Music On Your Own Terms

Music On Your Own Terms 150 - This Mad Desire - Operators Are Standing By Joining me for this episode is Mackenzie Kristjón, a Hamilton, Ontario based musician that I met through Indie Week earlier this year, and contributed some background vocals to his upcoming album. We chat about This Mad Desire, Mac's musical project, his recording experience using free studio time through Hamilton public library, and singing in front of the children's section, in a glass room. Mac also shares a...

Music On Your Own Terms 149 - Gemma - Music From The Stars Hailing from the Greek island of Crete, Gemma is an electronic, post-rock, band who mix various genres with Greek lyrics. I chat to Apostolis (percussion and lyrics), and Anastasis (bass) about their sound, songwriting, and what their music is all about. We also discuss how the band got in contact with my good friend Ria from One.Woman.Company for their PR, how writing in Greek is more of a challenge, and why music is a universal...

Music On Your Own Terms 148 - Rob Balducci - Transcending A Violet Horizon Rob Balducci is a guitarist I've been listening to since the early 2000s, participating on his website forum, and downloading his lick of the week mp3s when they came out. Rob joins me in this episode to talk about how he began his professional musical journey, working at Relativity Records when Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien was released, and how Joe gave him pointers on the demos that became his first album...

Music On Your Own Terms 147 - Ronda Ray - Guitars, Harleys, & Texas Sized Rock N Roll In this episode I chat to Ronda Ray, a Dallas/Fort Worth local artist that recorded her first EP in historic Muscle Shoals, and is gearing up to release her latest album early in 2022. Ronda talks about what she has learned from starting at a local open mic night, to becoming a full time gigging musician, with sponsorships, and some great industry relationships. She also talks about some negative...

Music On Your Own Terms 146 - Kate Schutt - A Grief Casserole Kate Schutt exemplifies everything this podcast is about, a professional singer and musician, a guitar player with some sweet gear and awesome chops, a life coach that concentrates on mindset and mental health, all wrapped up with an attitude of continuous improvement and one that adapts to constant change. Kate shares her journey of switching from pursuing a literary degree at Harvard, to studying at Berklee and back again, then...

Music On Your Own Terms 145 - Leon Todd/Ragdoll - Guitars, Gear, & Storytime With Uncle dUg I discovered this week's guest on Youtube whilst searching for videos of one of the amps I own, really appreciating the content he is putting out, as well as our common love for the band Kings X. Leon Todd is a guitar player, Youtuber, and teacher from Perth, Australia, who tours with his band Ragdoll, teaches clinics at guitar festivals, and has a ton of great information on guitar gear, most...

Music On Your Own Terms 144 - Pete Mohr - Blue Grass & Shoe Business Joining me this episode is Toronto based entrepreneur, business coach, and bluegrass musician, Pete Mohr. Pete talks about his early teen experiences with his cousins in the bluegrass scene, and his history as an entrepreneur. We learn how the business experiences Pete has had, influenced him in running his former "hobby" bands as businesses, that went on to play large festivals, and make enough to cover both expenses and...

Music On Your Own Terms 143 - Matt Gardiner/Ground Level Falcons - Questioning Who I Am Drawing on 60s psychedelia, 90s grunge and grandiose prog concept albums, Canada's Ground Level Falcons are a band whose sound is hard to pinpoint. Vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter Matt Gardiner, takes us on a journey through the conception, creation, and recording of their new album "Skyline", along the way discussing the band's history, his own musical beginnings, as well as what has been...

Music On Your Own Terms 142 - Elementals, Intercontinentals, & Thunderpetz Hailing from Italy and Turkey, attending Berklee and the Musicians Institute, and now based in Los Angeles, Thunderpetz are truly a fusion of many styles and cultures, both musically and otherwise. In this inspiring conversation, I chat to brothers Dandy on guitar and Lorenzo on drums, as well as Guney on synths, about this brand new project that takes 80s virtuoso rock and merges it with a modern electronic sound to...

Music On Your Own Terms 141 - Steph Belcher - Take The Money And Run In this episode I talk to Steph Belcher, owner of When Songs Mean Business, that teaches independent musicians how to manage their finances and formulate a plan for their business. Steph talks about a few different tax filing statuses that artists might have to think about when claiming both income and expenses, across several years, as well as some different categories of partnerships a musician might encounter when...

