We've got 12 new tracks from Philadelphia artists for your listening enjoyment. Highlights include new music from Keaton Thandi, Lovecartel, JULITH, Squiggler, and so much more. Check out the clickable playlist below, and support the artists you love!
We're getting a jump on June's playlist, so if you're a Philadelphia artist, please send your track and press info to dan.drago@25oclockpod.com.
John talks with Máty Rodriguez about growing up in New Jersey, her early days playing DIY shows, embracing all styles of music, her love of Sza, and how playing "Patience" by Guns N Roses will bring the house down every time. Máty shares the process of making her newest EP, working with her producer Justin, and how to use social media to say real things about yourself.
Máty's latest EP, 'Stand Up Show', is out now wherever you get your digital music. She'll be at Thunderbird House on May 2nd to celebrate the EP release, and supporting the Kulfigirls vinyl release show on June 5th at Warehouse On Watts.
Cliff Hillis has spent a lot of his musical career saying "yes" and then figuring it out. Dan talks to Cliff about all his roles in music: songwriter and singer, cowriter, guitar tech, touring musician, collaborator, and so much more. Cliff talks about his days playing Rehoboth Beach bars with his brother to working with bands like The Innocence Mission, Starbelly, John Faye Power Trip, Patty Smyth, US Rails, and his current gig as bassist for The Orchestra (featuring members of ELO and ELO II). They also talk about the great Philadlephia music tribute (created by Hooter's drummer Dave Uosikkinen), In The Pocket, which Cliff has been fortunate enough to be a part of for years. And no conversation with Cliff would be complete without mulling over the oft-debated genre label that is "power pop".
Cliff is currently on tour with The Orchestra, and is finishing up a brand new EP of his own music, coming out later in 2026.
We've got eleven new tracks for you from Philadelphia artists, and there's always a little something for everyone. Check out the clickable playlist below, it'll take you to each artist's website/social media/etc, and you can support the music you love.
If you're a Philadelphia area band, you can submit your music to dan.drago@25oclockpod.com. Include a link to where the song can be downloaded, as well as any press sheets/EPKs/info about your band. We give all styles and genres consideration, it's just gotta be from around Philly.
John talks with Maxwell Stern about growing up in Cleveland, the midwest punk scenes he began playing music in, moving to Philadelphia and finding a whole new community there, songwriting, and his love of The Clash (among many others).
Maxwell's latest LP, 'In the Good Light' is out now wherever you get your digital music, as well as on his Bandcamp page. Follow Maxwell Stern on IG to stay up to date on his releases and tour dates (including a big Philadelphia show at Johnny Brenda's on June 12th with Labrador and Old Souls).
We've got thirteen new tracks for your ears this month. If you're a band or artist in the greater Philadelphia area, send your music to dan.drago@25oclockpod.com, we're always happy to hear what's coming out. Check out the clickable playlist below, it links to you to every artist featured on this episode so you can support the music you discover and love.
Sara Johnson is often known by her solo project Stone Cold Grace, under which she has been putting out music for quite. John Vettese sits down with Sara in her home to talk about her love of Jeff Buckley, her guitar playing journey, how to be creative in your spare time when you're also a creative for a living, Caring Less (the band she fronts), spinning epic 9 hour sets at 48 Record Bar in Old City, how her best writing comes out, and so much more. Sara performs an achingly gorgeous song called "Always Leaving" from her upcoming EP.
The new Stone Cold Grace EP is out later this year, and the latest single, "To Die To Come Back To Die", is out now wherever you get your digital music. She has a preview event for the EP at 48 Record Bar on March 22nd.
It's the first playlist episode fo 2026, and we are coming in strong. Lots of great Philadelphia artists have music coming out in the first few months of this year, and this is just a small sampling of what's out there. As always, click the playlist below to go right to the artists you love and make sure you support them.
Andrew Harris fronts The Naked Sun, a band that's been part of the Philadelphia community for over a decade. And when Dan hit him with the word "decade", Drew is still trying to wrap his head around it. Drew talks about the nearly three year process that went into making their newest LP, how their songwriting as a band has become more democratic and open, why he'll always return to Miner Street Studios to work with Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey, and how teaching literature and poetry helps him write some of his best lyrics.
'Mirror In The Hallway' is the newest LP from The Naked Sun, and will be available January 30th wherever you get music. The band will play a record release show at the Fallser Club in East Falls on January 30th, alongside McTear and Morrissey's band Bitter Bitter Weeks.
