Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"The Very Day" If you're wondering if the Connecticut-born Grammyt Award winning keyboardist and composer grew up with music in the house, the answer is yes--his father Joe Porcaro was a renowned jazz drummer who played with everyone from Sinatra to Stan Getz to Madonna. He also played on hundreds of film and television scores including The Wild Bunch, I Dream Of Jeannie and Edward Scissorhands. He also founded the Percussion Institute of Technology and later the drum department at the Los Angeles Music Academy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_College_of_Music). So, yeah music was the lifesblood of the Porcaro household and at very young ages, Steve and his brothers Mike and Jeff went into the family business. How early of an age you might be wondering? Well, at 17 when most of us were finishing our last year of high school and thinking about who and who wouldn't go with us to the prom, Steve was playing with Gary Wright's band on his 1976 Dream Weaver tour. A year later while most of us were fumbl

"Crashing Dream" Like many aspiring artists of all kinds, the New York-born singer/guitarist Matt Piucci found himself in Los Angeles in the early '80s with his college pal David Roback playing in the band they formed. That band was Rain Parade and they hit the ground running--a stirring blend of 60s jangle and dark post-punk rhythms, Rain Parade put out two instant classics--Emergency Third Rail Power Trip and Crashing Dream, a brilliant live album recorded in Japan called Beyond The Sunset. They were nerve short of critical acclaim and their shows were inspired and rousing, but by 1986 the band called it a day. In 2023 Rain Parade put out their first album in nearly 40 years called Last Rays Of A Dying Sun and the band is back at it, with creative energy running as high as ever. Over the course of their career Rain Parade toured with The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, the Jesus and Mary Chain and The Church and Piucci has recorded with everyone from The Bangles to the Dream Syndicate. There were personnel chang

"Wait For Fire Burning" Formed in Oakland in 1985, Legal Reins were comprised of singer/guitarist Danny Benatar, bassist Eden Unger and drummer Tim Freund. They tore up the Bay Area scene, playing show after show and cementing themselves as one of the best live bands around. This is a band who did the work, got in the reps and eclipsed the Gladwellian idea of 10,000 hours. Opening for everyone from Madness to Killing Joke, Legal Reins proved themselves time and again that they could step on any stage and match anyone in terms of power and heart. Their exhilarating blend of sweeping pop epics and punchy hook laden rock and roll brought to mind everyone from The Sound to Echo and the Bunnymen to the Waterboys. After a bit of a bidding war, they signed to Arista in 1987, put out their debut album Please, The Pleasure soon after and then? Well, then things turned the other way. I'm going to let Tim tell you the story, but let me say this: In 1986 I was the music director of KVHS, an all-metal station located con

"Futility" It's true--the last time I saw Sandy Smallens was in the spring of 1989 when his band Too Much Joy came to the campus radio station to play on my weekly show. The band were incredibly cool and I've never forgotten that they took the time to traipse into the East Bay hills to get to my school and how nice they were. They even played an unrehearsed acoustic version of Clowns at my request, which was awesome. I'd play it for you now, but guess what? After the band left, I took out the tape and found that I hadn't hit record. It's bothered me for years. At any rate, Too Much Joy and Wonderlick which is Tim and Jay from TMJ, have a lot of news coming out their camp, so they do come up a bit in this chat, but really, the focus here is on Sandy's other band Surface Wound. Informed by the undulating jagged basslines of bands like Gang Of Four and Wire, Surface Wound's new album Futility is a riveting blast of post-punk magic. The Scarsdale-raised, Yale-educated Smallens played football in high school and

"Baby Man" The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson has one of the most consistently wonderful bodies of work you'll ever run to in this lifetime. From his 2001 debut Echolocation to albums like The Ruminant Band, Tripper, Gold Past Life, A River Running To Your Heart to his brand new one Baby Man, Johnson's discography has no dips and or musical unforced errors--every note, every melody, every turn of phrase is deeply affecting and altogether stirring. The Chicago-born Johnson is a prolific songwriter, who, in addition to his Fruit Bats endeavors, was a member of The Shins and currently is one-third of the the exquisite folk trio Bonny Light Horseman. Over the course of their career, the Fruit Bats have toured with everyone from Modest Mouse to The Sadies, had their songs covered by folks like The Decemberists and Guster, had their songs appear in movies like Youth In Revolt and Our Idiot Brother and played festivals like Bonnaroo, Pickathon and the Dave Matthews Band Caravan. By the way, this

