The Breckening Podcast

On this episode, I sat down with Jenna Hill-Higgs at her bar, the Liberty Lounge located off Jennings and Pennsylvania in Fort Worth. We discuss her bar and the open accepting environment it fosters, her involvement with the gay community via her upbringing, being a former educator, and of course, I derail us into a talking about sci-fi for awhile while throwing in my two cents about education.

I catch up with my first repeat guest Joe Tacke, THIS TIME at the tucked away location of Cloudland Recording Studio. We talk awards, bands, flyers that have band names on them, and a fun info nugget at the end of the episode. It's on an hour-ish so you can easily get there. ENJOY!!

I sat down with Ft. Worth based singer/songwriter Keegan McInroe. We talked about music scenes, his extensive touring around many counties in Europe, and a whole host of other things. It was a fun couple of hours. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Occasional click-clacks in the background by his dog, the sweet old Delia Skunk.

I met up with Justin Prater in his office at Pro Rehearsal Studios. We talked, like ya do on a podcast, about various things: music, wrestling, and maybe some other topics. It was a good time and a beer drinking time. Check out the episode, and also check out his band Paper Street, hence the excellent and relevant title of this episode.

Darren Collins, who I first met about 20 years ago, is and has been many things: a professional touring juggler, a comedian, a magician, maybe one of those knife throwing guys (sorry, I lost count), but most importantly, he's been working in Nairobi, Kenya for the last eight years with the non-profit Project Hand Up. Luckily Darren was stateside for a bit and carved out some time for us to record a podcast in Santa's Workshop. I know this is a lot of odd information, but listen to the episode and all (kind of) will be explained. This was a lot of fun. Thank you again Darren.

I first met Mark Randall when he was the sound guy at Main at South Side (RIP), and since it's closing, he's gone back to his roots of studio recording. Along with Ft. Worth musician Nick Tittle (of Arenda Light), Mark has recently opened up Blackstone FW, Ft. Worth's newest swankiest recording studio. Mark does occasionally run live sound at various venues and he's also a rad dude to hang out and shoot the shit with, which I've done many times. Hope you enjoy this most recent time of us doing just that. Oh, and if your band needs to record something, think of Blackstone for all your recording needs.

I met up with Rene Floyd his band's practice space to talk and talk we did. Rene plays guitar in the emo-hardcore band Unspell and is one-half of the DJing duo Pop Boy Etc with Jordan Kline, also of Unspell. We learn a lot about Rene in this episode, including how his dad influenced his DJing, a very unique traveling scheme for a previous band he was in, and well, just whole hell of a lot about who Rene Floyd is. Strap in folks. Download and enjoy.

Ryan Schur...Schesh...Schershehuh...Ryan Arthur is the Dallas-based drummer for Secret of Boris, ManifestiV, and Wells Machine. To make part three of my on-going series to interview everyone in Secret of Boris, I trapped Ryan in their practice room at Pro Rehearsal and stuck a microphone in his face. We mainly talked about music and had a blast doing it. Give this episode a listen if you like hearing people talk about things they like. I sure do. Available on Spotify, Apple, and plenty of other platforms. Download and enjoy!!

Ben McCracken is the singer/guitarist of the very kick ass Dallas-based band From Parts Unknown. Undeniably punk rock, some hardcore, a dash of ska, (maybe some rockabilly?) - at least that's how I describe them to people. They released a new album this year called "Bad Haircuts" that rips from start to finish. Listen to the album, go see them live, and buy some merch. Thanks to Ben for the time and for being an overall cool dude.

Jacob Linzy is the organizer of Chillderburg, an annual freedom-loving event in the Texas Hill Country. I've had the pleasure of doing stand up at the previous two outings and will be there again at this year's "Chillderburg Go" (Go being Japanese for 'five', this being the fifth one). We get into the origins of Chillderburg, how Jacob came to Texas, how much the government sucks, and what to expect at this year's iteration which will be held at the Rebecca Creek Campgrounds.

