Looks like I picked the wrong month to start making shorter podcasts... To be fair, Hour 19 is short about ten minutes... but it's also Part One of at least an epic two-parter. But my guest and I had a lot to discuss: Nicholas Culp is not only an accomplished jazz pianist and record label owner, but our friendship goes back to the early '90s. We were in a shabby high school garage band together, and over the years Nicholas has taken his passion for music (jazz in particular) to its logical extension. So this marks the first podcast I've done with someone with whom I have a history-- every other podcast has been with someone I met in Indianapolis, whereas Nicholas and I both grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Go to  Gutbucketrecords.com  for more information on Nick's mission statement and details on how to purchase his album, The   Culprit's Blues , released in vinyl and digital formats. Nick goes into detail during the podcast on the process he employed in...

It's been a month since the big move, and the studio is back up and the podcasts will continue unabated! The podcast this week focuses on the recent deaths of character actor Frank Vincent, best known for his work with director Martin Scorsese; and Grant Hart, the legendary drummer for hardcore heroes Husker Du. Also in this week's podcast: a song from Black Love, the hip-hop group from the '90s that I was a part of for a brief but memorable run over two decades ago. "Ism" is a fun track with a great Milt Jackson sample powering it, which segues into DJ JIN-XS' latest DJ mix entitled Last Known Photo . You can listen to the podcast to get the 411 on where his mixes reside online, or just go to HEARTHIS.AT/JIN-XS when you get the chance. The three Husker Du tracks are "Pink Turns To Blue" and "Green Eyes", both written by the late Mr. Hart. Also playing underneath my first segment is "Reoccurring Dreams" off the class...

The chances of a band getting their foot in the door are slim to none. The seemingly countless array of groups on the radio or online these days is actually just a tiny percentage of the millions of musicians, performers, and artists who ply their trade daily, sometime for free with no financial reward. The pure joy of making music is the sole motivation. Twenty-five years ago the rap and hip-hop game was totally different from what it is like today. Rap was starting to become mainstream but still hadn't broken through fully. Back in those days rap hadn't proved itself to be a safe investment-- violence at shows, janky promoters, and unstable performers kept venues away from the dollars hip-hop was generating. You could sample up to a couple of bars of music without getting hit too hard with clearance fees. There was no internet, no social media, no Napster, and cell phones were the size of bricks. MCs and DJs had to go the old-fashioned way to get their records heard: sig...

This week's podcast showcases my fascination with sampling and making mixes, specifically mash ups and compositions made from sampled content. Some of these compositions go back two decades while others were made as recently as last year. I am probably asking for it with this one, but I believe mash ups and mixes are creative endeavors unto themselves. The first cut is a simple DJ mix of an a capella vocal track and an instrumental track. Nothing original there, but using KRS-ONE's "Stop The Violence" on top of Beastie Boys' "Groove Holmes" is something you don't hear every day. The next mash up uses Fugazi's "Waiting Room" and Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice". This was one of the first mash ups I ever did, and it's my favorite. That savage Dave Grohl beat is the right template upon which to layer everything else. I have always felt that Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and The Smiths...

This week I just threw together a playlist of songs that are in my MP3 player in my vehicle. I have titled this episode "What's BJ Fornicatti Got In His MP3 Player?" As lazy as this sounds, I actually put some thought into this: dubbed as an Emergency Backup Hour in case I wasn't able to put together a real podcast, I actually took the time to make sure the songs segued properly into each other. I also had to make some changes here and there, as I ended up pillaging songs from the playlist for other hours; indeed, this backup show has been in the can for a few weeks now, and since I'm in the middle of moving house for the first time in 6 years I haven't had any time to devote to normal operating procedures. I had a few interviews fall through, mostly due to my own distracted state of mind, which is no one's fault but mine... so this is what we have today. I hope you dig the selections, speaking of which... I started out with The Gun Club's "...

I received this in my Soundcloud inbox a few days ago: Hi Bj Fornicatti, We've received a report directly from Universal Music Group that your track "MPS HR 11" contains "Family Feud" by Jay Z. As a result, your track has been removed from your profile for the time being. If you think we've made a mistake, you can tell us about it by following the link below and filing a dispute. You can file a dispute if you think the person who reported your track got it wrong - for example, because you are the copyright owner or have permission from the copyright owner(s) to post this track to SoundCloud. If you file a dispute and show us that you have all rights necessary to post this track, we will reinstate your track, no problem. In all other cases, we will need to treat this as copyright infringement and you will receive a “strike” against your account. If you receive three of these strikes, your SoundCloud account will be terminated in accordance ...

A few months ago I did a podcast from The Mousetrap in Broad Ripple that focused on the Family Jam (aka Fam Jam aka From Another Mother Jam) that happens every Wednesday evening. It's an open mic for musicians: a backline of gear and instruments provided on a stage where jammers can meet an collaborate on musical explorations. One of the many people I have met through this network of musicians and artists is a guitarist named Evan Shine, and he is my guest on the podcast this week. I know Evan and have jammed with him several times but this was the first time he and I had a chance to hang out one-on-one outside of any musical premise. He was gracious enough to meet me at a hotel restaurant/bar during a severe rainstorm, and our conversation went on for almost an hour. During the interview I learned a lot about Evan, his personal history, and his tastes in music.  I think this is the best aspect of the podcast experience: learning about other people and what motivates t...