Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“Storm Coming” The LA.-based artist, producer and composer Ethan Gold’s debut album Songs From A Toxic Apartment left his fans wanting more and more is exactly what they’re getting. Gold will be releasing a trilogy of albums that will surely make his longtime fans very pleased and it will also bring him scores of new ones in the process. The first in the trilogy is Earth City 1: The Longing and it’s a stunner. A meditation on isolation and loneliness in a seemingly deeply connected digital world and feeling like an outsider while being on the inside, Earth City 1 is a moving and heartfelt glimpse of modern life and how it engenders alienation. A sly pop craftsman, Gold’s music is warm, heartfelt and comforting, even when he’s exploring themes that break us all apart. Over the course of his career, Gold has produced and arranged for Elvis Perkins, composed film scores which featured John Grant and Staves and in the process crafted some of the most unforgettable pop songs around. In this conversation Gold talks to Alex about the past and the future, Leonard Cohen and the freedom of performing poetry onstage. www.ethangold.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast EMAIL: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"To Be Dreaming" The North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Ashley Virginia's style falls somewhere between '70s country cool and west coast cosmic Americana. Like the spiritual daughter of Stevie Nicks and Gram Parsons, visually, Ashley Virginia is one of the most distinct and innovative artists you're likely to meet. But fashion aside, Ashley Virginia's music is as cosmic as her clothing—an arresting blend of indie folk, experimental country and '60s pop, her debut album And Life Just Goes On Living is a stirring first effort that marks the arrival of a major talent. Her voice is rich and emotive, her lyrics are heartfelt and honest and her songs are brave and bold.  From being tear gassed by Raleigh police during a peaceful assembly during the George Floyd protests to her own mental health, Ashley Virginia presents the unvarnished truth of the world and the raw and sometimes unsettling state of the human soul. In this conversation, Ashley talks to Alex about weddings, fashion, and the perspective of having a 9-5 job in the music business. She also opens up about mental health and why being onstage is one of the most comfortable places for her in the world. www.ashleyvirginiamusic.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers On Twitter: @emberseditor Stereo Embers On Instagram: @emberspodcast EMAIL: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Swinging On The Moon” Steve Kilbey can swing from anywhere he wants in the universe; the moon, the stars, whichever planet he chooses. And yes, of course, he can also swing from the milky way. Because the fact of the matter is that Steve Kilbey is a musician whose talents are not only downright otherworldly, they’re positively celestial. A poet, a painter, a singer, a writer, a partner and a dad, Kilbey is not only one of the most fascinating musicians to ever walk around on this planet, he’s also one of the most productive. In addition to the 25 albums he’s recorded with the Church, he’s got almost twenty solo albums under his belt, along with numerous side projects with members of Game Theory, The Go-Betweens, All India Radio and Remy Zero. Kilbey’s new double album The Hall of Counterfeits is a straight up stunner that’s as raw as it is ravishing. In this chat he talks to Alex about the pressures of recording for a major label, why he’s writing songs on acoustic guitar now and how heroin addiction ended up being a chapter in his life rather than a book. He also talks about his friendship with Grant McLennan, his penchant for being competitive and his favorite album by The Triffids…. https://waterfrontrecords.mywaterfrontstore.com/Product/94653/1?ffm=FFM_21f04e523dca1e9055cf4b6e20f53a16 https://ffm.to/thehallofcounterfeits www.thetimebeing.com www.thechurchband.net www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Find Alex on Twitter: @emberseditor And Instragram: @emberspodcast EMAIL: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“The Hardest Battle” Talking to Colin Moulding is no battle at all. In fact, the XTC co-frontman and bassist is one of our favorite guests and we’re thrilled to have him back on the show. We’re also thrilled that the occasion of his return is to promote his new single “The Hardest Battle.” A swirling pop gem that’s filled with layered pop melodies, “The Hardest Battle” is one of the catchiest songs of the year. Moulding was on the show when he and former XTC drummer Terry Chambers under the TC&I banner put out their Great Aspirations EP, but this new track is Moulding’s first foray as a solo artist. And what a foray it is. As the bassist and