This week we talked with SESHOLLOWATERBOYZ. Chris Travis, Eddy Baker, Bones, and XavierWulf are standing left to right in the above photo. This was a really tough interview. It was 4 close friends versus a curious old rap fan with a surface level knowledge of their music. I probably come off like an idiot. Even still, I wanted to put it out because these guys have an absolutely undeniable movement going on. From their prolific output (all of them have put out multiple tapes this year), to their ...
Oct 22, 2014•1 hr•Ep. 73
My folks were back in town this week so here's part 2 of our conversation about her life history. You can hear our first one back on Episode 46 . I let her get VERY specific this time around. We only cover about 5 years of her life, but it was a huge transitional phase. We discuss my parents' wedding, moving to San Antonio, and the birth of your favorite rapper . – Lee...
Oct 15, 2014•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 72
Been 3 years since I last interviewed Johnny Polygon. Not sure why I waited so long. We always have a great time shooting the shit. Those of you that've been around a while will remember him from the other show we used to do. Those of you who haven't will love his charm, wit, and easy demeanor. This convo was a bit of a break from the norm. Rather than delving too deep into Johnny's personal history, we do a lot of bullshitting, meandering down long tangents, and musing about life, which makes u...
Oct 01, 2014•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 71
Listeners will love this dude. Dream Panther brought Pell to my attention last week. Then I serendipitously got a text from our dude Caleb Stone saying he was interested in doing the show. Have to admit, I was sleeping. Checked out his music and videos and they're great. While showing wisdom beyond his years, he effortlessly transitions between rapping and singing. We talk to him about growing up in New Orleans, having to leave after the hurricane, and we relate to eachother in our college dorm ...
Sep 24, 2014•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 70
Dream Panther is a name I've been hearing from the mouths of LA musicians for a long time now. Every few months I visit his Soundcloud page and leave his tunes on repeat for hours. It's dreamy electronic pop with easily digestible lyrics that sets the mood for chilling. That being said he was a complete mystery to me. I'd never seen him perform and rarely saw him on show flyers. Realistically I'd never actually even seen a picture of him. His name has been popping up on big music sites due to hi...
Sep 17, 2014•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 69
This week we talked to Washington Heights, NY native Aleksey Weintraub, better known as Lakutis. The first time I saw him perform at Los Globos was intriguing. He was on stage shirtless, hair covering his face, screaming like a rap game Danzig. The catchy dark pop hook for “Body Scream” caught my ear. This year's 3 Seashells finds him experimenting on the outskirts of rap in a dark, party friendly world. We talk about growing up in New York in a one parent household, serendipitously falling into...
Sep 10, 2014•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 68
Jensen Karp is our guest this week. He's been brought up on 3 of the last 4 episodes. He was signed as a rapper at the tender age of 13. As such he maneuvered his way through the industry as Hot Karl through his 20's. Jensen is a prolific writer, podcaster, comedian, art curator, and artist manager. We talk to him about getting talent scouted at a bar mitzvah, finding out he has brain tumors, and Mack 1o showing up to his doorstep with a briefcase full of money. – Lee...
Aug 20, 2014•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 67
Eric and Jeff Rosenthal are brothers who've been creating hip hop sketch comedy for nearly a decade. Whether it be parody rap songs, irreverent interviews, journalism, or sketches; they keep the artists laughing as hard as the audience. Their loving homages to the culture always have a fresh and funny take on what's happening in rap. Simply put: they crack me up. They're able to laugh with the culture and not at it. Make sure to check out their mixtape Urbane Outfitters (I call it by the wrong n...
Jul 23, 2014•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 66
Show booking can be a tiring and thankless job. Thankfully we have folks like Conrad Loebl behind the scenes. Working as the booker for IHEARTCOMIX for the last 2 years, he's been responsible for curating some of the most forward thinking and “up on shit” lineups that LA has to offer at venues like the Echoplex, Los Globos, and the El Rey. Love these episodes where folks aren't necessarily full time musicians, but are still heavily involved in music. This is one of those episodes. Hear about how...
