Toronto based psych-rock artist Rise Carmine is back on the podcast for his second chat. When we last spoke in November, he was just about to release the EP “Come In Closer”, now we’re regrouping to chat about new album “Under The Red Light”... Photo: Peyton Mott open.spotify.com/episode/4PDO...

The Zaxons are a Canadian post-punk and indie rock duo. Combining elements of British post-punk, jangle pop, shoegaze and new wave with minimal vocals. Their second album “Videopticons” came out at the beginning of June. Listen to the interview now... open.spotify.com/episode/6Mpv...

Darren Hayman is a songwriter who first came to public attention as the frontman of Hefner back at the end of the 90’s. On 12th June he re-released the 2012 album ‘The Violence' and I chatted to him about it and other projects! Listen to the full interview now… open.spotify.com/episode/6S3G...

I visited the Tuska Festival in Helsinki. The episode is part of the 80 Bands Around the World project and includes Japanese band Loudness, Paleface Swiss from Switzerland, Slope from Germany and Lunarsea from Italy… Loudness photo: @toviagency @riikkavaahtera open.spotify.com/episode/1k47...

Zanders are a 4-piece chamber-pop band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2014, they have just released their 3rd album “Sweetie”, ten songs which delve into themes of lost friendships and insecurities while still sounding fresh and not overly sentimental. open.spotify.com/episode/1cGt...

US are a Finnish band whose genre is challenging to pin down. Between garage rock, 60’s rock and roll, punk and blues rock, their live shows are full of energy. Today their second album “Everybody’s Giving Up The Cabaret” is out and I caught up with them to chat… open.spotify.com/episode/2J2q...

Doss are a Scottish band playing electronic post punk. Sorley Mackay started the project during Covid and has since been joined by Chilton Fawcett on drums. Doss released their debut self-titled EP last month. Photo: Mark Anthony Gilles open.spotify.com/episode/7ube...

Back to the 80 Bands Around the World project in this episode and a trip to Helsinki for ODDfest. 4 more artists including an interview with Banjo Copilot. open.spotify.com/episode/39cS...

Alum Alu are a nomad folk rock/gypsy punk band from Riga, Latvia. Starting as a lockdown project, they have spent time in the Latvian charts and are worth checking out live too. They just released their latest single “Heijā Heijā”. Photo: Laura Ellere-Pousson open.spotify.com/episode/5GRa...

The Magic City are a Boston based 4-piece rock band who released their debut album last month. Heavily influenced by early Britpop bands (especially Suede), this is a band of veteran musicians making music akin to what they grew up with! Photo: Ken Marcou open.spotify.com/episode/6i0n...

Essex 4-piece Bloodwoolf are a brand new band who released their debut self-titled EP in March. Playing something between modern metal and nostalgic 90’s rock, they’ve hit their groove quickly and are already well on the way to their second EP release. open.spotify.com/episode/3qEx...

Cologne based TAIHR sit somewhere in the field of progressive rock/alternative rock but with a latin twist. Signed to Tonzonen Records, the band are just about to release their 2nd album “Allicanto”. Photo: Marvin Alexander Laszlo open.spotify.com/episode/7nzm...

Ghosts on TV are a six-piece post-rock band from Helsinki. Three guitars create a sonic wall of sound while remaining minimalistic and allowing subtle nuances to shine through. They have just released their 3rd studio album “Iridescent”. Photo: Aapo Soulanto open.spotify.com/episode/38CX...

Madre Vaca is the brainchild of Benjamin Shorstein, a Florida-based composer who works with a long-standing collective of collaborators. The latest release is “Tunnel to the Moon”, inspired by and based on poems written by Charlie Shuck. Photo: Charlie Shuck open.spotify.com/episode/3sar...

Pastel Blank is the brainchild of Angus Watt. The debut album “Unmade In Minutes” was released on April 24th and dips its musical toes into pop, funk, disco and way more! It certainly doesn’t sound like a debut album and I’m loving it. Photo: Kenza Vandenbroeck open.spotify.com/episode/1RQ8...

August Gladstone is a singer/songwriter from California who takes influence from the folk revival of the 60’s and 70’s. Debut album “The Golden West” is out now and it’s certainly an interesting journey of an album. Photo: Clare Larsen Check out the interview now! open.spotify.com/episode/6HQg...