2025 is closing out, and we're taking a look at music that we loved from the year, as well as sharing holiday and year-end messages from some of our contributors. Big thanks to Nate Runkel, Drew Harris, Phillip reese, and John Vettese for sending messages this year, and thanks to all the contributors at 25 O'Clock in 2025. We couldn't make this happen without everyone involved. Enjoy the ever-standard clickable playlist below, and have great holiday and a happy new year.
The Maks are a trio of veteran Philadelphia musicians who were just starting to maybe think about being a band when they ended up as the opener on a sold out show, and everything just took off from there. Long standing supporter of the podcast Maggie Poulos (and founder of boutique PR firm Mixtape Media) talks with all three Maks: Melissa Menago, Angelique Zuppo, and Karina Patricelli, as well as their manager, Wendy Rollins. The band talks about things moving fast, how they write, produce and perform, and what they want to see happen for them in the next year. They break down how they wrote their song, “The Boulder”, for the WXPN 24 Songwriting Contest, and what each of them brings to the table in the trio.
The Maks have multiple singles out now wherever you get your digital music, and are working hard at a full length for 2026. They'll be playing a benefit show called Hope In Harmony, benefitting Women In Transition, a domestic abuse treatment center in Philadelphia, at 118 North on December 21st with Alexis Cunningham and Stone Cold Grace.
Philadelphia music has a rich and long history, spanning every style imaginable, from jazz and soul to art rock to opera to doo wop and everything else. And who better to helm a book about the city's extensive music offerings than Electric Factory founder, Live Aid/Live 8 co-creator and Cobb's Creek native Larry Magid. Dan gets back in the interviewer seat for the first time in a while to talk with Larry about the thing that drives them both: the ever expanding Philadelphia music story.
Larry tells Dan about growing up in West Philly, dances, the Uptown, and early American Bandstand (before it went national). One Saturday night changed his life when he found himself in the DJ booth with Jimmy “Cannonball” Parsons, and his already rabid appetite for music became his path. Larry talks about the oft-overlooked Atlantic City Pop Festival in 1969 (just two months before Woodstock), early concerts at the Spectrum (and why bands loved that arena so much), and how he thinks Philadelphia audiences may be the most influential audiences of the rock and roll era. They also discuss the new book of Philadelphia music history that Larry organized, covering nearly every corner of Philadelphia music over the years.
“The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds Of A City” is out now via Camino Books, and is available wherever you buy your books. It features over a dozen contributors on a wide variety of Philadelphia music genres, and all the proceeds go to support the Philadelphia Music Alliance, an organization that creates, support and sponsor programs that enrich and strengthen Philadelphia’s musical community.
After a few weeks break, we're back with another playlist episode. Enjoy these new tracks from Philadelphia artists, and remember to check out the clickable playlist below. Go support the bands and artists you love!
It's Philly Music Fest, and we wanted to highlight one more artist playing the fest this year. KulfiGirls are Abi, Joan, Adesole, and Stephanie, and they are all on the show. Nate Runkel of Yo That's My Jawn is sitting in the host chair this week, and he talks with KulfiGirls about it all: how they met, how they formed up as a band, all the work that went into their LP 'Divinity', the pain of mixing your own record (props to Joan on that one), and how they're constantly floored when people come up to tthe band and tell them how much their music means to them. It's a rare feat to get all members of a band on one conversation, and to have it flow so seamlessly. You'll have a love not only for their music, but for how they work together as a group.
KulfiGirls are playing Philly Music Fest on October 18th at Underground Arts with The Wonder Years and Caracara (who were guests way back on #230). Go to the PMF site for more info on that show and all the other shows this week at venues around Philadelphia. KulfiGirls will also be at Milkboy on November 19th, and in Brooklyn at The Meadows on December 13th. The album 'Divinity' is available now wherever you get your digital music.
In honor of Philly Music Fest, all sales of our compilation, 'Want To Play A Song?: Live On 25 O'Clock Vol.1', go to strengthen the charitable giving of the festival. If you can't make it to a show and still want to support the work of PMF and their contributions to the music charities of Philadlephia, you can buy a digital copy of the compilation at our Bandcamp.
John and Paige have a truly career spanning chat with Adam Shumski, drummer in Philadelphia bands like Planette Automatic (formerly The Lunar Year), and Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, as well as the newest addition to the New York based group Bodega. Adam talks about growing up influenced by his older brother's records, how studying jazz drumming made him ready to play anything, whether or not he'd ever be a "singing drummer", being encouraged to write more, and that he alway has time for "one more project". He also goes into detail about international touring life with Bodega, and working with Jim Eno (Spoon) on the new Planette Automatic LP.
