Chris and Conner Poole — the two brothers behind Nashville DIY heavy psych duo Materializer — join The Sonic Road Podcast to talk about their debut album As the Body Flies, out October 2nd on Bandcamp.

Materializer is the next chapter after nearly nine years as The Swell Fellas. This episode traces the whole arc — from playing Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath covers in Ocean City, Maryland bars, to booking DIY tours in a 1991 Chevy van, to the move to Nashville in 2020 after Ben McLeod of All Them Witches invited them out to record. It's also the first episode with Becky Franzel officially co-hosting, making a duo interviewing a duo the right way to kick things off.

In this episode:

How Materializer built a genuinely heavy sound as a two-piece, running a pair of '70s Silverface Fender Twin Reverbs with sub-octave low end, all analog, mostly in drop C.

The writing and recording of As the Body Flies — tracked at their home studio with drums cut at Gnome Recording and mixed by Ben McLeod — and where the album title comes from, pulled from a lyric at the end of the second track, "Walking Home."

What watching bands like All Them Witches, King Buffalo, YOB and Cave In up close taught them about leveling up, the state of the Nashville underground in 2026, phone-bagging shows and the fight for presence in a room, why they chose the name Materializer, the reality of running a fully DIY band on night-shift jobs and endless emails, and the freedom and uncertainty of starting something new after nine years in one project.

If you care about DIY heavy music, analog tone, van life on the road, and bands doing it entirely on their own terms, this one is for you.

Materializer: materializerband.com | materializer.bandcamp.com | @materializerofficial

The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms

Becky Franzel officially joins The Sonic Road Podcast as co-host, and she and host Beau open up about what led to this new chapter. They talk about building a real community around music conversations, the shift from Zoom interviews to in-person recording, and how Becky's ties to Milwaukee's rock scene will bring fresh stories to the show. It's the start of a new era for this stoner rock, heavy psych, and independent music podcast.

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Concert ticket prices are up 41% since 2019, tours are getting canceled across the country, and unsold seats are showing up on Ticketmaster maps everywhere. John Gist — founder of Vegas Rock Revolution and creator of Planet Desert Rock Weekend — is building the opposite of all that.

John spent years running marketing departments for Marriott and Wyndham before leaving the corporate world to promote heavy rock in Las Vegas. Seven years in, Planet Desert Rock Weekend has become one of the most carefully curated independent heavy rock festivals in the United States.

In this episode:

Pollstar data shows the average concert ticket went from about $96 in 2019 to nearly $136 by 2024. John breaks down where that money actually goes, how Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate, the role artist management plays, and why bands get blamed for prices they don't set.

Why fewer companies controlling more of the industry is a problem, why marketing spend separates bands who sell tickets from bands who play to twenty people, and what "blue dot fever" says about the current touring market.

The philosophy behind Planet Desert Rock Weekend: one stage, no overlapping sets, twenty minutes between bands, full 45 to 60 minute sets, and evening-only shows so people can enjoy Las Vegas during the day. John supplies the backline for international bands, obsesses over sound quality, and books at The Usual Place near Fremont Street so fans can walk from their hotel.

Also covered: losing tens of thousands of dollars on the second edition in 2019 and rebuilding from scratch at volume three with John Garcia and Nebula, growing up on Circus and Hit Parader magazines, hearing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time from a cover band at a fraternity house, Kyuss in 1993, why Las Vegas has never had a real stoner rock culture, and his years co-hosting the Doomed & Stoned Show with Billy Goate and Bucky Brown.

Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII runs January 28–31, 2027 at The Usual Place in Las Vegas — 21 bands from 9 countries over four evenings, including Greenleaf's exclusive West Coast show, Howling Giant playing their side of the Ripple Music split with Sergeant Thunderhoof for the first time ever, plus Sasquatch, Mothership, Black Rainbows, Cowboys & Aliens, Carousel and The Cold Stares. Tickets on Eventbrite.