Another episode in the 80 Bands Around the World project, and this time I took a trip to Helsinki's World Village Fair to catch 5 countries! open.spotify.com/episode/4FNn...

Civil Villains hail from Oxford and play alt-rock/post-hardcore. They have shared the stage with Mould and Sparta, while making appearances at festivals such as Portals and The Alternative Escape. Their second album ‘A Sleeper, Underneath’ was released on May 8th. open.spotify.com/episode/52HS...

A trip to the April Jazz Festival 2026 and two more fabulous artists added to the 80 Bands Around the World total. open.spotify.com/episode/6tsr...

Dez Dare is Darren Smallman, label owner, music marketing guru, audio visual artist, booking agent and for this interview indie rock musician. He has just released his latest album and I thought it was time to delve into his music… Photo: Michiel de Wilde open.spotify.com/episode/36Bd...

This week we dive into part 2 of the Tallinn Music Week Special and 5 more bands into the 80 Bands Around the World project. Featuring Hajda Banda (Belarus), Kanazoé Orkestra (Burkina Faso), Alum Alu (Latvia), Sketchbook Quartet (Austria) and Worm Man (Serbia). open.spotify.com/episode/6wLR...

Tilly Vickers Willis is a Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter with haunting, smoky vocals and beautiful melodies who has just released her debut “Silver Halide Film”. I hear a blend of folk, trip-hop, jazz trumpets and much more in the album. Photo: Steph Reid open.spotify.com/episode/0LbX...

An epic 4 band episode of the 80 Bands Around the World project in part one of the Tallinn Music Week special. Some fascinating music has been explored and great musicians met. open.spotify.com/episode/3gOR...

The Last Vinci are a Cork-based alternative rock/stoner trio led by Alex Vinci, who have just released their amazing 3rd album “15 Minutes at a Time”. After my first listen I thought the album was a beautiful dark master-piece and I had to talk about it further… open.spotify.com/episode/1SSr...

Atsuko Chiba are a Montréal 5-piece creating exciting layers of what has been defined as experimental rock. Keeping things simple has been their focus and that much of the upcoming self-titled 4th album started as free jams. Photo: Anthony Piazza open.spotify.com/episode/3YQP...

Picky Livers are a slow electro duo comprising Richard E and Shane Talada. I’m really enjoying the debut EP “Doppelgang” and it seemed like a good time to find out more about the duo… open.spotify.com/episode/6OKa...

Sans Froid are a Bristol based art rock 4-piece. They have played festivals including ArcTanGent and Strangeforms, had BBC airplay. They recently released news of their 2nd album “Back Into The Womb”, due for release in June. Photo: Laura Jones open.spotify.com/episode/4QbC...

"Sky Valley Mistress are a rock and roll Duel-Drumming Duo from Blackburn, Lancashire featuring Kayley "Hell Kitten" Davies and Max "Leather Messiah" Newsome." The duo released their 2nd full-length “Luna Mausoleum” back in January. Photo: Derren Lee Poole open.spotify.com/episode/5E09...

Headphone Jacks are based in Helsinki. Although an alternative rock band, their influences are everything from desert rock to 70’s prog and grunge. They released their debut album - Discipline - in April last year and have followed up with new single The Emperor. open.spotify.com/episode/5Sm7...

Ten years into their time together, math rock duo Bicurious are still proving their name is apt. They are about to release an EP - Afterthoughts, including 3 songs which didn’t fit their last album and 4 acoustic versions of tracks on it! Photo: Fela Films open.spotify.com/episode/1HNf...

In this episode I’m speaking to Henrik Schmidt, composer behind Norwegian band bladverk. Plugged as lightly proggish soundscapes meets silk-soft double vocals, their debut album “Monumental Thrill, Monumental Chill” has just been released.. Photo: Emilie Sandberg open.spotify.com/episode/2bF9...

It's 80 Bands Around the World time again! This episode features noise rock/free jazz/experimental 4-piece from Portugal, dUAS sEMI cOLCHEIAS iNVERTIDAS (band 6) and Irish 5-piece math/moise rock band God Alone (band 7). open.spotify.com/episode/0Bw1...

Bristol based Sugar Horse are an experimental rock band who venture from soft riffs to an all out assault on the ears in seconds! The band are due to release their third album “Not A Sound In Heaven” on 10th April and I wanted to find out more… open.spotify.com/episode/6Rck...