Jul 09, 2014•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 65
We sat down with Canadian ex-pat and Los Angeles transplant Nova Rockafeller. I've been paying attention to her music for quite some time. We asked her to be a guest after finding out she's working with friend of the show Dj Nobody . Hear Nova talk about her chaotic youth, her rebellious nature, and perpetually running away. – Lee
Jul 02, 2014•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 64
Brad Petering (the man behind TV Girl) put out an album by surprise last week. French Exit entered our world via a solitary tweet. When the music's that good, sometimes that's all it takes. We talk to Brad about how the group has changed since we last spoke in '11. Trung has amicably parted ways with the group. We also discuss his experiment with skipping the PR bullshit, and his stint as a stand up comedian. – Lee
Jun 25, 2014•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 63
Nocando just released Jimmy The Burnout. He returned to the show to talk about juggling family, music, and business. He's been trying to figure out alternate means of rap success. We also continue our argument about whether or not metrics matter. – Lee
Jun 18, 2014•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 62
This week we sat down with Ne$$ of Weekend Money. Paired with producer Baghdaddy, the two put out an LP in February called Freddie Merkury. We talk about Ne$$' beginnings in Philadelphia and growing up in a boarding school. We also discuss being a part of the scene that spawned Dead Prez, and finding Knowledge of Self. – Lee
May 22, 2014•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 60
Grieves was out touring his latest record Winter and the Wolves. We only had a small window of time available to chat. Come to find out the studio mistakenly got booked the morning we'd scheduled. Thankfully our guy travels with extra recording gear. Therefore we were able to make our first mobile recording from the green room of the Roxy. Hear us talk about the making of the record, a huge gamble that ended up helping break his career, and narrowly avoiding becoming a drug kingpin. – Lee...
May 07, 2014•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 58
Equalibrum and I just released our self-titled album “Intuition & Equalibrum.” We got together to reminisce about how we met and reflect on where we're going. We also talk about how skating influenced him and dropping out of high school. Mark also tells a great story about the acid trip that changed his life. Thank you for following along on our journey to get this record out. Go check out the album now, available on ALL DIGITAL MUSIC platforms. We appreciate you waiting patiently for it and...
Apr 30, 2014•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 57
Herbal T might look familiar to you. He is the identical twin brother and long time (life long?) collaborator of Wax . He released a solo rap project called Lo-Fi Blow Dry. It's jam packed with old school funk and air tight rhymes. Hear us talk about juggling family, work, and music. He talks about finding the right girl, and burner band backlash against dumpster baby lyrics. – Lee
Apr 16, 2014•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 56
This week we sat down with Christian Clancy. Clancy is an industry Legend. He's responsible for marketing classic records like MMLP and Get Rich or Die Trying . He currently manages Odd Future. His team played a big hand in developing their brand, and helped create a massive international following. Clancy talks about turning his life around after being a rebellious youngster and his time spent as a marketing director for Interscope. Hear his story of meeting some skate kids that would end up re...
Apr 09, 2014•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 55
We're back with our dude Anderson Paak. It's interesting that sometimes we know next to nothing about our friends and acquaintances. This was one of those instances. We learn about Anderson's turbulent family history. His is mother, father and step father all ended up doing stints in jail. We also learn about him having to navigate his way with no parental guidance while he was still in school. At one point, quitting music to change diapers in an old folks home. This was a great conversation wit...
Apr 02, 2014•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 54
Rapper / beatsmith / Detroit transplant Quelle Chris stopped by this week. We talk about moving around all over the Midwest, he and his brother starting to rap as youngsters, and the benefits of learning through experience rather than books. – Lee
Mar 05, 2014•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 53
On our 1 year anniversary episode we sat down with old pal George Watsky. George and I had a lot to catch up on. He's fresh off a year of touring, and days away from starting to work on his next album. We got right into it discussing his infamous two story stage dive that ended badly. He reveals the importance of investing in yourself, and he takes on a wonderful journey with a mystical narwhal tusk. – Lee
Feb 19, 2014•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 52
This week we sat down with DJ Nobody. This is part of my never ending quest to hear all sides of how Low End Theory came into existence. His history runs deep into the LA Underground. That's a subject I never get tired of hearing about. DJ Nobody talks about his new found sneaker obsession, being a collector of collections, and fighting in flip-flops. – Lee...
