Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Remembering Tony Lewis" We look back at Alex's chat with the late Tony Lewis of the Outfield. The original title was "Tony Lewis Is Always On Time," and it was recorded in 2018. The former Outfield frontman tells Alex that he and his bandmate John Spinks were always known for being punctual and he’s continuing that tradition. But, he confesses, away from his musical life, he’s rarely on time ever. In this interview Lewis talks about his new solo album Out Of The Darkness, the death of his musical partner Spinks and the joys of being a grandfather. He also tells Alex what his personal favorite track is on his new album and how he was influenced by Paul McCartney.

“What You Get Is What You See” Jessie Wagner has seen a lot. As a touring vocalist with Duran Duran, Little Steven and Lenny Kravitz, the Virginia native has not only seen the world several times over, she’s seen how pros like the aforementioned artists run their businesses, handle their affairs and keep their careers on track. Now commandeering her own solo career, Wagner made the decision to employ what she learned all those years on tour. On her debut album Shoes Droppin’, the charismatic singer checks in with an album of spunky soul, groovy R&B and stirring roots music. Falling somewhere between the work of Roberta Flack and Fleetwood Mac, Wagner’s album is refreshing, stirring and rousing. In this conversation she talks to Alex about finding her voice in college at a pageant, missing her best friend’s wedding to play a gig with Kravitz and how a post-college pharmacy career was not the career she really wanted. Candid, open and honest, Wagner speaks about the tricky art of putting out an album during C

“We Sure Could Use A Smooth New Day” Euripides once said, "Life is a short affair; we should try to make it smooth and free from strife….” Well, if you’re having trouble in the free from strife department, throw on some Dave Koz and let the smooth begin. Kos’s new album A New Day is as smooth as it comes—not only does it feature guest performances from Brian McNight, Earth Wind and Fire's Ralph Johnson, and David Sanborn, it’s Koz’s first album of new material in almost ten years. From the rousing title track to the affecting reading of the Beatles “Yesterday," A New Day demonstrates that not only is Koz a deft player with finesse and groove, he’s still as smooth as they come. In this conversation, the saxophonist talks to Alex about trying to stay positive, coming out at 40 and how growing up his instrument became a haven for his pain.

“I Am A Complicated And Potentially Agonizingly Frustrating Person" John Vanderslice may describe himself that way, but as far as interviewees go, Vanderslice is the least difficult guy around. Genial, open, and forthcoming, Vanderslice will chat about anything. In this conversation, the Florida-born singer/songwriter talks to Alex about politics, taking drugs, his rejection of conventional life and why he had to leave San Francisco. They also talk about his newfound love of Los Angeles, owning up to his mistakes and doing an interview with Alex in 1993. Vanderslice is one of the most inventive, innovative and fascinating musicians around and his new EP EEEEP! is a textured song cycle that’s rich with synth loops, acoustic guitars and subtle, but catchy choruses.

“I’m Worried About America” I’m worried about America the country for obvious reasons. But I’m worried about America the band, too. With COVID-19 decimating the live music industry, the legendary band haven’t been able to tour and the future, for the time being, is uncertain. But with a new album on the way and a mammoth box set called Half Century out now, things have never been better for America. Except for the not being able to tour part. In this interview with Dewey Bunnell, the singer/songwriter talks to me about his level of anxiety in the Covid age, his lifelong friendship with Gerry Beckley and staying creative during lockdown. He also talks about working with legendary Beatles producer George Martin, growing up in an English/American household and his love of the blues.

