My First Band Podcast

Latest Episodes:

41 – Christopher Porterfield (Field Report, Dinner With Gregg, DeYarmond Edison) Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Christopher Porterfield has experienced a great deal of the ups and downs the music industry has to offer. He's been signed, toured the continent, performed on national television and shared the stage with some of the planet's most celebrated musicians. Along the way, he's dealt with album cycles, promotional pushes, label changes and false promises about how his work would be handled. Through it all, the Field Report singer, guitarist and bandleader is still here, still creating and more motivated than ever before. Within the past month alone, Porterfield unveiled his new label — Fellesskap Records — and put out a pair of Field Report EPs, with a handful of live shows on the horizon.

Before he poured himself and his inimitable voice into being the front man and creative force behind Field Report, however, Porterfield was a supporting member of an Eau Claire (by way of Rochester, Minnesota) band called Dinner With Gregg. Just after launching the label and before what's sure to be an accomplished 2020, Porterfield joined My First Band host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk about Field Report's exciting new happenings, his time with Dinner With Gregg, playing alongside Justin Vernon in DeYarmond Edison, starting Conrad Plymouth after moving to Milwaukee and much more.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Mystery Room Mastering. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Dinner With Gregg ("Fractured Solo") and Field Report ("Breathe").

40 – Andrew Winistorfer (Vinyl Me, Please) Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

It took a great deal of time and almost as much disappointment in the process, but Andrew Winistorfer is finally making a living as a music writer. Since coming on as the editorial director for Vinyl Me, Please, Winistorfer spearheaded the record subscription service's music coverage and assembled a staff of skilled contributors to assist him. Along the way, he helped put together two ambitious coffee table books, including the just-released Best Record Stores In The United States, along with contributing liner notes to celebrated reissues and handling A&R for VMP's new "Classics" division. In many ways, it's a dream job for Winistorfer, especially when taking into account the long and uncertain road that brought him to this point.

Shortly before the book's release, My First Band host Tyler Maas stopped by the Midwest office of Vinyl Me, Please in downtown Madison to talk about the exciting things Winistorfer is doing now and to take a trip down memory lane. The two reminisced about their time working together on their college newspaper (The Advance-Titan at UW-Oshkosh), compared horror stories about the difficult and ever-changing world of entertainment writing, and chronicled their separate paths to the ultra-rare distinction of making a career in modern journalism.

During the extensive conversation, Winistorfer told the story of playing a college house party with his one and only band, admitted he came close to quitting music writing to become a manager at Target and talked about how writing about his record collection in alphabetical order would ultimately change the course of his life.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Mystery Room Mastering. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and the title track from Vinyl Me, Please's Classics record for the month of December — B.B. King's "Lucille".

39 – Scott Hobart (Giants Chair, Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys) Nov 29, 2019

Show notes

After more than 20 years away, Giants Chair is back! The seminal Kansas City post-hardcore band, which went on an indefinite hiatus in 1997, didn't just come back for some reunion shows: They wrote a brand-new album. Giants Chair will release its loooooooong-awaited third record, Prefabylon, on Dec. 6. Just because the band wasn't active since the Clinton administration doesn't mean members weren't keeping busy with other projects in the meantime.

Before Giants Chair took the stage at Cactus Club for its first Milwaukee show since the '90s, singer and guitarist Scott Hobart invited My First Band host Tyler Maas into the band's RV to discuss the long and winding path to Prefabylon and everything that came before. There, they talked about Giants Chair's brief stint as a Green Bay band before they made their mark in KC and influenced Midwestern acts for years to come.

Hobart went on to talk about growing up in a musical family in rural Missouri, waiting for his moment to be pulled on stage to play guitar with U2 as a kid, joining bands in high school and college, honoring his father's memory with a country band called Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys after Giants Chair ended, and much more.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and Giants Chair ("Dirty Winter").