Vegas Rock Revolution: vegasrockrevolution.net | vegasrockrevolution.com | @vegasrockrevolution

The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms

Jadd Shickler — founder of Blues Funeral Recordings, director of Magnetic Eye Records, and lead vocalist of Blue Heron — joins The Sonic Road Podcast for a career-spanning conversation about a life in heavy music that goes all the way back to the beginning of the stoner rock scene.

Jadd has been shaping the heavy underground for nearly thirty years. In this episode he walks through the entire journey — from taping songs off the radio as a kid in 1984 and discovering the world of underground music through his older brother's mixtapes, to the grunge era, to founding the All That's Heavy online store in 1997 around a Kyuss bootleg and a dedicated landline phone in a house full of roommates.

From there the conversation moves through the founding of MeteorCity Records — one of the first labels dedicated to stoner rock — the genre-defining Welcome to MeteorCity compilation, and the early demos that fell into their laps from a teenage Peder from Lowrider, Tommi from Dozer, and the New Jersey bands Solace and The Atomic Bitchwax. Jadd also tells the story of starting his own band in reverse order — filling in for Maryland doom band Iron Man on three weeks' notice in 2000, having never sung live before.

The second half digs into the modern era — selling MeteorCity, stepping away from music for years, returning through writing before joining Magnetic Eye Records, and eventually founding Blues Funeral Recordings in 2018. Jadd breaks down the origin of the PostWax vinyl subscription series, the two-year pursuit of Elder that he finally closed with a SoundCloud audio message, the Mark Lanegan collaboration on the Domkraft record, and what a day in the life of running two labels actually looks like in 2026.

He also gets candid about the business side that most labels won't discuss — transparency, delivering honest sales statements to bands, why "that which is measured improves," how Elder got burned before coming back to work with him, and why it's so easy to take advantage of artists who just want to make music. Plus: the Clutch story from a 2003 European tour, the health of the scene in 2026, why there are more bands than ever but attention is harder to earn, the younger fans showing up to Slomosa and Corrosion of Conformity shows, and balancing Blue Heron with running two labels.

This is a deep one for anyone who cares about the heavy underground, the business of independent music, or the story of how the stoner rock scene actually got built — told by someone who was there from the start.

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Nick DiSalvo — vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of Elder — returns to The Sonic Road Podcast for a full conversation ahead of the band's seventh studio album Through Zero, out May 29th via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America and Stickman Records in Europe. 

Topics covered: twenty years of Elder and what it actually feels like from the inside, life in Germany while working for a European record label and playing in two active bands, the heavy music renaissance of 2026, All Them Witches, playing smaller venues by choice, scaling back activity to avoid burnout, being a maximalist and learning to pull back, barely finding time to play guitar, why COVID proved stopping isn't an option, creating from passion vs. making a product, the most important advice for young bands, medieval imagery and modern technocracy, fans and musicians building a community ecosystem within a broken system, the making of Through Zero at Big Snuff Studio with engineer Richard Behrens, Mellotron and the sonic palette of the new record, Ron Nevison and Led Zeppelin, the three-label global distribution setup with Blues Funeral, Stickman Records and Bird's Robe, whether Elder will ever play Through Zero in its entirety live, The Black Crowes and Clutch playing full albums, ticket prices, and what's coming next on tour. 

Through Zero out May 29th — Blues Funeral Recordings. bluesfuneral.com | beholdtheelder.com 

The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com @thesonicroad on all platforms. 

Elder: @elderofficial

Host Beau sat down backstage at The Roxy at Mahalls in Lakewood,

Ohio with Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman, and Bobby Landgraf of

Corrosion of Conformity hours before their May 10th show for a

half-hour deep dive into Good God / Baad Man — out now on

Nuclear Blast Records.

