realistic with yourself and your motivation because you never know when that passion will vanish
Why the band don’t play songs from their first record anymore
How the meaning of songs can change over the years
Honesty is absolutely key on stage
Josh is a really intense dude who quite clearly loves playing music more than anything else. Milk Teeth's music might be closer to grunge than anything else, but Josh's songwriting style is more akin to someone like Elliott Smith in its thoughtfulness.After this interview we spent another five minutes talking about the brilliance of Elliott Smith. I'm a big gutted that I turned off the recorder at that point but as you'll be able to tell towards the interview there was some kind of light aircraft hovering right over our heads which was making it difficult to hear anything properly.Nevertheless, despite the shortness of this interview I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Milk Teeth - VitaminsMilk Teeth - TrampolineI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.Image courtesy of Noise Cannon.LinksYou can check out Milk Teeth on Twitter and Facebook. Josh's twitter account can be found here.You can download their EP 'Sad Sack' in just about every online place imaginable, but it's best to go through their bandcamp.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27 min
September 03, 201515 - Jeffery Eaton and Chris Honeck from Modern Life is War
I have been incredibly fortunate thus far to chat with those people whose art has affected me in various ways over the years. Jeffery Eaton and Chris Hoeneck from Modern Life is War are the guests on this week's podcast and I don't think it's exaggerating to say that their second album 'Witness' is possibly the single most influential hardcore album of this century.'Witness' started a movement. It ushered forth an era of hardcore music which is just coming into its prime. If you know Modern Life is War, you no doubt know those who are indebted to them. If you don't, take some time to check out 'Witness.' Go ahead. I'll wait. It's a short album....Done?Good.In 2008 Mod Life split up. It seemed as though they'd burned out. But five years later they reformed, surprising everyone by bringing a new album along for the ride. It seemed as though the time apart had strengthened the band and musically, it was like they hadn't missed a step.Jeff and Chris are aware of and extremely humbled by the way their legacy has unfolded. Now a part time band, they tour sporadically, still work day jobs and are a band as and when time allows. In the period between 2002 and 2008, those fearsome six years that seen relentless touring, six albums, an EP and a bunch of 7" records, their life was consumed Modern Life is War. But as you will hear in the interview, the band seem better now that there is no pressure on them to do anything. Jeff mentions how they never really spent time in the one place during those six years, never being able to settle before the next tour or record came along.Highlights of this interview include:
Having to balance the desire to not be nostalgic against giving the fans what they want in terms of an anniversary show for Witness
That the album is important to them and others, and that it’s important to celebrate it
And still being proud of the record
What kept the band’s creativity and drive going
When the ball started rolling with the band they decided to take that opportunity for all its worth because they may never have the chance again
And being shocked at being able to do it all over again
Still being shocked that people care about their band after so long
Putting out the latest record ‘Fever Hunting’ was scary because it may have disappoint fans or ruin their legacy after being away for six years
Jeff’s hunger for a truthful perspective, and how this influenced the lyrics on the latest album – the band are no longer in youthful turmoil, they’re now grown up and are talking about grown up concerns
Having a very diverse audience in terms of age
Being honoured that people want to talk to them and being honoured when people say they love their music
They don’t pull punches or fake it – they don’t write music they think people want to hear, it’s about writing music that’s necessary for their life or other’s lives
The moment they realised when they wanted to be in a band – Jeff was a huge fan of Chris’ old band
The obsession with punk is what brought the band back – there was a hole in their lives
Jeff: “I tried to start other bands but nothing feels like playing with Chris and these guys. I know them and trust them. We developed a chemistry that goes beyond playing on stage.”