Feb 12, 2014•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 51
You guys have been asking for it, so you got it. We finally sat down with Raquel Rodriguez. Raquel's a close friend, collaborator, and the guest on the second podcast I ever attempted back in '11. We probably spent more time in this convo laughing and joking than actually covering any pertinent information about her, but so be it. We go into depth about our first time meeting and working together, Paco's Vs Gilbert's, and farts. – Lee...
Feb 05, 2014•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 50
This week we sat down with Yonas Michael. Back when VerBS and I dropped the Buzz EP in '09 we opened for UNI quite a bit. I was always impressed with Yonas' (Y-O back then) stage presence and showmanship. We had a good talk about what he's been up to, early hoop dreams, and the best omelette in Santa Barbara. Look out for his Black Swan Theory project coming soon. – Lee
Jan 15, 2014•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 47
My mom, Karen Shaner, can spin a yarn (she's where I get that from). My folks were in town for the holidays. We took advantage of the time here by laying down some family history. This episode is more for me than you, but you'll enjoy it as well. We only got about halfway through her life, so we decided to make this a yearly tradition. We talk about our ethnic make up, family members I never got to meet, and she tells a good story about why she still can't properly cook a steak. – Lee...
Jan 08, 2014•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 46
We're starting off the new year with an artist I'm very excited about. Aston Matthews is a Lakewood, CA native that has been through a lot in his 23 years. He turned his life around after being shot at a party when he was 18. After that he began making waves in the rap world. Aston is poised for big things. He's affiliated to the A$AP Mob and his mixtape dropping later this month is highly anticipated. We talk to him about growing up in gang culture, losing one of his biggest influences to gun v...
Jan 01, 2014•1 hr•Ep. 45
Jeff Weiss is a music journalist that started Passion Of The Weiss in 2005. Since then he's written for LA Times, LA Weekly, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and countless others. His popular Shots Fired Podcast with Nocando is quickly becoming a rap fan favorite. Hear us talk about trying to escape the clutches of music journalism, frat culture pushing him out of baseball into writing, and Humpty Hump impersonations. – Lee...
Dec 18, 2013•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 44
This week we sat down with a Gavlyn. All of her music videos have exploded. That YouTube success led to a big following in Europe. In light of this revelation she's become a road warrior. She tours frequently, continually dropping records to support the tours. We talk to her about coming out of the Valley's rap scene, racists in Poland, and looking for ladders with Schoolboy Q. – Lee
Dec 11, 2013•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 43
This week we sat down with El Prez. El Prez is someone in the LA scene I've known for many years now. But this was our first time chopping it up for an extended time. It's always dope to sit down with someone who's been working on the craft as long as you. Not to mention realizing your come up stories share some similarities. Prez recently teamed up with Jansport J to put out their collaborative effort PrezSport . It's been getting a lot of positive press. We talk about recently reuniting with h...
Dec 04, 2013•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 42
Low Leaf is one of the first artist videos Ben and I ever collab'd on. Looks like we're beginning to bring things full circle on Kinda Neat . Her impressive feat of playing harp, piano, and singing at the same time became a sensation on our old channel. Come to find out, it helped her get an opportunity to tour Europe three times since then. Hear Low Leaf discuss why that video has been a blessing and a curse, the roots of her deep seeded spirituality, and early experimenting with Barbie dolls. ...
Nov 27, 2013•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 41
Busdriver is one of the great thinkers of the indie rap scene. His insight, perspective, and historical knowledge never cease to amaze me. His career has spanned over 20 years. Therefore he has an extensive catalogue with fantastic bits of cross genre pollination. It's always a joy to soak up game from Driver. Fresh off the heels of releasing the Hellfyre Club compilation Dorner vs Tookie , Driver discusses making the record, our mutual anti-social personalities, and taking advantage of a health...
Nov 20, 2013•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 40
