The LIFERS Podcast

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159. LIFERS - Bruce Lamont Feb 23, 2024

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Bruce Lamont is a lifer’s lifer and a true embodiment of the fabled midwestern work ethic. His band Yakuza is celebrating its 25th year this Sunday at Thalia Hall with a show that will surely feature selections from their latest (and greatest?) album SUTRA. But that’s not all that Bruce has cooking — and Yakuza is far from his only band/project. Oh, no, no, no. If you’re new to the world of Bruce Lamont, you’ve got a lot of fucking listening to do. But fear not! We at The LIFERS Podcast are here to get you up to speed. This week we talk about Dyslexic Apaches, VFW halls, 85 dollar Queensryche shows, Pococurantes, saxophones, car rides with Sanford Parker, bag taxes and syntaxes, bar gigs at SXSW, more Warped Tour misery, and pizza parties with Pantera. As Bruce would say: DO IT!!!

158. LIFERS - Nick Miller Feb 16, 2024

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If you grew up anywhere near Chicago, the history of JAM Productions is probably a mirror image to your own history as a concert goer. Founded over 50 years ago (and still independent and going strong), JAM has done more to shape the live music landscape in Chicago than just about any entity we can think of. In the late ‘80s and straight out of college, Nick Miller got a job at the powerhouse promotion company and quickly became an important (and beloved) part of the operation. In fact, if you’re going to a show in Chicago this week — there’s a good chance that Nick might be in the building. On this episode, Nick schools us on what it takes to be a concert promoter, how to make pizzas at Barnaby’s, WVVX, guitars, having a Rolodex for a brain, Jeff Beck, Emo & Judy, Nick’s band Viceroy, 4 nights with Cheap Trick, the 90s in Chicago, the Rolling Stones at Double Door, Ice T vs. The Police, the band that starts with a “Z” and ends with a “trope”, and an epic round of “What’s The Best?!?” featuring the best concerts (or if you’re cool, best “shows”). This is a good one.

157. LIFERS - “Gabe! Who do we have on the show today?” Feb 09, 2024

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We couldn’t book a guest so Scott got drunk, Ben got high, and Gabe sold a bunch of Superbowl squares.

156. QUITTERS - Starring Freda Love Smith!!! Feb 02, 2024

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This week on The QUITTERS Podcast: The last time we had Freda Love Smith on the show it was to celebrate/lament her decision to retire from a long and illustrious drumming career. Turns out that was just the tip of the quitting iceberg. In her terrific new book I QUIT EVERYTHING, Freda chronicles her year of furiously and very un-quietly quitting evvverrrything —and no surprise— it’s as funny, thoughtful, and wonderfully human as you would expect. On this episode we talk to Freda about being a big ol’ quitter, “The Bad News Bears”, book tours, Saturday morning cereals, spraying mace in John Strohm’s face, “Barfly”, caffeine, and WHAT’S THE BEST?!? songs about booze. Cheers!

155. LIFERS - Jack Douglas Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

You could call Jack Douglas the world’s greatest living producer and you probably wouldn’t get a whole lotta blowback from people who obsess about these things. Jack has produced seminal records for everyone from Cheap Trick to Aerosmith to Patti Smith to John freakin’ Lennon (he also produced a record for Local H, but we don’t need to get into that). In short — he’s the best. He also has the best stories. And in December at a live event at Gman Tavern (yes — we’re back at Gman), Scott got the chance to pry some of those stories out of him. On this episode Jack talks about his brand new label Confidential Records, his brand new signing Robin Taylor Zander (yup - he’s related), sailing with pirates to Liverpool to meet the Beatles, actually meeting the Beatles, the inspirational power of Marty Feldman, John Lennon’s dubious methods to win percussion contests, Cheap Trick gigs in Wisconsin, and (wisely) refusing joints from Jimi Hendrix. Jesus Christ — what a life! (Special thanks to our buddy Evan Peters for engineering and recording Scott’s interview with Jack.)

154. LIFERS - Tyler Spencer (aka Dick Valentine!!!) Jan 19, 2024

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To the list of perfect and fully formed debut records — a list that includes “Nevermind The Bollocks”, “Murmur" and the first Ramones album — one has to include Electric Six’s “Fire”. 20 years and just about as many albums later, Electric Six and Tyler Spencer (aka Dick Valentine) are still going nuclear as Tyler joins us on a (getting into the) jam-packed episode to talk songwriting, touring, being fired vs. firing, and most importantly, what's the best rock song that's really a disco song. Plus: winter beards, Mats vs. Maiden, tavern-style goes Hollywood, and much more!

153. LIFERS Live!!! - At Gman Tavern with Fig Dish (01/02/24) Jan 12, 2024

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The LIFERS Podcast is STILL on stage! Night two at Gman Tavern in Chicago was (impossibly) even more drunken and uproarious than night one at Gman Tavern. This could’ve been due to Scott’s general exhaustion, the crowd’s general rowdiness or Figdish being locked in a basement for two hours — but the smart money is on Gabe’s Frank Booth performance. Whatever the case — it was a night for the ages and only a small portion of it is fit for consumption by those who weren’t there. This episode is a collection of those portions.

152. LIFERS Live!!! - At Gman Tavern with Deanna Belos on New Year’s Day! Jan 05, 2024

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The LIFERS Podcast is back on stage! We started 2024 off right/wrong with a special LIVE New Year’s hangover party at the Gman Tavern in Chicago (it was Kelly Wey’s idea). Was it a success? Well… mostly. After talking about Gabe’s horrific performance as Jambi from Pee Wee’s Playhouse (and witnessing Gabe’s horriFIED performance as Richard Roma from David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross) — we welcomed our first guest of ‘24: Deanna Belos of Sincere Engineer! Who then proceeded to win over the audience with her winning combination of heartfelt bashfulness and good humor — that is until she let it slip that she hated dogs(?!?). It got ugly after that. PLUS!!!: Ben’s wearing Scrooge’s pajamas, Kelly’s Bloody Mary program, Colin Smith doesn’t want to be here, U2, Silverchair, “One Shot With Scott”, Deanna plays some tunes, Brendan Kelly stops by for a few rounds of “Cards Against Humanity”, and a good time was had by all (except for the dog thing).

151. LIFERS - 2023: And SCENE! Dec 29, 2023

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Another year gone by — another LIFERS Podcast wrap up. The year in rear-view includes Rick Ness, Rick Froberg, Walter Schriefels, Tommy Stinson, Kyle Kinane, Brendan Kelly, Pat Healy, Allen Epley, and apparently no women! God, we suck.

150. LIFERS - Brendan Kelly’s War On Xmas Dec 22, 2023

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Brendan Kelly and his excellent punk-rock combo The Lawrence Arms have been waging a war on Christmas at various Chicago venues for 9 years now. Just a couple of weeks ago, their beloved and annual anti-Yuletide concerts lovingly dubbed “War On X-mas” sold out two nights at The Metro. So we figured Brendan would be the perfect guy to drop by and vent some holiday spleen while helping us pick —not the best— but the WORST songs the Christmas season has to offer. It will come as no surprise to the many Lawrence Arms fans out there that Brendan was more than up to the task. Merry Christmas, everybody!!!

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