Ep. #83 – Feat. Despyre

The following episode was recorded on December 3rd, 2017 on location at The Kingsland music venue in Brooklyn, NY. Today Matt welcomes Rob Malvagno (vocals) and Kevin Cassidy (bass) from the metal band Despyre. Grabbing a chance to speak with the band before playing The Kingsland, Matt chats with the guys about life on tour and playing live shows with Bobaflex. They also discuss the music video for their first single “Irritation” off their eponymous EP, they chat about their origins as a group—citing the band that influenced their sound—and they describe how having children has kept them on their toes in discovering new music. And so, from the positive and negative effects of the music industry to the inside scoop on their band name, here’s presenting Rob and Kevin of Despyre.

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Ep. #82 – Feat. Mac Rogers

Today Matt welcomes Mac Rogers, a playwright hailing from NYC. Founding member of Gideon Productions, Mac Rogers has written the plays Frankenstein Upstairs, Universal Robots, and The Honeycomb Trilogy (including Advance Man, Blast Radius, and Sovereign). He is also the writer of a new 14-episode narrative podcast Steal the Stars — a serial noir science fiction heist. With Matt, Mac chats about Gideon Media partnering with Tor Labs to bring Steal the Stars to life; they chat about its casting process and how they decided on Ashlie Atkinson as the lead. Matt asks how Mac got his start as a writer, and what inspired him to dive deep into sci-fi on the stage. And so, from the difficulties in portraying and high quality science fiction in the theater—without the use of special effects—to the challenges of writing a podcast versus a play, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Mac Rogers.

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Ep. #81 – Feat. Evelyn Vinyl

This week, Matt welcomes Evelyn Vinyl, a burlesque performer, model, and costume designer from Nashville, TN. Founder of her own costume and lingerie design company, Blue Lawless, Evelyn chats with Matt about what inspired her to start such a company and how she got started in burlesque. In burlesque production, Evelyn chats about her ability to drift between the personal and more serious acts to the silly and the goofy ones; she chats about the positives and negatives of the burlesque scene, its community troubles, and how she’s fashioned a career around it. From her time as a figure skater to the concept of “the vortex”, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Evelyn Vinyl.

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Ep. #80 – Feat. Devin Mullen (a.k.a. Anxious Kids)

Today, Matt welcomes Buffalo native Devin Mullen, the creative mastermind behind Anxious Kids (formerly Anxious Kids Make Good People). Previously a guest on the Crash Chords Podcast, in Ep. #141, Devin arrives on Autographs to chat about his exciting work as a professional sound engineer and his recent tenure in the Big Apple to work on the sets of The Joshua Show: Episode 2 and The Flatiron Hex. He also chats about his latest album under the Anxious Kids banner, Honestly? and how his writing has evolved since his last appearance. And so, from his writing process to his favorite tracks, to his third life an author — recently penning the novel, The Parable Life — here’s presenting Devin Mullen!

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Ep. #79 – Feat. Richard Torres

Today, Matt welcomes Richard Torres, an actor, magician, and photographer hailing from Union City, New Jersey. With Matt, Richard chats about his early interest in magic and how he learned, ultimately, that it’s what he wants to be doing in life. He chats about the magicians that influenced him and about how he build his acts; he explores his favorite tricks (both past and present), and also what goes into performing close-up magic. And so, from the magical side of things to the business side of things, to his many other passions, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Richard Torres.

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Ep. #78 – Feat. Nasty Canasta

Today Matt welcomes Nasty Canasta, a burlesque producer and performer hailing from Brooklyn, NY. A producer for Wasabassco, Nasty is known by the tag line “The girl with the 44DD brain.” She was a previously a guest on the Crash Chords Podcast, Ep. #183, where she brought on Donker Mag by Die Antwoord for discussion. Today, Matt inquires into her earliest ambitions and her transition from theater to burlesque. They chat about what she looks for in other performers and the types of acts and shows she identifies with most. They chat about her most recent Wasabassco show “Unstripped Mysteries” (a tribute to the show Unsolved Mysteries), as well as her costuming skills and what goes into creating outfits. And so, from Nasty’s future as a producer to the future of burlesque as a whole, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Nasty Canasta.

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Ep. #77 – Feat. Alissa May Atkinson

Today, Matt welcomes Alissa May Atkinson, a comedian and bartender hailing from Brooklyn, NY. A bar manager at Precious Metal, Alissa (along with her comedy partner Lauren Vino) produces and hosts monthly comedy shows called Midd Riff Comedy, which are held at Precious Metal on the first Friday of every month. With Matt, Alissa chats about how she got started in comedy and what inspires her joke writing. They also chat about the origin of Midd Riff Comedy and how bartending (doubling as a form of entertainment) preps her for performing. And so, from her fascination with the comedic process to her plans for the future, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Alissa May Atkinson.

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Ep. #76 – Feat. Waylon K. Smith

Today Matt welcomes Waylon K. Smith, a musician hailing from Greencastle, PA. As one half of the band The Positronic Cats, Waylon’s roles as a musician range from singing to playing guitar and electric bass, while his bandmate Jim Taylor plays electric and acoustic mandolin. With Matt, Waylon chats about how his band’s newest record Mortal Cathedrals came to be, from its content to its artwork, and to the music video for its first single “Glitter”, (which stars previous guest Robare James Pruyn-Bush). Waylon also discusses the band’s dynamic and how they work together as a unit to create their music and perform live. And so, from Waylon’s origins to his influences, both musical and external, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Waylon K. Smith.

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Ep. #75 – Feat. Kati Delaney and Robare James Pruyn-Bush

Today, Matt welcomes Kati Delaney and Robare James Pruyn-Bush. Both previous guests on the Crash Chords Podcast, Kati Delaney is an animator and voice-over artist while Robare is a music producer and musician who is a member of many different bands including Rare Spirits, The Waysties, and The Rose West just to name a few. Kati and Robare both hail from Philadelphia, where this interview was recorded on location in their studio. With Matt, Kati chats about her ever-expanding voice-over career working with the YouTube channels TheRichest, TheTrendy, and TheThings. She has also now branched out into recording audio books. Robare talks about producing and recording the Rare Spirits 3-song EP Dram and also about his production style and what it’s like to work with stubborn or difficult musicians. And so, from all things production to voice-over work, to the mutual past shared between them and your host, here’s presenting Matt Storm, Kati, and Robare.

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CCP Ep. #250: Fifth Anniversary Special | The Honest, Earnest, Authentic, and True Podcast

A Critical Look at Criticism: It’s our FIFTH anniversary! That’s five seasons at fifty episodes a piece, covering nearly that many albums, topics, as well as debates over what many would consider a trifling corner of cultural discourse. Five years has taught us that music truly is a boundless medium. And so, in our album discussions—incorporating everything from literary analogies to politics, psychology, sociology, life, love, pain, sorrow, and ever more complex conditions—we strive to honor artists’ hard labor by (at the very least) participating in combined acts of analysis, brainstorming, ruthless criticism, and garrulous adulation. It’s a mixed bag, but we hope, a fruitful one.

In this episode, we will be:
• Reflecting on the project;
• Discussing the barriers between criticism and analysis;
• Championing the merits of fact-checking;
• Discussing logical fallacies, laws, and rhetorical gibberish;
• Citing examples of specific critics and critical works, from Glenn Gould, to Pitchfork, to Yahtzee, and RedLetterMedia, where language, rhetoric, and satire have all aided the work, for good and for ill;
• Coming to terms with our own fallacies, clichés, and internet nonsense.

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