Author: Matthew Ussia

Ep. 88 From the Back

James Benger is a fantastic poet from Kansas City, and his new book is entitled From the Back. From the Back is a collection of poems about the kinds of characters one could have found in every dive bar in every town in this country before Covid struck.

During the course of our conversation, we get nostalgic about bar life, and talk about the man-drama that often comes with being in a band. We discuss the importance of practicing one’s craft everyday if you can. James also wraps up The Bottom 5 with a tale of the WORST drive-in double feature combo that anyone could bring a young child to.

After listening to our extended conversation you are going to want to hear more of From the Back, and the best way to buy it is from James directly by emailing him at JamesBengerAuthor[at]gmail[dot]com. However, buy From the Back from a chain store if you must. You can also listen to James read his works on Bandcamp.

James uses his poetry for civic engagement. He is on the board of The Writers’ Place in Kansas City. He helps curate the Riverfront Readings series. He is proud to be a part of Words Save Lives. And the proceeds from the 365 Poetry anthologies he edits go to Operation Breakthrough.

I might swear like once.

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Episode 87: Stories We Never Tell

Janette Schafer stops in to the first podcast she ever listened to in order to talk about her new book Something Here Will Grow available from Main Street Rag. During the course of our conversation we talk about where poems come from, whether or not everything that makes it to a poem actually happened, and Janette reads 3 great poems.

It’s nice to be back from hiatus, and always there’s swearing.

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Ep 86: Halsey Hyer’s Turn to Drive

Halsey Hyer is a poet, activist, and student who is simultaneously working on a manuscript and synchronous communities dedicated to expression and harm reduction. They are active with the Goat Farm Poetry Society and Filler Zine and Distro, two communities dedicated to the power of the written word to change the world and to shape lives. Recently, Halsey’s poems were published in Blue Nib, and they are currently working on a poetry manuscript entitled Ritter’s Psychiatric Diner and Clinic.

Please check out the Goat Farm Poetry Society on Facebook and check out Filler Zine and Distro on Facebook. During the course of our conversation, we discuss why poetry and community are important, the power of memes, and Pizza Fiesta. Halsey reads for us, we discuss a 2002 Honda Civic, and we find out what book they would donate their skin to preserve. Also, we discuss why it’s important to write poems about sex.

This podcast is a recording of a landline phone call, which is why it sounds different, and of course we swear.

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Episode 85: The Rumproller

Kristofer Collins stops by our unfortunately named podcast to discuss his new book The River is Another Kind of Prayer. During the course of our conversation, we do a deep dive on his poetics, Kristofer reads to us several poems, and I make sure that by recording this episode, I’m not committing wire fraud.

While you could buy The River is Another Kind of Prayer from some big internet book consortium, wouldn’t you rather get it from City of Asylum or White Whale Bookstore?

This is only the second podcast I have recorded over the phone, and I did a lot of work on the sound quality. That said, there is a deliciously nostalgic landline analog hum throughout. Also, swearing.

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Episode 84: Site Work

Robert Walicki lives in two worlds. He is a poet and a plumber. His poetry bridges the gap between these two worlds, and we discuss his amazing new collection entitled Fountain in depth. Robert reads a number of his poems, including one about seeing The Cure in the 90’s.

We also discuss the value of art and culture in this era. I get on that interregnum thing again, and Bob reveals the worst car he has ever driven. Buy Fountain from Main Street Rag, buy Robert’s other collection Black Angels from the big book selling website, and follow Robert Walicki on Facebook.

As always, I swear, and I forgot to pay Bob the dollar I owe him.

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Episode 83: Tilted World & the Economy of Words

Bart Solarczyk is a Pittsburgh poet whose ability to capture a moment in time with very few words fills me with envy and admiration. His new book Tilted World is out on Low Ghost Press, and in this podcast Bart reads extensively from the book (Hey, they’re short poems!), and we talk poetics, de-industrialization, and the inherently surreal nature of Lunchables.

