Third Gear Scratch

Before John Jarvis formed Scour with Phil Anselmo of Pantera and helped reinvent the direction of one of metals most iconic singers into a grind-core juggernaut on the eve of their recent release of the Black EP, he was making eardrums bleed in PigDestroyer and discovering his ability to manage not only his own bands logistics but turned skill that into Jarvis Booking and Management, helping other bands navigate the often shady world of legalese in contracts and book tours that actually pay dividends. 

Drummer Stephanie Luke, who's spent the last 13 years in her groundbreaking punk rock band The Coathangers, touring the world like crazy with what started as a chance to make noise with friends, reckons with the CV era and it's effects on her and the group even as they released their finest album yet, The Devil You Know (Suicide Squeeze), and uses the downtime go back to school, give sobriety a run for its money and also to make NRCSSST, a new full-length with Dan Dixon of PLS PLS and DropSonic. 

Ending this year with a bang is like taking Ol' Yeller out behind the barn and this episode is just slug in the chamber we all need. We get a chance to revisit TGS guests like Sarah Balliet (Murder By Death) Zach Blair (Rise Against), Enrique Chi (Making Movies) Mike Lust (Lustre King/Tight Phantomz) and Artur Estrada (Nueva Vulcano/ Aina) just to name a scant few without all the yappity yap before we get to the jams. This one's all jams. Happy New Year. Amen. 

It's been a shitty year. Let's not be coy. One of the lowest in recent history and yet, we take this moment to celebrate the good, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the cream from the crop, to take stock of what's truly good in our lives as we examine those who make mystical castles with ordinary instruments. We hold a spotlight steady on those who use the medium of music to enrich us all with song, created on a steady diet of neuroses, caffeine, cigarettes and microdosing. Let freedom ring. 

Producer/ Engineer Jason Livermore is an owner at The Blasting Room Studios in Ft Collins CO with his partner, drummer/producer Bill Stevenson of the Descendants/All/BlackFlag and they're celebrating their 25 years of existing, (no easy feat in studio land) with a brand new feature length documentary coming in 2021. We rap at length about his time there working with Descendants, RiseAgainst, RadKey, Shiner and The Life and Times naturally, and thousands more and how he is blessed with work that isn't work, which is always the best work. 

Murder By Death cellist and now restauranteur Sarah Balliet speaks volumes about starting a project as huge as Pizza Lupo, the Louisville pizzeria she co-owns with her brother Max Balliet and her partner in life and crime Adam Turla, lead singer of MBD and with whom she tied the knot long ago, and we talk about the secret of that long relationship; silence, plus we explore how MBD has been able to cultivate such a fervent fanbase that continues to grow to this day, and is often rewarded with intimate shows in fantastically unique settings. 

As a young latino male into indie-rock from Lee's Summit MO, Enrique Chi could not imagine that his KC band Making Movies would be nominated for a Latin Grammy with Ruben Blades and make records with the likes of Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, but also could've never seen himself running a non-profit Arts As Mentorship that reaches out to underserved kids and shows them the important beauty of learning to make music. 

Artur Estrada is a gifted songwriter, bandleader and father and we examine his time on this earth in Barcelona and the parallels between his bands, Aina and then Nueva Vulcano and where they diverge, we also discuss the Maskless Warriors "fighting for freedom" in the US and even Spain, we wax about our tours with each other throughout Europe and US, our mutual respect for each others lyrical style, look at how the CV era has shut down his startup, L'Affluent and the cultural events they curate in Barcelona and why Nueva Vulcano's new record Ensayo is blowing up. 

Billy Hardison has spent a fair chunk of his life on earth booking shows in Louisville KY and nurturing that town's influential music scene and bands like My Morning Jacket, Slint and Young Widows among many before becoming an owner in Headliners, the premier mid-size venue in the region, and now in the CV era Billy has a title-fight on his hands as he takes a more prominent role with #SaveOurStages and now NIVA as he lobbies for much needed support for this important industry and the many lives it touches and jobs it maintains. 

Musician / Production Manager Pete Falcor has spent the last decade working with club owner Bruce Finkelman at his legendary venue The Empty Bottle before moving to the much larger Thalia Hall and that experience has created an unquenchable thirst for all things music, one that can only be satiated by baptism in the holy fire of rock'n'roll and his band Planetsexploder and now ILLS, while also launching Black Bobbin, a boutique guitar shop that partners with other businesses that hopes to be a hub of music-making for Chicago.