Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"The King Of Good Intentions III" John Andrew Fredrick is the author of several books, including one on the early films of Wes Anderson, but he also happens to be the braintrust of the beloved band the black watch, whose extensive body of work is an endless orchard of sonic joy. If you know their work, you know the deal. If you don't, jump in and grab anything they've ever done and work your way forwards and backwards through their nearly 30 album discography--you will not be disappointed. As for John's The King of Good Intentions trilogy, in Part 3, which is the final volume of the series,Fredrick continues to chronicles the misadventures of the '90s indie rock outfit The Weird Sisters and there's a great deal to chronicle: love, love triangles, misunderstandings, madcap episodes and utter rock and roll chaos. The Virginia-born, but Southern California dwelling Fredrick writes with undeniable narrative velocity, comedic charm and a big, big heart. His sentences are fresh and vibrant and it's hard to think of anyone who can craft a better paragraph--the language here is elastic, joyful and commanding and every page sparks with literary momentum. www.theblackwatch.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Leisureland" Although he was born Eric Goulden in East Sussex, my guest today on the program is perhaps best known in the music industry as Wreckless Eric. Under that moniker he first garnered attention with his song The Whole Wide World, a shambolic blast of joyful punk that landed him a deal with Stiff Records. At the time, Stiff was just getting going and they had Ian Dury Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe on their roster. Not too shabby. The art school graduate was more than just one killer song--since the '70s he's cranked out almost ten perfect solo albums of scruffy pop magic that demonstrate Wreckless Eric is a singular and very special talent. His new album Leisureland is the perfect album to play while you're saying goodbye to summer. Wistful, nostalgic and equal parts ferocious and elegant, Leisureland is filled with ragtag pop, garage stomp, and percussive muscle augmented by beats and loops. And it's fabulous. Over the years he's played with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Damned, John Wesley Harding, The Proclaimers, and his wife Amy Rigby. His work has been covered by everyone from Cage the Elephant, to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. He's also been in a lot of bands like The Len Bright Combo, The Hitsville House Band, and The Donovan of Trash and the fact is, everything he does is wonderful and brilliant and infectious. The guy is the real deal. www.wrecklesseric.com www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com STEREO EMBERS THE PODCAST Twittter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast EMAIL: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"The Long Goodbye" With close to ten fabulous albums under their musical belts, Candlebox have had quite a career. The Seattle outfit has sold millions of records, played Letterman and Woodstock, toured the world with the likes of everyone from Rush, Metallica, Foo Fighters and Our Lady Peace, and over the years counted among their personnel folks from bands like Pearl Jam, Dig and Ugly Kid Joe. And not only that, but their new album The Long Goodbye, might very well be their best yet. A smoldering blast of catchy hard rock and grungy bliss, The Long Goodbye is an affecting song cycle that burns with smoldering intensity on songs like the defiant Punks and bids farewell with the moving Hourglass, which is one of the best album closers in recent memory. So if Candlebox has never sounded better, why are they calling it a day on their career? Well, Kevin will explain and his explanation is hard to argue with. As a fan, it's a tough pill to swallow and in the back of your head you remember that they had breaks before--one was five years and one was a decade, so you think maybe this is a false alarm, but trust us: it's not. So when you listen to this, forget you're a fan and just be a person for a second. And if you can divide those two parts of yourself, you'll see, Kevin's decision to walk away is one that makes sense.  www.candleboxrocks.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Paradise Blue" The Seattle-based singer/songwriter Steven Cristol has had quite a career. Well, to be more specific, he's had several careers, but today we're going to talk about the musical one. We'll let him tell you his story but a little background is important before we get to the chat. The Georgia-born Cristol's adventure with music and the music industry found him with incredible highs, like getting a phone call from Harry Belafonte about recording one of his songs to some tough lows that he'll explain, but here's the thing about those lows--what made them so hard was that they came disguised as highs. In other words, it looked like smooth sailing, but then the ship capsized. The emotional whiplash an artist gets was detailed perfectly in our chat with actor Michael Charles Roman a few months back when he talked about booking a sitcom only to have his and everyone else's part recast. Well, this is the music side of that story and it's series of suckerpunches. But this chat is about more than that--it's about self belief, self preservation, and never putting art on the backburner for good. I love the story you're about to hear because it demonstrates the power of creativity and the beauty of art. Steven is a fabulous singer/songwriter whose compositions summon everyone from Jackson Browne to James Taylor. He wrote songs for Starship, Little