Josh Freese Profiled for Modern Drummer

Drums
Jason Tate

Drummer Josh Freese is featured in the latest of Modern Drummer. Consequence has some of it on their website:

“The Foo Fighters are such a big, mainstream band that everything I say gets taken out of context, reposted, and blown out of proportion,” said Freese. “People created headlines from one quick, simple comment I made on a podcast not long ago, it’s crazy. I’ve got to be careful about what I say about it. But I’ve got a lot to say about it and I’ve been just trying to figure out how and when, to go about really articulating it.”

He added, “I have a couple small theories, but I can’t really go into them right now. I did really enjoy the two years I spent with those guys however, and they were good to me… until they weren’t. I liked playing with them. And I loved having Dave [Grohl] as a bandleader. I truly respect him so much as a drummer first and foremost. To me, he’s a drummer first and everything else is second. I’ve listened to him on all the great records he’s played drums on more than I’ve listened to any Foo Fighters stuff. It really was cool being in a band where the leader is a phenomenal drummer that you respect… that’s really fun… We basically came from the same era too and could relate to one another.”

Spotify Goes All in on AI Coding

Jason Tate

Sarah Perez, writing for TechCrunch:

Has AI coding reached a tipping point? That seems to be the case for Spotify at least, which shared this week during its fourth-quarter earnings call that the best developers at the company “have not written a single line of code since December.” That statement, from Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström, came alongside other comments about how the company is using AI to accelerate development.

Review: PONY – Clearly Cursed

PONY - Clearly Cursed
Adam Grundy

It’s one thing to have a string of bad luck, but to be cursed…that probably feels like forces beyond our control are swaying things towards the negative. As Sam Bielanski (founding member/singer-songwriter) explains, Clearly Cursed is directly inspired by their first visit to a psychic at the age of 21. “She read my tarot cards and told me boyfriend was cheating on me,” Bielsanki says. “That was true. She also told me that I had a dark spirit attachment which she could easily vanquish if I paid her $1500. That was obviously out of my budget, so I left and decided I would have to coexist with this dark spirit for the rest of my life.” PONY take it all in stride on their third full-length record, an album that wears their core influences of power pop, indie rock and post-punk on their collective sleeves. Joined by Bielanski is guitarist Matty Morand, who leans into a more polished sound on this latest effort that highlights the duo’s complimentary playing style. PONY may be Clearly Cursed, but this album shows that this band is bound for big things from this point on.

Read More “PONY – Clearly Cursed”

New Frank Turner Interview

Frank Turner
Jason Tate

Frank Turner recently say down with PunkNews:

At the actual start of my solo career I really didn’t fit anywhere: I didn’t really want to be the token acoustic guy in the British punk scene. At the time all of my friends were part of the kind of Libertines thing, bands like the Holloways and the Pidgeon Detectors. And then there was the folk thing with Munford & Sons and Laura Marlin. I was on the edge of three different scenes: I did shows with Munford & Sons, with Gallows, with Baby Shambles but I didn’t quite fit in any of these worlds. There were days when that was pretty frustrating to me because, if you fit in a certain scene and that scene blows up, life is easy. For a time anyway. I remember Jamie T, who was a good friend of mine, we played open mic shows together and then he just exploded while I stayed small. 

Hayley Williams Pens New Essay

Hayley Williams
Jason Tate

Hayley Williams has written a new essay on her blog:

in 2026, Trump, our president once more, still shits his suits and lies through his teeth about everything. in 2026, Project 2025 is 51% complete and we’re now talking about a Project 2026. ICE (fuck em), Epstein (fuck em), cities who mismanage and put profits over people (fuck em) , multiple genocides (FUCKKKK em)— only a few of the huge issues dominating the news cycle and our collective minds. it’s an exhausting time to just be human, especially if you are a human on the side of liberty and justice for ALL.

the career i’ve chosen allows me to engage with a lot of people directly, through art and through live events. this year, i’ll be even more outside than i was last year, seeing the world over, up close. i still feel very lucky that, as someone who struggles dearly with my mind and a hyper-vigilant nervous system, i get to spend a lot of time together with the people in some capacity. i get to partake in the much needed catharsis live music offers us and to connect with other humans. it’s kind of the only way i see myself staying remotely hopeful in the face of… everything.