Episode 29: In the Valley

Sean Kelly is a longtime musician and the author of Don't Call It Hair Metal: Art in the Excess of '80s Rock (ECW Press, 2023). He joins me to talk about why people dismiss hair metal, Sean's "duality of mind" regarding problematic lyrics, Brian Vollmer of Helix, our shared love of Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen, metal's prejudice against keyboards, the lines between musical taste, identity and insecurity, and a whole bunch of 80s rock talk. Check out Sean's Spotify playlist documenting the history of hair metal, one song per year from 1978-1991.

Psychologist, professor, writer, and metalhead Steve Byrne joins me for a big discussion about the psychology of extreme music fandom. We get into the weeds on how heavy music serves unmet needs, the distinctions (and similarities) between metal and punk, oppositional defiant disorder, musical and psychological dynamics, gatekeeping in extreme music communities, and more. Read Steve's blog Metal Health Matters and his article on gatekeeping in metal for Loudwire.

Tracey Lindeman is a journalist and the author of BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care (ECW Press, 2023). She joins me to discuss discovering punk rock through the book Please Kill Me, why people hate ska, machismo in punk, the value of anger, and more. Photo: Benjamin Cruz Spotify playlist of Tracey's chapter titles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IyjdJidJScKFBMaCCr7pL?si=0184c9184c39497e Playlist inspired by BLEED: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FwoZa0hegizExjnDIKrC4?si=1ae0f5eb5f2a442e  

Photo: Megan Cole Jason Schreurs describes his mental health struggles, and his connection to punk music, in the podcast and new book Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey Through Mental Health. He joins me to discuss his book, getting into punk through metal, music we pretend to dislike, fronting perhaps the world's first and only punk jam band, and more. Buy Jason's book or find out more about his project at https://screamtherapyhq.com/.

Musicologist Lily E. Hirsch joins me for a conversation about her many projects. We touch on everything from music used to repel teenagers from public spaces, to parenting and music lessons, to toxic ideas about musical genius, to her recent book on Weird Al, and much more.   Find out more about Lily's work at lilyhirsch.com.

Scientist, researcher and musician David John Baker first came to my attention through his involvement with the Music For Brainwaves project, an experiment with designing music to invoke certain mental and emotional states. In addition to discussing this, we talk about the overlap of music and science, what it means to be "musical," the perception of genre, Big Data's role in shaping musical taste, and other topics. Find out more about Dave and his work on his personal website or follow him on Twitter @davidjohnbaker. For those curious, the work Dave refers to on the episode regarding streaming recommendations is by Brian Miller: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/twentieth-century-music/article/why-the-next-song-matters-streaming-recommendation-scarcity/B2584C7C27DB8314121F4B45049EDEC2     

A fan raises the metal horns for Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf at Hellfest 2014 On this Very Special Episode, I discuss the beginnings of What Is This Music?! at the Hellfest metal festival in France in 2014, and give an overview of where the project is at, touching on the audience for stoner/doom metal, theories about genre and musical communities, science and technology, and assorted random thoughts. Further reading: my 2014 report on Hellfest for Vice—and, if you want to go really deep, my companion report on the neighbouring snail-sampling station entitled Shellfest.  

Noted Toronto jazz drummer (and my brother) Nick Fraser joins me to talk about the concept of genre, musical narcissism, the difficulty in separating music from nostalgia, why he loves (and so many people hate) free jazz, what he looks for in music, and (of course) Rush, among other topics. Find Nick's recordings, gigs and news on his website. And stick around after the interview for a major What Is This Music?! announcement. Photo of Nick by Bo Huang.

Yara El-Soueidi is a music writer in Montreal. She joins me to talk about why millennials get such a bad rap, why the decline of the album and the rise of the playlist isn't such a bad thing, how being a music writer changed her listening habits, the unfortunate persistence of the two solitudes in the Montreal music scene, the myth of the power of music marketing, and other topics. Follow Yara on Twitter, Instagram; read her writing in Cult MTL and Exclaim.

The one and only Peaches calls in for a chat about growing up obsessed with musicals, AM radio, Bette Midler and Barbara Streisand; the previously undisclosed truth about the first record she ever bought; becoming a folkie and then an indie-rocker before mashing up genres into her own blend; going to noise-rock university; the rise and fall of electroclash; the one genre she can't stand, and more.