Esoterica The Podcast

It is a dark time for the Esoterica. Although the Old Format has been destroyed, Chris and Aaron have driven the show from it's tried and true methods and created something less likely to make you fall asleep. Welcome to Season 4! New season, new format, same guys, still no pants. Joining us today is Marty (@OliverRedboots) from the Rod in Flagon Podcast talking to us about his podcast and helping us feel out this new format! Be sure to check out our website for your Esoterica the Podcast...

Just when you thought pure guitar rock music was dead, cleopatrick entered the chat. On June 4, 2021, Canadian Rock band cleopatrick released their debut album “BUMMER“. For those of you that aren’t familiar with them, cleopatrick are childhood friends Ian Fraser and Luke Gruntz. They grew up in Cobourg, Ontario and have been friends since age 4. They began getting interested in music around age 8 when they first listened to AC/DC. Later in their teens, they began recording their own...

For a decade, Molly Harvey was the female voice and presence in The Residents. She gave voice to some of their most memorable and loved songs. Molly joins us to discuss her time with the mysterious band, what’s been happening in her life, and what exciting things she has coming up. We also briefly discuss the 2018 release Loss of the Lizard Lady (The Molly Harvey Collection). This is a compilation released on Bandcamp featuring songs fronted by Molly, both live and studio. From the...

Today we revisit a group from way back in Season One of Esoterica the Podcast! In April 2020, we discussed Fat Boys and Little Men's self titled EP. This week, the Mansfield based band joins Aaron to discuss their newest release (dropping today!), Something Could Be Nothing. If you missed the episode, FBLM are a Mansfield, MA based band with heavy Seattle grunge influences. You can find our discussion of it here. Make sure to check out their Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube channel, etc. for...

This week, join us as we listen to the 2020 release from Lansing, Michigan's own Hot Mulligan. Released on No Sleep Records, their sophomore album is titled you'll be fine. In 2015, Hot Mulligan released two EPs titled Fenton and Honest & Cunning via Michigan-based label Save Your Generation Records. After signing to No Sleep Records in 2017, Hot Mulligan re-released an EP titled Opportunities (original release on Save Your Generation). In 2018, Hot Mulligan released their debut full-length...

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the release of Einstürzende Neubauten's first official LP Kollaps. To celebrate, we are joined by none other than Blixa Bargeld. Blixa talks about the making of Kollaps, as well as some of his major influences. Einstürzende Neubauten ("Collapsing New Buildings") is a German experimental music group, originally formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founder members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and NU...

This week take a listen to a band from the Long Island scene, Brand New. Formed in 2000, by bassist and drummer Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane from the ashes of Rookie Lot. The band consists of Jesse Lacey (vocals, guitar), Vincent Accardi (guitar, vocals), Garrett Tierney (bass guitar, vocals), and Brian Lane (drums, percussion). The band is recognized as one of the most influential within the 2000s emo scene, celebrated for making artistic statements with their music. When asked about his...

Recorded in the cellar of Prairie Sun Recording Studios, in an area described as “just a cement floor and a water heater,” Bone Machine is Tom Waits‘ eleventh studio album. It was released in September of 1992. Bone Machine was recorded and produced entirely at the Prairie Sun Recording Studios in Cotati, California, in a room of Studio C known as “the Waits Room”, located in the old cement hatchery rooms of the cellar of the buildings. Prairie Sun’s studio head Mark “Mooka” Rennick said,...

This week we cross the pond to check out Welsh band Catfish and the Bottlemen. Formed in 2007, the band formed in Llandudno, North Wales. Their musical style can best be described as indie or alt rock. For this episode, we listen to The Balcony, their debut studio album. It was released on 15 September 2014 in the United Kingdom and 15 January 2015 in the United States. On 20 March 2015, The Balcony was awarded a Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry. The album cover...

We're back, and this week we're heading back to the mid-'80s to check out some proto-grunge. This week's album is Dry as a Bone, the second EP by Green River. It was released in July 1987 through Sub Pop Records. Green River formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984. Although the band had very little commercial success outside their native Seattle, Green River were pioneers of the grunge music genre. The grunge style was featured both in Green River's own music and the music its members would...

