The Trap Set with Joe Wong

Latest Episodes:

253: Rick Smith (Torche) Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

Joe and Torche's Rick Smith first met when their respective bands shared a bill in Dallas, TX, in 2008. The two reconnected last year when Rick was in Los Angeles, touring behind Torche's excellent new album, Admission.

During the age of social distancing, we're releasing new episodes every day.

252: Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service) Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Ben Gibbard is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie, and as co-founder of The Postal Service. Ben and Joe discuss: songwriting; the challenge of creative evolution; existential dread; and life in quarantine.

251: Andrya Ambro (Gold Dime, Talk Normal) Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Armed with a background in orchestral percussion, hand drumming, and jazz studies, Andrya Ambro possesses a uniquely compositional drum set style and is a proud member of the Singing Drummer Club. A resident of New York City, Andrea tells Joe about how she is handling the current pandemic; growing up in Delaware; the influence her older brother had in shaping her musical awareness; getting kicked out of jazz school; finding her voice via hand drumming; and the internal debate around whether her dedication to music would preclude her from becoming the kind of parent she'd want to be.

250: Billy Martin (illy B; Medeski, Martin & Wood; John Zorn; Bob Moses, etc.) Mar 28, 2020

Show notes

Billy Martin joins Joe to discuss: how his parents met at Radio City Music Hall (she--a Rockette, he--a musician); his childhood affinity for Jacques Cousteau; how going to the movies informed his inner world; some of his key mentors; the difference between dead music and live music; and why he considers himself an experimental artist.

249: Matt Sharp (The Rentals, Weezer) Mar 27, 2020

Show notes

Matt Sharp and Joe gulped down thick, black coffee and hung out for well over two hours. We discussed: Matt's itinerant childhood as the son of a government contractor; working with brilliant producers such as Ric Ocasek; how his first band--Weezer--willed themselves to success; working with Nick Zinner and Ronnie Vanucci on the new Rentals album, Q36; and collaborating with multimedia artists via the HITRECORD platform.

248: Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top, The Moving Sidewalks) Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

The legendary Billy Gibbons joins Joe to discuss: his love of Fugazi; studying percussion with Tito Puente; attending art school in Hollywood; Roky Erickson; his uncle, Cedric Gibbons, the most awarded art director in history; and why--after over 50 years as a band--it's still a joy to play with ZZ Top.

247: Mike Bordin (Faith No More, Ozzy Osborne) Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Mike Bordin delivers trance inducing rhythmic patterns with earth-shattering power. This inimitable style places him in the pantheon of all-time great rock drummers. Mike and Joe discuss: Mike's journalist grandfather who worked as editor of The Milwaukee Sentinel; how Mike and his childhood friend, legendary bassist Cliff Burton, began playing their respective instruments together; how music saved Mike's life; how he developed his explosive drum technique; the steady trajectory of Faith No More; hanging out around Tony Williams; playing with Ozzy; and Mike's preference for living in the present.

246: Chad Clark (Beauty Pill, Smart Went Crazy) Mar 24, 2020

Show notes

Chad Clark's parents were attorneys positioned at the vanguard of the civil rights movement, representing the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Baldwin. Ergo, Chad feels that--however lofty his ambitions--he'll never impact the world to the same degree as his family. That said, his music is enormously impactful on the folks lucky enough to have heard it. He and Joe discuss: his first memory of staring at the sea; the nature of success; the responsibilities of an artist, beyond making the art; Chad's roots in the DC punk scene; and why he is proud to remain in his home town.

245: Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rocket Juice & the Moon, Atoms for Peace) Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

Before attaining massive success with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea was a wild child, roaming the streets of Hollywood. He and Joe discuss: the unfamiliar vulnerability he faced when writing his excellent memoir Acid for the Children; the cathartic experience of translating traumatic memories to text; the spiritual connection between jazz and punk rock; the seeming decline of active listening; and the kind of connection he seeks with drummers.

244: Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In, De Facto, etc.) Mar 22, 2020

Show notes

Cedric Bixler-Zavala is best known as the explosive vocalist for bands like The Mars Volta and At The Drive-In, but he is also an accomplished drummer. He and Joe discuss: a punk rock video arcade in El Paso, TX; drumming in punk band Foss with Beto O'Rourke; the unique story behind his surname; selling bootlegged cigarettes on tour to make ends meet, just before experiencing explosive success; 90s punk dogma; and the lifelong creative dynamic between himself and his creative brother, Omar Rodríguez-López.

As a bonus, Craig Wedren, who happens to be a creative influence on both Joe and Cedric, drops by to talk about his meditative Sabbath Sessions.

Because we're in lockdown due to the Corona virus outbreak. We're recording by phone and bringing you new episodes of The Trap Set every day for the foreseeable future.

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