Topics covered: why the album sounds like a COC greatest hits

record and why that was intentional, the heavy underground surge

of 2026, how Stanton Moore's drumming caused Pepper to rewrite

60% of his lyrics, the double album concept and why it was fully

sequenced before they turned the amps on, the hidden Mississippi

writing retreat with no clock and no hotel, recording with no

isolation or control room with mattresses against cabinets,

Warren Riker replacing John Custer after his severe tinnitus

diagnosis, drums and bass tracked live to tape at Dockside Studio

in Maurice Louisiana, guitar at Barry Gibb's private studio, the

six-foot oil painting by Scott Guion made during the sessions,

Bobby Landgraf locking in with Stanton on bass, recording at

Electric Lady Studios for Deliverance and Wise Blood with

Superunknown engineer Jason Cassaro, human music vs AI, demo

tracks and cassette vocals that made the final record, Handcuff

County in one live take, Lose Yourself on radio everywhere,

Brickman with brushes for the first time on a COC record,

shoeboxes of unreleased material and Electric Lady cassette

tapes still intact, and plans for Part 2.

Good God / Baad Man out now on Nuclear Blast Records.

nuclearblast.com | coc.com

The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com

linktr.ee/thesonicroad | @thesonicroad on all platforms.

COC: Instagram @coccabal | TikTok @corrosivecabal

Returning guest and Milwaukee author Becky Franzel joins host Beau 

to break down the best rock, metal, and alternative albums of 2026 

so far — including The Black Crowes' A Pound of Feathers, 

Corrosion of Conformity's Good God / Baad Man, Elder's upcoming 

Through Zero on Blues Funeral Recordings, All Them Witches' House 

of Mirrors, Weedpecker, Handsome Jack's Barn Burners, ABRAMS' Loon, 

Fortune Child, Kat Clyde's Mud and Bone, The Black Keys' Peaches, 

and more.

They also dig into Record Store Day 2026 — the rising costs, 

pricing concerns, and how smaller retailers get squeezed out — plus 

the ongoing debate around Bandcamp vs. Spotify, singles culture vs. 

full albums, the Ticketmaster monopoly, fair pay at indie venues, 

and summer touring season.

Becky shares updates on her fourth book, Death's Subcontractor 

Derrick, and where to find her work. Beau announces a free 

Sonic Road newsletter.

Find Becky at beckyfranzel.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms.

ABRAMS guitarist and vocalist Zach Amster joins The Sonic Road Podcast to 

break down Loon — the Denver heavy rock band's most aggressive and 

emotionally raw album yet, out April 17th on Blues Funeral Recordings.

🎵 ABRAMS "Loon" — Out April 17th on Blues Funeral Recordings

Order the album here: Blues Funeral Recordings (US orders): https://www.bluesfuneral.com/products/us-orders-abrams-loon-deluxe-vinyl-editions

Bandcamp: https://abramsrock.bandcamp.com/album/loon

SPKR Shop (Euro/UK orders): https://en.bluesfuneral.spkr.media

ABRAMS on Instagram: @abramsrockband

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Loon isn't a polite evolution. It's a gut punch. After a decade of building 

one of the American heavy underground's most devoted fanbases — through five 

albums and stages shared with Khemmis, King Buffalo, Unsane, and Emma Ruth 

Rundle — ABRAMS have made the record that demands your attention. Zach 

unpacks every inch of it.

🎸 What's inside this episode:

— The sonic fury behind Loon and why it hits harder than anything ABRAMS 

  has made before

— How the band evolved from post-hardcore aggression to the melodic, 

  crushing heavy rock they play today

— Zach's musical DNA: Fugazi, Seattle grunge, Soundgarden, Queens of the 

  Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, At the Drive-In, Mars Volta & A Perfect Circle

— His vocal transformation from screaming to the powerhouse clean singing 

  on Loon

— How COVID changed ABRAMS' writing process forever

— Recording 14–15 songs in 14 days — and the tough cuts that didn't make 

  the album

— Gear deep dive: solid-state amp rigs, Ampeg Venture bass, and the tones 

  behind the wall of sound

— The Denver heavy music scene and why it's one of the best underground 

  communities in the US

— Blues Funeral Recordings and why it was the right home for this band

— ABRAMS' first-ever European dates, headlined by DesertFest London (May 

  2026), plus US tour plans

If you're into Torche, Cave In, Converge, Hum, Quicksand, Mastodon, or 

Baroness — ABRAMS belong at the top of your playlist. Loon is the record 

that changes the conversation.

