Episode 192: Riders Against The Storm

hello my friends! i hope this podcast finds you enjoying the summer. it's hot in texas. i spent the weekend traveling around texas playing some shows with SKYROCKET!. dallas on thursday, houston on friday and austin on saturday. they were all good shows. i was also on a couple of podcasts. one was austin sessions, that was fun. the other was a "game night" episode of the hodgecast. it's already up. it was really fun. there were 8 people playing a star trek themed mystery game and a lot of booze. hey! speaking of podcasts...
hey folks! do you love "how did i get here?" and wish you could get just a little more involved? well, if you're in austin, tx on july 31st, you totally can! come out to the legendary antone's nightclub and watch me talk to christy hayes and members of western youth and the love leighs. after the live podcast recording @ 7:30, you can stay and hear the bands you just got to know! if you're in austin, come out and join us for this special night. https://www.facebook.com/events/131683847041129/
my guests for episode 192 are the amazing hip-hop duo, riders against the storm. i really love this group and their new, self-titled e.p.. i had been looking forward to having this conversation for a while and i'm glad it finally happened. chaka and tiger came by the apartment and we got right to it. talking about what they're trying to get across with their music and message, how you can work out the heaviest things by singing and dancing, growing up artsy in a law family, growing up haitian in new york, providence, rhode island, theater, performance art, how they met, their music, moving to texas, making their e.p. and much, much more. i thoroughly enjoyed meeting them and talking to them. they're very special people with a beautiful musical vision. i hope you listen and buy this e.p. they have a show on friday, august 3rd at the sahara lounge in austin, tx. the show is called "body rock" and it's a party... here's a link https://www.facebook.com/events/550986244936993/ i'm going. i'll see you there!
ciao! jg

Episode 155: SXSW 2013 Part 2 - Howard Kremer, A Fragile Tomorrow, No Way Josie, The Attic Ends

another sxsw has come and gone. i miss having parties to go to at noon.
hello friends! i hope you're well. if you were at sxsw 2013, i hope your life has gone back to normal by now. it's taken on a "las vegas on spring break" sort of intensity. walking down one of the closed off streets feels like walking through a tunnel full of white noise, sunshine and bearded dudes in skinny jeans. it's a lot of days. it used to start on wednesday and end on saturday with a softball game on sunday... now it goes for a week and a half and i swear i saw a band playing a showcase at my 7-11. it's huge. it's just gonna get bigger and longer and add more things. by 2020,  it'll be "the 2020 sxsw music/film/interactive/television/comedy/comic con/podcast/cable news/audiobook/cell phone/music business reenactment/youtube/facebook/pintrest/ mustache - festival"... it just means more parties. is that good, bad or is it just change?
episode 155 is another sxsw mash-up with some of the festival's hottest tickets! up first is comedian/musician/rapper/host of the very popular podcast, "who charted", howard kremer a.k.a. dragon boy suede. i am a huge fan and i was glad he took some time to sit down and chat with me with me. we talk about podcasting, "austin stories", the new dragon boy suede album, "douche minutiae" and much, much more... our second guests are south carolina power pop band, a fragile tomorrow. i just walked in to a show, saw them playing and i was blown away. i had them come outside and talk to me and we talked about having their album produced by the great, mitch easter, some of the album's special guests are, the bangles, susan cowsill and amy ray! great band and great guys... our third guests are brooklyn dance/pop duo, no way josie! andrew and kym rode their bikes to my apartment and we talked about music, life, health, dancing and we laugh our asses off. i just love these guys so much. i had a blast chatting with them... last up, i got to catch-up with new york band, the attic ends. i finally got to see them play and it was fantastic. we had some cocktails and ducked into the driskill hotel bar and talked about their recent album and tour, songwriting, sxsw, being tall and much much more. there is also a lot of laughter on this one. i hope you enjoy these conversations. i really did. sxsw is gone, but i think i kept a little of the vibe on these two mash-up episodes. for pictures and updates, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/How-Did-I-Get-Here/255200761176138
ciao! -jg