"Crayon Shades" Formed out of the ashes of the late great Australian band Soap Star Joe, the Moderate Lovers are a three-piece outfit from Sydney whose debut EP Crayon Shades is refreshing and swoonworthy blast of indie pop. Fronted by Mick Wilson and rounded out by Saul Foster and Adam Taylor, the Moderate Lovers got going sometime in 2024 and since then, they've been moving from strength to strength, releasing winning singles like "Lucy's Gardening Again" and "Lost City." Filled with guitars that jangle and buzz, and falling somewhere between New Zealand's Garageland and You Am I, Moderate Lovers' compositions are filled with wonder and observational smarts. A hook-laden burst of melodic majesty, Crayon Shades heralds the arrival of one of the most exciting new bands around. https://moderatelovers.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast IG +BLUESKY: @emberspodc

"Earthly Delights" The earthly pleasures of the temporal world are fine food, expensive wine, monetary wealth, a long list of friends and raves that last for days. The Miami-born David Archuleta is no stranger to earthly delights--with almost ten albums to his name that have yielded millions of sales and countless multi-platinum hits all over the globe, Archuleta is back with a new six-song EP called Earthly Delights. A smooth platter of pop, R&B and disco, set against percolating beats and synth pop grooves, Earthly Delights finds Archuletla's vocal finesse paired with infectious, textured arrangements. It's lovely work. So why did I open with raves? Well, because David has recently discovered them and along with the freedom, social liberation, acceptance and joy of rave culture, it's also awakened him musically and it really shows on this EP. www.davidarchuleta.com (https://davidarchuleta.com/music/) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembe

"OCD" The Ohio-bornTamar Berk first showed up on my radar in the mid-90s when she sang for the iChicago outfit Starball. Starball were a really great band and they worked with everyone from Material Issue to Steve Albini and their Holstein Park record remains one of my favorite records of the '90s. Tamar's solo output now numbers five fabulous albums like The Restless Dreams Of Youth, Good Times For A Change her new one, OCD,. Weaned on everyone from Liz Phair to the Small Faces, Berk's new album is scruffy blast of melodic indie rock that's doused in reverb put together with vulnerability and honest and coated with some of the most unforgettable choruses you'll hear all year. Now based in San Diego, Berk is on a creative tear, which actuall ties into her new album's title. The compulsive need to create--and this is something I think most artists understand--can bring on a version of OCD that can inform the work, sure, but it can also be a nagging voice that relies on patterns to be silenced. We talk about a

"Hangover Terrace" The Ontario-born Ron Sexsmith is one of the great musical treasures on this weird and troubled planet. And we need him now more than ever. Over the course of his decorated career, the three-time Juno award-winning singer/songwriter has put out close to twenty winning albums and here's a quick note about that--his discography is perfect with not even a trace of a dip of quality. In fact, every album seems to top the last one, which is saying a lot because every album is absolutely brilliant. If this sounds like hyperbole, it's not. From his self-titled album to Cobblestone Runway to Retriever to Blue Boy to Carousel One to his brand new record Hangover Terrace, which is one of the greatest album titles ever, by the way, Ron Sexsmith always delivers the goods. It's hard to think of a musician who sings with such elegant precision and poetic finesse. Like Sinatra or Costello, his phrasing is unique and distinct--all it takes is a syllable of a song and you know instantly know it's him. He's t

