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Ep. #249: Puff Pieces

Amanda Huron and Mike Andre are two-thirds of a wonderfully sharp band called Puff Pieces. Based in Washington, D.C., Puff Pieces write very catchy, somewhat minimal punk songs that are pointed and clever. Their new album is called Bland in D.C. and is out now via Lovitt Records. Here, Amanda and Mike discuss chopping down cherry blossom trees in Washington D.C., George Washington was an axe-wielding monster, politics, being from D.C. as opposed to moving there for a job, Amanda’s job teaching at a local public university, many trees, capitalism and skepticism, Germany before Hitler and American decadence, blame Washington, big cities versus small ones, the meaning behind Bland in D.C., Bad Brains, the nefarious nature of the new gentrification, Salt & Sundry, satiric music, being a musician as an adult, Chain & the Gang, the humour and the anxiety, rocking beats, what we try to do with art, effective messaging, being in a band in the world today, Ryan Nelson of Soccer Team, where Puff Pieces comes from, not moving to China, how they got funny, the song “Mindhead,” the movie Bowfinger, Broadway musicals, conceptual music, being taken seriously if you’re funny, the music comes first, bouncy bass, not a lot of touring, weekend warriors, Canada and Nova Scotia, a new Puff Pieces record, the band’s tumblr page, the band’s name, the song “Wondrous Flowers,” and that was it.

Related links: puffpieces.bandcamp.com store.lovitt.com vishkhanna.com

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News Podcast

Ep. #224: Ian MacKaye & Steve Albini (Part II)

Ian MacKaye is known for being in bands like Minor Threat, Embrace, Fugazi, and the Evens and he co-founded the Washington D.C. based label, Dischord Records. Steve Albini has sung and played guitar in bands like Big Black and Shellac of North America and he owns and operates the renowned recording facility, Electrical Audio, in Chicago, Illinois. In this second of a two-part moderated conversation between Ian and Steve, we discuss the Independent Rock Music Label Festivals organized by Heather Whinna in Chicago that featured Fugazi, Shellac, the Make-Up, Blonde Redhead, and the Ex, Jay Ryan, the Rainbow Roller Rink and the Congress Theatre, confidence versus leadership, Ian on Steve’s interviews, how disempowered people feel, Ian doesn’t talk shit about people like Marc Ribot, exemplars, why Steve might call someone out on a position or argument, critiquing your own community, relating to “political correctness” today, the Reagan Revolution and ‘to care is selfish,’ being decent toward other people, biases and presumptions, the Fugazi song “And the Same,” which includes the lyric, “Yes, I know this is politically correct…,” derailing progression, charity was selfish and greed was good, growing up in D.C. without encountering many Republicans, Democrats can’t go radically left, why musicians play music, being attacked by others, Sylvester Stallone, the Urban Outfitters/Minor Threat thing and aquarium warfare, online pile-ons and Henry Rollins and Robin Williams, Steve defends Henry, internet distractions, making sense of the age of outrage, access and speed, super communication and one-way communication and real-life communication, anonymity, the Butthole Surfers, metrics, I can’t even, Steve belongs on twitter, the way Ian demonstrated how to be a decent, thinking person, the punk rock lawyer, creeping professionalism, custodial and active responsibilities, Dischord Records and Electrical Audio, the music scene in Chicago, it’s nice to be right, work and love, people don’t own their own time, the big payback, “The People’s Microphone,” and that was that phone call.

Related links: dischord.com electricalaudio.com vishkhanna.com

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News Podcast

Ep. #221: Ryan Nelson of Soccer Team

Ryan Nelson is a musician and visual artist who resides in the Washington D.C. area. Formerly in the bands the Most Secret Method and Beauty Pill, Nelson currently plays in Michigan’s Minutes and the D.C. group Soccer Team, which he co-founded 10 years ago with Melissa Quinley. Nine years since their debut, Soccer Team just released their second album, a sharp, witty, pop affair called Real Lessons in Cynicism, which is out now via Dischord Records, and they plan to play Baltimore at Make Studio on November 28 at 3 PM and at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C. on December 11 at noon. Here, Ryan and I discuss my nerve-induced and unnecessary pluralization of album titles, good names, that time he left Washington D.C. for Kalamazoo, Michigan for five years and then came back and Soccer Team was still a thing, wanting to be a teacher and isolating himself, avoiding music and art, a life-altering gym membership, Danzig, no presh, Star Wars Monopoly, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Samuel L. Jackson, the stupid prequels, how Minutes started, what’s up in D.C. and with Dischord, raising twins and letting music scenes pass by, the band Puff Pieces, the band Priests, songs based on conversations, the aging body, why dancers smoke, observational songwriting, mediation, the story of Francesca da Rimini, delving into someone else’s area of expertise, overcoming the stigma of reading comics and getting into making visual art, Roy Lichtenstein and Aquaman, the intricate criminal underworld within Atlantis, funny Justice League comics of the late ‘80s, comics in movies and mainstream culture, making his own comics, the transition from skateboard artwork to album art for Real Lessons in Cynicism, drawing paused motion pictures, The Blob, the future of Minutes and Soccer Team, the song “Vacations on the Lam,” and that was that.       

Related links: dischord.com/band/soccer-team vishkhanna.com

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