You can get all of Bart Solarczyk’s books (including Tilted World, Walt Whitman’s Watching, Right Direction, and Vicodin and the Christian Broadcasting Network) directly from him at a reading or hit him up via email at bsolarczyk[at]comcast[dot]net if you’re not local. However, the best thing to do is to hit him up at the Tilted World Book Launch Party on Saturday February 22, 2020, where you can also say goodbye to the Coffee Buddha.

As always, there’s light but pleasant swearing.

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Episode 82: Playing Alone, with Others

Erica Moulinier and Aaron Grey run the small post-punk label Play Alone Records. Play Alone‘s expanding roster of bands includes: Shadow Age, Silent Age, Silence, Empty Beings, Death Instinct, Wisteria, and Ky Voss. We talk about all these bands as well as the importance of stewardship, how to run an independent label in the age where recorded music has no monetary value, and how fun it would be to time travel back to the first show The Cure ever played.

You should check out The Official Play Alone Records Website to sample all these great bands and stay on top of upcoming releases.

And would you believe we almost forgot to swear?

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Episode 81: Appalachian Gothic

Bonnie and the Mere Mortals stop by to discuss the blending of goth and country. During the course of our conversation, I say “interregnum” a lot (again); we discuss what it means to play American music in a time of weirdo nationalism; I prod them about the ins and outs of collaborative song writing; we profess our love for Dan Bell videos; we share an admiration for West Virginia; and surprise surprise, the goth band decides it would rather live in eternal darkness.

You should check out Bonnie and the Mere Mortals excellent EP Tennessee on Bandcamp or one of those streaming services everyone seems to care about. Find out about upcoming shows through the Bonnie and the Mere Mortals Facebook Page, and if you want to book them they have an old fashioned web page.

I honestly don’t remember if anyone swears, but hey, the explicit tag feels comfy.

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Episode 80: The Hardest Working Man in Hardcore

Adam Thomas is in 6 bands. Yes, you read that correctly. You might be in a band with Adam Thomas right now and not even know it. In this episode, we talk about every damn one of them, from Concealed Blade to Empty Beings, S.L.I.P. to Chronic Abuse, from No Time to Heavy Discipline, and we even give a shout out to Blood Pressure, may that band rest in peace.

During our candid conversation, we discuss that very special moment when punk divides a young person’s life in two. Adam tells stories from his recent European tour with Chronic Abuse, we get into how much smarts it takes to sound as stupid as Concealed Blade, I might have accidentally ruined S.L.I.P., and we reminisce about life in Carrolltown, PA.

Every single band Adam is in is quite good, and has a unique sound. Check out the Heavy Discipline 7″, the Empty Beings Dead and Pathetic LP, S.L.I.P.’s Slippy when Wet LP, No Time’s great album You’ll Get Yours, Concealed Blade’s self-titled LP, Chronic Abuse’s transatlantic debut, and if you don’t have Blood Pressure’s Need to Control, you’re seriously wasting your time on Earth.

And of course, we swear.

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Episode 79: We Have 12 Years, Maybe Less

In this episode, we talk with Dusty Hanna and Damon Di Ciccio about the new Silence album The Countdown’s Begun and all the apocalyptic feelings that inspired it. This is one of our “close reading” episodes where we take an artistic work and examine it like we’re in a graduate seminar.

This is a long episode, but how often does a band get to do a 33 1/3 type examination of their own album? More importantly, if you’re listening to this podcast, The Countdown’s Begun probably captures a lot of what you’re thinking and feeling at this moment in history. You can and should buy The Countdown’s Begun through Profane Existence, or you can snag it on the Play Alone Records website. Downloads can be had at the Silence Bandcamp Page, and last but not least, folks in Pittsburgh can get the LP at Skull Records or Cruel Noise Records.

In the process of talking in depth about every song on the album, we listen to the song “Soundtrack to the Picture of the Same Name”, we speculate about how the world can go on, and of course I swear a lot.

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