"The Song Forlorn" Perhaps best known as the Peter portion of the Swedish outfit Peter Bjorn and John, Peter Morén and his band have put out close to ten albums of catchy indie rock that's yielded worldwide hits like "Young Folks," tours around the globe, international television ads and TV and movie placements in everything from Gossip Girl to Bandslam. Raised in the Swedish countryside, Morén grew up listening to Ride, Depeche Mode, The Housemartins and the Stone Roses and his sonorous and melodic body of work reflects his love of well-crafted pop songs. With four fabulous solo albums under his belt, a side project with members of The Shout Out Louds and The Concretes and handling producer duties for Robert Forster's wonderful new album Strawberries, Morén is a busy guy. And I'm leaving things out, I'm sure. But what I'm not leaving out is his second album under the moniker SunYears. The follow up to the dazzling Come Fetch My Soul, The Song Forlorn is a stirring and rousing song-cycle filled with wistful

"Boys Talking" Yes, it's true that Will Dailey's seventh album, Boys Talking is not technically out. I mean, it is and it isn't. Hold that thought because we're going to circle back to it. The Boston-born Will Dailey is one of the most affecting, soulful and moving singers you'll ever hear. His back catalog, which features records like Goodbye Red Bullet, National Throat, Golden Walker and his new one Boys Talking, is a perfect discography that filled with rootsy soul, road-kissed Americana and wrenching ballads that make you miss everyone you ever lost. Will's resume' is a winning read: he's signed to a major label, played with Juliana Hatfield, Peter Buck and Eddie Vedder, opened for The Wallflowers, received endless critical acclaim and played the Folk, Americana, and Roots Hall of Fame induction ceremony, paying tribute to the late Richie Havens. Will Dailey is the real deal--a singer with tremendous range and poetic prowess and if you want to classify him as one of the best kept secrets in music, that's

"Deck" Over the course of their nearly-fifteen album career, Hallelujah The Hills have established themselves as one of the most unpredictable, inventive and fascinating bands on the planet. Hard to pick favorites in their discography because every album is unbelievable--there's 2012's No One Knows What Happens Next or 2013's Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Trashcan or 2016's A Band Is Something To Figure Out--pick any one you like and you can't go wrong. Speaking of picking the Boston outfit's new effort Deck requires you to do just that. Or, asks you to do just that. Or, if you don't want to, you kind of are because not making a choice is a choice. A sprawling, thrilling and altogether deliciously ambitious project, Deck is arranged into four loosely thematic elements that correspond to the suits of a deck of cards. Each suit has its own musical style; introspective spare numbers, orchestrally arranged compositions, indie rock stomp and idiosyncratic tracks that wind and loop and twist and rattle and div

"Bonus Episode" Okay, so this was recorded before Ilan Rubin was named as the new drummer for the Foo Fighters, but this is a cool chat and if you aren't familiar with his work with Nine Inch Nails and Angels and Airwaves and The New Regime, this is a great catch-up on his career. He's a really nice guy and a great drummer and in case you missed this episode, we've got you.

"Can You Fly" Yes, Freedy Johnston did his California Thing and it was immortalized on his 1992 album Can You Fly. When you're an artist you can go one of two ways: east or west and he Kansas-born singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston went east, landing in New York after college. Firmly planted in the 212, Johnston worked odd jobs and wrote songs and after keeping at it, he signed with the fledgling indie label Bar/None and that kicked off a career that has yielded classic albums like This Perfect World, Never Home, Back On The Road To You and, of course Can You Fly, which, after almost 30 years is available again in a remastered on CD and clear vinyl pressing. More on that in a second. Johnston has worked with Butch Vig, Aimee Mann, T-Bone Burnett, The Embarrassment and John Dee Graham, he's played all over the world, been praised by everyone from Rolling Stone to The New York Times, had a hit song with "Bad Reputation," played Conan, SXSW and signed to a major label. It's a partial list, but you get the idea:

"Xtra Cherries" An aspiring baseball player with a solid fastball, the Illinois-born Chip Znuff put down the glove in favor of the bass and he left home at 17 going west with his punk rock band D-Generation. The D Generation story is told best by Chip himself, so I'll leave that one to him, and I'll cover what happened after that band broke up. Licking his wounds from his first time around on the rock and roll train, Chip formed Enuff Z'Nuff in 1984. Inspired by everyone from The Rasberries to Cheap Trick to Squeeze, Enuff Z'Nuff had pop hearts filled with hooks, but they were marketed as glam metal dudes, which led them into that lane, but it was probably a misrepresentation of the band's real chops. If you listen to the music and and ignore the image, they come across more like a tougher version of Jellyfish. Nevertheless, they made it work; in spite of their image, hits from their debut self-titled album like Fly High Michelle and "New Thing" were catchy blasts of ragged psychedelia that found the band al

