Episodes
Friday May 22, 2020
#020: Semaphora's anthropological yacht prog
Friday May 22, 2020
Friday May 22, 2020
This week, I picked the brain of Lydia Arachne, the multi-instrumentalist songwriter from the band Semaphora. If you haven't heard Semaphora's music before, it's really unlike anything else you've ever heard, and it's for that reason that I was so excited to talk to Lydia about her music. In this interview, we talk about what inspires her songwriting, why storytelling is so important, her new upcoming album, and which connecticut band would be Semaphora's tag-team partner if they were a wrestler. You can find Semaphora's music online, but you should look for it first on bandcamp ! Join the email mailing list by sending a line to semaphora@tutanota.com (literally just say "hello") and head over to semaph.org. And when we're all able to go out to gigs again, go check Semaphora out live -- their sets are always very special, fun, and wholesome. Thank you for listening! www.semaphora.bandcamp.com semaphora@tutanota.com www.semaph.org www.ctverses.com
Friday May 15, 2020
#019: Fat Randy's sincerely silly jazz punk
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
This episode, I am joined by Stephen Friedland from Fat Randy! The song you heard in the intro is "Connecticut", the band's most recent single. While you may know Stephen from his work in Fat Randy, the band, you may also know him as the host of Fat Randy the Podcast, which interviews many local artists, including Greetings, SAP, Doom Beach, and more, or you may know him as the sound-guy from the Tiny Box Booking shows at Mac 650. I ask him about all of those things in this interview, and this concludes the epic trilogy of podcasts I've done with Stephen. The first two were an episode on his own podcast, and then we shared the mic on Jason Rule's Institute of Living podcast. Now, he's on my turf, and I grill him with tough questions about his band's upcoming album, working for the government, and the life changing magic of Gene Simmons' autobiography. www.fatrandy.bandcamp.com www.ctverses.com
Friday May 08, 2020
#018: Cinema Stare's emotionally vivid and melodic rock
Friday May 08, 2020
Friday May 08, 2020
photo credit: lea ciarcia in this episode, i sit down with Thomas Shreve and Jason Moriarty from Cinema Stare, who just released their debut album Hum and the Glow.this interview is a spiritual sequel to last week's interview, where i talked with Pasquale Liuzzi, who is the drummer for Cinema Stare (amongst many other things). this was recorded the week Hum and the Glow was released, so i asked Tom and Jason about how they wrote it, how they recorded it, and how they released it. along the way, we talked about dying, pez candy, and which member of the band fits each boy band stereotype. www.cinemastare.bandcamp.com www.ctverses.com
Friday May 01, 2020
#017: Ninth Square Records with Pasquale Liuzzi
Friday May 01, 2020
Friday May 01, 2020
i am joined by Pasquale Liuzzi, a man of many indie DIY hats. He has run local venues, like the Church in Hamden and the Crust Cabin in Storrs. He plays drums in bands you know and love, like Cinema Stare, SELLER, and most recently Posture and the Grizzly. You may have even read some of his music writing in the New Haven Independent. I reached out to talk to him today primarily about his new Ninth Square Recordings, the new independent label that collaborates with a slew of great bands, like Zebvlon, Huo, Doom Beach, and Pulsr. A quick warning -- this was initially recorded a couple of weeks before the coronavirus quarantine measures took place in Connecticut. Since that time, two new bands have joined the Ninth Square Records team: Aunts and Brunettes, both of which are putting out new music this month, May in the year of our lord 2020. Oh! And Cinema Stare just released their new album, Hum and the Glow, this week, as well, so you should check that out immediately. We were initially going to time the release of this episode with a special announcement from Ninth Square Records, but that announcement is being put on hold for the time being. So here's what I want you to do: go to boot up your computer and go to ninthsquarerecords.bandcamp.com or follow them on social media so that you can hear about the big updates in the following weeks and months! www.ninthsquarerecords.bandcamp.com www.ctverses.com
Friday Apr 24, 2020
#016: Kim Normal's giant, fuzzy rock-n-roll
Friday Apr 24, 2020
Friday Apr 24, 2020
this episode, i sit with Kim Normal, the young rock band from the heart of Connecticut. this interview was recorded in the middle of the coronavirus quarantine, so we all jumped on Zoom for the interview. the band will be uploading this whole episode as a video on their own Kim Normal youtube channel, so if you'd rather look at our beautiful faces, you can check that out there. also, for the entire interview, Ethan (the drummer) changed his virtual background to a close-up selfie of Conor (the bass players) face. so go take a look at that. last year, Kim Normal released On Your Own Wave, their debut album, and it was named by the Hartford Courant as one of the best records of 2019. you can find it on bandcamp and spotify and all the usual places. in this interview, we talk about making that album, why they changed their name, bullying Morrissey, and what plans the band has for when the covid pandemic is over. tracks played: intro: "53" by Kim Normal outro: "I Don't Even Mind" by Kim Normal www.kimnormalct.bandcamp.com www.ctverses.com
