The Musicians Guild with Steve Choi

This week we are joined by Josh Staples a bassist/vocalist who plays in The Velvet Teen, The New Trust and sometimes Loma Prieta. In addition to being an all around lovely human, one of Josh's powers is having a conductivity of creative energy through his sense of humor, knowledge and humility. He makes everyone around him better at what they do. Josh makes cool stuff and is a cool dude. In this conversation we chat about The New Trust tour with The Good Life, swimming in craters, the Loma Prieta pizza tour, odd habits of pets, bad sounding venues, more pizza talk, and lots more!

So nice to be back with all of you. This week we catch up with Nick Reinhart as he returns to chat with us not long after his return from being on tour with DeathGrips for a couple months. He catches us up on how he's been decompressing and getting back into home mode. In this episode we discuss his tour with DeathGrips, coyotes in his neighborhood, his favorite fried chicken sandwich at the moment, his busy year on the road which included opening for, and then playing bass in Pinback, how he enjoys his life in LA as a musician, getting into earplugs on stage, enjoying activities solo, intensive movie collections and lots more! Thanks for listening. You are unique, valuable, and make the world a better place.

This week we caught up with Tim and Brittany of the Philadelphia based band Catbite. We chatted on a relaxed Sunday evening and had a lovely time. Catbite does a really legit modern take on two-tone ska that also conjures punk, soul & new-wave with top-notch musicianship. Whether it's your thing or not, you can't really deny the vitality in their musical aesthetic and they will easily expose those who can dance and those who can't. In this conversation we talk about vocals and horns competing for space in songs, going to the merch table after your set, Brit's formal vocal education, Tim's hip replacement, their first sold out hometown show, Tim's culinary prowess and lots more! Thank you for listening, and please rate the pod if you can find it in your hearts! Much Love.

This week we are blessed to have Casey Cavaliere of The Wonder Years join us at The Musicians Guild. Casey plays guitar in the band and also has his own pod called The Record Process. In addition to being a musician Casey is also an engineer/producer and also is involved with managing artists through the Lesser Matters entity. Casey is a humble and earnest musician dedicated to his craft and one of my favorite types of people to chat with as he is well spoken and self-aware. In this conversation we get into what its like being in a band for him, musical sensibilities of the U.K., learning musical rules so we can break them, Casey's touring style and what he likes on the rider, gear talk including his preferences in guitars and amps and lots more! Never forget that we are all connected and made of the same stuff, but you as an individual are unique and powerful in your own way.

This week we have with us a bandmate, collaborator and brother to me by the name of Rich Balling. Many of you will know Rich as leader of The Sound Of Animals Fighting but he has also has created projects such as Pyramids and Hospital Gown. In addition to being a musician/producer Rich is also an educator by trade, devoted family man, and high level film buff specifically in the horror genre. After finishing our last TSOAF shows of the year Rich and I sat down and had an excellent chat that unfortunately requires you to listen to my stupid laugh more than I'd like anyone to endure. In this conversation we talk about Rich's breakfast game, egg cooking techniques, his band merch collection, the magic of certain lead singers, being present with our age, his daughters making fun of him for being cringe, Braid's Frame and Canvas, his love for Del Taco and lots more. Thank you esteemed members of The Guild.

Good to be back. This week we have Issac Bolivar joining us in the study. Isaac is a guitarist/musical director from California who has played shows with a diverse list of artists including Seal, Taking Back Sunday and Harry Hudson among others. The two of us have known each other a long time, and even in collecting photos for this episode Isaac sent me a photo of the two us together in Australia back in 2010 while both doing the Soundwave tour which really stoked me out. Isaac has reached a place in his life where his authenticity seems to be fueling his connection with his craft and we talk about that while also getting into talking about beloved studio musicians behind the scenes, our Bay Area origins, being hyper nostalgic, climbing to high vantage points to feel small, and lots more. You the listener are appreciated and valued by The Musicians Guild and I hope you feel the respect for your ear and your time. Thank you for listening, more episodes to come! The Musicians Guild has the lights kept on by Evergreen Podcasts and Sound Talent Media, and we appreciate everyone involved very much!

