Banned Biographies

Welcome to this very special interview episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast where your host, Tom Austin-Morgan, talks to Zach Blair, the lead guitarist of Rise Against. I met Zach on the ferry back from both our European tours in November and he was such a gentleman. He gave me a lot of time and asked about the tour, about my podcast and told me about his own brilliant podcast, Anti-Heroes with Zach Blair, upon which he talks with other guitarists that he admires about their guitars, set ups and equipment. He also told me about the other bands he’s played in including Hagfish, Armstrong, Only Crime, and GWAR, some of which he talks about on this episode.

Zach is such a great guy and so full of stories, as you would expect from someone who has been doing this for as long as he has. I'm so thankful to him for talking to me, even though this is a shorter than usual episode due to how busy Zach is. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I had having it. 

 If you have any additional questions after listening that I didn't have time to ask him, perhaps I’ll be able to entice him back on in future and put them to him. Until then, if you want more Zach chat, go and subscribe to his podcast, and let him know I sent you, so he knows you heard him on here and he knows this is a good place for him to come back. 

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On this 'Round Up' episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host - Tom Austin-Morgan - looks back at his time in Europe playing with Sham 69 and the connections he made with the rest of the band as well as complete strangers and of course thanks all those who got in touch after listening to it and a very special thanks to Smokey for sitting in  for the whole four and a half hours!

News this month concerns Grade 2, Dickies, Paramore, The Misfits, Sick New World Festival, Gina Birch, Peter Hook and The Light, Reagan Youth, Iggy Pop,  U.K. Subs, New Found Glory, Alexisonfire, Madness, Keith Levene, AFI, Dropkick Murphys, The Distillers, Flogging Molly, Pauline Black, Punk Rock Bowling, Slam Dun Festival, Thin Lizzie, The Damned, 2000Trees Festival, Amyl and the Sniffers, Social Distortion, Shaky Knees Festival, The Dwarves, Brakrock Festival, Punk Rock Holiday, Lagwagon, Jet Black, Bottles To The Ground Records, Rancid, The Interrupters and Frank Turner, Wattie from The Exploited, Siouxsie Sioux, and NOFX.

Single reviews include Anti-Flag's NVREVR (feat. Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop), Skindred's Gimme That Boom, Grade 2's Under The Streetlight, The Interrupters' Raised By Wolves (acoustic), Paramore's The News and This Is Why, Weezer's I Want A Dog, Iggy Pop's Strung Out Johnny, New Found Glory's Dream Born Again and Get Me Home, Avril Lavigne and YUNGBLUD's I'm A Mess, We Are Scientists' Lucky Just To Be Here, The Lathums' Turmoil, Metallica's Aeterna, The Linda Lindas' Groovy Xmas, and The Offspring's Bells Will Be Ringing

Albums reviewed are The Meffs' Broken Britain Part 1 EP, The Nervous Eaters' Monsters + Angels, Strike Eagles' Operation Mj​ö​lnir, Disturbed's Divisive, Madness' The Get Up!, and NOFX's Double Album. 

All this and more. See you in the pit!

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Smokey  joins Tom once more on the Banned Biographies Podcast for the second episode recounting tales from the diary Tom kept while touring around Europe with Sham 69.

This episode covers the last seven gigs in the same number of days of the tour, more highs, lows, malfunctioning equipment, as well as continuing to meet amazing people in amazing venues and incredible bands. However, the spectre of the war in Ukraine reared its head a number of times in this last half of the tour. I met Poles, Russians and Ukrainians all suffering in some way as well as a Columbian with a similar story of escaping from a civil war only to be told by the German government that all is well and he may have to go back to his home country, despite the fact that all is still not well there. Fun times were also had and, thankfully outweighed the sad stories, and I met a genuine rock star on the way home!

Bands highlighted in this episode include:

The Herbärds

The Amuse Girls

Violent Instinct

Viciou (So new they don't seem to have a website/social media/bandcamp)

Kommando Marlies (the pronunciation of which I butchered in the episode, sorry guys!)

