
Stereo Embers: The Podcast
Hosted by Alex Green, Stereo Embers: The Podcast is a weekly podcast airing exclusively on Bombshell Radio (www.bombshellradio.com) that features interviews with musicians, authors, artists and actors talking about the current creative moment in their lives.
A professor at St. Mary's College of California, Alex is the Editor-In-Chief of Stereo Embers Magazine (www.stereoembersmagazine.com), the author of five books and has served as a Speaker/Moderator for LitQuake, Yahoo!, The Bay Area Book Festival, A Great Good Place For Books, Green Apple Books, and The St. Mary's College Of California MFA Reading Series.
Stereo Embers The Podcast Theme: Brennan Hester
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Twitter: @emberseditor
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Visit Alex Green: www.alexgreenonline.com
Latest episodes

Jun 26, 2019 • 1h 3min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0089: Nils Lofgren (The E Street Band, Crazy Horse)
“When Lou Reed Calls At 4:30 AM And Tells You To Get A Pen…You Get A Pen”
There’s no other option. And that’s exactly what happened to Nils Lofgren years ago when the legendary singer/songwriter phoned him to tell him he’d written lyrics for some of Lofgren’s compositions. While the fruits of that early morning collaboration remained dormant for decades, Lofgren’s new album Blue With Lou brings five of them to light to sit alongside some of Lofgren’s newer compositions. In this conversation the Chicago-born musician talks to Alex about his fifty year career in rock and roll. They chat about punk rock, basketball, the Velvet Underground, Pink, gymnastics and the joys of on-stage improvisation.

Jun 19, 2019 • 60min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0088: Matthew Edwards (the Unfortunates, The Music Lovers)
“Matthew Edwards May Have Just Recorded His Last Album”
Although he’s in an admitted state of grace about his band’s new album The Birmingham Poets, singer/songwriter Matthew Edwards isn’t sure he’s got it in him to do another. While recording the album Edwards’ parents passed away, a member of his band fought through a serious illness and another experienced a wrenching breakup. In other words, the experience was fraught with darkness and emotionally trying times. But tested as Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates were, they came through it all with one of the most beautiful and moving albums of 2019. “If this is the last one,” he tells Alex, “I’m incredibly happy with it.” In this entertaining and probing chat, Edwards tells Alex about what it was like growing up in Birmingham, his perception of California and how he feels about the new Robert Forster record. He also talks about his love of Broadcast, the danger of sentimentality and why you should never trust a man who juggles…

Jun 12, 2019 • 1h 10min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0087: Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto)
“Meat Beat Manifesto Are Like The Beatles…Interpreted Through A Jackhammer”
It turns out there’s some pop roots coursing through the creative veins of the legendary Industrial outfit Meat Beat Manifesto. Growing up, braintrust Jack Dangers may have been a huge fan of bands like Throbbing Gristle, but he was also a huge fan of The Beatles. In this interview, the Swindon-born Dangers talks to Alex about how his factory jobs coupled with his love of pop music informed the future sound of Meat Beat Manifesto. He also talks about becoming a vegan, his friendship with XTC and how he met his wife at an animal rights concert. Dangers gets into the making of MBM’s new album Opaque Couche’, why he’s more creative now than ever and whether or not he’d ever move back to Swindon…

Jun 5, 2019 • 1h 3min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0086: Mike Scott (The Waterboys)
“The Waterboys’ Mike Scott Always Has Something Cooking”
One of the most prolific songwriters around—his band’s B-sides have B-sides—it’s no surprise to hear Mike Scott tell Alex that he’s always got a new music idea cooking. The Waterboys have released three albums in the last five years and their new effort Where The Action Is might very well be one of their best ever. A simmering platter of Celtic soul, rock and roll, hip-hop and classic poetry, the band’s 13th long player is an energizing blast of rootsy bliss. In this interview Scott talks to Alex about being a musical outsider growing up, how he missed a chance to work with George Harrison and his admiration of The Clash’s Mick Jones. They also chat about the poetry of Robert Burns, making the perfect set list and working with Jim Keltner.