This week we are featuring a nice long conversation with Aaron Carnes and Adam Davis from In The Defense Of Ska podcast. This is one of the longer conversations we've had inside The Guild so if you're on a long drive or have a full day of work this might be a good episode for that. Aaron is author of the book also titled In the Defense of Ska which came before the podcast. These two fine humans were kind enough to come to my home and we sat in my den by the fire and discussed how Ska got hated on so much, the new face and direction of Ska, Ska fashion crimes, older punks going MAGA, seeing Fugazi live, bad driving while searching for music, Adam's kids disliking LEGO, 17 band bills, and lots lots more. Thank you for being you.

Greetings wonderful humans. In this episode I take you through vibes and sounds of this last T.S.O.A.F. tour we just finished a couple weeks ago. You'll get a peak inside my routines, habits, and preferences on tour in a style similar to an amusement ride, meaning you just sit back and take it all in at the pace already set. You'll also get to be a fly on the wall for different conversations during the tour; you'll be listening from a hotel room, a dressing room, a hotel room, in an alley and on the street. After this episode we will continue to roll on with more Field Reports and more full length conversations with guests. Thanks for being a member of The Musicians Guild

This week we are very happy to have radio personality and host Megan Holiday with us. Although Megan is on the other side of the aisle from us musicians, she is part of the crucial balance I speak of where musicians and non-musicians need each other to maintain the balance of the industry as we know it while it quickly and continuously changes. People like Megan are true advocates for music and musicians so her way of approaching her role in this whole structure is a valuable asset to us creatives. We get into how Megan got her start in radio so naturally we also get into her story of recovery and sobriety after the inevitable rock bottom, and emotions run high. This is delicate vulnerable stuff after all, but it also facilitates gratitude and appreciation of life and sobriety through Megan's story. We also get talk about her 1st times live on air, manifesting people into her life, getting a glow necklace from Aaron Paul at Coachella, tripping hard at Shoreline Amphitheater and lots more! Thanks for listening and being part of the guild.

"Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves." - Langston Hughes The Earth is changing rapidly. Will we change quick enough with it? No no I haven't totally gone past the point of no return, I just like to inject random thoughts and ideas wherever I can. A Public notepad if you will. Very stoked on this week's guest, a musician's musician and righteous human by the name of Matt Rubano. Matt is a bassist and currently plays in Angels & Airwaves. Matt has also played in such bands as Taking Back Sunday, All American Rejects and like former guest Will Yip has worked with Lauryn Hill having played bass on two tracks that were on The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Two banger tracks I might add. In this conversation we talk about his current role in Angels and Airwaves, the last time we hung out in Australia and it unknowingly being the end of his time in Taking Back Sunday, 6 string basses, the omnipotent and corrosive nature of our current form of capitalism, self work through gratitude and lots more. Please rate and comment on apple podcasts please you can haz cheeseburgers I love you all thank you.

Wishing you all safe travels and mellow times during the holidays. The pod rolls on. This week we have with us a wonderful human called Colin Frangicetto. Colin is guitarist of Circa Survive as well as a visual artist and podcaster. I admire Colins calm and resolute presence and he is a great example of what it means to feel everything deeply while exercising grace. This conversation was recorded back in August and we are living in such a hyperbolic time that it has a time-capsule effect even though it is within the same year. This was both intentional and accidental so it adds a cool effect. In this conversation we discuss moving back to the east coast, how Circa Survived the pandemic, new live pedalboard setup, work vs. life flow, evil corporations falling upon accidental altruism and much much more. Thank you all, you're the absolute best.

This week we are honored to have Will Yip with us for an episode of the pod. Will is a drummer and musician who has worked with Lauryn Hill among other artists as well as a Grammy nominated producer who has made records for Circa Survive, Turnstile, Code Orange, Touché Amoré, Angel Dust, Tigers Jaw and many many more. In this conversation we discuss his time playing for and working with Lauryn Hill, his approach to making records, how he got his start playing drums, coming up as an Asian-American and son of immigrant parents from China, daily routines and lots lots more. Hate to ask but if you haven't already and could spare some time it would be awesome if you could rate and review the pod on iTunes. It would be immensely helpful to the pod. If you're not into doing that sort of thing all good, I appreciate you anyways. Thank you for being you.