MAGNET television! Q&A With Alex Maas (The Black Angels)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Alex Maas (The Black Angels, LEVITATION, Partisan Records). Despite the uncertainty of everything due to this seemingly never-ending pandemic, the always-working #AlexMaas and his #BlackAngels cohorts continue to stay as busy as usual. The band just hosted its annual #Levitation festival and is currently on tour for most of November before hitting the road again in January and February. Earlier this year, #theBlackAngels released "Live At Levitation" (which compiles tracks recorded by the group at earlier fests) and spent time in the studio with producer extraordinaire John Agnello for a new record. Maas issued solo album "Luca" (a mellow-psych LP named named after his son) last December and followed it up with "Levitation Sessions" (live interpretations of those and other songs from his catalog). If you're smart, you'll grab as much as you can. Full video (Alex on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Velvet Underground, Silver Apples, more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/11/03/magnet-television-qa-with-alex-maas-the-black-angels/
MAGNET television Q&A with Josh Caterer (Smoking Popes)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Josh Caterer (The Smoking Popes). Josh Caterer has always been a bit of a contradiction. He’s a punk rocker and a Christian minister. The #SmokingPopes frontman’s latest solo release is a live album that wasn’t recorded in front of an audience. “The Hideout Sessions” (Pravda Records) features covers of popular standards like “My Funny Valentine,” “I Only Have Eyes For You,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Goodnight My Someone” that fit seamlessly alongside Popes standards like “Someday I’ll Smile Again,” “Need You Around,” “Writing A Letter” and “Megan.” But like all the paradoxes in Caterer’s life, it all seems to make perfect sense. Let’s hear it for Josh—the party’s not over! Full video (Josh on the Ramones, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/09/02/magnet-television-qa-with-josh-caterer-smoking-popes/
MAGNET television! Q&A with Jason Narducy (Bob Mould, Superchunk, Robert Pollard, Split Single)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Jason Narducy (Bob Mould, #Superchunk, Robert Pollard, Split Single). #JasonNarducy is best known as a sideman for the distinguished likes of #BobMould, Superchunk and #RobertPollard, but with the release of “Amplificado” (Inside Outside), his third LP under the #SplitSingle moniker, it’s well past time to recognize him as a talented singer/songwriter in his own, uh, right. Joined on “Amplificado” by drummer Jon Wurster and bassist #MikeMills of obscure indie band R.E.M., Narducy has created yet another solid effort of catchy power pop (“Bitten By The Sound”), Mould-esque punk-inflected rock (“95 Percent,” “Stone Heart World”) and moments like the closing “Satellite” that are simply transcendent. Full video (Narducy on The Circle Jerks, Ramones, MC50, Joan Baez and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/06/23/magnet-television-qa-with-jason-narducy-bob-mould-superchunk-split-single/
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Nora O'Connor Kean (The Flat Five, The Decemberists). You can tell a lot about a singer by the company she keeps. So even if you don’t know #NoraOConnor by name (though you really should), you’re probably very familiar with her voice. After all, she’s worked with everyone from Neko Case and Mavis Staples to The New Pornographers and #theDecemberists to Jeff Tweedy and Dylan (well, Jakob Dylan, not Bob Dylan). O’Connor’s latest release is "Another World" (Pravda Records), the sophomore album from #theFlatFive. The Chicago quintet is an indie supergroup also featuring Kelly Hogan, Scott Ligon and Casey McDonough (both of NRBQ Headquarters) and #AlexHall (JD McPherson, Pokey LaFarge). Spend a little time in "Another World," and it will start to feel just like home. Full video (Nora on The Roches, #Prince, the Decemberists, Lonnie Brooks and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/05/26/magnet-television-qa-with-nora-oconnor-the-flat-five/
MAGNET Television Q&A With Billy Pilgrim