How does a multi-platinum rock band capture their live energy in the studio? Ewan Currie of The Sheepdogs joins The Sonic Road to discuss the making of their new album, Keep Out of the Storm.In this episode, Ewan Currie shares an inside look at the songwriting and production philosophy behind the band's latest release. We explore their decision to record at Taurus with engineer Tom Darcy, utilizing a hybrid analog/digital setup to capture the band "live off the floor.”🎸 VISIT THE OFFICIAL SITE: thesheepdogs.com🔥 SUBSCRIBE TO THE SONIC ROAD PODCAST: https://linktr.ee/thesonicroad?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=a334b972-8bca-4eab-829e-aa1a3eff548eFollow The Sonic Road Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok & Substack: @thesonicroadTake control of your health with affordable and extensive bloodwork here: https://my.functionhealth.com/signup?code=BMCGRANAHAN10&_saasquatch=BMCGRANAHAN10&d=FHREF25Currie breaks down the intricacies of the Sheepdogs' signature sound—from the dual-lead guitar harmonies to the evolution of their rhythm section following the departure of their longtime drummer. We also discuss the realities of running an independent record label and the mental shift required to stay creative while touring across Canada and Europe.Key Discussion Points:The Songwriting Routine: Why Ewan starts with melody and music before ever touching lyrics.Recording Live Off the Floor: The benefits of tracking as a full band for speed, feel, and authentic rock and roll energy.The Gear & The Room: Merging analog warmth with digital efficiency at Taurus.Guitar Harmonies: Developing the band’s iconic twin-lead sound with Ricky.Independent Business: The motivation behind launching their own label and maintaining creative control.Show Chapters00:00 Podcast Introduction: Ewan Currie (The Sheepdogs)00:30 Finding The Sheepdogs: Origins and Influence01:10 The Songwriting Routine: A Constant Process02:13 Composition: Why Music Comes Before Lyrics03:08 Keep Out of the Storm: Album Title and Imagery04:23 Literary Influences and Almost Famous05:13 Studio Atmosphere at Taurus06:59 Technical Setup: Analog Meets Digital07:40 Recording Strategy: Live Off The Floor09:45 Production: Knowing When to Hit Record11:48 The Rhythm Section: Multiple Drummers Era12:48 Click Track Philosophy in Rock Music13:55 How Drums Influence the Writing Process15:14 Track Breakdown: Favorite Grooves and Shifts16:15 Studio Stories: Levon Helm and The Barn18:04 Ricky’s Influence: Making the First Full LP Together19:26 Mastering Guitar Harmonies and Tone20:51 The Dual Role: Producing While Performing21:58 Production Collaborations: Handsome Jack22:38 Hendrix Easter Eggs and Lyric Secrets24:23 Health and Longevity on the Road27:02 Moving on the Yellow Line: Life in Transit28:45 Themes of Searching for Home29:57 Label Independence: Running Their Own Imprint33:03 Touring Realities vs. Rock Myths35:20 Global Tribe: Crowds in Canada and Europe37:01 Current Listening Picks and Artist Support38:15 Where to Buy Directly and Farewell#thesheepdogs #ewancurrie #thesonicroadpodcast #keepoutofthestorm #newmusic2026 #thesheepdogs2026

"It’s such a beautiful sound... I don’t know why more bands don’t do it."

Ewan Currie joins The Sonic Road to break down the technical and melodic appeal of the "dual lead" guitar style. While many modern rock acts have moved away from complex arrangements, The Sheepdogs continue to make vocal and guitar harmonies a centerpiece of their songwriting and live shows.

Currie cites the Allman Brothers and Thin Lizzy as primary influences on this "sweet" sound, explaining how the layering of two distinct guitar lines creates a unique sonic energy when they "light up" together on stage.

In this clip, we explore:

• The "Sweet" Sound: Why the Sheepdogs prioritize harmony over standard soloing.

• Classic Influences: How 70s icons shaped the band’s melodic framework.

• Live Energy: Capturing the dual-lead magic during their 2026 tours across Canada and Europe.