They had to save their lives before they could be a band again – all the band needed was a break
How the band came back together
Going back to real life may have hit their ego a little, but it was the best thing they could have done
They enjoy being a band that has to work for a living instead of being on the road all the time
Being on tour is not a genuine lifestyle – being able to live real life is what Modern Life is Wall is all about
Hardcore and punk is working class music and you really need to be working class to make it, and Modern Life is War are working class guys
Jeff doesn’t think of the band as original – always looking for inspiration that is as deep as the ocean floor. He pays tributes to all of his influences
Jeff then asks me what my life story is and then asks me to send him my bands and stuff
Modern Life is War are still in touch with what’s going on in punk
After the interview, and after the first band played, Jeff and Chris came over to talk to us. Chris explained how he loves the way the band is now, discussing how the pressure of being in a band, having to write records, having to tour and essentially be told what to do from multiple parties created a lot of stress within. That, on top of worrying about bills and so forth seemed to be something that he did not miss. Yet, he also didn't take their current position for granted. The band are still staggered that people give a shit, that people can come out to shows to celebrate the tenth anniversary of an album. To see the same faces ten years on, to know that people related to and have grown up with this band, and how these people have grown themselves yet still are drawn back to the music is something that they seem to be continually stunned by.The band played with a smile on their faces. Jeff is not only a very humble man but he's insightful and still, to this day, passionate about punk. All qualities that were evident on stage. He asked me to email them with all the stuff I do - the podcast, the bands... all of it. No one's ever asked that before. To have someone who I respect ask about me is...Staggering.I guess, like Modern Life is War, I'm stunned that people care about this wee thing I call a podcast.I hope you enjoy the episode. It's the most inspiring one yet.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Modern Life is War - Young Man on a Spree,Modern Life is War - D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.Modern Life is War - CurrencyI make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.LinksYou can check out Modern Life is War on Twitter and Facebook.Their records are available from the Deathwish Inc. webstore and distro.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
50 min
August 26, 201514 - Will Gould and Ian Miles from Creeper
On this episode I have Ian and Will from Southampton goth punks Creeper. At first I thought this would only be a short chat but ended up being a fifty minute half drunken diatribe on Creeper, punk, DIY and all things related as we sat around a tent at Hevy festival. And it's awesome.WARNING: I drop a "hard C". That is to say, I use the C-word.Some back story for you.When we arrived in Ashford, Kent, we procured a sizable cache of booze and jumped in a taxi bound for the campsite. Upon our arrival and much to my dismay, we found out that I was the only one on the guestlist for the festival. After contacting one of the site managers I managed to secure a pass for my compadre Craig and we made our way to the press area to pitch our tent.Originally, I had agreed with Creeper’s PR person that I would interview them between 1.30 and 2pm. We didn’t get into the campsite until 1.30 and by the time we finished erecting our tent we had completely missed our allotted time slot.Later that day, after I completed the hastily rearranged Fightstar interview, I bumped into Ian and Will and apologised for missing our interview slot. They suggested that we do it there and then, so after retreating to a safe area (outside our tent) and cracking open a crate of Fosters, we sat down and began talking.What unfolded is one of the most natural, open ended and honest interviews so far. It’s also perhaps one of my favourites. I had no time to look out my questions because of the impromptu nature of it, but what happened when we sat down was, I think, a pretty remarkable conversation.My sound man Craig does a lot of talking. Not that that’s not a bad thing. Just a notice for you.Highlights include:
Funeral for a Friend and some straight edge chat.
Creeper write music using tea, a crap keyboard and researching the themes of their records.
The Callous Heart is the culmination of an attempt to write a punk record they hadn’t heard before.
Taking influence from Jim Steinman, his middle 8s and using a mellotron.
“Borrowing” from Elvis Presley.
“The Creeper Workshop” and how the band is very hands on about everything, particularly with references to the video for The Honeymoon Suite.
Still DIY despite being on Roadrunner and how the label give them complete creative control.
Having to adopt a character on stage to perform but walking a fine line between being pretentious and stepping outside of yourself.
The character is basically like putting on someone else’s shoes.
Playing with sincerity and appreciating where they are now.
The gender and race gap in punk rock – how we need to sort out equality in the punk scene.
How the key to touring is not to party every night.
The chorus is the most important part of the song.
Caring about song craft and and trying to be better songwriters.
The Bouncing Souls, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance and AFI and great choruses.
The “relief” feeling of a good chorus.
Appreciation of Bangers.
Loads of bands were mentioned too like Ink and Dagger, Samhain, Danzig, Misfits and a bunch of others.People love talking about their art and what creative influence helped shape who they are. People enjoy knowing that their voice and their art is being taken seriously, and I hope that’s what I’ve managed to achieve with this podcast.Creeper are brilliant guys who deserve to do well. I've no doubt they'll go on to do big things in the coming months.Enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Creeper - We Had a Pact,Creeper - Into the Black,Creeper - The Honeymoon Suite.I make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.LinksYou can get the first Creeper EP for free here.You can pre-order This Callous Heart here.Please check them out on Facebook and Twitter.Will also mentioned a really great English punk band called Bangers who you should check out immediately after the podcast.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 4 min

About The Curator Podcast

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The Curator is a podcast about passion and creativity. We chat to musicians and artists about their creative process, why they do what they do and the passion that drives them. We also talk about…