Smokey hosts the movie podcasts Rated H (a horror movie podcast), All The Best Lines (a golden age of cinema podcast) and House Of Hammer (reviewing all the Hammer films in order). Go subscribe to those too, you won't regret it (and let him know you did so through this show).

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Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

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E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

Friend of the show, Smokey - just Smokey - joins Tom on this episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast to recount the first half of the diary he kept while touring around Europe with his band, Sham 69.

Tom recounts the first 10 gigs and 11 days of the tour, the highs, the lows, the malfunctioning equipment, the amazing people he encountered, the amazing venues he played in, the incredible bands he played with (except one), and the friendships he made along the way.

Bands highlighted in this episode include:

The Vageenas

Rotz Auf Der Wiese

STARTS

Monkey Business

Angry Town

Ruined Floor

The Movement

None Shall Fall

Part 2 will be with you soon, so keep subscribed.

Smokey hosts the movie podcasts Rated H (a horror movie podcast), All The Best Lines (a golden age of cinema podcast) and House Of Hammer (reviewing all the Hammer films in order). Go subscribe to those too, you won't regret it (and let him know you did so through this show).

Merch: https://my-store-cfdac5.creator-spring.com

Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

Instagram: @bannedbiographies

E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this 'Round Up' episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host - Tom Austin-Morgan - thanks comedian Rich Wilson for his time last month, as well as chatting about what he's been up to in the last month: working hard before the tour with Sham 69. playing gigs and writing and recording with High Frequency. All very exciting stuff.

News this month concerns NOFX, Rage Against The Machine, Depeche Mode, The Sewer Cats, Anti-Flag,  Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Blink-182, Green Day, Grade 2, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Jimmy Eat World, Less Than Jake, Stiff Little Fingers, Jello Biafra, The Meffs, The Real McKenzies, Bikini Kill, festivals including When We Were Young, Punk Spring and the Manchester Punk Festival and the passing of Dead Kennedys drummer DH Peligro.

Single reviews include Blink-182's Edging, Queen's Face It Alone, Disturbed Divisive and We Are Scientists' Less From You and Operator Error.

Albums reviewed are Doggerel by Pixies, This Machine Still Kills Fascists by Dropkick Murphys, The End So Far by Slipknot, The Art Of Survival by Bush, Under The Midnight Sun by The Cult, Here Is Everything by The Big Moon, Perplex Cities EP by Serj Tankian, Can You Afford To Lose Me by Holly Humberstone, My Favourite Blue Jeans by De'Wayne and A Night Of A Thousand Vampires Live In London by The Damned.

All this and more. See you in the pit!

Merch: https://my-store-cfdac5.creator-spring.com

Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

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E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this very special interview episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, Tom talks to Rich Wilson, an award winning comedian who has performed sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and the New Zealand Comedy Festival. 

Rich is also the host of the Insane In The Men Brain Podcast where he talks to funny and interesting people about their experiences with mental health. In the last year the podcast has been nominated for an award with Podbible and in 2019 won an award with JOE for best podcast. 

Rich is the first comedian I’ve had on Banned Biographies and the reason for that is that I hear him bring up music on his podcast fairly often and his guests don't often indulge him - plus the fact he has a show on Islington Radio called The Tuned Up Time Machine - so, I reached out to ask of he’d like to have a long form conversation about music and he jumped at the chance, which was flattering.

In this conversation we talk about his favourite bands, best gigs he’s ever been to and played, the best and worst things about music (including how shit Sex On Fire by Kings Of Leon is!),  the similarities between musicians and comedians, how society is too clean and safe right now, and so much more as well as a fair bit about his career in comedy.

This was such an easy, free-wheeling conversation to have and I’m so grateful to Rich for giving up a couple of hours of his day to shoot the breeze with me about a subject that’s clearly dear to both our hearts. 