"The Indie Rock Grand Slam" Alright, so Tanya Donelly is one of the few to have completed the indie rock grand slam. In tennis, it’s the Australian, the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and in music terms, it’s being in three undeniably great bands and then having a successful, critically acclaimed slo carer. Think about it—how many people can you name who have done this? Donelly was in Throwing Muses, the Breeders and the Grammy nominated Belly and her critically acclaimed solo career, bolstered by albums like Love Songs For Underdogs is impossible to deny. The Rhode Island-born musician is not only a magnetic figure, with tons of onstage charisma, she’s a brilliant and evocative lyricist, whose work is a dreamy blend of Anne Sexton, Wallace Stevens and Leonard Cohen. Heavily imagistic and loaded with mysterious symbols that shimmer and fade and turn to gold then dissolve in the dark and rise again as stars with colors you’ve never seen before, Donelly's work really sticks with you. There are shipwrecks

“In And Out Of The Light” Peter Milton Walsh of the Apartments is the Dean of the darkness and the light. Like an indie rock Virgil, in his work the Brisbane-born singer/songwriter expertly guides us through the roughest waters and brings us back to solid ground. It’s hard to think of anyone else who’s oeuvre' is so devastatingly perfect. A songwriter of poetic precision, spellbinding stillness and wrenching balladry, Walsh is practically peerless. His band’s new album In And Out Of The Light is mesmerizing, heartbreaking and unreasonably beautiful. After the band broke up, Walsh played in the Go-Betweens and Ed Kuepper’s Laughing Clowns before getting the second incarnation of the Apartments going. In this conversation the genial Walsh talks to Alex about how his recording process has changed, the creative and editorial synergy of Robert Forster and Grant McLennan,the tricky sequencing of the new album and what becomes of beauty in the physical world...

“Golf, Tennis And Reggae” You might not expect a conversation with Robby Krieger to cover those three topics, but this one does. Look, the former Doors guitarist has been interviewed to death and we wanted to try to offer a different kind of chat with this rock and roll legend. The L.A. born Krieger is one of the greatest guitar players of all time and although he might be best known for his riveting work with the Doors, his seven solo albums really showcase his dexterity a player. His work is inventive, deft, experimental and classic. His phrasing, his innovations and his freedom as a player, make you realize that Krieger works from an expansive canvas. His new album The Ritual Begins At Sundown makes that abundantly clear—produced by Arthur Barrow who played bass for Frank Zappa, the instrumental album has a Zappa cover, a new reading of The Doors’ “Yes, The River Knows," and 8 other tracks that showcase Krieger’s mastery and finesse. In this conversation Krieger talks to me about why he was never a huge

"Don't Let People Mess With You" Self empowerment isn’t easy. We tend to think of other people and how they’ll receive us so we try to mold our responses and desires to that expectations. But by doing that, we forget about one thing; ourselves. It’s true. You can go a whole lifetime forgetting that what you feel is important. So, the basic punk rock version of empowerment is this. Don’t let people mess with you. And if they do, mess with them right back. Nobody can mess with Imogen Clark. Not anymore. The Australian singer songwriter has felt that over the course of her career she was carrying out an image of what other people expected of her and the fact is, she got sick of it. Imogen starting playing gigs in bars at 13, so it’s understandable that someone so young could get caught up in catering to what other people thought she could be artistically, but by 25 she’d had enough. Nothing like romantic wreckage, stoning self doubt and artistic frustration to make someone state themselves down and take ownersh

"Plague Dogs Are Coming" Okay, so I met Tim May about a year ago when he contacted me about a documentary he was making about one of my all time favorite bands, Del Amitri. Tim had read my essay about the band’s album Waking Hours and the plan was for him and his crew to fly from the UK to SF, interview me for the film, hang out, and then fly back. I was totally excited--I cleaned the house, got a haircut and then, well, you know how this part of the story ends. The virus hit and it big and that pretty much sent that plan careening off the road. That’s the bad news—by the way, the documentary might still happen, which Tim will talk about in our chat, but let’s get to the good news. Tim has a band with DA guitarist Ian Harvie and that band is Aliens. The music they make is just phenomenal. It's a dreamy groove of thoughtful indie pop, that swirls mightily away with otherworldly melodies, infectious choruses and atmospheric instrumentation that’s indicate, thoughtful and immensely satisfying. Tim’s the singer