Episode 154: SXSW 2013 Part 1- The Parlotones, Zeale, Grace London

greetings from sxsw 2013! i hope you'r doing well. if you're in this madness, good luck. if you're not, i hope enjoy these tales of a music conference gone insane. i've seen a lot of music and i've met a lot of folks. there will be a part 2 next week and maybe a part 3. in the next episode, you'll get to hear my sit down chat with comedian/rapper, howard kremer a.k.a dragon boy suede. i'm meeting a pop duo in a minute called, no way josie from nyc. so things are busy. jake's been taking some pics with a nice camera and we'll be uploading them soon.
episode 154 is a sxsw mash-up with some of the festival's hottest tickets! first up, south africa's biggest rock band with 16 top-40 hits in their country, the parlotone's. the band stopped by during their hectic sxsw schedule to talk about their recent move to the u.s., touring the world, their new e.p., "shake it up" and much, much more... second, i met up with austin rapper, zeale. zeale's been on tour a lot for the past year with awol nation, he's been playing redbull events, hosting parties and making records. we had a good chat. my third guest for this episode is the incredibly talented teen rocker, grace london. grace came in from l.a. and came by the apt. to chat about her new album, "rocketship girl", writing songs, recording with brian beattie, playing with jonas wilson, being a teenage feminist and much more. i hope you enjoy these conversations. i did. now, off to the madness. let's get down!
ciao! -jg

Episode 147: Black Taxi

city mouse becomes country mouse.
hello friends! i hope you're doing well. i am. i had a good weekend off. laid low friday and saturday then spent all day sunday having a great time. brunch, cocktails, house party. i have a song due for the songwriting game... i need to start and finish it. definitely tomorrow. i'm getting ready for the liars & saints show coming up at antone's next month. i get a lot of email about that band due to our appearance on the television show, "48 hours". we haven't played since sxsw 2012. i have no idea if we'll play afterwards. i guess we'll all have to stay-tuned and see what happens. either way, i'm excited to get in a room with those guys (and girl) and rock that shit!
do you like our new logo? it was made by the amazingly talented, allyson lipkin. you should hire to make your stuff too. here's her website lipstingmedia.com/
my guests for episode 147 is new york band, black taxi. the four members of black taxi have relocated to austin for two months to write and record new songs and play shows regionally including a residency at austin club, the parish for the month of february. my friend jake and i drove out to their home/studio in the country. they played me some great new songs then we sat down talked about the austin stay, writing songs, what keeps them together, touring, recording, how they feel about all of that and much, much more. also, after the interview i did, we have a special flashback interview from sxsw 2012 with ezra from black taxi and samantha rex from the attic ends. i had a great time hanging out with the guys at their new compound. check out the photos jake took at our facebook page. they're talented musicians and songwriters, thoughtful, smart and very nice. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 125: Jody Denberg

when i moved to austin in 1991, i lived in a very busy recording studio called, the congress house. it's a studio owned by producer/musician, mark hallman.  people at the studio were talking about a new radio station called, kgsr. how they played stuff that you had always wished was on the radio. so, i started listening and i loved it. in fact, i first heard nirvana, the innocence mission and lucinda williams on the station. i would always listen when i was going to and from work at whole foods. sometimes my shift started in the afternoon and sometimes it ended in the afternoon. on those afternoon drives, i would listen to the station's program director, jody denberg. he became the dj that let me know what you should be listening to. not just for me, but for a lot of people in this city that cared about music. jody is a music fan and that's what he brought to his station.
my guest for episode 125 is said music fan and radio maverick, jody denberg. i went over to jody's house yesterday and he gave a tour of his beautiful home. i got to go to his "rec room" where he has tons of photos with beatles, tom petty, yoko, patty smith and more albums than you can imagine. then we sat down in his office and he told me his story. it's a music fan's journey into a career where he just followed his heart and it really made/makes a difference. he's about to go on the air full-time again on kutx. a station that starts in the new year. i loved our visit and i'm looking forward to hanging out a lot more. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 100: Highlights

hey everyone!!! welcome to episode 100! thank you so much to everyone who has helped, supported, come by and talked to me and listened! thank you so much for listening. i'm looking forward to the next 100!
this episode features highlights from the first 100 episodes and a quick talk with todd v. wolfson about my experience doing this. this show includes excerpts of my conversations with suzanna choffel, dony wynn, ian moore, fastball, dale dudley, kathy valentine, tim palmer, alpha rev, will sexton, alejandro escovedo, bodeans, billy harvey and david grissom. i hope you enjoy these these highlights as much as i do. thank you again.
ciao! -jg