Music On Your Own Terms 140 - Andrew Rooney - Drum Teacher Reacts To Podcast Host We travel in time once again to Auckland, New Zealand, to converse with session drummer, teacher, and Youtuber, Andrew Rooney. Andrew shares how he got his start in music, and what led him to go to university and get a jazz degree. We talk about his podcast, why and how he started a Youtube channel, as well as what opportunities creating reaction videos has brought him. Finally Andrew shares his thoughts on...

Music On Your Own Terms 139 - Jo Sarah/UMA Boss - Citizen Of The World Joining me this time out is Amsterdam based singer and social media coach, Jo Sarah. We chat about her musical history, and culturally rich upbringing, traveling the world with her parents who are diplomats. Jo Sarah also talks about the overarching message of her music, the importance of branding and consistency for artists, and how a fear of failure nearly ended her singing career. Click here for the main show notes...

Music On Your Own Terms 138 - Alex Krug Combo - Asheville Rebel Chatting with me this time out is Alex Krug from the Alex Krug Combo, all the way from Ashville, NC. We hear about how early memories of her grandmother playing piano with Alex, shaped her love of music, how she grew up learning guitar and drums, started writing her own music, and played drums in a grunge band as a teen. We also hear about the process of writing and recording with the combo, how her drummer Bill recorded...

Music On Your Own Terms 137 - Rascal Whack - A Place For Musical Meditation In this episode I talk to Stathis Skaloubakas of the Greek band, Rascal Whack, who released their new album Maliveni earlier this year. Stathis talks about what the title means, how the concept threads through the songs on the album, and the specific way the band writes music to maintain a coherent sound. We also learn about Stathis' day job as a lawyer, how acting classes shaped his philosophies on life, and how...

Music On Your Own Terms 136 - Fotis Delinikolas - The Djstinguished Djentleman We head back to Greece this episode for a chat with and incredible session guitarist, Fotis Delinikolas, who, after being ridiculously busy touring with various bands and pop singers, has finally had the time during Covid, to record a solo instrumental album, which by the way, seriously rips! Fotis talks about his musical upbringing, his career with two of Greece's most well known singers, touring and recording...

Music On Your Own Terms 135 - Chris Cavera - A Pre-Emptive Strike Of The Killbot Joining me in this long overdue interview, is the master shredder of Killbot Zero himself, Mr. Chris Cavera. Regular listeners will have heard his guitar playing on pretty much every episode's intro music, as well as a few Killbot tunes, and possibly even a Brucifer track as well. Chris shares his musical history, how he writes music, and of course we disappear down the obligatory guitar gear rabbit hole! We...

Music On Your Own Terms 134 - ScreenAge - In Case Of Sunburn, Do Not Resuscitate Joining me for this episode is New Jersey based band ScreenAge who have recently released their second album "DNR", a concept album about the seven stages of life. Emily and Sam, talk us through how they got into music and their respective instruments, and how the band came about. We also learn that they are constantly keeping tabs on the current trends in the music business, always increasing their knowledge...

Music On Your Own Terms 133 - Cas Weinbren - The Architecture Of A Career In Music In this episode I chat to New York based keyboard player and producer Cas Weinbren of See See Beats. Cas talks about his musical upbringing, becoming trained in classical and jazz on the piano, and then diving head first into the music industry to take any opportunity that has come his way. We also learn about Cas' love of architecture and project management, and how he invests in real estate and construction...

Music On Your Own Terms 132 - Charlie PS - Ghosts, Tattoos, & Alt Rock This episode I talk to alt-rock singer-songwriter Charlie PS, from Vancouver, Canada. She talks about how her dad encouraged her love of music from a young age, coincidentally when they lived in the UK, the move to Canada, graduating music college, as well as the influences that have shaped her sound. We learn about the highs of 2019 where Charlie played a run of memorable shows and festivals, to the lows of COVID, which...

Music On Your Own Terms 131 - Johanna Patrice Hagarty - The Ultimate Silver Bullet To Success My resident marketing expert Johanna Hagarty returns 100 episodes after her first appearance, to catch us up with what she's been doing lately, and talks about her new upcoming course, Art Hero, that will coach creatives in how to run their business. We also hear about Johanna's recent experience as a festival event staff member, and what that was like in a COVID world. The main part of our...