Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"When You're At Your Darkest Point, Write A Children’s Book” Everyone copes with the darkness a different way. For Shannon McArdle, after her divorce to Mendoza Line guitarist Timothy Bracy, she lost her band and her marriage. So she did the only thing she could at such a bleak moment in her life: she wrote a book for kids. But that’s not all she did. Roaring back from the abyss with the stone-cold classic Summer Of The Whore, McArdle announced her solo career in a big way. The follow-up Fear The Dream Of Axes was no less lethal and now her new album A Touch Of Class completes her winning sonic hat trick. In this interview McArdle talks to Alex about unwanted guests, hiking with her sister and why she might ditch it all and move to Ireland. She also talks about the making of A Touch Of Class, teaching high school English and why she thinks she’s a boring person (she’s not).

“Danny O’Reilly Of The Coronas Returns!” We’ve been at it here at Stereo Embers: The Podcast for a little under a year and we’re proud to announce our first return guest. The Coronas’ Danny O’Reilly sat down last year with Alex for a frank discussion about self-doubt and it remains to date the episode we’ve gotten the most letters about. That a high profile musician like O’Reilly was willing to talk about the doubts he had in his creative process was particularly resonant with our audience and many of you wrote to say you go through the very same thing. Now eight months later O’Reilly is back to talk to Alex about his love of the National, paying Lollapalooza and how he spent his summer. He also talks about The Coronas’ new EP, watching the World Cup and why he’s been more creative than ever.

“Going Through A Ghost Phase” After getting divorced and moving out West with her young daughter, singer/songwriter Jessi Williams found herself going through a ghost phase. Whether she was reading or writing about ghosts, that seemed to be the subject matter she’d landed on for the time being. And Williams’ new EP with her band Coyote is full of those ghosts—they weave in and out of the five songs that comprise the self-titled effort with a mysterious spectral muscle. In these compositions Williams surveys the broken landscapes of our pasts—romance, friendships, and shifting geographies—and she finds that all of them have their own species of ghosts that need to be reckoned with. In this conversation, Williams talks to Alex about motherhood, sleep paralysis and reading Frankenstein. They also discuss her friendship with Nashville singer/songwriter Margo Price, the #Metoo movement and whether it’s easier to be creative early in the morning or late at night.

“Roger Joseph Manning Jr. And I Love Elvis Costello For Different Reasons” Roger Joseph Manning Jr. is one of the great sonic architects in modern music. From his work in Jellyfish to playing in Beck’s band to his own solo material, Manning continually evinces an inherent and complex understanding of music composition. So it’s no surprise that when he listens to Elvis Costello he doesn’t really hear the lyrics—he thinks of them as part of the song’s instrumentation. But for Alex, who’s an author he only hears the lyrics. That said, Roger and Alex talk not only about their love of Costello but how they appreciate him in totally different ways. Manning also talks to Alex about his new EP Glamping, how he marveled at Andy Sturmer’s genius and his tenuous relationship with writing lyrics.

“Jerry Slavonia Doesn’t Light Candles When He Writes Songs” In this interview singer/songwriter Jerry Slavonia, who fronts the L.A. outfit The Honey Cane, tells Alex that his creative process has less to do with nuance like lighting candles and adjusting aesthetic, and more to do with letting the songs flow through him. While Slavonia admits that sometimes that approach requires patience, his band’s debut album Make Wonderful was clearly worth the wait. A cascading eleven song collection, Make Wonderful is an album that’s redolent with rich, rootsy rock, harmonic intelligence and wave-riding jams that roll smoothly into the stratosphere with a spacey sonic shimmer. That said, this album is a modern California classic, fitting perfectly between The Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Street and Counting Crows’ August And Everything After. In this chat, Slavonia talks to Alex about growing up with the Crows’ Dan Vickrey, laboring over the sequencing of Make Wonderful and whether or not he’d play in Des Moines….

“Graham Bonnet Likes Doo-Wop” That’s a fact that might confuse metal fans, but the legendary singer not only talks to Alex about his love of doo-wop, the Beach Boys and Billy Joel, he touches on his departure from Rainbow, his lasting power as a vocalist and his penchant for perfectionism. One of the most enduring, muscular and downright feral singers of all-time, over the course of his long career Graham Bonnet has always prowled the stage with pure metal menace. A slinky red wire of a frontman who has a land-clearing hard rock howl, Bonnet also tells Alex about being a self-taught singer, why he grew up listening to opera and how long its been since he’s spoken to Ritchie Blackmore.

“Tony Kaye Plays The Net Now” Tony Kaye was a baseliner on the tennis court for years, but then he figured out the efficacy of playing the net and he was hooked. Kaye was hooked on music at an early age, starting his formal classical piano training at the tender age of four. When he signed on to be an original member of Yes in 1968, his classical roots were long behind him. He’d been playing jazz for years and after seeing Graham Bond stomp away on the Hammond, Kaye realized that playing rock and roll meant not treating his organ like a piano. In this conversation, Kaye talks to Alex about his relationship to his instrument, what it was like playing clubs in Germany at the same time as The Beatles, and why he admires Geoff Downes so much. Kaye also talks about why he’s chosen isolation, why friendships are hard to maintain in rock and roll and what he thinks of the #Yes50 tour.

“Tony Lewis Is Always On Time” He sure is. 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.

“Kari Kimmel Is Everywhere And You Had No Idea” Kari Kimmel’s music has probably been in your head at one point or another and you had no idea it was her. With her music and her voice appearing in almost 1,000 films, television shows and commercials, Kimmel is perhaps one of the most ubiquitous singer/songwriters out there. The only thing is, she could knock on your door and you wouldn’t know who she was. Perhaps the most un-famous famous person in music, Kimmel likes it that way, just fine. And that’s the thing about Kari Kimmel: she knew early on what felt right to her and what didn’t. In this conversation Kimmel talks to Alex about the importance of artistic advocacy, how she got herself out of some sticky record contracts and how vital it was to stick with her guns. She also talks about her new album Gold And Glitter, her love of Michael Jackson and why being so famously not famous suits her just fine.

“James Williamson Doesn’t Need To Do This Anymore” When you’re one of the most respected guitar players on the planet and you’ve already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and everyone from Johnny Marr to Kurt Cobain has sung your praises, you don’t need to do much anymore. But thankfully, James Williamson is still doing what he does. The Texas-born Williamson talks to Alex about his new band James Williamson and the Pink Hearts, how he approaches his guitar after all these years and whether or not he was one of those guys who used to lock himself in his room and practice all night. Spoiler alert: He was. This episode also finds James and Alex talking about his band's new album Behind The Shade, why Petra Haden and Frank Meyer ended up in The Pink Hearts and how improvisation factored into the Stooges’ sound. Spoiler alert: It did.