May 29, 2019 • 58min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0085: Rosie Carney
“Be Gentle With Yourself”
It can get pretty tough out there for any aspiring artist putting themselves and their work on public display. But singer/songwriter Rosie Carney has some advice: Be gentle with yourself. The British-born musician may only be 22, but she’s been through so much, she’s wise beyond her years. Carney was signed at 16 to Polydor and dropped by the label at 18. While that might have discouraged many (“I could have quit and become a florist,” she laughs), the experience only made Carney more resolved to become the artist she felt she was destined to be. Learning to ignore criticism and take praise with a grain of salt, Carney re-started her career and the result is Bare, a stark and stirring debut album that brings to mind the raw intensity of Patty Griffin’s Living With Ghosts and Beth Orton’s Trailer Park. A survivor of sexual assault, bullying, anxiety and depression, Carney is honest and upfront about what she’s been through, and her steadfast resolve has served as an inspiration for all her fans who have been through similar experiences. In this candid and thoughtful chat, Carney talks about being Irish but raised in England, her supportive parents, and her love of Joni Mitchell. She also talks about moving back to Ireland, giving impromptu piano concerts to her childhood friends and why she didn’t become a florist after all. Oh, and Alex reads her Morrissey lyrics…

May 22, 2019 • 1h 20min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0084: Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens)
“No Loops For Robert Forster”
It may come as no surprise for fans of Robert Forster, but the singer/songwriter is not a guy who uses laptops and loops when he’s recording. A traditional studio approach works just fine for the Brisbane-born musician and his winning body of work verifies that. The co-founder of the legendary Australian band The Go-Betweens has just put out a new solo album called Inferno and in this interview he talks to Alex about his affection for his home town, his love of the Velvet Underground and how his songwriting pace compared to that of his former Go-Betweens bandmate Grant McLennan. Forster also chats about why his songwriting vaults are empty, recording in Berlin and how he feels about the Go-Betweens’ legacy.

May 15, 2019 • 1h 5min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0083: Jenn Vix
“Jenn Vix Is NOT Having It”
Jenn Vix admits that at this point in her life, her fuse is smaller than it’s ever been and she refuses to tolerate nonsense from anyone. “I can’t afford to,” she says. “I’m not going to tolerate crap from anyone…Jenn Vix is NOT having it.” With a voice that’s sonorous, soulful and stirring, Vix is one of the most fascinating and inspiring artists around. Refusing to be seen as a victim, Vix has confronted her battle with PTSD as well as recent medical scares that nearly killed her with self-empowering sovereignty and advocacy. In this unflinching, honest and inspiring conversation, Vix talks to Alex about how hard it was not to be able to make or listen to music, the rigors of being a recording artist in 2019 and her new role with the band Positive Negative Man. She also chats about working with the late drummer Andy Anderson of The Cure, her new EP 6 and why she decided to intentionally write a pop song….

May 8, 2019 • 42min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0082: Robin Wilson (The Gin Blossoms)
“Robin Wilson Doesn’t Want To Watch YouTube”
Well, to be more specific, Robin Wilson doesn’t want to watch a YouTube channel of some guy with a guitar singing covers. In this conversation, the Gin Blossoms singer tells Alex that he may not be into that, but he’s into a lot of other stuff. For example, the home studio he built with his son, sailing on his boat and the Gin Blossoms themselves. Together since 1989, the Arizona band are arguably more prolific than ever and they’ve never sounded better. Juggling duties fronting the legendary Tempe outfit and singing for The Smithereens, Wilson’s a busy guy these days. In this conversation he talks about his love of The Smiths and Johnny Marr, why he hates waiting for the check after a meal and the legacy of The Gin Blossoms. He also talks about the stability of the band’s lineup, the brotherhood of the Tempe scene and what bands he’s turned his son on to.

May 1, 2019 • 1h 5min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0081: Tim Baker (Hey Rosetta!)
“Artists Find Each Other Because They’re The Only Ones Awake”
He has a point. In this engaging interview, singer/songwriter Tim Baker tells Alex that no matter where you go in the world, you’ll always find the artists of a city because they’re the ones who never sleep. The former Hey Rosetta! frontman talks about his new album Forever Overhead, whether he felt the phantom limb of his old bandmates while working on his first solo album and why Newfoundland is a community bound together by music. He also chats about the downside of touring, reading Kerouac while living in San Francisco and why he’s never been a guy who plans ahead….

Apr 24, 2019 • 1h 7min
Stereo Embers The Podcast 0080: Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Monks Of Doom)
“Victor Krummenacher Doesn’t Want To Live In San Francisco Anymore”
After decades living in San Francisco, singer/songwriter Victor Krummenacher decided he didn’t want to live there anymore. Transformed by the tech industry and literally bathing in riches, the city the Riverside-born Krummenacher first fell in love with back in the ‘80s is a far different place. So he got out. In this candid conversation, the Camper Van Beethoven/Monks of Doom member talks to Alex about what happened to San Francisco, how to be creative with a broken heart and why it’s so important for an artist
to have a community. Krummenacher also chats about going through the darkest period of his life, keeping his instruments in the Counting Crows' storage space and knowing that sometimes he was a hard guy to deal with in the studio.
Krummenacher’s fabulous new album Blue Pacific is out now!