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
#015: Kierstin Sieser's haunted love songs
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
this episode, i talk with Kierstin Sieser, who is both a solo artist and the frontperson for the americana band Tiny Ocean, who released their debut album 'Sometimes You're Right' in late 2018. the song you heard there in the intro is "Attached You Will Find", and it is the first track on her new solo record 'Shark Tooth Moon'. i talk with Kierstin about what makes this music different than Tiny Ocean, learning to love the mysteries of life, and at the end i give her the impossible task of choosing five albums to accompany her into space. https://kierstinsieser.bandcamp.com/ https://www.ctverses.com
Monday Mar 30, 2020
#014: SG Carlson's warm and melodic indie rock
Monday Mar 30, 2020
Monday Mar 30, 2020
for this ct verses audio interview, i spoke with sam carlson. by day, sam is the engineer and producer of Sans Serif recordings in New Haven, where he's worked with bands like SHY, Evelyn Gray, the Fiction Kids, Killer Kin, Ditch Boys, Fiction, and more, and by night, he is a musician and songwriter, playing in Ports of Spain, Laundry Day, and the Proud Flesh. i'm talking with him specifically today about his solo work as "s.g. carlson". the song you heard in the intro there is "spangled sun", and it comes from the excellent upcoming album 'Sing The Hits', set for release on april fool's day, april 1st on safety meeting records. if you are listening to this podcast after april 1st, do me a favor and pause this podcast, strike up bandcamp, and listen to 'Sing The Hits' right now. i adore this record, and i'm excited for people to hear it. in this interview, i talk with sam about what it's like to go solo, his philosophy for recording other peoples' bands, and we unravel the mystery of who wrote that catchy jingle for those Narangansett beer commercials. https://sgcarlson.bandcamp.com/ https://www.sansserifrec.com/ https://www.ctverses.com
Friday Mar 20, 2020
#013: Dylan Healy's independent, DIY label Funnybone Records
Friday Mar 20, 2020
Friday Mar 20, 2020
in this episode i get a chance to talk with dylan healy, the head of funnybone records and the songwriter behind stadia. the song you just heard in the intro is "tiny you in a prism", taken from stadia's debut ep 'Mood Ring'. if you are listening to this podcast, i guarantee that you've listened to a band or musician on funnybone records, which is based out of hartford connecticut. the label has released music from zanders, waveform, laura wolf, donnie alexzander, pearl sugar, and so many more. i got a chance to talk with dylan about the ins and outs of funnybone records, what its like to work with artists and as an artist, and we do a track-by-track rundown on the excellent 'house sounds' compilation -- a 20-song buffet funnybone released in september 2019. photo credit by rj larussa https://funnybonerecords.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8cd03a0eab32208a5ab7c72e9&id=1631871722 https://stadia.bandcamp.com/ https://funnybonerecords.com https://www.ctverses.com
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
#012: Night Crew's energetic and bombastic garage rock
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
this is episode number 12 in which i talk with NIGHT CREW. Shawn and Nate join me to talk about how they met, how they technically opened for Bowling for Soup in their first gig, and what would happen if they donated you their organs. NIGHT CREW is known for their energetic live shows, and they brought that same energy and moxxie to this interview. www.nightcrew.bandcamp.com www.ctverses.com
Thursday Feb 27, 2020
#011: Two Headed Girl's anthemic twincore
Thursday Feb 27, 2020
Thursday Feb 27, 2020
https://twoheadedgirl.bandcamp.com/ www.ctverses.com in this episode, i talk with connecticut's premiere twin-core band, Two Headed Girl. the song you heard there in the intro is "Dont Be Scared", off of their most recent EP, Resonation, which came out this past December. the twins at the center of this band are Angie and Celeste Padua, they play guitar and bass respectively, they both sing, and Cam Pulaski -- who you may know from the solo project Ice Cream Orphan -- plays drums. And the newest member is Kevin Ryan, who also plays guitar, and moonlights in his other band, Static Nerves. in this interview, i talk with Celeste, Cam, and Angie a few hours before a show they played in Torrington. our Skype connection was a little spotty at times, so i will apologize in advance for some of the audio quality. we talk about their new EP, their upcoming projects, and which pairs of twins earn perfect ratings on the official Two Headed Girl Twin Scale. ok, so here it is -- my interview with Two Headed Girl. photo credit: Owen Schmidt