If this is your first time listening to Banned Biographies, I do audio documentaries on bands, a lot of which we touch upon in this episode, and I’ve interviewed musicians in bands such as Sham 69, Ash, The Prodigy, English Dogs, Adam Ant’s solo bands, and session musicians for The Selecter, Bow Wow Wow, The Dandy Warhols, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and many more, so be sure to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and check out the back catalogue. There’s something there for everyone.

You can find out all about him and where he’s gigging at richwilsoncomedian.com, listen to Insane In The Men Brain podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts and listen to The Tuned Up Time Machine on Spotify or on MixCloud.

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Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

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E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this 'Round Up' episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host - Tom Austin-Morgan - thanks Will Crewdson for being such a great guest and interviewee last month as well as reviewing the Adam Ant gig he went to in Brighton where he saw Will doing his thing.

Will's an absolutely amazing musician and as you heard on the interview a very thoughtful man and serious about what he does. But I can attest that he’s an absolute beast to watch live. 

News this months features stories on Peter Murphy and Bauhaus, NOFX, Bikini Kill, Sick Of It All, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Dropkick Murphys, Lagwagon, Smashing Pumpkins, The Real McKenzies and The Bronx.

There were many singles and albums released this month and Tom reviews many of them, including singles from The Cult, Anti-Flag, Placebo, Pixies, Dropkick Murphys, Less Than Jake and Disturbed. More in depth album reviews include Anthem by Flogging Molly, SOLIDARITINE by Gogol Bordello, The Cage EP by Billy Idol, Sonics In The Soul by Buzzcocks and shamelessly plugs his own band's re-release of Apathyville by High Frequency.

All this and more. See you in the pit!

Merch: https://my-store-cfdac5.creator-spring.com

Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

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E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host Tom Austin-Morgan talks to Will Crewdson who plays guitar for Adam Ant as well as in the rock bands Rachel Stamp (the only unsigned band to headline the London Astoria and played gigs with, among others, Iggy Pop, Korn, No Doubt, The Tubes and Cheap Trick) and She Made Me Do It as well as his solo project Scant Regard, produces a hybrid of Western-styled twanging guitars and full-on electronic wizardry.

Over the years, he’s also worked with US singer Johnette Napolitano, Flesh for Lulu, Chiefs Of Relief The Selecter, Bow Wow Wow, Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic and has collaborated with US director/writer Tom DiCillo as one half of The Black and Blue Orkestre.

He’s also done session work with Malcolm McLaren, Tom Jones, Bryan Ferry, Peter Murphy, Westworld, Celine Dion, Appleton, Pigface, Tyler James, Livan, T-Rexstasy, Billy Bragg and Dragons.

As you can tell, there was a lot of ground to cover and I didn't want to keep him all day, but I managed to touch on most of the acts he does or has played with. I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did having it and if there's anything you'd like an expanded chat about do let me know at the contact details below and I'll see about arranging a follow-up interview in future.

Find Will at:

https://www.scantregard.com/

Twitter: @scantregard

Instagram: @willcrewdson

And anywhere you stream music.

Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

Instagram: @bannedbiographies

E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host Tom Austin-Morgan talks about what's been going on since the interview with Brad Hallen from the Nervous Eaters went out.

This includes a new review on Apple Podcasts from long-standing listener and self-proclaimed number one fan, Stacey Nicolson. Reviews always help the show get found by people searching for music podcasts to listen to, so even if you don't have an iPhone, like Stacy, pester your family, friends and/or colleagues to lend you their iPhone so you can log into Apple Podcasts to leave a review there.

Also, Banned Biographies has a merch store! You can now wear the podcast's logo with pride at gigs or simply just out on the street. Alternatively you can drink from a Banned Biographies drinks bottle or stick some stickers to your guitars, drum kits, amps, keyboards, foreheads, whatever. Here's the link: https://my-store-cfdac5.creator-spring.com

The news this week is jammed full of stuff on Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi, The Cro-Mags, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Flogging Molly, The Cure, The Damned, Anti-Flag, Bad Religion, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, NOFX, Rage Against The Machine, Weezer, Buzzcocks, The Misfits, Bad Manners, Dropkick Murphys, Billy Idol, and more.

