OK, not really a holiday episode, but Dan's new book makes a great "holiday gift." As for the interview, it's real and it's spectacular. DAN OZZI is a New York-raised, LA-based writer. He's got a new book called “Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007)". He's written for outlets you've read and intervi…

We're (momentarily) back baby!! On this EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE, your regular HOST is the GUEST!! From March, in his other guise as SUNNYSIDE UPPERS on "I Like Your Style", a podcast hosted by Elder Brycen of the GOLDEN PLATES, a band out of San Diego USA. We're releasing it on the eve of the new Uppers single "MARY" (streaming everywhere Fri 1…

Our regular-season finale! Who better to cap things off with than longtime pal Adam Warren? Ryan and Adam first met as drum students in a university jazz program who shared an affinity for '90s skate punk. They formed a mathy punk band, then a mathy post-hardcore band ("GLORY GLORY") which morphed into a "psychedelic dance party." These days, Adam …

Josh has followed his unusually keen interest in music from the outskirts of Yarmouth, NS, to a year in music school (where we first met), a slew of East Coast bands, two independent labels, the studio and the open road, to his current gig as an industry guy in Toronto. He actually thought he might quit the kit in favour of the straight job at one …

Matty is a gal of many projects, much like your humble host. Accordingly, we kick off this chat by discovering that we both have ADHD! Well, technically it starts with gear and home recording. We talk about growing up as a small-town outsider, discovering punk rock, local bands, playing in multiple bands, being self-taught vs “schooled” as a musici…

dewayne is the groove machine behind halifax noise-rock stalwarts BOTFLY. that is, when he’s not ripping pop punk tunes with CROSSED WIRES or bummer punk with FUTURE GIRLS. he hasn’t been able to do any of it for a little while now (thanks, c19) but that just means he’s got a huge backlog of recordings awaiting your earholes. we talk about all of t…

A classic episode!! Dylan is a punk rock brother-in-arms and a true lifer. We mean that literally. He started playing at 2 and doesn’t recall life before the drums. Drumming also got him through a very intense bout with cancer at age 19. It’s a wild tale and you need to hear it directly from him. These days he’s making mathy post-punk with Alright …

Brohan, uh, rips the tubs (that’s something people say, right??) for Toronto-via-Charlottetown indie-pop rifflords Kiwi Jr. Their sophomore album “Cooler Returns” has been a favourite of 2021. A little something for everyone here - for the drummer, discussion about stick weight; for the indie fan, the time they met Thurston Moore while touring the …

rob is a former classmate from his jazz saxophone days, and a fellow traveler in the halifax music scene. his own musical path has led him to nashville, tennessee, where he now drums with country superstars midland (when he's not doing sessions on bass or keys). we sat down for a wide-ranging chat about music, education, pocket, and the unexpected …

michael is one of our favourite singer songers. he’s got two new records out. “harmonize the moon” is gorgeous, meditative piece of work. and one of his many side projects, allstar instrumental combo bell orchestre, just released their first album in a decade, the mesmerizing "house music." both this past friday. and so it goes. we sat down for a w…

An AXXION-PACKED EPISODE! OK, that's the only pun we'll make. Emily drums for the Toronto metal band AXXION! She's a lefty! She started playing on a beat up Westbury kit as a 13 year old (respect), took lessons for a couple years, then her teacher kicked her out, saying she knew everything she needed to! From there she started playing in bands, whi…

Trevor’s been making music on the East coast for years. He's been in bands, runs an independent label, works as a publicist and hosted a radio show championing local music for a decade. He's been making moves on his own recently - he's got a new solo project called “Sluice”!! In fact, he's got a new single coming out this Friday!! In fact, we’re go…

Eric Miko Findlay has been with SoCal alternative/post-hardcore band Seahaven since they formed in high school (he actually started on bass and switched to drums after auditioning for his own band!) They had a great run in the early-mid 2010s, then went dark for 2 years, then made a new record and got ready to hit the road juuuuuust in time for tou…

WE'RE BACK BABY! Our first of 2021 and features none other than NATE MORTON from the HOUSE BAND on THE VOICE!!⁠ Nate grew up banging on pots and pans, idolizing Animal from the Muppets. Through studies at Berklee and a move to LA, he's played with loads of people whose names you know. And while his current gig brings him to your living room every w…

Looks like we made it! Our final episode of 2020 is an interview with none other than BRENDAN BUCKLEY! He’s a touring/recording freelance drummer based in Los Angeles, California. You may know him from his work with Perry Farrell, Shakira, Tegan and Sara, many others. Originally from New Jersey, he started drumming the way many of us do - seeing a …

Clare rips the kit (and the glock) with Halifax indie-pop superstars Hillsburn. Before dropping out of Humber, moving back home and joining a touring+recording band, she'd been considering a career in chemistry. She even applied for a job at a place that made cymbal cleaner. But as everybody knows, music is a much more stable path (hehe) and here w…