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Kristian Bush (Sugarland, Dark Water) and Andrew Hyra of Billy Pilgrim. If nothing else, the past year has led to lots of discovery for all of us. Are we really happy with our jobs? Our relationships? Our lives in general? For #KristianBush—half of '90s folk/rock duo #BillyPilgrim (Andrew Hyra is the other half)—discovery came in a different form. While he was doing some pandemic house cleaning, Bush happened across the sole copy of what was to be Billy Pilgrim's third album. Slated to be released two decades ago, "In The Time Machine" was never issued, as the master tapes were destroyed when the studio at which it was recorded burned down in 2000. Bush and Hyra subsequently parted ways, with Bush going on to form massive country act #Sugarland. But now Billy Pilgrim is back, and "In The Time Machine" has officially been released. And if you think that's a terrible thing, then you have not understood a word Billy Pilgrim has sung. Farewell, hello, farewell, hello. Full video (Kristian and Andrew on Bob Dylan, The Police and bungling the #NationalAnthem at an NBA game): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/03/24/magnet-television-qa-with-kristian-bush-and-andrew-hyra-billy-pilgrim/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With Gary Jarman (The Cribs)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with #GaryJarman (The Cribs). For the Cribs, social distancing came easy. The band of brothers—Jarman twins Gary (bass, vocals) and Ryan Jarman (guitar, vocals) and baby bro Ross Jarman (drums)—was already spread out across 5,000 miles and two continents. After dealing with some fallout from splitting with its management and the recording/releasing moratorium that resulted, the Jarmans regrouped, wrote some songs and then recorded and self-produced them at Foo Fighters' L.A. studio. The result is “Night Network” (#SonicBlew/[PIAS] Recordings), #theCribs' eighth album and also the best LP of their 20-year career. Meet the new fellas, same as the old fellas. Full video (Gary on the Righteous Brothers - Singers, Demi Moore, Comet Gain, baltimora, Queen, Nirvana and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/03/03/magnet-television-qa-with-gary-jarman-the-cribs/
Just Another MAGNET Monday (JAMM!): Greg Sover (Greg Sover Band)
#JustAnotherMAGNETMonday (#JAMM!): Most Monday at 7pmEST, we’re proudly presenting a free #InstagramTV (@magnetmagazine) quarantine show from one of the Philly-area artists featured in our #IsolationDrills series. Tonight was Greg Sover (Greg Sover Band), but you can watch it right here, right now. If you enjoy the performance and want to break out your digital checkbook, Greg suggests you donate to North Light Community Center.
MAGNET Television: Q&A With Len Kasper (Sonic45, Chicago White Sox Broadcaster)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Len Kasper (Sonic45, Chicago White Sox broadcaster). #Sonic45 songwriter/bassist and distinguished baseball broadcaster #LenKasper’s favorite band is The Who, so he probably won’t mind (then again, he might) if we paraphrase a number from “Tommy” and note that we have a feeling ’21 is going to be a good year for him. Not only will he be switching booths from Chicago Cubs TV to #ChicagoWhiteSox radio (pursuing a longtime passion), Sonic45’s debut record, “Space And Time” (Pravda Records), will finally be released after being pandemic-delayed. Cubs fans are rightly disappointed, and dismayed, about Kasper's decision, but Sox fans are in for treat—and given the two songs out so far (“Pills” and “I Feel Alive”), so are listeners interested in quality new-wave/post-punk-inspired tunes. Full video (Len on #theWho, The Church, Eddie Vedder and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/02/24/magnet-television-qa-with-len-kasper-sonic45-chicago-white-sox-broadcaster/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With The Nude Party