38 – Mike Felumlee (Smoking Popes, Alkaline Trio) Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

Mike Felumlee has the special distinction of being both the former and current drummer of Smoking Popes. Between stints in the seminal Chicago punk band, the percussionist spent a few years playing drums in Alkaline Trio. Along the way, he started a solo project, began a record label and stepped away from music for a few years before getting back behind the kit and making his way behind the camera for his Live From The Rock Room music video series.

My First Band host Tyler Maas recently joined Felumlee in Rock Room version 2.0 in the veteran drummer's new home in Milwaukee. After talking about some of his favorite pizzas and burgers in his adopted city, Felumlee went all the way back to his childhood, when his parents bought him a used drum set. Over the course of the long, interesting and incredibly open discussion, he also touched on his pre-Popes projects, the backlash the band has faced through the years, replacing one of his friends in Alkaline Trio, what led to him being kicked out of the group shortly after the release of From Here to Infirmary and much more. Smoking Popes will perform at The Back Room @ Colectivo on Dec. 6, and Mike Felumlee & The Bigger Empty will play X-Ray Arcade on Dec. 14.

37 – Carl Nichols and Johanna Rose (Nickel&Rose) Nov 15, 2019

Show notes

This week's guests are Carl Nichols and Johanna Rosa, a duo who makes beautiful music together as Nickel&Rose. Since the folk project formed roughly three years ago, the pair has played all around Europe, toured around the continental United States and shared the stage with The SteelDrivers among others. Before Nichols and Rose found each other and started Nickel&Rose, they played in a ton of other bands that touch on almost as many different musical genres.

During a rare span of time between tours, they came to Milwaukee Record headquarters to tell My First Band host Tyler Maas how they met and how the project came to be, before discussing their divergent musical paths that led them to where they are today. Over the course of the long, informative and lighthearted conversation, Nichols talked about trying to recruit bandmates on Craigslist as a Mars-Volta-obsessed teen, and Rose talked about throwing herself into Milwaukee's music scene after returning home from Oregon. Along the way, Maas annoyed the guests with regrettable puns and Rose entirely forgot about another band she currently plays in.

36 – Kellen Abston (Klassik) Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Listeners throughout Milwaukee, all around the Midwest and in Rob Gronkowski's car know Kellen Abston for his extensive, eclectic and altogether impressive body of work he's released under the name Klassik. Over Klassik's near-10-year run, the rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist has earned oodles of attention in the local scene, opened for a host of impressive acts, challenged himself with a wide range of different creative undertakings and made some of Milwaukee's most impressive music this decade. But long before Klassik came to be, Abston was a kid with a knack for the sax.

Weeks before his long-awaited album, QUIET., is released, Abston dropped by Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk to My First Band host Tyler Maas about his start in school band, learning to recreate some of his favorite beats at an early age, selling his own beats in high school, his foray into rapping, the decision to give up a full-ride college scholarship to pursue music, his stint in Group Of The Altos and the importance of intention in art. QUIET. comes out everywhere Nov. 22!

35 – Ellis Ludwig-Leone (San Fermin) Nov 01, 2019

Show notes

Ellis Ludwig-Leone has spent most of his life immersed in music. Long before the Yale-educated composer and songwriter made his mark with San Fermin, the Brooklyn indie rock collective's bandleader was a kid in rural Massachusetts looking to challenge himself with classical music and Russian "knuckle-busters" during piano lessons. In high school, he wound up playing keyboard in a short-lived instrumental metal outfit, followed by a stint performing Ben Folds and Eagle-Eye Cherry covers at Sweet 16 parties in a cover band. While at a Berklee College of Music summer camp, Ludwig-Leone struck up a friendship with a fellow camper named Allen Tate, and the rest was history.