Back with the 80 Bands Around The World project for this episode. This time a trip to London to see Soviet Underground supported by Welsh band Epileptic Lizards. open.spotify.com/episode/1kIQ...

What can I say about Dodgy? A band that was very much one of the major players during Britpop and went platinum in the UK with their third album “Free Peace Sweet”. Dodgy are still with us and are just about to release 7th album 'Hello Beautiful', due on 1st May. open.spotify.com/episode/52K0...

The Neurophonic Temple are a heavy psychedelic noise rock trio from Osnabrück, Germany. They have just released the first single “Nuance of Bizarre" from their upcoming debut album, “Transgressive Sonic Stimuli” due for release in April. open.spotify.com/episode/2evC...

The Deadmans are a London based band playing alternative pop. They have just released the second song “If Arizona Didn’t Exist” taken from their debut self-titled album, The Deadmans, which is due for release on 24th April. Photo: Maximilian McKay open.spotify.com/episode/74FJ...

Leto Grand is a London-based independent funk-pop artist and multi-instrumentalist. After 6 years work , the debut album is ready for release, and with the current single Lovely Walk Grace Edit released earlier in the month it was time to chat… Photo: Mark Walker open.spotify.com/episode/7Irz...

Kaleidobolt are a Finnish power trio who blend proto-metal, psychedelic rock, and progressive rock. The band formed in 2014 and are just about to release their 5th studio album “Karakuchi”. Listen to the interview here: open.spotify.com/episode/1XY1...

BAMBEES are an alternative rock/punk band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales formed in 2022. Last Friday saw the release of their first tune this year, the riff driven, in your face “NOEYES//NOLOVE”... Photo: Bradley Scott open.spotify.com/episode/3pN7...

Another country has been ticked off of the 80 Bands Around the World project and this time it's Ivo Dimchev from Bulgaria. This time was a little different as it was a film and live show as part of a film festival and no interview, but still memorable... open.spotify.com/episode/4mpO...

Greg Weeks is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Philadelphia. January 23rd saw the release of his latest solo album “If The Sun Dies”, released on his own label, Language of Stone. Photo: Courtney Brooke Hall open.spotify.com/episode/6bPB...

The latest episode in which the 80 Bands Around The World project takes in two African band-leaders. Afrojazz was the theme of this show and I caught up with Baraka Issabu from Tanzania and Dickson Ethui from Mozambique to learn more about then and the genre. open.spotify.com/episode/4Cxq...

Rifle are a 5-piece punk band from London. The self-titled debut album came out on January 16th and it’s a real in-your-face statement of intent which Kerrang! Catch an interview with them in the link below (more links in bio) Photo: Jack Taylor-Gotch open.spotify.com/episode/50ZA...

Flesh Cherub is Melbourne based Liam McVay whose new 6-track EP “Drowning in the Expanse of Looking Up” was released on January 16th. The emotion within the songs seems to define if the track is punk, folk, country or some blend of these. Photo: Wil Normyle open.spotify.com/episode/4xFv...

Truckfighters are a 2-man fuzzy stoner rock band from Örebro, Sweden. After 10 years, the band is back with a new album in April so I pounced on the chance to have a chat and delve into the Truckfighters world… Photo: Andreas Hylthen open.spotify.com/episode/0wYt...

@tram92.bsky.social are a new jazz/world duo based in Brussels. Comprising Chris Bestwick, a guitarist from the UK and Anthony Barilla, an accordion player originally from the US, the duo have created something quite unique. Photo: Tram 92 open.spotify.com/episode/20vM...

Founded in 2005, The Grownup Noise are a 4 piece indie folk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They are due to release their 6th album - “No Straight Line in the Universe” - on February 6th, which also marks a return to the original line-up. open.spotify.com/episode/1orW...

YOU GUITARPRAYER are a Cologne-based psychedelic noise rock trio who released their 2nd album “I Am The Light, The Light I Am“ in October, touching on neo-psych meets noise, shoegazey drones and cinematic chaos. Photo: Kostas Liliopoulos open.spotify.com/episode/7JAU...

And so it begins with Swedish indie-rockers @slimloris Check out the first episode of the 80 Bands Around the World adventures via your podcast host of choice in the biog. Brief review and interview featured. open.spotify.com/episode/1ilz...