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with The Nude Party. #TheNudeParty is what we wistfully imagine all rock bands were like 50 years ago. They live together in a house in the Catskills. There are six of them, including a percussionist. Their excellent sophomore LP, "Midnight Manor" (New West Records), comes with rolling papers. They got their name from their propensity to play early shows while naked. They sing about Chevrolet vans and hot tubs. They have a touring pedal-steel player named Catfish. And they've been known to cover Neil Young - Reprise Records' "Out On The Weekend" and #theStones' "Sweet Virginia," both recorded in 1971, incidentally. (We can't, however, confirm whether one of the Nude Partiers once jumped off a roof and into a pool screaming, "I am a golden god!") But for a band that shines a bright light on the past, the Nude Party—vocalist/guitarist #PattonMagee, guitarist #ShaunCouture, bassist #AlecCastillo, drummer #ConnorMikita, keyboardist #DonMerrill and percussionist #AustinBrose—is all about the right now, which bodes well for a future that feels all right. Full video (the Nude Party on Bob Dylan, Tommy James and the Shondells, Paul Simon, Van Morrison (Official), Green Day, The Rolling Stones, Jack White and more): https://magnetmagazine.com/2021/02/03/magnet-television-qa-with-the-nude-party/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With Greg MacPherson (Figure Walking)
#MAGNETtelevision: Q&A with Greg Macpherson (Figure Walking). As you can tell from this episode of MAGNET television, #GregMacPherson is a man for all seasons. The multi-instrumentalist frontman of Winnipeg's #FigureWalking has been releasing records for almost a quarter century and has been longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize multiple times. “Vertical/Horizontal” is the sophomore album from Figure Walking—which also includes drummer #RobGardiner (#Conduct, Pip Skid)—and like its predecessor, 2017's “The Big Other,” it was released on MacPherson's Disintegration Records. Tonight, we party at Greg's. Full video (MacPherson on Bob Dylan, #Silkworm, #VicChesnutt, The Ex and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2021/01/27/magnet-television-qa-with-greg-macpherson-figure-walking/
MAGNET Television! Q&A With Robert Scott (The Bats)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with #RobertScott (The Bats). Aside from U2, #theBats are the longest-running active band that's kept the exact same lineup during its entire career. The highly influential New Zealand quartet formed in 1982 and has released 10 albums without any missteps along the way. Led by Robert M Scott—also a member of equally great trio The Clean—the Bats have just issued “Foothills” (Flying Nun Records), another collection of 15 familiar-yet-always-evolving indie-rock songs that are probably better than whatever you're listening to right now. Full video (Robert on Badfinger Music, @John Cale, Alex Chilton (Big Star) and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2021/01/20/magnet-television-qa-with-robert-scott-the-bats/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With Naked Giants
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Naked Giants. The members of this Seattle trio—Grant Mullen (guitar, vocals), Gianni Aiello (bass, vocals) and Henry LaVallee (drums)—might be familiar to you because of the time they spent as part of Car Seat Headrest’s live band. But like we’ve said before, #NakedGiants loom largest when following their own inspiration. The band’s sophomore album, “The Shadow” (New West Records), was one of the best LPs you might’ve missed in the nightmare that was 2020. Will this ambitious album, produced by Chris Funk of The Decemberists, be your first favorite record in this new year? Only “The Shadow” knows. Full video (Naked Giants on Neil Young - Reprise Records, Stereolab, David Bowie, Queen, Os Mutantes, blink-182 and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2021/01/13/magnet-television-qa-with-naked-giants/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With G.E. Smith ("Saturday Night Live," Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Roger Waters)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with G.E. Smith (Saturday Night Live, Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, Mick Jagger). #GESmith is central casting's version of the cool-as-f**k rock 'n' roll sideman, only he's real. He's the ruggedly handsome guy who plays guitar better than anyone else in the room, looks like he was born to be onstage/onscreen and knows where the real after party is—the one with David Bowie and #BobDylan and #MickJagger. In addition to collaborating with those