“Where does my brain wander, and where does it party?” asks Kevin Tully of Telethon on “How Long Do I Let It Go For?,” the lead single from his band’s latest record Hard Pop. I caught up with Tully recently to figure out exactly where his brain wandered in the writing of Hard Pop. Our conversation ranged from the scrapped concept record that became Hard Pop, to the miseries of working in fast food. Check out the interview below while you listen along to Hard Pop, which is out now on Take This to Heart Records.
Interview: Vinnie Caruana
This past week, I was able to chat with I Am the Avalanche and The Movielife frontman, Vinnie Caruana, about his upcoming solo tour and new record Aging Frontman. The record will be released October 4th via Know Hope Records and pre-orders are currently live. In this interview, Vinnie shared his passion for songwriting and how he continues to motivate himself as an artist.
Liner Notes (August 9th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter contains thoughts on new music from Bon Iver, Colleen Green’s Dude Ranch covers, Shredders, and more. Plus, there’s my usual media diet rundown, a playlist of ten songs I loved this week, and my PSA to make sure your surge protectors are working and healthy. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
My Yearly Pitch for Becoming a Supporting Member
Each August I do an evaluation of how this website’s running, how our traffic numbers are doing, and what kind of revenue we’re bringing in from advertising, merch, and from our supporting members. It’s not the most fun part of running this website, but it’s one of the necessities to make sure we’re still on the right track and to assess the website’s viability for the upcoming year. I use this time to figure out what kind of freelance work I’ll need to schedule out for the rest of the year, as well as what projects I can focus on during the last quarter.
Based on these calculations, I am exactly 90 supporters short of this website hitting my goal for the year.
That means if 90 more people sign-up to any tier of the supporter membership by the end of this year, I’ll be sitting right where I want to be and it’ll be a massive weight off my shoulders. My plan, if I can hit these numbers, is for my next big project to be a rethinking of the homepage. I have wireframed a refreshing of the main website’s design, and that’s what I’d like to tackle next.
So, this is my yearly pitch to everyone that reads this website: if you like reading the news and content during the week, like reading the newsletter each Friday, and/or like reading or participating in our community, please consider becoming a supporting member. Every tier gives you the same perks: no ads on the website, dark mode, extra features in the forums, and it basically comes down to about seven cents a day.
Thank you to everyone that reads this website every day and for helping to make it what it is. I try not to post about this sort of stuff all that often, but once a year I like to try and update everyone on where we’re at and how everything is currently working out.
Interview: The Pink Spiders at Warped Tour (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with The Pink Spiders.
The Pink Spiders hit it big in the mid 2000s, rocked the Warped Tour stage, and are back with their new album Mutations. They are currently on tour with The Dollyrots.
Read More “The Pink Spiders at Warped Tour (Video Interview)”
Liner Notes (August 2nd, 2019)
This week’s newsletter has first impressions on the new Strung Out album, thoughts about new music out this week, and my weekly media roundup of movies and TV I enjoyed last week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
I had the opportunity to photograph the 311 and Dirty Heads concert in Columbia, MD. You’ll find the gallery as well as my thoughts on the tour below.
Interview: Illiterate Light at Bonnaroo (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with Illiterate Light.
Illiterate Light is an indie rock band that hails from Virginia. The duo has been making music for about a decade now, and their latest track “Sometimes Love Takes So Long” comes out tomorrow.
Jonathan Hickman’s ‘House of X’ Begins a New X-Men Chapter
My mileage varies when it comes to X-Men comics. As a Marvel Unlimited subscriber, I’ve always intended to dive into them from the beginning, but I decided to do that with Spider-Man first, and it’s been a slow process, to say the least. With so much history, there’s always something to read. That makes it hard to know where to begin, too, unless you do go back to the very beginning.
Jonathan Hickman’s House of X is a new chapter for the X-Men, so if you’ve been looking for a jumping-on point, you can start here. Just go into it knowing that this first issue is a lot to take in. Charles Xavier has a plan for mutantkind, and it’s forming epically.
Read More “Jonathan Hickman’s ‘House of X’ Begins a New X-Men Chapter”
Track List: July – Poptimism
Welcome back to Track List, your monthly dose of 30 songs aimed to match the time of year, sequenced into a playlist for you to vibe out to however you see fit. Hopefully some names will be familiar, and hopefully some will give you a new discography to dive into. Drop me a line with some of your seasonal favorites and check back every month for a new playlist.
You can find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music and read more about the selections below.
Interview: Wage War at Warped Tour (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with Wage War.
Wage War will be releasing their new album, Pressure, on August 30th via Fearless Records and yesterday they premiered a new song, “Me Against Myself.” Learn more about the band in this interview from the Warped Tour’s 25th Anniversary show in Atlantic City.
Interview: Caamp at Firefly Festival (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with Caamp.
Caamp is an Americana act on the rise with their recent release of By and By coming out last Friday. In this chat from the Firefly Festival, the band talks about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the music business.
Liner Notes (July 26th, 2019)
This week’s newsletter has thoughts on new songs from Blink-182 and The 1975, early impressions of The Faim’s new album, and some random thoughts about other music I’ve been enjoying this week. Then there’s my weekly media diet rundown which including a spoiler-filled rant about the new Veronica Mars. I was frustrated. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week and a little recap about the current health of this very website. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.
If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.
Sun Cycles – “Bang Bang” (Video Premiere)
Sun Cycles, the solo project of Jessica Hottman of The Hottman Sisters, released her latest single “Bang Bang” last week. Today we’re excited to premiere the track’s video. “Bang Bang” is, if you’ll excuse the pun, something of a banger, and I think fans of artists like Betty Who or Halsey would find a lot to love in the indie pop song. Hottman describes the song as:
A song about falling fast in love. It tells the tale of how we often play youthful games, in an attempt to ignore how we really feel. The bridge of the song is that moment when we let go and dive headfirst into those feelings we have, which are often inescapable anyway.
Interview: Grizfolk at Firefly Festival (Video Interview)
Today’s video interview is with Grizfolk.
Grizfolk is a Swedish-American rock band that is making waves with their recent release Rarest of Birds. In this interview from the Firefly Festival the band talks about why music streaming is so dominant in 2019.









