"A Punk Who Reads Proust” Remembering Walter Lure. As a member of The Heartbreakers, Walter Lure may have tenured in one of the most hedonistic, wild and downright feral punk bands of all time, but there was a lot more to this native New Yorker than met the eye. For one, before Lure joined the Heartbreakers he had finished college, graduating from Fordham with an English major and a minor in Chemistry. Lure survived the Heartbreakers and went from being a punk rocker to being a stockbroker. Not a normal punk trajectory, but Lure is a man of great texture and he speaks frankly and honestly to Alex about working on Wall Street, getting off drugs and how a nice college boy found himself in one of the wildest bands on the planet. He also talks about Johnny Thunders, his relationship with Richard Hell and why you shouldn’t trust anything Nick Kent writes. And speaking of writing, the interview ends with a reflection on Proust….

"Day By Day” Well, that kind of perfectly describes the life of an artist. Because one never knows when they’ll book a series, or sell a painting, or get a gig supporting U2 on a world tour, most artists just take things one day at a time. And that has its challenges, but those challenges are expected—they’re part of the game. What’s not expected are things that happen out of nowhere that have nothing to do with the universe I just described. Like for example, when your union informs you out of nowhere that your benefits and your pension have been severely compromised. In this engaging conversation with actors Arjay Smith (“Perception," "The Day After Tomorrow") and Michael Charles Roman ("Grace and Frankie" "Keeping The Faith”), the two men talk about being blindsided by news that could negatively affect the lives of thousands of working actors. A great chat about booking roles, not booking roles and fighting back, this is a seamless and riveting conversation that gives a rare glimpse into an actor’s life.

“When I’m Not Having Fun I Miss The Fun We Have” That’s what Shannon McArdle texted me after our latest chat. And it’s true—we DO have a ton of fun when we talk. And this latest conversation is no exception. Shannon and I seem to operate on the same weird frequency—we’re both wildly tangential, anecdotal and discursive. This installment finds Shannon talking about learning to ride a bike again, being born sad and promising me that she’ll take the guitar off the wall behind her and start work on her new album. The former Mendoza Line singer is one of the finest voices in music and her solo career makes a great case that she’s also one of the most gifted songwriters we’ve got. Shannon also talks about the music scene in Athens, Georgia, why she gives cards on weird anniversaries and she assures us all that she won’t be getting scurvy, in spite of her reticence to eat fruit. This conversation means Shannon is tied for first place with the Coronas Danny O’Reilly for most appearances on the podcast. She’ll be ba

"The Summer Sent You” The summer sent us Mary Black. And we are better for it. And we’re so lucky to have her. The legendary Dublin-born singer doesn’t do a lot of podcasts so we’re very appreciative that she chose to do ours. And, coincidentally enough, she appears one week after her son Danny of the Coronas made his third appearance on the show. Mary Black has the kind of musical CV that is filled with so many highlights, to list them all would require a separate podcast. Over the course of her career, she’s put out 12 solo albums, including classics like Without the Fanfare, and By The Time It Gets Dark. She also found time to record two great albums with the traditional Irish folk band De Dannan and toured the world with them as well. Over the course of her winning career, Mary Black sold out the Royal Albert Hall, collaborated with Joan Baez, Steve Martin Liam Clancy, and Westlife, won IRMA’s for Entertainer of the Year and Best Female Artist and in the process of all this work, became one of the most t

“World Of Burning Hate” Jesse Michaels is perhaps best known as the singer of the Berkeley punk band Operation Ivy. Although they were around for just a couple of years, they remain one of the most influential punk bands of all time. After the band’s dissolution, Michaels played in Big Rig, put out two fabulous albums with Common Rider and then formed Classics of Love in 2008. Classics Of Love put out an EP and a full length in 2012, but have been pretty quiet until now. The band’s new EP World of Burning Hate is the exact shot of sonic momentum you need right now in this uncertain and troubled time. A searing and ferocious blast of feral punk rock, the five songs are filled with momentum and heart. It’s an exhilarating listen. In this interview Jesse talks to Alex about putting his death rock project on hold, how the name of his band came to him in a dream and why he listens to prog rock...

