The MC Lars Podcast

Boy Pierce got his start as a mashup artist, before going on to create viral rap tributes to Nick Foles, Phish, Family Matters and AOL. This week, we talk about our respecitve experiences as fans of rap, Phish and creating digital content. We speculate on the future of platforms like YouTube and talk about our respective dreams for the future. When Pierce is not making hilarious rap videos in his kitchen, he works doing marketing for a company in Manhattan. We talk about balancing work with art and the importance of being geunuine and real. Aweosme inteview with an inspring young artist!

Special Guest: Boy Pierce.

Without D Lyrical, there would have been no ICP. On this episode, I talk to Detroit rap legend Dale Miettinen Jr., a.k.a. D Lyrical! We connected online when I started my Hatchet Chat series and reviewed the EP he and Violent J released in 1990, "Intelligence and Violence". We met at the Gathering and did this interview when I came to Cleveland with I Fight Dragons late last year. A great interview about the origins of the Dark Carnival and Dale's solo career.

Special Guest: D Lyrical.

I found out about Marcelo Vignali's work after seeing his skecthes for the Roger Rabbit ride at Disneyland, and reached out to him diretly to see if he would be interested in letting me interview him. We met at his office at Sony Animation in Culver City; Vignali had recently finished working on "Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse", which was getting amazing reviews. We talked about his journey from designing rides for Disney, to doing 2D animation to his current role as a 3D animator for Sony. He gave me a tour of Culver City and we had dinner afterwards, talking about Hollywood history and his spiritual beliefs. A very special episode. Thank you, Marcelo!

Special Guest: Marcelo Vignali.

Quelle Chris got his start in Detroit in 1996 as part of the Wasted Youth Collective. After meeting Proof, Quelle was determined to push his lyrical boundaries to surprise his mentor. A fan of ICP and the Juggalo world, Quelle would later produce beats for Danny Brown before getting signed ot Mellow Music. Quelle's album “Everything’s Fine” with his wife Jean Grae was the number one most downloaded and streamed album on Bandcamp in 2018. We talk about Quelle's approach to rapping and his inspirations, as well as how he and I met and began to work together. A very interesting episode with an awesome artist.

Special Guest: Quelle Chris.

I connected with George Watsky in 2012 on Twitter when we both realized we were mutual fans of each other's work. Being from the Bay and growing up with a librarian mother as well, he and I collaborated on a song and video for my 2015 "Zombie Dinosaur LP" called "Never Afraid". Watsky has toured the world, written an incredible book ("How to Ruin Everything"), acted in films like "Blindspotting" and had his music videos watched millions of times. Be sure to check out his upcoming album and tour! Thanks again, George!

Special Guest: Watsky.

DJ Kathy Nielsen grew up in California and went on to UC Berkeley for her undergraduate career. She latered studied history at Hunter and then went back to UC Berkeley for library school. This week, we talk about what it was like raising my sister and me, 60s feminism, genealogy, and her recent projects. Thanks for being on the show, Mom! Sorry for what I did in the yard after eating dog food!

Special Guest: DJ Kathy Nielsen.

This week, I am home in California for the holidays, and I talk to my father about his life growing up in Australia, his legal career, his creative career, and when he came to England with me on my first ever tour. We talk about parenting and art and how he was able to balance this with his career as an international lawyer. Thank you dad! Next week, my mom, DJ Kathy Nielsen!

Special Guest: MC Bob Nielsen.

Howie Abrams is a music industry veteran / author / DJ / music industry historian who has been involved in the punk, hardcore and rap worlds since the 80s. On this week's episode, talk about how Howie's journey from being a roadie for Anthrax helping them come up with hit choruses let to him becoming an A&R man on a label that had signed the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. I met Howie in 2004, after he had signed Bowling For Soup to JIVE Records and worked with them while they released their two biggest hits of their career ("the Girl All the Bad Guys Want" and "1985"). I owe Howie for introducing me to Bowling For Soup, ILL BILL and Krs one, and all of my collaborations with said artists... as well as introducing me to Kevin Lyman and getting on the Vans Warped Tour for three whole summers. It was awesome catching up with Howie and hearing an in-depth chronology of his experience in the music industry, and how this, completely by accident, led him to becoming a successful author. Thanks Howie! Be sure to check out his Merciless radio show with with ILL BILL on Mixcloud.

Special Guest: Howie Abrams.

Back in the 90s, I hosted a prank call fan site on my parents' dialup internet service provider. We were allocated about 20 megabytes of space, so I learned HTML and created a few early pages, one of which reviewed prank call tapes, through which I would trade for more. My collection was pretty huge, you can see the archive here: https://tinyurl.com/yc2mdk9d

One of my favorite tapes was the Phone Losers of America's first cassette. I became online friends with the group's creator, Brad Carter (a.k.a. the RBCP, a.k.a. the Red Box Chili Pepper). I followed his YouTube channel and years later he discovered my music independently. When I commented on one his videos, he wrote me back, and I reminded him that I was the same Lars from the 90s. On this week's episode, we talk about his run-ins with the FBI, how he has monetized his brand and even the origin of "Horris". Don't miss it! Super proud of this episode. This dude has been doing this for almost 30 years! That's awesome!!

Special Guest: Redbox Chili Pepper.

This week, I had the honor of talking to Roger Rabbit creator Gary K. Wolf, whose unorthodox noir mystery book "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" was the basis for the 1988 Disney / Amblin blockbuster. We talk about the origins of the character, his other works, Wolf's memories on set, and how Roger changed both his and Eddie Valiant's lives. I am so proud of this episode and am so grateful Gary could speak to be for so long! Since his original book, Gary has released two other Roger Rabbit novels, and a compendium of short stories inspired by the rabbit and his crew, "The Road to Toontown".

Special Guest: Gary K. Wolf.