It's Paragraph Taylor Day!! In this episode of The Breckening Podcast, we get into Paragraph's history in California and Texas and various music projects. Whether it's playing guitar in Secret of Boris, making sounds in the experimental industrial ManifestiV with his wife Lillith, or honoring his influences with the tribute acts Significant Others (Limp Bizkit) and Mr. Self Destruct (Nine Inch Nails), he's always playing. And we didn't even get into his time as a mortician. That's for another episode.

I sat down with one Jack Russell in his suburban homestead (don't mind the dogs, y'all) to talk about art, music, and oh yeah, Jägermeister. Jack is the big brains behind Jackdaw Folk Art: a true Texas-style of prints which sets up at various venues under a tent. Definitely check out these hand-printed on hand-torn, tea-stained, 140lb art paper purdy pictures. Jack has also played some bass guitar in the the Whiskey Folk Ramblers, Daybreak Hits, and currently Crooked Bones. I ain't lying: he's a true Texas original.

About time I get another comedian on this thing and boy do we have a fun one: Shiva Ary!! Along with shootin' the shit, we also talk some shit: about each other, other comics, and anyone else who came to mind. Always the ball buster, Shiva is also a solid hang, a stand up dude, and this interview was no let down. Check out his upcoming show at the Addison Improv: The Dark and Dirty Comedy Show with Shiva Ary on Saturday, April 22nd at 11:30pm.

My friend Todd Camp has been many things in life: a journalist for the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, a film fest curator via Q Cinema, a cartoonist, an avid collector of many varied & unique interests, and...well just listen to this fascinating interview to learn all the rest. I can't remember it all. He is currently an archivist for YesterQueer: the Fort Worth Gay History Project, which is documents the history of the LGBTQ community in Tarrant County. Check out one of their meetings at the Liberty Lounge, located off Jennings and Pennsylvania in, you guessed it, Fort Worth.

Here's an interview with my friend Aimee Kuykendall. We broach a few subjects, like her becoming a new mom, my awesome nick name for kid which has yet to take hold, and her hippy dippy house. She made me and Neil dinner before this, so know I expect a homemade meal from all of my future guests. Download, listen, and enjoy.

In this episode, I interview my pal Neil Samples. We talk about him becoming a new father, having trampolines growing up, and bartending. Plenty more subjects are breached, but that's what I can remember as of writing this summary. Download, listen, and enjoy!!

Major League Baseball Opening Day is tomorrow. Also, I love baseball and do not care who knows it. I love it so much that in lieu of writing a drawn out Facebook post like I usually do, I created yet another nugget of content for my podcast. I'm just an amateur baseball lover so it's all off the dome for about 20 minutes. No research, no moneyball number bullshit. This one is for the hardcore baseball lovers - the handful of you who probably listen to this podcast.

I'm back at Pro Rehearsal studios to talk with my fellow Irvingite, Cameron Taylor. He is the front man of Dallas, Texas rock/metal band Secret of Boris. On this episode, we talk about nu-metal, defend nu-metal, talk about both being people on stage who hold microphones, and some other topics. We could've gone on for longer, but his band needed their rehearsal space back. Download, listen, and enjoy.

On this one, I sit down with Matt Randolph of the bands Wildspeaker and Vorrukt. We talk about underground extreme music, then stand up comedy, then music again, and then comedy some more. He sort of interviews me at a point. Well played, Matt. References galore are made and a good time was had by all. Download, listen, and enjoy!!

It's interview time!! On this episode, I converse with Jon Carney: co-owner of the The Chat Room, former co-owner of Main at South Side, partial owner of the Fort Worth Vaqueros FC, father of one of The Unlikely Candidates, and current bass player in the hair metal band Chastity - all around a Ft. Worth Kinda Guy. And that's it. That's all he does. Nothing else. Listen, download, & enjoy.