The Guestlist With Sean Cannon

DOWNLOAD First things first, yes that is a still shot from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and yes those characters were portrayed by Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. One of the greatest moments in television history, to say the least. But anyway, my bud and colleague Kyle Meredith of The Weekly Feed had a chance to [...]

DOWNLOAD I’m always intrigued by the circuitous route most folks in the music industry take to get where they are. Very few people grow up and say, “I’m going to work in the music business.” And that’s one reason why my conversation with Morgan Lebus was interesting. He stumbled into some tour managing jobs, and [...]

DOWNLOAD Usually when bands start their own labels, it’s not because they’re taking a stand against the indulgences of music industry at large. It’s more pragmatic than that. They just need a way to put out their records, and no labels want to. But with Infinity Cat, a label so committed to a DIY aesthetic, [...]

DOWNLOAD It seems like every time I meet a band from Baltimore, I end up feeling some kind of serious kinship. I don’t know why, either. It could be the kind of music a place like Baltimore inspires, or maybe it’s the disposition you develop after living in the nation’s second ugliest city. There might [...]

DOWNLOAD Hannibal Buress is a master of understated sarcasm. In fact, I found myself privy to this mastery a couple of times during our conversation. But the little things are what fascinate me the most about Buress; like the zest he has for tags in his jokes (sometimes it seems like he relishes a two-word [...]

DOWNLOAD Usually when you’ve seen a band 12 times, you eventually develop some kind of relationship (unless it’s an arena rock act). You talk to them at the merch table a few times, they remember you as “that one guy,” so on and so forth. Well even though I’d seen the Features that many times, [...]

DOWNLOAD First things first, Tom Scharpling directed what may well be my favorite music video of all time, so he gets points right off the bat for that. In fact, our conversation ventures into that territory, as well as the future of The Best Show and what radio represents to him. Granted, he poo-pooed my [...]

DOWNLOAD I feel like it’s probably weird that a brief Twitter exchange I had with Mike Doughty years ago essentially shaped my entire conversation with him at Forecastle. That said, it was about a pretty universal subject: getting old. Sort of. It was more about allowing your age to dictate your worth internally and externally. [...]

DOWNLOAD If I weren’t already a fan of Jimmy Pardo, I would be after my conversation with him. Not because he’s a self-deprecating, quick-witted, nerdy baseball fan — although that helps. It’s because he remembered the month and year that he last played my home base of Louisville (March 1994). Plus he helped me create [...]

DOWNLOAD It’s hard to boil my conversation with Justin Pierre down to just a few sentences, because it covered so much ground. Justin’s past struggles with addiction came up, as did his outlook on life and death, our mutual love of “college rock,” and his current fixation with The Flaming Lips. I learned a lot [...]

DOWNLOAD When I saw that Colin Hay was playing Bonnaroo’s comedy tent, I was a bit confused. The former Men at Work frontman hadn’t started writing novelty songs. That said, after meeting Colin and talking for just a few minutes, it made sense. He’s a witty, charming guy full of funny stories. And if my [...]

DOWNLOAD When I thought about how my conversation with Travis Shettel might go, I never would’ve imagined he and I would be attacking scientific positivism and ruminating on the values of neo-hippie Philly rockers mewithoutYou. But sure enough, that’s where we found ourselves after Travis discussed his transition from Piebald to his new band, TS [...]

DOWNLOAD Dale Murphy is an anomaly in so many ways. First of all, he was an offensive and defensive dynamo for years in the majors (which is why he earned two MVP awards). He was simultaneously a jock and a techie in the ’80s. And possibly strangest of all, he’s a member of the over-50 [...]

DOWNLOAD Paul Weller is a dude who is interested in forward motion, which seems pretty strange. When a musician has been at it for over 35 years, resting on laurels isn’t just acceptable — it’s encouraged in some ways. But instead of making more Jam records (whether in name or deed), Weller doesn’t want the [...]

DOWNLOAD Like many prematurely cynical twentysomethings, Chunklet Magazine was formative for me. So it was a pleasure to chat with Chunklet impresario Henry Owings a few weeks back about candy bar production, assless pants and the value of being a cynic (or at least playing one on paper). Also, Henry outs me as a transvestite, [...]