Theme Park Experience

This week's edition is with Stavros from the Atlas Moth. This was my first interview to do while driving. Jenny and I made a quick trip to Houston a few weeks ago for my nieces' and mother's birthdays, and he texted me as we were just about to I-45. We talked for a good half hour and the energy was pretty high.  Stavros was great to talk with, and I look forward to seeing the band play live.

A little before Christmas last year, I started watching Dexter from the beginning. Matt has every season that's available on DVD, so it was natural to watch. Since The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad are on break, I figured I could fit some time in to get up to speed on Dexter Morgan's world. A few days ago, I finished with the fourth season, aka, the season with John Lithgow as the "special guest star." I truly enjoyed seeing Lithgow show his entire range of acting skills, from friendly and genuine to psychotic to broken. Not many can do that without looking hammy, but Lithgow is a guy who's effectively played complex villains many times before. I've seen Lithgow in a lot of movies and TV shows before, but while watching this season of Dexter , I couldn't help remembering the time I met Lithgow in a New Orleans airport. I'm not sure if it was 1985 or 1986, but I certainly remember the circumstances around meeting him. At the time, The Adventure...

There are benefits to frequently being on Facebook. Early last night, a couple of my friends shared the link about the Spector 45 documentary. I hit up the director and we did an interview . An hour later, I had transcribed the interview and uploaded it onto our blogging program. The results went live earlier this morning.

This week's edition is with the Atomic Tanlines. I met up with them at the Waffle House where they started and even took their picture in front of the place. I had to lie on my back to get the shot. Whatever it takes.

I've been a little late to praise this, but it's better late than never. When I wrote Post between 2004 and 2008, I dealt with the mainstream's version of what post-hardcore/emo was. Articles, TV news reports, a decent documentary and a really off-base (and superficial) book tried to explain why teenagers liked Fall Out Boy and Dashboard Confessional. More often than not, I was discouraged by bands with an eye on a prize and journalists with deadlines to meet with very little time for research. So I spent a lot of time attempting to explain why a band like Jawbreaker still matters while Panic at the Disco had a ticking time bomb attached to their relevance. During the research process, I had a subscription to  Alternative Press and stayed in touch with some of its writers (writers I'm still in touch with today). While they did feature bands that weren't in the music business to have a Top 40 hit, a lot of the attention I saw was to bands that wanted that golden ...

This week's edition is with Erika Wennerstrom from Heartless Bastards. The interview turned out well, but doing the interview was a little frustrating due to a small delay on our cell phone connections. Even a small delay can make it hard to tell when the person you're interviewing is finished answering the question.

A few weeks ago, I took in a screening of Celebration Day , the (possibly) last-ever performance of Led Zeppelin. Thankfully, I never wished to hit the fast-forward button during its two-hour running time. I say this because there was a time in my life when I ate up a 25-minute rendition of "Dazed and Confused." Those were my high school years when I had a desire to soak up an experience like The Song Remains the Same . I never watched it under the influence, and I don't regret that. Given all the music I dig as an adult, I don't really feel the need to listen to The Song Remains the Same again and again. I'll take the studio albums over that any day, no matter my mood. That said, the production and the performance quality of Celebration Day is exactly what I enjoy as an adult. The editing is spot-on, the performance is nothing short of powerful, and the song selection shows the best of the band's sound. I didn't watch Celebration Day under the in...

Here's a question I never get tired of asking: "How did you get your job?" Everyone has a unique story, so it always interests me. And, I keep the answers in mind as I continue to find my next full-time job. Every single job I've had came in part from knowing somebody with the company. My father was good friends with the manager at the Best Buy I wanted to work for. The woman who gave me my first internship was a longtime family friend. And the man who helped me land my second internship (which led to my first job in radio) was a fraternity brother of my father. The last two full-time jobs I held came from a simple question by the same person: "You want the job?"  I had worked my butt off to get to that point, so it wasn't like I lied around and was handed the job on a silver platter. I sacrificed, showed up, and paid attention. I have yet to meet someone who didn't network a little for his or her new job. Job postings on websites can be truthf...

It's always a pleasure to talk with Dan Phillips, no matter which band he's in at the time. He was part of the first interview I ever conducted with a band. So it was an easy no-brainer to call him up last night and ask about True Widow signing with Relapse Records. According to him, my interview with him was the first one he's done with anybody since the announcement was made.

This week's edition is with Matt Hittle from Auxiliary Voice. I met up with him at Vickery Park on Sunday and did 15 minutes with him. Lots of funny stuff was shared and I couldn't help asking certain technical questions.

Jenny is a big fan of the blog, STFU, Parents . I enjoy the site as well, where parents are anonymously mocked for their over-sharing ways on Facebook. Many times, these parents act like their child/children are the center of not just their universe, but everyone's universe. The narcissism is often high with these people, and therefore, hilarious to read. "At least when I babysat growing up I got paid," begins one post. "No one pays you to stay home on NYE with your own child." Once again, there's what you think about, and then there's what you write and share with people you know. Chances are very good that you know these kinds of parents; frequently posting almost every kind of detail about their children's daily lives. There's the lack of sleep posts, the posts about meltdowns, and pictures, pictures, pictures. I am Facebook friends with a number of people who have young children, and I'm thankful that I've only had to hide a few ...

This week's edition is with At Night, a pretty new band in the Dallas area. I've known Cameron for years with his previous band, so it was natural to ask him if he was interested in an interview.

After all these years of writing, I've written my first eulogy . Legendary soul station KKDA-AM has gone off the air, and I had to say a few things about it.