River Band and Belafonte and for good reason--his precision and lyrical agility are effortless skills that should have made him millions and nearly did. Business strategy consultant, career coach, singer/songwriter and former Fortune 50 executive whose previous business books have been published in 11 languages. His latest book is an unorthodox guide to self-employment, written after more than three decades of successfully sustaining independent work. He also writes about solutions to environmental issues for leading media outlets focused on sustainable business practices. www.stevencristol.net www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"My Good Friends" The Ohio-born David Wilcox is one of our great treasures. Over the course of his career the singer/songwriter has put out nearly 25 perfect albums, including 1989's How Did You Find Me Here, 1991's Home Again, 2003's Into The Mystery and his brand new one, My Good Friends.Bringing to mind Nick Drake, John Gorka, Milo Binder and Joni Mitchell, Wilcox is one of those rare singer/songwriters whose body of work has no dip in quality. My Good Friends is a perfect example of how Wilcox just keeps crushing it. From the retrospective romp of the title track, to the stirring Just A Trace Of Light to the deeply moving album closer This Is How It Ends, Wilcox has never sounded better. Observational, compelling, and wise, Wilcox's work is always punctuated by an artful blend of delicacy and strength. His resume' is a long one, but some highlights include playing Carnegie Hall, opening for the Indigo Girls, and being on the cover of Acoustic Guitar magazine. www.davidwilcox.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Hard To Find" Okay, so if you're a regular listener to the podcast, you've heard me talk endlessly about Starclub. The song you just heard Hard To Get is, in my opinion, the best pop song of the '90s, and the band's self-titled debut album from 1994 is just perfect and it seemed the band was positioned for a long and decorated career. But that career never happened and although they signed the biggest contract for a debut album in Island Records history, the label lost interest after the album didn't scale the heights they expected and they dropped the band from their roster.I've been obsessed with the Starclub story for years--I never got how a band this good, a band shot through with so much talent and promise, could just fade away with only one record under their belts. We've done several episodes with the band--the singer Owen Vyse was on, then Owen and bassist Julian Taylor did an episode, and then guitarist Steve French did one as well and slowly the picture of the band's demise started to really come into focus. Now, Owen is a friend of mine and has been for years. We used to talk all the time and he's one of the smartest, funniest and sweetest guys around. And he's what a lead singer should be: confident, brash, charismatic and absurdly talented. But about a year ago, he kind of vanished. Social media went dark, calls and texts were never returned and the silence was not only deafening, but troubling as well. I still don't know where he is or if he's okay. Several people have contacted me to see if I've heard from him and the fact is, I haven't. This episode serves several purposes: for starters, Starclub is an unfairly undocumented band--I can't find any live footage, there are barely any photos and almost no additional audio, with the exception for what's on the record. So this episode serves as a way to document them further and to remind people about how great they were. Secondly, Owen told me he had nothing from the band's time together and not only that,he hadn't thought about their tenure in years and was thinking there was so much he had forgotten. Remember, Starclub got together when they were in school and they were 12 and 13 years old, so it was a while ago. He wanted to have a series of conversations where his memory would get toggled and in chatting he'd dust off memories that hadn't occurred to him for a while. These guys were signed to the same label as U2and Bob Marley, they toured the country, and they had a video on MTV and VH-1: they were in it and when you're in it, things happen and those things are fun to hear about.And finally, this is just a great chat with a great friend about a life that very few of us get to live. After Starclub, Owen played guitar for years with Echo and the Bunnymen, so he covers that as well.... www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“The Songs Between The Docks and the Roads” Over the course of his career, the east London-born singer/songwriter Graham Parker has put out close to thirty albums and they’re all great. All of them—Whether its Howlin' Wind or Squeezing out Sparks or Another Grey Area or Deepcut To Nowhere or Cloud Symbols, every single GP album is a winner. Parker grew up a huge fan of the Beatles, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and ska and reggae music and you can hear those influences coursing through his songbook. His compositions swing and shake and sway and groove with some of the most infectious pop hooks you’ll ever hear. Parker’s early life could be a series of novels—he hung out in the Channel Islands and Paris, hitchhiked thourhg Spain and Morocco and worked on the docks in Gibraltar. And you and I both know, there are stories in between those docks and roads and islands. Graham Parker has lived a life. And his life in music is equally as staggering as his adventures. With his band the Rumor he was produced by Nick Lowe, opened for Dylan, played on Top Of The Pops, had Top 40 hits and albums, toured Australia, been on labels as varied as RCA, Arista