Tyler is a session drummer in Los Angeles, California. He was raised on top 40 and classic rock in Sacramento, but it was a Blink-182 show in the early 00s that changed his life. Since then, he's toured the world as a backline tech for artists like Usher, Demi Lovato, the Chainsmokers and Anderson .Paak. He's drummed with Charlie Puth, Noah Cyrus, …

We finally did it! People have been saying “you should get Loel on the show” since we started this thing. For listeners on the East coast (maybe Canada in general), this man needs no introduction. For those who don't know, Loel is the drummer for WINTERSLEEP. he has also worked with acts like HOLY F*CK, COLD SPECKS, MATT MAYS, CONTRIVED, THE HOLY S…

Sean Winchester is a Los Angeles studio & touring drummer with credits including Everclear, Buckcherry, Smash Mouth, Strung Out, Giants of Rome, Josh Todd and the Conflict, and more. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Sean currently spends most of his time working out of his North Hollywood studio Wolf Den Recording. We talked about music …

Tucker Rule has been in the game for a minute. A hardcore kid from New Jersey who discovered underground music via skateboarding, he formed the band Thursday with his friends in order to open shows in a basement (it should be noted that these shows were headlined by bands like Saves The Day, At The Drive-In and Hot Water Music). DIY touring led to …

How does a kid from Houston, TX become the drummer for a legendary California punk band that’s been around longer than he’s been alive? What’s it like winning the Guitar Center drum-off? These and other questions answered as we chat with Isaias Gil! Originally from Acapulco, Mexico, Isaias has been working as a session drummer in Houston since his …

"Timothy Crofts is a true 21st Century pianist. His main focus is improvisation and world music aesthetics. In performance, Timothy explores the full sonic capabilities of the acoustic piano through extended techniques and a wide range of piano preparations. He is able to coax a variety of colour and extreme dynamic contract through employing tradi…

Change begins at home. Your faithful host and his younger brother (beloved MTL comic James Brown, known for his work with the iconic SQUAD LAUGHS) decided a few months ago to read a book on systemic racism and record a podcast talking about what they learned. They chose this one because it seemed to be circulating, they'd heard of it, seemed like a…

The new DOG DAY album is out THIS FRIDAY (Aug 14)! The first one in 7 years! We sat down with KC and Meg from the band to talk drums (they're both drummers and multi-instrumentalists, with such acts as NOT YOU, DIAMONDTOWN, CENTURY EGG, GEMSTONES, BAD VIBRATIONS etc), astrology, touring in other countries and much more!!!…

Paypal Visit? Papa'll Visit? Is The Pope on the show? Elon Musk? Your dad? You'll have to listen to find out. JK, Papal Visit are Pierre Cormier and Adam Mowery. A recording project that became a live band (with help from some of Saint John's heaviest hitters), they have a new single out called "Destroy the Hive." To these ears, the A-side sounds l…

Chad is the singer and songwriter from the band Kestrels. Their new album "Dream Or Don’t Dream" comes out THIS FRIDAY, July 10, 2020. If you miss the "alternative rock" people made in the 90s, you’ll dig Kestrels. J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr plays on the record. We talked about that, meeting Steve Albini, touring, recording, Eric Clapton, Myspace, buy…

Chris Murdoch has been drumming in the Halifax, Nova Scotia hardcore scene since the turn of the millennium. By his own count, he's been in about 20 bands. He's played with Envision, Outtacontroller and currently Souvenir, fronted Word On the Street, and recently authored "Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer", available via Pentagon Black, which you sho…

Ben Hardy, PhD is an organizational psychologist and bestselling author. His blogs have been read by over 100 million people and are featured on Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Cheddar, Big Think, and many others. He is a regular contributor to Inc. and Psychology Today and from 2015-2018, he was the #1 writer, in the world, on Medium.com. He's got a new bo…

What a world. If you need a break, here's over 2 hours of nothing really important. This episode was recorded way back on May 30th with Nova Scotian musicians, sweethearts and jokesters Corey Isenor and Liam Frier. Listen to the end for a live performance (not the one they attempted to do over live stream from different locations, that one is kinda…

We sat down with singer-songwriter, recording engineer and host's-younger-brother MICAH BROWN for a wide-ranging chat on bands, the east coast vs the big city and an exclusive live performance! (almost) ZERO TALK ABOUT COVID-19! ENJOY!!!