This week finds out checking out French artist Gautier Serre, known by his stage name, Igorrr. Initially influenced by the likes of Meshuggah, Chopin, Cannibal Corpse, Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Taraf de Haidouks, and Aphex Twin, traces of these artists can be found littered across Igorrr’s discography, but Serre has never been interested in remaining static or merely recycling ideas, and his work has dramatically evolved accordingly. It deeply explains how Igorrr’s music is such an...

We’re back with yet another album from LA-based Dead Poet Society, and again one of our favorite guests, vocalist/guitarist Jack Underkofler joins us as well! Released less than a week ago on March 12, 2021, -!- is their first full-length album released through Spinefarm Records. Jack joins us to discuss the genesis of the album and a track-by-track discussion of the record. Dead Poet Society formed while attending college in Boston and have already amassed a dedicated following with...

This week we dive back into the local scene, listening to the 2021 release from Massachusetts-based Pillbook. This album, El Primer Paso can best be described as psychedelic alt-pop. Pillbook is comprised of Aaron Garcia from Chelsea, Massachusetts. Aaron is a producer as well as a musician, recording most of his music in his home. Pillbook started as a high school trio that eventually devolved into a duo, finally settling into a solo project. El Primer Paso marks Garcia’s long-awaited...

Merriam-Webster defines esoteric thusly: designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone. This week's album choice, on the surface, may seem to be the antithesis of esoteric. But it is with this definition in mind that we take a look at one of, if not the biggest bands in the world: BTS. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band that debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope,...

This week we continue our journey through Aaron's "laid back and heavy" motif with Highly Suspect. Highly Suspect is an American rock band from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The band consists of twin brothers Rich (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Ryan Meyer (drums, backing vocals), Johnny Stevens (guitar, lead vocals), and Matt Kofos (guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals). After starting as a bar cover band, they relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where they recorded The Worst Humans EP with...

So, here's the thing. Morphine was one of the best bands to come out of Boston in the '90s. You can argue the point, and you can be wrong. Formed in 1989 by Mark Sandman, Dana Colley, and Jerome Deupree, Morphine combined blues and jazz elements with more traditional rock arrangements, giving the band an unusual sound. Sandman sang distinctively in a "deep, laid-back croon", and his songwriting featured a prominent beat influence. The band themselves coined the label "low rock" to describe...

This week we listen to and discuss one of Aaron's picks: English rock duo Royal Blood. Formed in Brighton in 2011, Royal Blood consists of Mike Kerr on vocals and bass and Ben Thatcher on drums. Their sound is anchored in Kerr's unique bass playing technique, in which he uses various effects pedals to make his electric bass sound like a standard electric guitar. Their self-titled debut album was released in August 2014. Their second album How Did We Get So Dark? followed in June 2017. For...

Chris and Aaron celebrate Esoterica the Podcast's first birthday by listening to the 1982 album Dog Police by Dog Police. On top of the album feature, they also discuss the unaired pilot for Dog Police from the 1990s featuring Adam Sandler and Jeremy Piven. Chris and Aaron also muse about the past year from documenting a raging pandemic accidentally, interviewing a bunch of celebrities, and drinking a whole lot of Esoteric beverages. Help us celebrate the birthday of Esoterica the Podcast...

This week we are joined by Nolan McGovern and Jake Perreault of The Fairview as we discuss their album Fresh Faced & Effervescent. The Fairview is a pop punk DIY outfit from Southeastern Massachusetts / Rhode Island. Started in 2014 by Nolan McGovern and his friends from high school, the amateur band played small venues, colleges, and talent shows, including the local stage at Warped Tour MA in 2014 and 2016. 5 years and numerous line-up changes later, The Fairview remains a powerhouse...

Welcome to our newest venture, Free Form Fridays! FFF is an opportunity for Aaron and I to do what we like best: Sample beers, muse about things, and discuss things that may not fit within the parameters of our regular show. We're not sure what every episode will look like, but we know it will be fun! For an added bonus, these episodes will be recorded on video and uploaded to our YouTube channel, so you can see what we're talking about! Join us for our first episode, where we consult our...