Ep427: Al Johnson (U.S. Maple, Shorty)

Conveyor is not even the album Los Angeles based composer and sound designer Anthony Baldino set out to make. A dark, cathartic modular synth based exploration of grief that has more in common with the Blade Runner soundtrack then the IDM of the previous record. How the ugliest sounds can make for the coolest effect, in his own compositions and working with Ludwig Göransson on movies like Tenet, Wakanda Forever and the Odyssey. Why Christoper Nolan's scores often exist before the picture, why low end matters in ambient and cinematic music. When a show becomes an art installation... Marrying digital art with 1850s photography (Daguerreotype) with the album cover. Seeing Tenet in IMAX in a nearly deserted theater. The harrowing story behind "Leave the Reminder" and the plea behind "Live Forever".

Porcelain have just released their second record Today's Minor Victories a raucous and authoritative noise-rock/post-punk/post-hardcore whatever collection of songs sure to delight fans of Sonic Youth, Unwound, Blonde Redhead, Slint, etc. Steve has been on the show, but in the time after Exhalants and before Porcelain was a thing. Ep227 in 2021! So needless to say this is overdue. We talk about the formation of the band, playing in a two guitar band with Ryan and all the incredible work they have done as aband. The personal nature of the lyrics for this one. How Scott Evans recording process led to their best record yet. House music being played at the same volume as the bands between bands, the physical toll of live audio work, bombastic outros and millennial dread, walking somebody through life threatening crisis, challenging masculinity and sexual norms, writing a song while grieving his grandmother, and "I'm Going to Live Through This Apocalypse". it's a great far-reaching and deep conversation.

Ale Campos's band Las Nubes is fantastic, but equally fantastic is her road work as Iggy Pop's live guitarist after meeting him at a record store. We hear about how that has come to pass, getting that last minute call, and the kind of world she operates in when playing with Iggy, a living legend. We speak of Tormentas Malsanas the most recent Las Nubes record, recorded with Jonathan Nuñez, Ale's path into music in Florida, including being in a secret christian band, and her disinterest in being a frontperson, how Ale writes hooks (odd time surprises) How Ale's custom aluminum guitar ended up being a divorce gift and so much more!

Wonderlick, a band that comes together through drunk voice notes and instant demos, has a new record with Appalachian folk musicians backing them! We talk about the making of that record Wonderlick Loves You, and how Jay and Tim even met all these musicians, as well as recording in a cabin studio... how house show tours changed their music and record. The Too Much Joy reunion tour and record, deluxe reissues, creative liberty v. touring limits. How being rebellious power-pop for smart people isn't usually a path to mainstream success. What purposefully sitting down and writing a hit felt like. How Too Much Joy sold the first Pay What You Want record BEFORE Radiohead burning out and then picking up the guitar again, all this and a lot of talk of Branson, Missouri and Yakov Smirnoff and the failed pilot Jay tried to make with him. It has been quite a awhile since Jay's TMJ and Wonderlick bandmate Tim Quirk was on the show, which included a new Too Much Joy record and tour, so let's get into it and how likely it is we will see Too Much Joy stuff in the future.

Chances are you know Ryan from playing drums in the desert rock supergroup Stöner, Mario Lalli & The Rubber Snake Charmers or the incredible Brant Bjork Trio, but did you know that Ryan is a multi-instrumentalist who actually started on piano? All of this is on display in his impressive debut record The Shastafarian, evoking everything from Funkadelic, Thin Lizzy to Tom Petty the record is very cool but may not be what you expect. Much talk about the making of that record, as well as the origins of Stöner, Tao of the Devil, Mount Shasta, how being adopted has sculpted Ryan's life, being true to your vision, producing yourself, the demo process, the unique process of live improv the Rubber Snake Charmers and so much more!