Kevin McCall has a lot going on: frontman of Andorra, artist manager, booker and promoter at the Grape Room, and so much more. Dan and Kevin talk new Andorra music (spoiler: they're all rockers), helping artists navigate the music biz, how to make a killer email, the Manayunk vibe, and more.
Dan gets all the details on saxophonist/songwriter/producer Max Swan's newest LP, 'Slow Jail', studying with Lenny Pickett (SNL, Tower of Power), his love of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, messing with genre, grief and how to deal with it, and his never ending search for his dining room table that he lost when his house flooded last year. 'Slow Jail' is out now and available anywhere you get digital music, pre-order the upcoming vinyl edition at Max's Bandcamp.
Dan talks with Derek about his group, Archpalatine, how to build an engaging live show, the ups and downs of fathers and sons, the Grape Room in Manayunk, and using MarioPaint on SNES as a composition tool. New single for Archpalatine, 'Hypnotized', is out now, and is available wherever you get digital music.
Dan talks to filmmaker and former Philly podcaster Joe Manno about his new short film, 'Black Point', doing your own thing, podcasting as a lonely activity, and the ups and downs of separating your work from your day job. Check out Joe's YouTube channel to keep up to date with his growing body of work.
Dan talks to Don about growing up in Bucks County, his ties with Philly area folk like Rob McElhenny, G. Love, and Chuck Treece. Recently back in the area after 20 years in Brooklyn, Don talks about his new album, 'The Chaos and the Beauty', various forks in the road he's taken, the stages of excitement surrounding making a record, and the lift to Brooklyn Don gave to Dan back in 2010.
Dan talks with writer/athlete/coach Joe Puleo, lyricist for the Bannister Effect, a collaboration with Eli Wenger (Los Halos). Dan and Joe discuss his writing process, Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville, their respective literature backgrounds, and what it's like being a non-musician making a record with some of the top musicians of Philadelphia. The Bannister Effect LP, 'A Life I Knew', is out now and available wherever you get digital music.
Not only do Dan and Niki talk about her music, how she became a riff-master, and the various starts and stops of her musical journey, they also play with guitar pedals. On top of being a great songwriter and guitarist, Niki designs and creates one-of-a-kind guitar pedals (and guitars, too!). All this plus a live performance. It'a a fuzzy guitar kind of episode.
Photo: Marissa Both @photoladyphotos
And now we close out the year! Dan has put together a short playlist of some of his favorite tracks of 2021. Featuring Philly artists like John Faye, Hurry, The Lunar Year, and more. Happy New Year to all, looking forward to even more great music in 2022. Go to 25oclockpod.com and click on the episode blog post for a clickable playlist of all the artists.
Dan talks to two Johns this week as part of the 2021 Year End Wrap Up: writer/musician/DJ John Morrison and head of WXPN's The Key John Vettese. Each John talks about songs they liked from 2021, shows and events that they saw, and some of the work they put out this year amidst all of the ups and downs. Featuring music from Mannequin Pussy, Shortie No Mas(s), and Tyshawn Sorey and King Britt.
Dan and Katie talk about all the music she's made as The Lunar Year, including their outstanding Left Of The Dial Live Session. Growing up in Bucks County, living in the Midwest, songwriting and recording, the undertaking of making a live record, and more. Plus: live performance at the end! So glad we can do that again!
Dan reunites with Rahsaan Lucas of AfroTaino Productions, and they reminisce about a few shows they did together years ago. Rahsaan talks about his early love of music, being a DJ, how he got into concerts and event promotion, how AfroTaino formed with his partner Marángeli Mejía Rabell, and everything that AfroTaino has been doing during the pandemic, as well as what they have in store for the future.
In Part 1, Dan talked to Paul about how he got into music, producing and performing as Starkey, and his days in the burgeoning Philly electronic music scene. In Part 2, Paul talks about his work as a music educator, his role as the head of the music production and business departments at Community College of Philadelphia, the school's own Spring Garden Records label, and the expertise and experiences he brings to the classroom.
Dan sat down with Paul Geissinger at the studios in Community College of Philadelphia to talk Paul's music, his work as electronic artist and producer Starkey, his days producing shows as part of the Philadelphia electronic music scene with folk like Dev79, his introduction to grime and garage as it was forming in the early 00s in London, and how he helped bring it over to the states. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, focusing on Paul's work as an educator and all the great work he's doing at CCP, and their in-house label, Spring Garden Records.
Dan talks with Keith Marlowe of The Miners (and formerly of Tornado 5) about their new record, 'Megunticook', alt country from the 80s to today, the Philly alt-rock scene in the 90s, becoming a frontman, and the joys of the current vinyl shortage. 'Megunticook' is available now everywhere you get digital music.
Dan gets to talk to the whole Keely Sibilia crew: Keely, producer Robby Webb, and keyboardist Dan Finn. The band discusses their new LP, 'Death Of A Romantic', how they went into making the record with no material at all, the ups and downs of music school (the three are all UArts alums), growing into an adult from a 20-something, and why they love making music in Philly.
Lisa Flynn has been part of the Philly music scene going way back, from growing up in Northeast Philly, booking the Trocadero and North Star Bar, to her bands Workhorse III and Lisa Christ Superstar. Dan and Lisa talk about her new LP, 'Soundtrack Of the Floating World', (produced by Joe Nicolo), guitars, being a nurse during COVID, Trocadero balcony shows, and more.
Dan sits down with Jamie Salvatore and Morgan Russo of Jamie and the Guarded Heart in person (woohoo!). Jamie and Morgan talk about growing up in working class suburbs of Philly (Conshohocken and Norristown respectively), Jamie wanting more than his day job as a cover musician, Morgan giving him the push he needed, and Jamie drafting Morgan into the band from the start. And as a huge bonus, they play a song live in the studio, something that's been sorely missed on the show for the past year or so. Jamie and the Guarded Heart have a new single out called "I Don't Love You", available wherever you get digital music.
Dan talks with Lindo, a Philly born poet, spoken word artist, teacher, and activist, about his work, how he uses multimedia to get his work out there, Black Lives Matter, and how starting a chess club in middle school was his first taste of how to change things for the better. Follow Lindo on his Instagram at @lindoyes.
Dan talks to Kitzy, producer of the Left Of The Dial podcast and video series, established in early 2020 and going strong as ever. They talk about striving to be consistent when it comes to creating content, wanting to improve other podcasts' audio, Kitzy's production work on the new Erin Fox LP, and the growth of Left Of The Dial as a whole. You can buy the live recordings of all of their sessions at their Bandcamp, it supports both the bands and LOTD.
Dan and Sean talk about Sean's journey from New Jersey to New Orleans to Philly, getting comfortable in the Philly scene, his work with Spring Garden Records at Community College of Philadelphia, Ortleib's (obviously), and why streaming algorithms lump him in with The Beatles and Leonard Cohen.