Author: Matthew Ussia

Episode 26: Make a Joyful Noise

Bill Toms is back and ready to talk about his great new album Deep in the Shadows.  Bill is fascinating and funny and it’s super hard to describe all of the wonderful things we talk about.  Our conversation met at the crossroads of music, American history, recording, being in a band, and the natural order of the universe.  I will say that the ghosts of Robert Frost and Warren Zevon attacked my computer for the last 15 seconds.

You can pick up a copy of Deep in the Shadows at his CD release show Saturday, March 28, 2015 at Club Cafe. You can also find out about Bill and buy many things at BillToms.com.

You can probably listen to this one at work, but I’m not 100% certain I contained my potty mouth for an hour.

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Episode 24: Emily Post-Structuralism

Luke Niebler is an educator, activist, and all around great person.  He is also the creative force behind Emily Post-Structuralism, a unique Tumblr account that re-imagines high theory as an advice column.   And while it is a parody of a unique style of academic writing, Luke manages to have fun with and not make fun of some of the most crucial ideas of the post-WW II period.  We also manage to talk about cats, grad school, and why we’re so damn old.

You can find Emily Post-Structuralism on Tumblr, and you can also follow Emily Post-Structuralism on Facebook.  He also wanted to give some love to Mt. Zion Press, who helped get Emily Post-Structuralism off the ground.

I don’t think we swore, but then maybe we did in the contemporary meta discursive language game we are all hailed into uttering within.

 

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Episode 23: Escape from South Plainfield [Remixed]

It’s still winter, but We’re All Gonna Die! is slowly coming out of hibernation.

And while I am lining up new guests, I thought I would get rolling with a little “greatest hits” retrospective.  I also thought it would be nice to do a little work to improve the sound quality.  So, this is the first of a few “remixed” episodes.

“Escape from South Plainfield” is perhaps not the best episode of We’re All Gonna Die, but it’s certainly my favorite.  Recorded in a hotel room in Brooklyn with my oldest friend Chris Q. Murphy, we talk about what it was like to grow up in Noweheresville, NJ.  Hear more of Murph’s music at Kettle Pot Tracks.

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Episode 22: I Brought a Printer This Time

Sarah Donner is a singer, songwriter, creative type, and cat lady from Princeton, NJ who is currently crossing the country for her annual summer tour.  She stops by to discuss DIY touring in an era when music has little or no monetary value.  Follow her at sarahdonner.com and be one of 2 million people to check out one of her videos here.

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Episode 21: The Limitations and Liberations of Genre

Do you like the sound of spring thunderstorms? Do you like conversations about aesthetic conventions? Do you wish the two could be combined somehow?

Well, join my old friend and accomplished musician John Charney in the lovely and beautiful St. Michael’s Cemetery in Loretto, Pennsylvania as we sit and discuss musical genres during a passing thunderstorm.  In the process, we don’t get hit by lightening but we do get all nostalgic and John busts out an amazing story about meeting Mike Patton.  He also plays for us.

John is a musician, musical director, and  music teacher.  He records and performs and will someday soon have a web site.  As of right now, you can find him at johncharneymusic@yahoo.com.

As always, I swear.

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Episode 20: Make Your Own Damn Records

In this episode renaissance man Mike Seamans who is owner of Mind Cure Records, both the store and the label, stops by and talks about what it takes to run a record store in 2014.  We also discuss the strange intimacy what comes with being someone’s record dealer, The New York Times Best Seller List,  and how it’s possible to make and sell records and STILL like music.  Additionally, Mike outs Tom Hanks as a living villain of history.  Also, if you listen carefully you can hear all of my pets that make noise.

Mind Cure Records is on the second floor of 3138 Dobson St. in the Polish Hill section of Pittsburgh. You can also find them on the interwebs at mindcurerecords.com.  From now until June 2014, Mind Cure will be putting out a 7″ single from a Pittsburgh band on the last Saturday of every month.  Mike is also a documentary filmmaker as seen by the trailer for his upcoming film and the greatest video in the history of all media.

I couldn’t get through an episode without dropping an F-bomb.

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Episode 19: Seriously, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

For this podcast we are lucky to have Endless Mike of Endless Mike and the Beagle Club; The One and Only Matt Miller (who is also in The Beagle Club); and Derek Zanetti of The Homeless Gospel Choir to discuss what it means to share one’s personal life through songwriting.   We also discuss Jimmy Stewart’s hometown, a place where emotions are seemingly not allowed, and Derek provides us with perhaps the greatest moment in the history of the podcast.

Endless Mike has a great song called “Out of Respect”  that we talk about throughout the podcast. You can find out more about Endless Mike and the Beagle Club here, and you can see Matt Miller’s newest movie “Hang With Me” here.  Derek is an old vet of the podcast.  He was here previously to talk about his band The Homeless Gospel Choir in Episode 11, and he was here to promote his book Existentialism: The Musical in Episode 15.

As always, there is swearing.

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Episode 18: The Anxieties of Activism or the Joys of Disobedience

Good pal and union brother Clint Benjamin stops by and talks about overcoming one’s inhibitions and speaking out against an unfair situation.  By day, Clint is a writer and adjunct instructor of English at several colleges.  By night, he works to make life better for the folks who do the majority of college teaching as an organizer for the Adjunct Faculty Association.  Clint explains how he overcame his inhibitions and became a media superstar.  Together , we discuss the fear of getting arrested while protesting and what makes the risk worthwhile.

As always we swear.

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Episode 17: I Know It’s Only Rock and Roll, but the Italians Like It.

The second time I saw Bill Toms perform I said that I though every bar in the country should have a Bill Toms clone or bot that can be pulled out whenever folks need to have gospel infused blues rock good time.   Bill has been performing music for 35 years and is a true master of his craft.  Anyone who has seen one of his joyous live shows can understand why I was super happy to spend part of a Saturday morning discussing songwriting, how an album is a document of a time and a place, why Europeans love American music, his awesome new album Memphis, and when those Bill Toms-bots will eventually rise up and take over the world they will only ask for dark chocolate.

You can find out all about Bill Toms at his website, buy all his merchandise here, and if you never saw a Bill Toms show, see what you are missing with this clip.

As always, there’s a little light swearing.

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