Stereo Embers The Podcast: Bill See (Divine Weeks) by Alex Green Online

"Strange Kind Of Paradise" Formed in Leeds at the dawn of the '80s, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry were weaned on the MC5 and Wire, but their brooding melodies and dark and churning instrumentation got them lumped in with the Goth scene. Their 1985 debut Talk About The Weather went to #3 on the NME indie chart and to this day remains an undisputed classic. With John Peel a huge fan and their own fans affectionately referring to them as the Lorries, they quickly followed that up with fabulous albums like Paint Your Wagon, Nothing Wrong, Blow and Blasting Off. Ironically, 1992's Blasting Off sounded like a band taking flight, but at that point they were a band breaking up. Well, not really breaking up, but heading into a deep hiatus. The band's braintrust Chris Reed surfaced in 2004 with a few new tracks and the Lorries did tour that year and into 2005. But aside from the Thunder In A Black Cave live DVD and Reed's acoustic record Minimal Animal, the Lorries were silent for more than twenty more years. Until now. Long

"High In My Balloon" When it comes to the Grammy-nominated musician and composer Willie Aron, he's worked with so many people, it might be faster just to list the people he hasn't worked with. Born in Southern California, Aron studied classical piano before falling in love with the Beatles and new wave and teaching himself guitar. He co-founded The Balancing Act who signed to I.R.S., put out three excellent albums, toured with 10,000 Maniacs and They Might Be Giants before calling it a day in 1989. After the band broke up, Aron became an in-demand session musician and over the years he's collaborated with Leonard Cohen, The Dream Syndicate, Rickie Lee Jones, Milo Binder, Susanna Hoffs, Brian Wilson, Michael Penn and Peter Himmelman. Speaking of Brian Wilson, yes, that's Wilie in Love & Mercy and he was also a consultant for the Beatles doc Eight Days A Week. Willie also has worked as a film and television composer, a producer of children's music and a composer for commercials and music libraries. Additionall

"A Sober Conversation" Although BC Camplight is the brainchild of the New Jersey born Brian Christinzio, don't be mistaken in thinking his onstage persona is a protective way of distancing himself emotionally from who he is offstage because it's the exact opposit. BC Camplight is actually a way of amplifying those emotions and as a result, it's hard to think of a more emotionally open and accesible artist working in music today. If you're getting the impression that BC Camplight is an open book, that's exactly what he is. With almost ten critically-acclaimed albums to his name like How To Die In The North, Deportation Blues, The Last Rotation Of Earth and his new one A Sober Conversation, Camplight's compositions are sprawling and discursive blasts of unflinching honesty, confessional narratives and unvarnished self-examination. Falling somewhere between The Waterboys' This Is The Sea and Leif Vollebekk's North Americana, over the years, Camplight's music has moved from strength to strength and his new album

"Sonic Ranch" Licking his wounds from the breakup of his band Big Car, the Texas-born singer/songwriter Miles Zuniga found himself out west--and when I say out west I mean about ten minutes from where we record this podcast. Miles got a job working at Chez Panisse and hanging out on Telegraph Avenue at Cody's Books and Amoeba Music. The Big Car experience hadn't been great, so Miles was plotting out his next moves while he worked in Alice Waters' restaurant and I'll let him tell you how that all played out, so let's just fast forward to when he moved back to Texas and joined forces with bassist/singer Tony Scalzo and drummer Joe Shuffield to form Fastball. The trio's debut Make Your Mama Proud evinced their penchant for punchy pop genius but it was their sophomore record All The Pain That Money Can Buy that put them on the map. The album's first single "The Way" was pretty much a pop sensation, hitting the number one slot of charts for seven weeks. The next two singles "Out Of My Head" and "Fire Escape" help