WE'RE BACK BABY! The Season 3 home opener is something a little different. HITMAKERS: AFTER DARK is our live TV show, happening every Saturday night at 11pm (Atlantic Daylight Time) until quarantine ends and we can go to shows again. For the kickoff episode, we sat down with Saint John singer-songwriter JASON OGDEN (also of the bands PENNY BLACKS, …

(Please don't sue us, Allen Klein or Tom Scharpling) One for the true heads! Let's get (meta)physical! Where have we come from? Where are we going? We're going to borrow a descriptor from a Vice article about Metallica recording "Ride The Lightning" and tell you that this is a "wild ass" tale of how one man's career crossroads led him to the street…

LEAKED! A brand-new track from the Halifax shoegaze darlings' debut EP "Thin Veil", out later this week. Just call us Julian Assange, without all the... actually... don't. Instead, press play! Rock hard! 🖖

Jo rules. She works as a theatre tech and puppetry teacher here in Saint John. She left behind a career as a painter for film in Vancouver, working on projects with celebrities like Nicolas Cage and.... I wanna say Denzel Washington. She's no stranger to moving around the country, first as a minister’s kid, then in a touring hardcore band, then jus…

Surprise!

A classic drum episode! We talk about stuff we like and stuff we can't stand. Clinton is more of a Groovy Gus than a Charlie Chops, if you catch our drift. Inspiration, tone, thoughts on Jojo Mayer, Dave Elitch, Ash Soan, Anderson .Paak, Hal Blaine, Jim Keltner, Jay Bellarose, Ringo Starr, Bernard Purdie, John Bonham, ?uestlove, Carter Beauford and…

My best piece of drum advice at 38:29! Surrounded by info on the past and future of this podcast and its theme song, thoughts about streaming music and much more. *(the title is a Bad Religion reference if u did not get it it) (it's the worst bad religion song)(im playling guitar in a bad religion cover band s00n)…

John Mullane is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, bandleader, Haligonian about town. We found what appeared to be an interview room created specifically for this episode at the Rodd Charlottetown during ECMAs to talk about bands, recording, touring, making music for film and TV, sustaining a career and much more.…

Krista is an industry pro who works with artists on grant applications, PR and strategy. She's got a new podcast ("Granted") coming out on the subject of the Canadian grant system. What it is, how to use it, and some horror stories. It's a huge part of the music industry in this country and an inevitable part of building a career. Tune in to learn …

No full-length show this week. Here's what's up.

Had a fun chat with these BBQT's over a couple of Caesars and a Moosehead Pale Ale (the true Saint Johner's beer of choice) at the Lunar Rogue in Fredericton. BBQT are, like, a pop-punk band (but not like Blink) from Montreal via NL and NB. Very via - drummer Allison Graves currently lives in St John's and commutes for gigs. Tune in to find out how…

Stefan is a Fredericton-based drummer and visual artist. He was in town this past weekend for Quality Block Party, as one half of the Jane Blanchard band. This coming weekend, the two of them are putting on the 5th annual Flourish festival in Fredericton. It's a small, independent art and music festival. We talked about Flourish, the NB festival sc…

Stealing Bill Burr's idea. Comics apparently love that. Solo project this week. Delivering Saint John lore, internet pop culture videos, the history and current state of the learndrums empire, tips and insider info for getting the most out of music lessons, thoughts on popular music and much more.

Paul Milner is a recording engineer right here in Saint John (via PEI, via Toronto, via Quebec, via the UK). He's worked in Barbados with Eddy Grant (of "Electric Avenue" fame) and at Quebec's famed Le Studio with Keith Richards (of "The Rolling Stones" fame). And made approximately 498 other records along the way. We had a great chat about the mus…

Clinton is a legend. A drummer who's also a singer-songwriter (or a singer-songwriter who also drums) and all-around cool cat. Was excited to talk to him as he bridges a few different things we're trying to do with the show this season. We talked about having different roles onstage, musical context, cover bands, jazz, the local scene, focusing on …

Jason (or JVo) has played with literally millions of bands. Literally. Not bad for a guy who started out playing upside-down acoustic guitar, idolizing KISS. We catch up on his latest projects (a disco band, for one). He takes us through his early days (you won't believe what happened at his first gig). We discuss his love of metal, jazz and the ba…

Erin is a singer-songwriter who makes moody, affecting music under the name Wrote. Don't let that description fool you - this is a fun hang. We talk about creative freedom, high school talent shows, artistic evolution, touring as a solo act, putting bands together, the "Maritime vibe", discover that we both took up instruments as bored country kids…

MARCH BREAK! Quick one! Our reporter gets a candid assessment of a secret concert from a local showgoer.

In which our resident grandpa tries to understand the computer. (Back in my day all we had was Geocities and ICQ! Pictures took a week to load! And we NEVER complained!) Big thanks to Micah Brown for his thoughts on current recording methods and the ecosystem they inhabit.

Our very first and most-listened-to guest of all time returns. A total pro! We're talking, of course, about the one and only Mike Belyea. In this episode, we talk 311, jazz, taking lessons with Mars Volta drummers, self-criticism, using whatever gear happens to be lying around, and more.