co-frontman of XTC, Moulding played on 14 of the legendary Swindon band’s albums, including White Noise, Skylarking, Drums and Wires and Oranges and Lemons. And if it every comes up at parties, an interesting fact is that Moulding wrote the band’s first three charing singles. Over the course of his career he’s collaborated with everyone from Sam Phillips to Anton Barbeau and the fact of the matter is, he’s a great musician and he’s a fascinating guy. We’re lucky to have him as a friend of the podcast. In this conversation Colin talks to us about his songwriting process, his brief return to live music and the status of his current relationship with Andy Partridge Order Colin’s new EP here: https://burningshed.com/store/colin-moulding_store/colin-moulding_the-hardest-battle_cd www.alexgreenonline.com www.bombshellradio.com Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast

“Sparkle Up” Raised in Cork, Sean O'Hagan got his start with the beloved Irish indie outfit Microdisney in 1980. Microdisney put out five marvelous albums in eluding The Clock Comes Down the Stairs and Crooked Mile, before calling it a day in 1988. Two years later O’Hagan put out the High Llamas solo album and then he put together a band of the same name. Atmospheric, harmonic, melodic and rife with texture and nuance, the work of the High Llamas summons the musical complexity of everyone from Brian Wilson to Ennio Morricone. Therese’s even a dash of XTC in there. The High Llamas' brand of summer psychedelia summons the surf, the summer the joy and isolation of island life and the complex contrasts of any coastal city where high rises and blindingly beautiful beaches occupy the same space. The High Llamas have put out ten stellar records, including Gideon Gaye, Hawaii, Santa Barbara, and Here Come the Rattling Trees, and you would think that would keep O’Hagan busy enough, but his CV proves otherwise. He’s collaborated with everyone from Will Oldham to Cornelius and not only was he a member of Stererolab in the early '90s, he’s appeared on many of their albums. A producer, a gifted guitarist, and a real sonic architect, O’Hagan is intuitive, instinctive and blessed with the kind of musical aptitude that ranks him among the very best. www.highllamas.com www.bombshellradio.com

“Hard To Get" My fascination with Starclub is kind of like one of those people who has a fascination with an unsolved murder. You put the pieces together and none of them make sense. You had this British band made up of schoolboy friends who knew each other since they were 11. They signed the biggest deal for a debut album in the history of anyone on the roster of Island Records (U2, Bob Marley). With “Hard To Get” they released a scorcher of a single that was the perfect embodiment of the manic pop thrill and a few weeks later their album hit shelves. So: you’ve got a great band, a great debut album, a charismatic and handsome frontman--what could go wrong? Well, in many ways, everything did. Starclub had their triumphs, but ultimately, their major label deal sucked the life out of the band and hastened their premature demise. For the '90s and the better part of the oughts, I was utterly lost about why this band hadn’t taken over the world. In fact, at one point in the early '90s I said to my friends that Starclub were going to take over the world. Spoiler alert: they didn’t and it made no sense. Until now. Singer Owen Vyse has been a regular guest on the podcast, but this is the first time that he and Starclub bassist Julian Taylor have appeared together to talk about what went right and what went wrong with their career. This is an unflinching, unvarnished and very real chat. Strap in. www.owenvyse.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Good Clean Fun" Bonnie Hayes moved to San Francisco from the San Joaquin Valley in the early '70s and it didn’t take long for her to establish herself as a commanding musical presence. Her new wave band The Punts became Wild Combo, and they signed with Slash and put out the Good Clean Fun Record. Slash was about as cool as it got—they had Fear, The Germs, The Gun Club and The Blasters and Hayes was for sure one of the cool kids. Her song "Girls Like Me" was used in Valley Girl—and behind her Brand New Girl EP, she and the Wild Combo toured with Huey Lewis, whose guitarist was also Bonnie’s brother Chris. Hayes finished the decade by being a part of Belinda Carlisle's band for her world tour and then Bonnie Raitt, in 1989 recorded two of her songs—"Love Letter" and "Have a Heart” for her massive Nick of Time album. In 1991 she was a part of Billy Idol’s band for the almost two year Cradle of Love tour and along the way, her songs were recorded by Cher, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Adam Ant, Robert Cray and David Crosby. Not too shabby. She put a few more albums out, including Empty Sky and Love in the Ruins, and she taught at the Berklee College of Music, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, the REO Songwriting Retreat outside of Vancouver B.C, the ASCAP workshop in Los Angeles and at the WCS Conference at Foothill College. In 2013, Hayes became chair of the songwriting department at Berklee in Boston. A compelling and dynamic singer and an intuitive and brilliant songwriter, Bonnie Hayes is a fascinating and very cool person. In this conversation she talks to Alex about the physics of songwriting, her love of Liz Phair and why she decided to leave Berklee and then why she changed her mind and went back. Bonnie Hayes and the Wild Combo’s Good Clean Fun has been remastered with 11 bonus tracks. www.blixa.