three, Smith has also backed up everyone from Roger Waters and #HallAndOates to Tina Turner and Buddy Guy, not to mention being the Emmy-winning musical director of “Saturday Night Live” for a decade. Smith's latest project is “Stony Hill,” an album with soul/R&B singer/songwriter LeRoy Bell (Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Teddy Pendergrass). To paraphrase a popular song that Smith co-wrote during his “SNL” days, it's G.E.'s world—it's party time, it's excellent! Full video: (Smith on The Clash, Pastor Shirley Caesar, The Who, #JuneTabor and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2021/01/06/magnet-television-qa-with-g-e-smith-saturday-night-live-bob-dylan-hall-oates-mick-jagger/
MAGNET Television Q&A With Joey Burns (Calexico)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Joey Burns (Calexico). Given MAGNET's love for all things #Calexico, dating back to when #JoeyBurns and #JohnConvertino first started out a quarter century ago, the band's few forays into festive music have long been part of our annual Christmastime playlists. So when we heard Burns, Convertino and Co. were making a holiday album, we knew that even if Santa leaves us MAGA-shaped coal this year, we'll also be receiving a musical gift that'll keep on giving for years to come. Mixing originals and covers, “Seasonal Shift” (Anti Records) is a multicultural yuletide celebration with something for everyone, even your long-distance relatives who only listen to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. See, 2020 wasn't all bad. Happy X-mask, Calexico. Trump is over. Full video (Joey on Peter Gabriel, Buena Vista Social Club, Lhasa De Sela and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/12/16/magnet-television-qa-with-joey-burns-calexico/
Q&A With Inara George (The Bird And The Bee)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Inara George (the bird and the bee). Inara George is closing out 2020 by continuing to spread peace, love and understanding, just as she has throughout a year during which we desperately needed all of these things. #TheBirdAndTheBee—her duo with producer extraordinaire Greg Kurstin (Adele, Beck, CHVRCHES, Kelly Clarkson, Devo, Foo Fighters, Sia, The Shins, Tegan and Sara, et al)—has just issued "Put Up The Lights" (#NoExpectation/Release Me Records). The eight-track album is a collection of holiday originals and covers, including "Little Drummer Boy," which features big drummer man Dave Grohl playing his best for George and Kurstin. Speaking of Foo Fighters frontman #DaveGrohl, he also collaborated with George on "Sex In Cars," the first volume of the #RoadAngelProject. George started this ongoing series of releases to benefit the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund's COVID-19 Fund, which provides financial assistance to career musicians and music-industry workers who've lost income during the pandemic. Inara George: providing love to live, again and again and again and again. Full video (#InaraGeorge on @Prince, Rickie Lee Jones and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/12/09/magnet-television-qa-with-inara-george-the-bird-and-the-bee/
MAGNET Television Q&A With Office Romance
12 #MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Office Romance. With so many people working from home because of the pandemic, office romances have really been suffering in 2020. But the threesome of Seth Jabour and husband/wife #SydButler and Amy Carlson are bringing love back to the workplace. #OfficeRomance—actress Amy Carlson ("FBI: Most Wanted," "Blue Bloods") and Les Savy Fav's #SethJabour and Butler (both also members of Late Night with Seth Meyers house band #the8GBand)—has released “Holidays Of Love” (Frenchkiss Records). The trio's debut album contains 10 festive originals, featuring not only members of Luna, DROWNERS and SUSU, but also Butler/Carlson's kids (Lyla and Nigel) and Jabour's twins (Teddy and William). This Office Romance is fun for the whole family. And you don't even have to add mistletoe and eggnog. Full video (Office Romance on Fugazi, Nina Simone, Bad Brains, Radiohead, The Cure, Sinéad O'Connor, Built to Spill and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/12/02/magnet-television-qa-with-office-romance/
MAGNET television: Q&A With Hey, King!
