eric’s interviews

EM88 – Mutlu

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2019-10-17
Posted in: career retrospective, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, hall and oates, includes music, mutlu, mutlu onaral. Leave a comment

MutluMutlu joins Eric in conversation to discuss the beginnings of his musical career, coming up in the Philly singer-songwriter and soul scene, how he connected with the likes of Daryl Hall and John Oates, T-Bone Wolk, Amos Lee, and The Hooters, life on the road, his arc of being signed to a major label, getting lost in one of those all-too-familiar major label shuffles, and most importantly some of the origins and meanings behind the songs on his new independently released EP, Good Trouble.

Mutlu is at heart a soul singer and songwriter, but his work ranges from super sexy songs complete with a wink and nod to 70s and 90s R&B, fun songs, songs with important social commentary, tips of the cap to styles like reggae and rap, songs about emotions we all feel like depression and loss, and even mixing in some traditional and pop influences from his Turkish heritage.

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EM87 – Dave Leslie of Baby Animals Returns

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2019-04-18
Posted in: baby animals, dave leslie, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music. Leave a comment

Dave Leslie of Baby AnimalsDave Leslie of Baby Animals returns to join Eric in conversation to take a track by track look back at the 1993 Shaved and Dangerous, the follow-up to their wildly successful 1991 self-titled debut album.  Recorded once again at Bearsville Studios in New York and at Compass Point in The Bahamas, the Shaved and Dangerous album was produced by Ed Stasium with a few songs produced by Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt.  This would mark the first time the band worked with Nuno, which we get into.

This album didn’t perform as well commercially, the band went through some struggles creatively with the label, and eventually on the road.  Litigation followed and the band dissolved shortly thereafter.  They’ve since returned with a new studio album, an unplugged album, a live album, a greatest hits, new tracks, tours and much more.  But this marked the end of their initial run for all intents and purposes.

Having said that, it’s a FANTASTICALLY creative album with some truly stellar tracks and performances by all members of the band, which we get in to. If you’re familiar with Baby Animals, you’ll enjoy this in-depth discussion of this classic record.  If you’re new to the band, hopefully you’ll listen and discover some truly incredible songs for an under-recognized band.

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EM86 – Zak Rizvi of Kansas

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2019-03-05
Posted in: david ragsdale, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, kansas, rich williams, ronnie platt, zak rizvi. Leave a comment

Zak Rizvi of KansasZak Rizvi of Kansas joins Eric in conversation to discuss the beginnings of his musical career, how he initially connected with Phil Ehart as a fan, his work with New Jersey based prog-rock band 4Front, how they landed dates opening for Kansas, Phil introducing Zak to longtime Kansas producer Jeff Glixman, how he went from fan to producer to songwriter to band member, his first gig with the band, the songwriting process and trying to do justice to the legacy of Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh, how the Kansas sound has changed now that the second guitar has returned, how he works out the parts with Rich Williams and David Ragsdale, receiving a private video guitar lesson from Steve Morse, plans for the next album, what’s next for him and the band, and much more!

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Mike Portnoy Picks the Essential Neal Morse

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2019-02-19
Posted in: dream theater, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, mike portnoy, neal morse, neal morse band, picks the essential, spocks beard. Leave a comment

Mike Portnoy Picks the Essential Neal MorseMike Portnoy Picks The Essential Neal Morse

Mike Portnoy shares his 10 Essential Neal Morse songs. Mike Portnoy and Neal Morse have been friends and collaborators for 20+ years through four bands. They first connected while Mike was in Dream Theater and while Neal was in Spock’s Beard.  In this monster FOUR HOUR episode, Mike shares his personal list of Neal’s essential songs – spanning from Spock’s Beard through Neal’s solo work, Transatlantic, and The Neal Morse Band.  Mike also shares some great stories about how they first connected, how they work together, what about Neal’s music inspires him personally and professionally, and he shares some great insights to their working relationship as well as their personal friendship.  Nothing beats one friend celebrating the work of another!

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Andy Timmons Picks the Essential Brian May

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2019-01-08
Posted in: andy timmons, brian may, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, interview, picks the essential, queen. 1 Comment

Andy Timmons Picks the Essential Brian MayAndy Timmons Picks The Essential Brian May

Andy Timmons shares his 10 Essential Brian May and Queen songs. Andy has been a lifelong Queen fan, even crediting Brian May with his discovery of harmony while studying songs from A Day At The Races as a young guitarist (a story he shares in this episode for the first time), but it was the recent success of the Bohemian Rhapsody film that inspired him to revisit the entire Queen catalog for a very serious, deep dive. Through sharing his ten essential Brian May/Queen songs, Andy tells great stories about connecting with these songs personally, the talent behind them and what sets these songs apart, the unique qualities of Brian’s guitar tone, playing, and singing, even personal experiences of playing with a 1947 King George Sixpence – the same coin Brian famously uses to play his Red Special.

We close out the episode with Andy’s gorgeous solo guitar rendition of Queen’s You Take My Breathe Away/Bohemian Rhapsody – a MUST hear!!