Planette Automatic is playing Philly Music Fest on October 18th at The Fallser Club (their first yea as part of the fest) with Saide Gust, Chioke, and Catie Turner.
Photo by Paige Walter
September is almost gone, and autumn is nearly in full swing (at least in some places), and Philadlephia artists are putting out amazing music, as is to be expected. Dan presents you with 12 tracks from Philadlephia artists, so make sure you check out the clickable playlist below, and support the ones you love!
3. The Describers- I Ate The Sun and Sky
5. Emily Drinker- Turn Your Face To the Sun
6. Fawziyya Heart- All I See (w. Megatronic)
10. Red Desert Motel- Dancing At The Country Bar
12. Algernon Cadwallader- Attn MOVE
(Photo by Dan, Xponential Fest 2022)
John and Paige are back, and they're sitting down with Grace Koon of Grace Vonderkuhn. Grace talks about the music community in Wilmington, Delaware, and how being even just a little outside of the greater Philadlephia area can change the whole way you form and flourish as a band. She talks about her bandmates, Brian Bartling and DaveMcGrory, and how they've refined the sound of the band over ten years together. And she takes us all through the long process that it took to release their newest LP, 'In The Morning', out now wherever you get your digital music, and also available on vinyl from the band's website.
Grace is kind enough to play us an acoustic version of "Be Mine" from the new record. The band plays their release show on September 12th at Kelly's Logan House in Wilmington, and will head up to South Philadelphia on September 18th to play at Century.
Dan keeps you all up to speed with his life over in Hong Kong, and some of the upcoming shows he hopes to catch this year (Any of y'all ever heard of the Clockenflap?). Enjoy the beginnings of fall wherever you are. We'll be putting out a new playlist episode at the end of this month, so if you're a Philadelphia artists and have new material that you want to share, send it our way to dan.drago@25oclockpod.com.
Episode photo by Paige Walter
Back at it again with another playlist, featuring 11 tracks of new music from Philadelphia's finest artists. As always, check out the clickable playlist below, and go support the bands and artists you like.
2. Jared Feinman- Bleeding Orange
4. Brittany Ann Tranbaugh and Joe Plowman- See What Grows
5. Grace Vonderkuhn- Forever Loved
6. Planette Automatic- Wild Mountain Camp
Welcome our newest guest host, Judah Kim! Judah talks with Blue Barnett of Best Bear, and it's a very open and honest conversation about all the things that go into being an independent musician, a songwriter, and an anxious human. Blue talks about touring, both with Best Bear and as the touring bassist for Hit Like A Girl, and all the logistics and work that goes into making music on the road happen. Judah and Blue both discuss how they deal with being out of step with their peers and family when it comes to having such an unorthodox career in music.
The latest Best Bear album, 'When', is out now wherever you get your digital music. Judah Kim's latest single, "It's Less Dangerous" is also out now and available on all music platforms. Check out Judah's first appearance on the podcast back on #316 as a guest, it's an outstanding episode.
July brings us 10 new tracks from Philadelphia artists. Be sure to check out the clickable playlist below and support the ones you like. In the meantime, Dan will let you know about shows, upcoing events, and how he survived a T10 typhoon this last wekeend in Hong Kong (a typhoon is a hurricane in the Pacific). Enjoy the music!
1. The Bret Tobias Set- Happiness Writes White
2. Automatic Love- Heaven You Must Be
3. Erin and Fox and John Faye- Swing And A Miss
4. Caroline Quinn- Lost For Words
5. Nervous Nikki and the Chill Pills- Nerves Of Glass
6. Suzanne Sheer- Me and My Friends
7. Moonroof- Can’t Say No To You
8. Dominic Angelella- Smoking At The Lakehouse
9. Jackson Pines- Evergreen ft Julia DiGrazia
10. Maria Mirenzi- Let It Steep
Dan shares a conversation between The Flying Vees and Phillip Reese of Your Next Favorite Band. Originally airing back in April, the band members Brechyn Chase, Shannon Vasile, Caitlin Ramsey, and Hannah Taylor talk about how they all met and formed the band back in 2018. Even though they can go a while between times they see each other, they're able to dial in quickly when they get chance to rehearse and perform, and their harmonies and stage show are proof of how naturally this all comes to them.