Finally, reviews of three albums that came out this month: The Alchemist's Euphoria by Kasabian, Of Kingdom And Crown by Machine Head and Will Of The People by Muse.

Do get in touch on social media or email to let me know what you think of the singles and albums covered as well as ones I'm sure I've missed.

Until next time, take care and stay safe.

Contact

Twitter: @BannedBiogs

Facebook: @BannedBiographies

Instagram: @bannedbiographies

E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com

On this special interview episode of the Banned Biographies podcast,  Tom Austin-Morgan talks to the bassist of the Boston-based garage punk band Nervous Eaters, Brad Hallen.

This episode largely deals with the new single, Wild Eyes, and upcoming album, Monsters & Angels, as well as about Brad’s life an career to this point, and boy has he had a career! He's played with so many bands and artists including Ministry, Iggy Pop, Elliot Easton (The Cars),  Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's), Aimee Mann, Susan Tadeschi , Monster Mike Welch, Duke Robillard, Roomful of Blues and so many others.

Formed in the mid-70's, the Nervous Eaters would eventually become the house band for the legendary Boston punk rock club The Rat, where they established themselves as a leading punk rock band in the Northeast, playing with a who's who of punk and new wave luminaries, including The Police, The Ramones, The Cars, Patti Smith, Dead Boys, Iggy Pop, The Stranglers, Go-Go's and many others.

The band’s original drummer, the late Jeff Wilkinson, let the band rehearse in his family’s basement. “His mother, Florence, fed the band at these rehearsals. Band leader, Steve Cataldo explained: “We’d come up from the basement at different times to grab something to eat and she said, ‘Why don’t you all come up and sit down and have a meal? You’re such a bunch of nervous eaters.’ So, it stuck. It wasn’t the coolest name to hit the town, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. We had a good laugh over it and we loved Florence. We are the Nervous Eaters.”

The band launched in the mid 1970’s and were a leading punk rock band in the Northeast. Home base: The black-walled, sticky-floored, basement club in Boston’s Kenmore Square - The Rat. The Eaters played snarling, self-deprecating lust-for-life blasts like Shit for Brains, Get Stuffed, Last Chance, Just Head, and I’m a Degenerate. Their first release a 45, on Rat Records, 1976, which gained local and national college airplay for their classic single - Loretta.

The buzz built and their popularity grew. The Cars’ Ric Ocasek produced a demo tape which got the band signed to Elektra Records. They toured around the world - but the album stalled, going astray from the start with the wrong assigned label producer and a lack of follow-through. 

The original Eaters dissolved but came back in the mid- ‘80s with a new line-up. The reborn Eaters launched a salvo called HOT STEEL AND ACID in 1986, a far better disc (that sounded like the band), on the indie label Ace of Hearts. Producer Rick Harte captured the Eaters vicious, vintage punk sound and it went as far as a Boston indie could take it.

The band has been revived a few times over the years with various line-ups. The current version of the Nervous Eaters formed in 2018 and includes three other Boston rock veterans, bassist Brad Hallen (who you’re about to learn all about), drummer David McLean (of Willie Alexander’s Boom Boom Band) and guitarist/vocalist Adam Sherman (of Private Lightning), and between them, they have recorded and/or toured with such artists as Ministry, Iggy Pop, Aimee Mann, Jane Wiedlin, Susan Tedeschi, Jimmie Vaughan, Lenny Kaye and many others.

You can find Nervous Eaters at their website: nervouseaters.net, on Facebook and Instagram and you can find Brad Hallen at his website bradhallen.com

This interview was made possible thanks to Peter Ferioli at Pantheon Podcasts and Mike Cubillos at Earshot Media and I’m incredibly grateful to them.

Contact

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E-mail: bannedbiographies@gmail.com