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Chris Trapper Picks the Essential Colin Hay

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2018-12-04
Posted in: chris trapper, colin hay, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, interview, men at work, picks the essential. Leave a comment

Chris Trapper Picks The Essential Colin HayChris Trapper Picks The Essential Colin Hay

Chris Trapper of The Push Stars shares his 10 Essential Colin Hay songs. Chris has gone from being a fan of Colin’s solo work to a longtime partner on the road and a dear friend to the legendary Men At Work frontman. Through sharing his ten essential Colin Hay songs, Chris tells great personal stories about how he first discovered Colin’s solo work, how he first starting performing with him at festivals and as an opening act, firsthand memories of Colin’s struggles with lawsuits, death, life, career ups and downs, and what about Colin’s work, humility, humor and spirit inspires and influences him.

Oh, and which of Colin’s songs does Chris consider a classic on par with Imagine and A Change Is Gonna Come?  Listen and find out.. it’s a good one.

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EM85 – Danny Vaughn of Tyketto

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2018-11-30
Posted in: career retrospective, danny vaughn, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, interview, tyketto. Leave a comment

Danny Vaughn of TykettoDanny Vaughn of Tyketto joins Eric in conversation to take a track by track look back at the band’s 1994 sophomore release, Strength In Numbers.  Produced by legendary producer Kevin Elson, their follow-up to Don’t Come Easy had a difficult journey making it’s way onto shelves following the whole wave of grunge that displaced many bands of the time.  Danny shares his personal memories and all the details behind the album’s creation and journey.

A solid fan favorite, Strength In Numbers features some songs that were should-have-been monstrous AOR hits of the day – Rescue Me, Catch My Fall, Standing Alone.  But the album also demonstrated the band was interested in growing and branching out.  They were writing deeper, smarter, and more varied songs at the time.  There are some healthy and authentic dashes of blues, Springsteen-esque singer-songwriter, mandolins, harmonicas, Bo Diddly beats, sweeping almost-progressive rockers and so much more.

For the 25th anniversary of the album, Tyketto will be doing some touring where they’ll perform the full album in its entirety – get those details here.  They also have a new live CD and DVD that captures and ambitious performance featuring horns and strings. On the solo front, Danny has a new super-interesting solo album of “odd songs” in the works and well as his duet project with Dan Reed of Dan Reed Network.

If you’re familiar with Tyketto, you’ll enjoy this in-depth discussion of this classic album.  If you’re new to the band, hopefully you’ll listen and discover a truly solid rock album from 1994 that you may have missed the first time around.

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EM84 – Dave Leslie of Baby Animals

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2018-11-20
Posted in: baby animals, dave leslie, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, interview. 1 Comment

Dave Leslie of Baby AnimalsDave Leslie of Baby Animals joins Eric in conversation to take a track by track look back at their self-titled 1991 debut album.  Recorded at Bearsville Studios in New York, the Baby Animals album was produced by Mike Chapman, it went eight times platinum in Australia, spawned five highly charting radio friendly rock hits (Rush You, One Word, Ain’t Gonna Get, Early Warning, and Painless), won tons of ARIA awards and various accolades and sat as the highest selling Australian debut rock album for well over a decade.

In the United States, their single Painless was picked up by MTV and put into heavy rotation, they appeared on Late Night With David Letterman, and toured the country opening for Van Halen.  Unfortunately, a faltering record label and distance would prove to be major obstacles for growing success in the United States.

If you’re familiar with Baby Animals, you’ll enjoy this in-depth discussion of their legendary debut.  If you’re new to the band, hopefully you’ll listen and discover a truly solid rock album from 1991 that you may have missed the first time around.

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EM83 – Dave Meniketti of Y&T

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2018-10-30
Posted in: career retrospective, dave meniketti, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, includes music, interview, y and t, Y&T. 1 Comment

Dave Meniketti of Y&TDave Meniketti of Y&T joins Eric in conversation to discuss the beginnings of his career, the early formation of Y&T, how he went from his dad’s record collection to discovering blues guitarists, early days songwriting, finding his confidence as a vocalist, the legendary Winterland 1974 show, memories of the original members that have since passed away, some anecdotes of touring with the enthusiastic partier that was Bon Scott, business struggles with A&M and Geffen in the 80s and 90s, bringing in Steve Smith on their Ten record, how Y&T kind of side stepped the grunge era and kept it together through the 90s, his solo career, discovering some classic tunes hidden in their vault, what led to their newest release, Acoustic Classix Volume 1, how he got involved in his other business, Meniketti Wines, will there be another proper Y&T album, what’s next for him and the band, and much more!

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EM82 – Liv Warfield

Posted by Pods & Sods on 2018-10-16
Posted in: ann wilson, career retrospective, eric's episodes, eric's interviews, heart, includes music, interview, liv warfield, nancy wilson, prince, roadcase royale. Leave a comment

Liv WarfieldLiv Warfield of Roadcase Royale joins Eric in conversation to discuss the beginnings of her career, moving to Portland Oregon from Peoria Illinois to find her voice in a steady karaoke scene, becoming an independent artist with a charting single, how she connected with Prince, the funny story in waiting for the announced “Prince will call you” call that changed her life, how Prince influenced her confidence and songwriting on her next solo album, how the couple of songs they wrote together came about, is there anything she worked on with Prince in his legendary vault, what she wishes the world knew more about Prince, how she connected with Nancy Wilson to form Roadcase Royale, origins of their anthemic Get Loud, what it means to raise your voice as an artist, how have “Heart” audiences accepted her, what’s next for the band in terms of touring and recording, what’s next for her personally, and much more!

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