Look, ma! A new episode!

We're trying something new this time around. I felt it was long past time that I jump on the "running commentary" bandwagon but I wanted to do it a bit differently. See, I have long believed that any musician that is lucky enough to have a career that spans decades will eventually put out a real stinker of an album. Something that just doesn't land with the intended audience on release, and remains looked down upon for years.

But what if they aren't that bad? What if it's just something that people weren't ready for at the time? Let's sit down and really give it a listen and see what OUR ears tell us!

Joining me on this new venture is returning guest Craig H, and our subject is Madonna's 2003 album American Life. As a lifelong Madonna fan and an overall music encyclopedia, he was the obvious choice to have on the second mic.

What has Craig been up to since his last visit? What does he think of American Life? Will he have the nerve to offer some notes?? And is there new Craig H music on the horizon?! (Spoiler: Yes, duh.) Give this episode a listen and find out!!

Founded in 2010, Murfie was a unique streaming service that provided both physical and cloud-based storage for a user's physical music collection. The company lasted for nine years before suddenly announcing its closure, only to be resurrected just weeks later by new owner John Fenley.

Murfie co-founder Preston Austin joins me first, to talk about the founding of the company and the original concepts behind it, as well as his current role as CEO of Rabble and its associated (and very cool!) Musicat service.

I then chat with John Fenley to find out what led to him buying what appeared to be a failed company, and his plans to restore all of its services to an increasingly anxious user base.

Links from the episode:

Murfie

MUSICat

Capital City Records

John Fenley YouTube Channel

Musician, producer and now mobile game designer Justin Bender is a long-time friend of yours truly, and asking him a be a guest on the show was a clear no-brainer.

From his time in bands like Cessate, Third Ion and Into Eternity, Justin has toured the world over and played in front of thousands of fans. He sits down with me to cover the course of his career writing and performing music, his production work with other bands, and the launch of his first-ever video game!

Links from the show:

Third Ion Website

Bitwad Entertainment

We. Are. BACK!

From the farthest reaches of the chronostream, The Space Quest Historian rockets by to discuss the popular video game franchise, his own exploits around the adventure game universe, and his awesome efforts in getting Space Quest music pressed on vinyl!

Links to stuff mentioned in the episode:

Space Quest Historian Website

SQH on Twitter

Space Quest IV Reorchestrated - Blue Frogs Edition Vinyl Campaign!!

Chapter of the Mad was the premiere online Metallica Fan Club Chapter from '96-'99. Founder and chapter co-head Jameson Calantoc joins me via Skype to talk about his early days as a Metallica vinyl collector, the ambitious beginnings of Chapter of the Mad, and why it eventually shut down. I also get his thoughts on Metallica's output in the years since, and an update on what he's up to now.

Hint: His Metallica fandom is still alive and well!

Comic creator Chip Zdarsky is my guest this week! What more do you need??

Ok, fine. Chip is the current writer on Daredevil, and has previously written Spider-Man, Star-Lord and Howard the Duck all at Marvel. He is also the co-creator of the wildly popular and award-winning Sex Criminals over at Image comics.

Chip graciously sat down to discuss his career path from his indy days all the way to writing some of Marvel's most popular characters and WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS?!?! Go listen!

Musician and sound engineer Mike Carroll joins me via Skype to break down over a decade of being involved in the Edmonton music scene. We chat about his work as a sound engineer, his time in bands like The Cowabungas, Bikini Atoll Beach Party, and Systems To Chaos, and what a creative mind does when faced with social distancing.

He also throws in a tip that every sound engineer should know when working with live bands, and vice versa!

Part 2 of my conversation with Jay Bardyla as we look back over the history of Happy Harbor Comics, including two re-locations in less than two years, what went into their mammoth Free Comic Book Day celebrations, and when Jay knew it was time to finally step away from the institution he helped build. Plus Jay tells us what he's been up to since the sale, and teases an all-new exciting project!

(For comic nerds, yes, this DOES count as a 1st Cameo Appearance, so this episode is now considered a Key Issue. Take that, speculators!)