Episode 83: B-Doe - Radio personality

another 4th of july has passed and all i have to show for it is a burned out sparkler and a new neurotic obsession with my balls.
hey everyone! i hope you're doing well. i had a conversation at a party last night that left me with the burning question, how long should my balls be? well, i'm concerned. apparently long-balls are a turn-off. do you think there's such a thing as testiplasty? get back to me.
my guest for episode 83 is austin radio personalty b-doe! b-doe is a disc jockey on klbj fm here in austin and a big supporter of live music and musicians. he got his start on the austin music network, got another tv show, which he also co-created, and eventually ended up on the radio. i've always gotten along great with him. he is a sweet guy and as i said, a great supporter and fan of music. i was glad b-doe could come by the apartment and we could talk about how he got here. enjoy it! i did.
ciao! =jg

Episode 73: Danny Malone - Live bootleg recording by: Scott Stevens

hello people! we thought we had lost this recording due to a technical error on our part.  i had such a good time talking to danny and it felt like the audience was really engaged and they really got what we were doing. so, i was bummed when i heard it and it wasn't all there. thank god for my friend, samera who told me that she saw a guy filming the whole thing on his iphone. well, it turns out danny knew who it was and he got us in contact and scott stevens got me the video. i put down the audio. it's recorded like a bootleg and it sounds like a bootleg, but think it makes it even more special. let us know what you think. special thanks to danny malone, jessica jarret and hotel vegas. super special thanks to scott stevens for recording it! i hope you enjoy this episode as much as i do. ciao! -jg
ps. i'll post the video of it to youtube this week! cheers!

Episode 67: David' Garza

hi people!
as i sit down to write this paragraph about this interview, i am realizing all of the things i never talked to my guest about. he's opened for and toured as a sideman with fiona apple, alejandro escovedo and more. writing and working with the hanson brothers and so many more... oh well, this can be my excuse to have him on again in a year.
my guest for episode 67 is my dear friend, david' garza! david' and i played our first show together in 1991 at fitzgerald's in houston and have been friends ever since. david' was a tough guy to nail down for this. he is not one that's comfortable in these situations without making music, so i was so ecstatic that after months of asking, he finally agreed to come and talk to me on the record. david' is my favorite musician. when he picks up an instrument, wether it's my ukelele at a party and playing a hawaiian version of "the stroke" by billy squier or sitting at a piano in a random restaurant and playing for hours, i love to hear him make music. david' is an extremely versatile and prolific musician. if you don't own any of his music or have never seen him play live, i urge you to go to www.davidgarza.com immediately and buy some music and find out when he's playing near you!  i really hope you enjoy our conversation. i did!
ciao! -jg

Episode 61: Toddy B.

today's episode is sponsored by: The 7th Annual Marijuana Law for Musicians and DWI Law for Social Drinkers Monday, April 16th, 2012, at the Mohawk, Austin. 8-9pm. Free.
i love and have always loved dance music. although i must say, dance music and d.j. culture can be polarizing among my peers in rock. some will say, "it all sounds the same." "it's not even music"... but it is. they're not making 3 minute songs working out their problems in the lyrics. it's not about instrument virtuosity. it's about creating a vibe. it's about bringing a group of people together and celebrating. hopefully, you'll be able to sit back and listen to this episode and have a greater understanding for music that just wants you to have a good time.
my guest for episode 61 is d.j. toddy b. toddy has won several austin music awards for best d.j., including this year! i was glad that toddy agreed to, and came by, the apartment. we talked about how he works a party, opening for for bigger d.j.'s like deadmau5 and skrillex, the increasing popularity of dance music and d.j. culture, his radio show and podcast and much, much more. i really enjoyed my conversation with toddy. i hope you do to.
ciao! -jg
ps. if you're in austin, i'll be playing at hotel vegas (1500 e. 6th st.) on sunday, april 15th at 7 pm. danny malone plays at 8
and coming sunday, april 29th a live recording of "how did i get here?" with guest danny malone. here's some info on the show.
http://www.facebook.com/events/132369176887789/