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 121: Adam Sultan / Same Sky Productions

have a happy thanksgiving!
hey everyone! i hope you're doing well and ready for thanksgiving. i'm going to houston with my cousin, megan to spend time with my family. skyrocket will be playing on friday at the house of blues bronze peacock room and at steiner ranch steakhouse in austin on saturday. busy holiday weekend for me, but a big show for you today... first, i go by and have a short chat with david, andre' and chris at same sky productions and we talk about, "austin christmas", a christmas album they made featuring austin musicians backing up a host of austin singers including, yours truly. they're great guys, it's a fun conversation and the album sounds great. pick up a copy for yourself or someone you love at http://www.same-sky.com/ .
after my same sky visit, i sit down with someone i've always wanted to chat with, guitarist/composer/songwriter and all-araound cool guy, adam sultan. i've seen adam play for over 20 years now and i've never had a chance to talk to him. well, the former poi dog pondering, hollowbody (and many, many more) guitarist came over and we sat down and got to know each other. he's a great guy and i had a really good time talking to him. have fun listening and have a happy thanksgiving!
ciao! -jg

Episode 117: Ryan Cownie a.k.a. Thad Newman MC

election day!
hello folks! i hope you're well and you're happy with who you voted for. just think, tomorrow we'll wake up and not have to hear about an election for a while... thank god!
my guest for episode 117 is comedian, ryan cownie. i've seen ryan do stand-up around three times an every time he's made me laugh until i cried. i went to charlie hodge's monkeyshine mondays last week and ryan got up and improvised a bit about the first time he was at the show and it just killed! anyway, i was glad ryan came by. we talked about his start in lincoln, nebraska when he was 17 putting on his own shows, working at the funny bone in omaha and moving to austin and becoming part of the up and coming comedy scene here. i hope you enjoy our converstion. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 101: Bob Schneider

keep that stiffy rollin'
hello my friends! i hope you're all happy and healthy. i just got in from a show in houston. the show & the drive home were good. when i travel with skyrocket!, i ride with paul and cory (who wrote and sings our theme song, "needle hits the groove"). we had a talk this  morning about our first time hearing kiss and van halen. it was a very nostalgic conversation and it made me happy. also, i recorded it. we call ourselves, "the sharks", so i thought it would be cool to have a short segment on the show called, "the shark chronicles". it would just a couple of minutes of one of our conversations during our travels. look for that soon!
my guest for episode 101 is austin music juggernaut, bob schneider. i've known bob for almost 20 years and although we're not close, i consider him a friend. he is the most prolific artist i've ever met. he is constantly making music, art, poetry and always playing shows. he has a huge following in austin and around the united states. he's created a career for himself based on great songs and live shows, and he's managed to keep his audience growing and growing. the guy is really amazing.  i hope you enjoy our conversation in his green room before soundcheck as much as i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 82: Phranchyze

tomkat! tomkat! where did you go? does anyone have tom cruise's number? i feel like we could talk.
Hello friends! i hope you're doing well. i played all weekend with SKYROCKET!. the shows were fun. we played in houston saturday and i got my car back! very exciting. i saw "rock of ages". it was terrible enough to be very funny just as i had hoped. i tell you my feelings about it in this episode. SKYROCKET! will be playing at the steiner ranch steakhouse here in austin, tx tomorrow for the 4th of july. if you're in austin, come out!
my guest for episode 82 is hip-hop artist, phranchyze. i've been trying to hook-up with phranchyze and do this interview for a couple of months and last week it finally happened. he came by and we talked about how he got started rapping, his "battle" prowess, winning tons of battle competitions, making his first record, mix tapes, beats, his collaborations with folks like zeale and gary clark jr. and touring with snoop dogg. i had a great time talking to phranchyze and i love his music. you can keep up with phranchyze at phranchyze.com
let's get down! - jg

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 64: Jeff Plankenhorn - The Resentments, Bob Schneider and many, many more

today's show is brought to you by hotel vegas 1500 e. 6th st. austin, tx
hey everyone! don't forget. THIS sunday, april 29th, hotel vegas at 7 pm we're doing a live recording of "how did i get here?" and my guest will be danny malone. if you're in austin, please come out and join us.
my guest for episode 64 is the amazing guitarist/songwriter,  jeff plankenhorn. i met jeff in the mid-2000's when he was playing guitar with bob schneider. i didn't know that a chance meeting with songwriting great, ray wiley hubbard took him from nashville to austin where he started playing with many traveling singer/songwriters until he got a gig playing with gavin degraw. his guitar playing has gotten him gigs with many greats including, slaid cleeves, the courtyard hounds, bruce robison, eliza gilkyson and many more. now jeff is in the resentments along with, many other incredible songwriters, he's on SKYPE 22 hours a day and he's about to put out a new solo album. so, i hope you enjoy my crazy conversation with jeff. i did.
ciao! -jg

Episode 58: Tee-Double

today's episode is sponsored by: urban squared realty
hello everyone! i hope you're well. i have a couple of announcements to make. first, i'm playing the next three sundays (4/8, 4/15, 4/22) at hotel vegas in austin, texas. i play at 7 pm, danny malone plays at 8. danny is a great singer/songwriter and if you haven't heard him, you should! which leads me to my second announcement... on sunday, april 29th at hotel vegas in austin at 7 pm, instead of playing i'm doing a live recording of "how did i get here?" and my guest will be danny malone!!!!! i might be adding some more folks to the show... we'll see. so, if you like the show and you'll be in austin, please come out and watch a live interview!!!!
my guest for episode 58 is rapper/entrepreneur/producer/songwriter, tee-double. i met tee at a party at sxsw. i listened to his songs and invited him to be on the show. he told me his story about submitting his demos to warner bros. at 9 years old, recording his demos on casios and boomboxes at sears, to getting his songs placed on such highly rated shows as amc's "breaking bad"! he is branching into getting other artists songs placed in movies, television and commercials. i hope you enjoy our conversation. i did.
ciao! -jg