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Hey, King. Most unknown indie rockers don’t get the chance to work with one music luminary during their careers, let alone two. But Hey, King! (the California-based duo of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Natalie London and vocalist/percussionist #TaylorPlecity) had the chance to do just that—on their debut EP. The five-track “Be Still” (Anti Records) was recorded by Ben Harper, and in addition to the four Hey, King! originals, the EP also includes a killer cover of Eric Burdon And The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Outta This Place,” featuring none other than Eric Burdon on vocals. With their Harper-produced full-length debut due out next year, right now it’s good to be #HeyKing. Full video (Natalie and Taylor on Tori Amos, Matt and Kim, Nine Inch Nails, Sufjan Stevens, The Front Bottoms and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/11/23/magnet-television-qa-with-hey-king/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With The Mendoza Line
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with The Mendoza Line. The Mendoza Line is back! Well, sort of. This indie cult favorite has reissued the out-of-print “We're All In This Alone” on its 20th anniversary (out now digitally on Bar None Records, with vinyl to come). From 1996 to 2007, #theMendozaLine was a band that MAGNET championed; we were fans not only of the group's great string of albums but also its often-shambolic live shows. How do you not love a band with three distinct, first-rate songwriters (like a reverse-gender Fleetwood Mac, minus the fame and fortune), a drunken penchant for self-sabotage (a la its heroes The Replacements) and a final album that almost seemed to eerily document the divorce of two of its principals (think Richard and Linda Thompson; read more of the ML history/herstory here)? We saw ourselves in the members of the Mendoza Line, and they provided us the perfect soundtrack to life's tragedies, both big and small. But while we were just listening to it, they—Timothy Bracy (The Paranoid Style), Peter Hoffman, Shannon McArdle and a revolving cast of others—were living it, and we're happy they made it to the other side. Even if it's only via a reissue, we like it when the Mendoza Line is around. Full video (the Mendoza Line on Unofficial: Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, Sly & The Family Stone, Bob Dylan, Mekons and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/11/16/magnet-television-qa-with-the-mendoza-line/
MAGNET Television: Q&A With Robby Staebler (All Them Witches)
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Robby Staebler (All Them Witches). All Them Witches? Try All Them Records. Since 2012, the Nashville band—a power trio in the best sense of the term—has issued six studio albums and numerous other sweet releases, each helping establish ATW as a heavy psychedelic-rock band that’s comfortable getting both black & blue (Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer - Band) and pink & purple (Pink Floyd, Deep Purple). “Nothing As The Ideal” (New West Records) is the latest from drummer/artistic director #RobbyStaebler, vocalist/bassist #CharlesMichaelParksJr and guitarist #BenMcLeod, and the Abbey Road Studios-recorded LP is their best yet. Nine-minute-plus closer “Rats In Ruin” has a new video, co-directed and starring Staebler and Drea De Matteo (The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy). Yet another full-bodied Witches brew. Full video (Staebler on Brian Eno, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Tool and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/11/09/magnet-television-qa-with-robby-staebler-all-them-witches/
MAGNET television: Q&A With Joe Bonamassa
#MAGNETtelevision! Q&A with Joe Bonamassa. Even during the pandemic, business is booming in Nerdville. Joe Bonamassa just issued another album—Abbey Road Studios-recorded, Brit-blues explosion “Royal Tea”—that went straight to the top of this week's Billboard blues chart (for his 24th number one, the most ever). Prior to release of the record—his 14th studio LP since 2000, in addition to numerous live and collaborative efforts—Bonamassa played "Royal Tea" in its entirety at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium to thousands of fans around the globe. A merchandising genius who sells everything from lenticular puzzles and license plates to snow globes and storage tins, Bonamassa has also been using his salesman skills for his #FuelingMusiciansProgram, which has thus far raised more than $350,000 for 200-plus artists not able to tour because of COVID. And he's launched #LiveFromNerdville, a video interview series that's featured the likes of Paul Stanley (KISS), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), John Oates (Hall & Oates), Scott Ian (Anthrax), John Mayall and Brad Paisley. #JoeBonamassa is our kind of blues. Full video (Joe on BB King, #JohnMayall and more): http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/11/02/magnet-television-qa-with-joe-bonamassa/