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“A Castle For A Song” It’s hard to explain how profoundly important Miles Copeland has been to modern music. Put it this way: without him, a lot of your favorite bands wouldn’t have been your favorite bands because you never would have known they were bands in the first place. Copeland’s I.R.S. Records brought R.E.M., Fine Young Cannibals, The Cramps, The English Beat, The Go-Go’s and The Bangles to the masses and along the way he managed The Police, Squeeze, Wishbone Ash and Sting. Copeland’s new autobiography Two Steps Forward, One Step Back chronicles his nearly 50 year career as a music executive and, as you can imagine, it’s an extraordinary read. From having a father who co-founded the CIA to a brother who played drums for the biggest band in the world, to being raised during his formative years in the Middle East, the London-born Miles Copeland has lived quite a life. In this in-depth conversation he talks to Alex about…well, about everything: Jools Holland, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Concrete Blonde. He also talks about his writing retreats in France and he explains why music always comes second and image is always first. www.jawbonepress.com www.performingartsinternational.com/cia www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers The Podcast on Twitter: @emberseditor Stereo Embers The Podcast on Instagram: @emberspodcast Stereo Embers The Podcast email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Rip Tides And Clean Horizons" With his band New Model Army, Justin Sullivan has put out 15 fabulous albums, including such legendary efforts like 1986’s The Ghost Of Cain, 1993’s The Love Of Hopeless Causes and 2019’s From Here. Formed in West Yorkshire in 1980, New Model Army have turned out a bit like The Fall—hard to categorize, defiantly original and boasting a revolving door of so many members, we could do a podcast on their personnel, alone. Back in the '80s New Model Army were one of those bands that everyone liked and every group claimed. Goths, mods, metalhead and college rock kids all thought New Model Army were in their camp, but the fact was, New Model Army were in everyone’s camp. They were versatile that way—and part of that versatility was the way that they stretched the intersectionality of their own music—there were bits of metal and punk and goth and folk in their musical attack and that was what led to their widespread appeal. Career highlights? Oh, they’ve got those. John Peel loved them, they bumped the Smiths from the top slot on the indie charts in ’84, they played the Reading Festival and even opened a gig for Bowie. Sullivan’s new solo album—only his second one overall—is called Surrounded and it’s a stirring effort, filled with introspective Viking ballads and plaintive musings on human nature. He plays with depth and finesse and has quietly turned in one of the best records of 2021. In this chat, Sullivan talks to Alex about how he feels about birthdays and band anniversaries, traveling in the Middle East and why the lockdown made everyone a more extreme version of themselves. www.newmodelarmy.org www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Pull It Out Of The Bag” So, Salt Ashes has been on the show before and I asked her to come back because I love talking to her. She’s charming, witty, honest and she’s one of those people that just feels familiar to me. And I think it won’t be long before her music is familiar to a very big audience. The London-based singers' work is inventive, artistic, bold, and thrilling. A ravishing blend of synth pop and electro bliss with overtones that range from goth to new wave, the music of Salt Ashes is riveting and alive. In this illuminating conversation, Salt Ashes talks about her frustrations with social media, how she handles bumps in the road and why in the music business the music is always second. Her new single is "Too Many Times" and she’s got an album coming out this Fall. So get ready. www.saltashes.com www.instagram.com/saltashes www.facebook.com/SaltAshes www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers The Podcast: Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast