The Musicians Guild with Steve Choi

"Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves." - Langston Hughes

The Earth is changing rapidly. Will we change quick enough with it?

No no I haven't totally gone past the point of no return, I just like to inject random thoughts and ideas wherever I can. A Public notepad if you will. Very stoked on this week's guest, a musician's musician and righteous human by the name of Matt Rubano. Matt is a bassist and currently plays in Angels & Airwaves. Matt has also played in such bands as Taking Back Sunday, All American Rejects and like former guest Will Yip has worked with Lauryn Hill having played bass on two tracks that were on The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Two banger tracks I might add. In this conversation we talk about his current role in Angels and Airwaves, the last time we hung out in Australia and it unknowingly being the end of his time in Taking Back Sunday, 6 string basses, the omnipotent and corrosive nature of our current form of capitalism, self work through gratitude and lots more. Please rate and comment on apple podcasts please you can haz cheeseburgers I love you all thank you.

This podcast is brought to you by the rainy and cold Northern California weather. Maximum coziness achieved while putting this episode together, The Musicians Guild hopes you can continue that cozy work.

This week we are pleased to welcome Barry Johnson to the discussion den. Barry is lead singer and guitarist in Joyce Manor and a delightful human. I'm still inspired by those people I come across with big props and attention that live in spite of the accolades, totally unaffected by the glory with very little ego to detect, and Barry is definitely one of those people. This is a really relaxed conversation and I hope you can get as much comfort and laughs out of it as I did. In this conversation we get into how Barry can't appreciate jazz, his path in higher education, the old chestnut of hometown show stress, limiting video game time, Long Beach drivers, the fickleness of the underground and lots more. The Musicians Guild loves you.

Wishing you all safe travels and mellow times during the holidays. The pod rolls on. This week we have with us a wonderful human called Colin Frangicetto. Colin is guitarist of Circa Survive as well as a visual artist and podcaster. I admire Colins calm and resolute presence and he is a great example of what it means to feel everything deeply while exercising grace. This conversation was recorded back in August and we are living in such a hyperbolic time that it has a time-capsule effect even though it is within the same year. This was both intentional and accidental so it adds a cool effect. In this conversation we discuss moving back to the east coast, how Circa Survived the pandemic, new live pedalboard setup, work vs. life flow, evil corporations falling upon accidental altruism and much much more. Thank you all, you're the absolute best.

This weeks offering is on par with Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey although it contains many earnest and sincere attempts at articulating something meaningful. A handful of musings, perhaps monologues or intros that never saw life beyond the incubator. Perhaps this might spark some questions or conversations for you to have. Thanks for listening!

This week we are honored to have Will Yip with us for an episode of the pod. Will is a drummer and musician who has worked with Lauryn Hill among other artists as well as a Grammy nominated producer who has made records for Circa Survive, Turnstile, Code Orange, Touché Amoré, Angel Dust, Tigers Jaw and many many more.

In this conversation we discuss his time playing for and working with Lauryn Hill, his approach to making records, how he got his start playing drums, coming up as an Asian-American and son of immigrant parents from China, daily routines and lots lots more.

Hate to ask but if you haven't already and could spare some time it would be awesome if you could rate and review the pod on iTunes. It would be immensely helpful to the pod. If you're not into doing that sort of thing all good, I appreciate you anyways. Thank you for being you.

This week we are honored to speak with guitarist Rod Castro. Rod plays with Beyonce, Bebe Rexha, Natasha Bedingfield and Bootsy Collins among others. It is wonderful to meet another musician with such a humble and soulful approach to playing their instrument. I rarely use the word 'soulful' but it is most applicable in this context. In this conversation we get into talking about his time playing in a band with actor Tom Sizemore, being neat and organized with gear but messy in all other aspects of life, getting by in a studio session, visualizing playing the guitar through shapes and patterns and lots more. Thanks for listening, thank you for being involved.

So good to be back, and thanks for joining us again for another season of The Musicians Guild. We will be starting this new season off with a story about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but still managing to find a way to get free so you can make the show and play. You are an important part of The Musicians Guild. Thank You.

Greetings earthlings. This week we are very happy to welcome someone with an enormous wealth of experiences and knowledge who is called Brian Diaz. Brian is a musician who has played in bands such as Edna's Goldfish and The Reunion Show but his main gig is as a guitar/bass tech for bands such as Fall Out Boy, Guns n' Roses, Garbage, Primus, Bush and many many more. In addition to being a top notch conversationalist, Brian is a great hang and provides tons of laughs, so getting to talk with him for an extended period of time was a real pleasure. In this conversation, we get into our first tour together in 1999, Brian's amazing singing voice, skipping out on a Brazilian festival with Anthrax, his bass setup for his band, slowing down to refocus our work, working for Primus, Fall Out Boy's stage talk-back setup, and lots lots more.

Musician's Guild merch? Hmm.

Welcome back. This week I get to sit down and talk with one of my oldest and closest friends, Aaron Nagel. In his previous life, Aaron was a musician and played trumpet in Link 80 and then guitar in DESA. Now, he is an acclaimed and revered painter/artist, devoted creative and all around fascinating human being. I really enjoy getting to find the connection between Aaron's musical self and his visual artist self. Aaron also has recently published a hardbound art book which you can find at Aaronnagel.com. Before going to eat some Amy's Drive Thru we get into discussing details of Aaron's creative process, his painting idiosyncrasies, how he can do hundreds of burpees within a matter of minutes, the inevitable chaos of hometown reunion shows, touring without gps or mobile phones, all the Jawbreaker shows he attended, how Jazz doesn't allow fakers, and much much more.

This week we welcome movie Director and old friend Matt Bettinelli-Olpin to the hall of discussion. Matt is the director of the latest Scream which is the huge horror movie franchise created by legend Wes Craven that is set to be released in January of 2022. Matt was also the original guitarist and one of the founding members of Link 80 who was on AsianManRecords. Matt and his 2 other partners make up the film making group Radio Silence, and their last film, Ready Or Not is available on most streaming services if you would like to get a feel for their work. Growing up in the Berkeley, CA Matt shares my affinity or 90's Bay Area punk and many other things from that era. I get a chance to catch up with an old friend while getting ask all the questions I want to a real Hollywood movie director and Matt graciously obliges me. I also get to see how he transfers his musical ethos into his filmmaking. In this conversation we get into what it's like to take over a film from a legend like Wes Craven, his early days playing East Bay punk shows, our time hanging out in Santa Cruz together, how catering on set suffered during pandemic, his normal morning oatmeal, the politics of making a movie and so much more. Thank you for your time and mind.