The Universal Hitchhiker

Say Hello to Dave! Say hello to Album #12 'Cruel Face of War'. Jungle Rot has been thrashing for 30+ years and doing it well. One would think that you would slow down a little at some point. Not Dave and the boys. This album is more aggressive than some of the previous. This milestone album is exactly what Dave said "It's full of crushing grooves and violent hooks that will surely break anyone's neck".I would also ask you to say hello to Joey. This is Joey's first interview with me and her first real metal album...ever! She and I talk to Dave about a lot of subjects including what being a legend means and how it feels to play live.You will see Joey at one of Dave's shows soon as he promised to get her on stage!!To Dave, thanks for your time, and for 12 albums of hard hitting metal!!!I hope you all enjoy the conversation and 'Cruel Face of War' out May 15th!

Welcome back to ground zero of solid all American rock music. No real frills or over produced fillers and theatrics. Austen Starr's 'I am the Enemy' is a really good testament to her voice and lyric writing abilities. With a few songs and videos already out to tease the world she has already gained a solid fan base. With everyone ready to hear the rest of the album, February 13th can't come soon enough!With the outstanding writing abilities of Joel Hoekstra and a great supporting cast of musicians. Chris Collier, Steve Ferlazzo, and Chloe Lowery have combined an amazing backdrop of rock to showcase Austen. In the episode we talk about the anticipation of the album, learning instruments and song writing. We even dive into what Rock Camp is. We also compare this work to what a 'real job' is.I hope you enjoy our conversation. I hope you love Austen's album as much as I did!

Bird is not what I expect most people would hear me talk to. But in reality, I am so engulfed into music that every genre has something that I enjoy. With Janie, AKA Bird, I get to explore so much more of the emotion and clarity of the music. Her uncanny talent to envelope herself in to so many different musicians artwork with the full talents of her own is unlike any artist that I have spoken to in the past. Basing the beginning of her career on the Cello and then moving to drums, this musician/ artist is full of surprises. If you listen to her resume of music you will get lost in the stories. You will also find the differences as she moves through different collaborations. She also made a move into short films and screenplay. You will learn how some of her work developed as we talk. I truly enjoyed talking to Bird and I hope you enjoy the conversation we had. A true artist both with music and in film. I am so excited to see what she comes up with next.

Pupil Slicer has released their 3rd album in the last four years. Each album from this band just gets better and better. 'Fleshwork' is an overall display of how talented this band is. The writing, arranging, and orchestration of this album is outstanding. The growth that this band shows in this is apparent. I had a great conversation with Kate amidst a long day of interviews. I hope she enjoyed the conversation as much as I did.I hope you enjoy our conversation, as well as 'Fleshwork'. I hope you listen to all of their art.

Get ready mixed metal heads!! This genre jumping ensemble of songs is about to hit you with another installment of eclectic chaos. On October 10th Extortionist will release Stare Into the Seething Wounds. If you have listened to Extortionist before you will know that they hardly fit into one specific genre. With musical influences from grunge to thrash, they really can fit into a lot of molds. However, some of the particles will ooze out of the side of any mold you try to smash them into. This new album is even more of a mind bending ride of mixed emotions. Some songs will make you sad. Some will make you angry. The rest fill the gaps on any other emotion in between. I got to talk to Ben and we had a great conversation about the music and the album. I hope you like the conversation...your going to LOVE the album!

Prong has been one of the building blocks for modern metal since the mid/ late 80's. Tommy has been the sole heartbeat of the band since it's inception. Now with his lucky number 13th album coming you can hear why Prong is at the tip of every metalhead's tongue when you ask them who their biggest influence would be. 'State of Emergency' has all of the pure aggressive impact that the band has always projected. But there is something about this album that feels so well put together that is almost what I might consider his best Prong album yet. But, there are so many good ones, it is hard to settle. Enjoy the interview...I did.

After a long hiatus we are finally back! I was blessed to get the opportunity to talk to Aki of the screamo metal band Dreamwell. Earlier this year Dreamwell signed with Prosthetic Records. Their second album 'In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You' is nothing short of amazing. Each song has it's own identity yet they are all linked to one idea. This album is "dark yet smart poetry with a musical backdrop of intense emotion and an eerie calmness". The album is out October 20th. Enjoy.

Welcome back Gurschach. At the end of 2020 they killed YouTube with their own version of Metallica's "St. Anger". I found it to be exceptional. But the sad reality is just how good this band is. Their songs are well thought out, smart, and each one has a lot of moving parts that fit so well together.  Early this year they released their latest EP 'Hypnotic Disasters'. This is a collection of one song written by each member of the band. If you analyze like I do, you can segregate the different characteristics of each title. This would then break down to the creativity of each member.  I again got to talk to all four member of the outfit which I always love. Just a bunch of gifted hard rockers that are just as smart and fun as they are talented.  I hope you enjoy the conversation, the music, and especially their EP.  

Lately it has been somewhat normal for a band to roll through a town more than once in a year. With so many bands playing catch-up from missing so many months of touring, you jump on to what you can to work on getting yourself back out there. Infected Rain was a part of the Butcher Babies tour at the end of last year. This brought them through my town once already. With the release of the 'Ecdysis' album Lena and the boys were destined to tour more and this, thankfully brought them back around again. With the stop in my town again, I had to jump at the chance to get to talk to Lena. The band is over a decade old and have turn some heads over and over again with their honest and fully aggressive style. If you have not seen the band live you would truly be missing out on how intense and focused they are to give you a fully engaged experience. Lena was an extremely engaging interview. She took every question to heart and made it very clear that she is serious about what she does. This artist and her bandmates are very hard working and deserve every opportunity that comes their way. If you haven't listened to 'Ecdysis', or any other Infected Rain album, you are missing out and you need to catch up.

There's something about this band. I don't know what it is that drives me to them. I have been a fan for a long time. They are just on the edge of the styles of music that I traditionally listen to. There is something about the drive that Mixi has, and her ability to bring back my love for good solid hard rock with a little edge.  This interview was a quick chat at the Rebel Lounge in Phoenix. I never miss a chance to get a quick few minutes with Mixi. I was even more excited that Jason sat with us as well.  The bonus was that I got to sit through the entire sound check which ended up more like a full rehearsal. I am one of the few who have ever gotten to see the entire show, before seeing the entire show.