“True Love Waits” Well, if you love The Coronas, you didn’t have to wait too long for the follow-up to 2017’s Trust The Wire. But because of the global pandemic, you might have to wait a bit to see one of the best live bands on the planet in the flesh. In the meantime, the Dublin outfit’s new long player True Love Waits is one of the most riveting, soul-affirming and rousing albums of 2020. Making his third appearance on the podcast, singer Danny O’Reilly talks to Alex about staying creative in the time of Covid, how sports keep our days structured and living with the void of physical contact. He also recalls the last live gig The Coronas played, why he’s looking forward to the U.S. having different leadership and finding out that his mom toured Japan before he did….

“A Level Presentation Of A Human Being” That’s how Tyler Glenn describes how after all this time of being in a band he’s finally arrived at a mindset that takes in both criticism and praise. Being level means he’s not dazzled by the positive or felled by the negative. “I don’t feed into the good or bad anymore,” he says. Well, when it comes to Neon Trees, there sure is a lot of good. The California born Glenn and his bandmates put out three albums in four years—2010’s Habits, 2012’s Picture Show and 2014’s Pop Psychology. And that concentrated level of activity yielded some pretty impressive results, like nabbing Billboard and BMI awards for the alternative chart topper "Animal," touring the world and opening for everyone from Duran Duran to the Flaming Lips to My Chemical Romance, playing the Macys Thanksgiving Parade, performing on Kimmel, Fallon, Leno and Letterman, doing an episode of Live From Daryls House, and having their single "Everybody Talks" in a commercial for the Buick Verano. And that’s just a

“It Takes A Lifetime To Be Comfortable With Who You Are” Those are sage words from a rather sagacious fellow named Tommy Emmanuel. One of the greatest guitar players on the planet, Emmanuel talks to Alex about a lifetime of being a professional musician. And when we say lifetime, we really mean it—Emmanuel went pro at the age of 6 and his CV is so packed with accomplishments, it would take a separate podcast to list them all. In this conversation Tommy discusses Golden Boy Syndrome, why it’s important to be a good listener, and his love of George Benson. They also talk about what it was like for Tommy to hear Dire Straits for the first time, how it feels to be watched on stage and how he bounced back from a gruesome finger dislocation. The Australian-born Emmanuel is now a U.S. citizen and the release of his new album The Best of Tommysongs is a reimagining of songs from his winning back catalog. A guitarist of tremendous finesse and precision, Emmanuel is as elegant of an interview as he is as a player.

“West Coast Antidote" A long way away from their native Brisbane, the young Australian outfit Between Kings are now officially based out of Los Angeles. Although COVID -19 has gotten in the way of everything from the release of their new album Young Love to playing live gigs, they are firmly committed to basing out of the West Coast. Now, Young Love was supposed to hit the streets, but the global pandemic made the band decide to instead put out an EP called Antidote which is comprised of half of the tracks that will be found on the record--the second half of the album will come in the form of another forthcoming EP. This wasn't Plan A. but the band decided that it was the best way to stay connected to their fans. In this conversation, guitarist Jordan Coyne talks to Alex about Australia, in-house pull-up pranks and how mindfulness is connected to mental health. He also recalls a moving conversation he had with his father about his music, life in Los Angeles and how sometimes he’s so creatively driven, he fo

"Reds To Blue And Back Again" John Steinbeck once wrote: "There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I." All those changes of colors? Well, that’s a good way to describe what’s been going on with David Cook lately. The Texas born, Missouri raised Cook’s new single is called "Reds Turn Blue" and it’s a track that assigns manic highs to the color red and the painful lows to the color blue. The song traces not only the way our moods shift from color to color but more specially, how when we have anxiety that shift has its own punching velocity. It’s the first new blast of music Cook has put out in a while—since 2018’s Chromance EP. But don’t think he’s not been busy. The Season 7 winner of "American Idol" spent the better part of 2018 performing in "Kinky Boots" on Broadway and headlining an acoustic tour. The 37 year old musician talks to Alex about how his new song is an artistic breakthrough, why he has trouble throw