and Bloodshot and collaborated with folks like Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, The Smithereens and Kate Pierson of the B-52s. And he’s stilt at it. His two new singles (“Humans Are The Mutant Virus” and '3-D Printer”) are all the proof you need that Parker is still at the top of his game. He’s practically peerless. His new album Last Chance To Learn The Twist will be out in September, 2023. www.grahamparker.net www.100-percent.co.uk www.alexgreenonline.com www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Dynamic, Kinetic and Unexpected” So a quick introduction to the principal members of the 3 Clubmen will give you a foundational understanding of what this band is all about. Or will it? It won’t, because their sound is so unexpected and fresh and inventive, that a little background can’t prepare you for what they sound like, but introductions are part of our job, so let’s get that out of the way. Andy Partridge is one of the greatest songwriters to ever walk the planet. His work with XTC pretty much cements that statement, but his work outside of XTC with Robyn Hitchcock and Martin Newell just give further evidence that Partridge is a first-rate talent whose discography is comprised of classic upon classic. The Swindon-Based producer/musician and Professor Stu Rowe has played with everyone from Paul Weller to Future Sound Of London to Shriekback and the L.A.-born Jen Olive has an extensive resume, including writing and recording for A&M Records, putting out her own albums and contributing music to various American Film Institute projects. Okay, so what about the 3 Clubmen? Well, the 3 Clubmen are an energizing and kinetic blend of experimental pop, jagged and racing percussion, bent jazz and inventive production. What does this add up to? Putting it simply, one of the most refreshing EPs of the year. Or, any year. This self-titled four song effort is filled with the unexpected and it keeps delivering pop surprise after pop surprise. The sonic angles of The 3 Clubmen are sharp and dynamic and although the arrangements are textured blasts of idiosyncratic beats and rhythms, there’s a shimmering pop center to these songs that makes them utterly irresistible. We feel the same way about this chat. The 3 Clubmen: Instagram: @the3clubmen https://burningshed.com/the-3-clubmen_the-3-clubmen-ep_cd Stereo Embers Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.bombshellradio.com

“The Unspeakable Milo Binder” Milo Binder put out one brilliant album in 1991 and then, that was that. He was gone. Alias Records was an indie rock label that had folks like Too Much Joy and The Sneetches and when they put out Milo’s album was a huge departure from their roster. A eleven song folk album, Binder’s self-titled release was one of those rare instances where the artist arrived fully formed with no need to take three or four albums to find their musical footing or narrative voice. Songs like "Donald Thorn" and "A Boy And His Career" were wise and observational and his guitar playing was rich and assured, his delivery confident and brimming with belief. He called into my college radio show Bedtime With Alex on KSMC and he was gracious enough to play two songs while his girlfriend held the phone for him—Donald Thorn from the first album and the song you just heard Skywriters, which would be from the second. But the second one never came until now, 32 years later it’s about to arrive. Titled The Unspeakable Milo Binder, the two tracks you’ll hear in full on today’s episode demonstrate that Binder not only still has the magic, he’s never sounded better. And he’s been deeply missed. I can’t think of an an artist with as much musical dexterity, poetic exactitude and narrative finesse. Sit back and join in me as I welcome back Milo Binder. Follow Milo Binder on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Milo-Binder-100063524654721/ www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Born To Archive" Alright, so imagine this: The thing you do really well as a kid becomes your career. In the case of my guest today on the program, that’s exactly what happened. Jackie Clary is a born archivist. As a young girl growing up, she was a huge fan of Wham! and George Michael, and she started collecting ephemera that was related to them and their music. But it wasn’t just that—Jackie had a librarian like penchant for cataloging and preserving a lot of things that extended far past Wham! Jackie has had a really cool career and this list of her accomplishments is only a partial one, but one eI read through it, you’ll get the idea of what she’s done. She worked at Reelin’ In The Years, researching and cataloging a 20,000 hour strong cache of interview and music performance, she ran the tape library for ABC news affiliates, she worked for MTV News and Docs, produced the videos for the Roots Rhymes and Rage: The Hip-Hop Story at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was the lead curator of the Hall’s first Teen Idols exhibit, she worked on a lot of DVDs, including Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Definitive Performances 1963-1987, The Temptations 1963-1972 and she interviewed Englebert Humperdinck for h is Greatest Performances DVD. She was the associate producer on the 12-DVD Merv Griffin box set, produced an oral history on Newport Beach’s Carden Hall School, and she worked as the archivist on documentaries by everyone ranging from Little Richard to the new movie Still: A Michael J. Fox. Jackie is the coolest and in this chat she talks about how her curatorial skills emerged early on as a kid packed the road to where she is now. www.jackieclary.com www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com