Recently, prior to a show at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom in support of San Fermin's recently released The Cormorant I, Ludwig-Leone met My First Band host Tyler Maas in the venue's balcony to talk about his formative early auditory endeavors, starting a project with Tate while they were going to college in different states and how San Fermin has changed his life in ways he never could've anticipated. Though this one is shorter than most episodes, Ellis managed to pack a ton of great stories and interesting information into a tight pre-show window.

34 – Mike Kennerty (All-American Rejects, Mr. Crispy, The Measles) Oct 25, 2019

Show notes

If you're familiar with The All-American Rejects (and you almost certainly are), then you're also familiar with the work of Mike Kennerty. The guitarist joined the internationally known rock band in 2002, just before the Oklahoma-based group's meteoric rise to worldwide acclaim and notoriety on the wings of "Swing, Swing" and other breakout hits from their self-titled debut album. In the 17 years since Kennerty joined up, the Rejects have amassed a huge collection of hits, built a massive fan base all over the planet, shared the stage with some of the world's biggest bands, topped the Billboard charts and appreciated every step along the way.

Before the band's longtime guitarist was a part of The All-American Rejects, Kennerty was an eighth grader in Houston who was playing drums in a band called The Measles. From there, he was part of a metal band in high school, before winding up on guitar after high school with a group called Mr. Crispy. Recently, while in Milwaukee to play lead guitar at the first Mini Meltdowns show, Kennerty talked about his early projects, a great tour in support of Avail, a not-so-great tour supporting CKY, how he wound up in one of the biggest modern alternative rock projects and his side gig recording and producing records for bands like Masked Intruder and The Copyrights.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and Mr. Crispy ("Marathon Song").

33 – Channy Leaneagh (Poliça, Gayngs) Oct 18, 2019

Show notes

In the eight-plus years Poliça has been a band, the synth-pop project has toured the world, released critically acclaimed albums that have been heard millions upon millions of times and further bolstered the already-sterling musical pedigree of their hometown of Minneapolis. Long before Poliça — an outfit Justin Vernon of Bon Iver once called "the best band [he's] ever heard" — was making incredible, innovative music and climbing the European charts, singer Channy Leaneagh was a young violinist who was agonizing over every mistake she made during recitals.

Recently, before the band's headlining performance at Flannel Fest in Milwaukee (just her second show after recovering from a broken back she sustained last winter), Leaneagh invited My First Band host Tyler Maas to join her in a green room RV to discuss her unlikely path to fronting Poliça. After talking about the band's forthcoming full-length that's due out at the end of January, the singer talked about playing fiddle and singing in a bluegrass band while attending college in South Dakota, busking at farmer's markets in Minnesota, getting booked to play a birthday party and the circumstances that led to her winding up in Gayngs. Along the way, they talked about the camaraderie in the Minneapolis music scene, and Maas wondered why Poliça is so big in Belgium.

32 – Noah Gundersen (Beneath Oceans, Young In The City, Glorietta) Oct 11, 2019

Show notes

At just 30 years old, Noah Gundersen has already managed to accomplish more than most musicians do in a lifetime. The Seattle-based singer and songwriter has put out more than a dozen albums and EPs, which have been heard millions upon millions of times. His music has been featured on popular TV shows like Sons Of Anarchy, The Vampire Diaries, The Following and Nashville. He's roved the planet to play concerts to passionate audiences everywhere. Long before he was an accomplished artist though, Gundersen was a homeschooled kid from a religious family who tried to combat his loneliness and boredom by teaching himself to play guitar.

Recently, prior to a show at The Back Room @ Colectivo, Gundersen met My First Band host Tyler Maas backstage for a fun and informative discussion about his formative musical endeavors. After talking about accidentally releasing a record called Lover the exact same day Taylor Swift dropped an album with the same name, Gundersen opened up about self-recording a batch of cringe-inducing songs when he was 13, finding early inspiration from bands like Pedro The Lion and Dashboard Confessional, forming "terrible" emo bands in his teens, playing shows in a friend's garage in his small Washington hometown, and making the decision to fully commit to a solo project.

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