The Flying Vees have a brand new EP coming out, and they'll be celebrating with a release show on Sunday, July 13th at the Philadelphia Ethical Soceity in Rittenhouse Square (an absolutely gorgeous space to see live music). Show starts at 5pm, so get there early to see the band that long-time Philadelphia music promoter Jesse Lundy prasies as "Cooler than G. G. Allin."
Special thanks to Phillip Reese and the team over at Your Next Favorite Band for graciously letting us give this interview an encore release. Check out Your Next Favorite Band to, appropriately, discover your next favorite band. If you're heading to Musikfest up in Bethlehem, PA this August, let YNFB take the guesswork out of who to go see with their daily coverage of the fest, as well as their Musikfest Exordium on July 29th to get you up to speed before the fest starts.
Here are another handful of new tracks from Philadelphia artists for your listening pleasure. As always, check out the clickable playlist below, and support the artists.
There's a set of tunes in there that are all bands playing the Jam For Josh at The Fallser Club on July 18th. Josh Craft is the co-founder (along with his wife Jess) of Rock To the Future, a non profit group that brings after school music programs into Philadelphia city schools free of charge to the students. Josh is recovering from multiple surgeries and procedures that were needed due to the sudden onset of pancreatic cancer, and this concert will donate all of its proceeds to Josh and his family. Check out the bands, and support the event.
Enjoy the playlist, and send me your tracks if you're a Philadelphia area musician!
2. The Indestructible Water Bear- Missing You
Jam For Josh Spotlight: July 19th at The Fallser Club
4. Plastic Soldiers- Borrowed Time
5. Roberta Faceplant- Big Dark Town
8. DelCobras- Untied (She’s The One)
9. Justin Kerecz- Don’t Forget The Porterman
10. t-minus- Sonder
Sweet Juice Fest has been featured on this show since its inception in 2022, and this is the first year we get an in depth look at not just some of the artists that are playing, but the foundation and philosophy of the festival itself. John and Paige sit down with Shona Carr and Mel Harris, two of the festival's founders, to talk about this year's fest, the growth over previous years, and how Sweet Juice seeks to build and strengthen community and create a more audience-focused approach to music and art festivals.
Dan takes a look at some of the artists playing this year's festival, check out the clickable playlist:
2) Little Hag- Show Me Your Head
3) KulfiGirls- Red Light
Full lineup includes: Speedy Ortiz, Little Hag, Kulfi Girls, Sovei, Kai Davis, Ollie Goss, Cyrus K Stratton, and line dancing featuring Fist City and the Sweet Juice Fest House Band.
Sweet Juice Fest is Saturday, June 28 at Awbury Arboretum in Germantown, and runs from 1:30pm to 9pm. Go to the festival's site for all information and ticketing, and be sure to follow them on IG for all the up-to-the-minute info.
As promised, here's the playlist episode for the month of May, just under the wire. Twelve new tunes from twelve Philadelphia artists, and you can go right to their sites and support them below on the clickable playlist.
We'll be doing these each month, so send your music submissions to us at dan.drago@25oclockpod.com. Please send DL links or attach an mp3, and don't forget to link your EPK or press info so we have something to say about you. Enjoy these tunes, and if you like em, share em.
John and Paige talk with photographer/tour manager/many-hat-wearer Ashley Gellman about life on the road and at home. Ashley has worked with artists like Bartees Strange, Jamie xx, Jonas Brothers, boygenius, and is currently on the road with Lucy Daucus. She's a larger-than-life personality, and she breaks down her life on the road, her upbringing as an independent kid doing her own thing, her relationships with the early artists she worked with, found family amidst her touring peers, and how to capture the best shot without being in the way. Amidst a whirlwind of travel and work, Ashley talks in depth about how she's grown to embrace being home, and how she balances the "all-in" touring lifestyle with the calmer vibes of being back in Philadelphia. If you can manage to pin her down, Ashley does do photo shoots for hire when she can, so follow her on IG.
On Sunday, May 18th, the 12th annual Brain Fest is happening at Fringe Bar in Philadelphia from 5pm to midnight. Brain Fest raises money and awareess for treatment of brain tumor, with all the proceeds going to the American Brain Tumor Association. Performers include Adventure Lost, The Lunar Year, Alright Junior, Trash Boy, Erin Fox and the Hounds, Annalise Curtim, and more. More info available at their event posting and at the ABTA donation site.