Culture in Conversation: Highlights from One Year of Culture Creature Interviews

Culture Creature celebrates its one-year anniversary today! The first year of running the site and podcast has been exhilarating and inspiring. My goal is to build Culture Creature into the leading source of illuminating, newsworthy, and entertaining interviews in music and culture. I also publish song premieres, tons of new music, and news items – but I like to think of the interviews as the centerpiece of the brand.

Here are some highlights from a year of Culture Creature interviews. Thanks for reading, listening, and sharing!

Gojira Interview

My podcast interview with Gojira leader Joe Duplantier was a real thrill. The conversation itself struck the perfect balance of elements I seek in an interview: it has moments of insight into Joe’s personality, moments that are fun and lighthearted, and much more. This conversation took place on the stage of Brooklyn’s best rock venue (Saint Vitus), and at the end of the conversation, Joe said, “I really enjoyed this interview.” What more could I ask for?

Faith No More Interviews: Billy Gould and Trey Spruance

Faith No More is one of my favorite bands of all time. This year, I was fortunate enough to interview two members of the band (one current, one former). First, I interviewed Faith No More founding member Bill Gould about the band’s debut, We Care A Lot. Then, I interviewed guitarist Trey Spruance (a member of Faith No More for the recording of one album) on the Culture Creature podcast. I used excerpts from both interviews for a feature story on Faith No More’s 1995 masterpiece, King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime.

Kossisko Konan Interview

Kossisko Konan is an Oakland musician and filmmaker. As a teenager, Kossisko was sent to West Africa against his will. When he returned to the U.S., he began a rap career as the semi-satirical pimp character 100s and became successful almost overnight. By the age of 23, he had already abandoned rap and turned his creative talents elsewhere. His story is utterly riveting; read it here.

Appetite for Destruction Cover Artist

Billy White Jr. is the artist behind the cover of Guns ‘N Roses’ masterpiece Appetite for Destruction. He’s also a hard man to find; I contacted several California tattoo shops before finally tracking him down. Once we got in touch, White was kind enough to tell me the complete story of the Appetite for Destruction cover design. This interview was significant to me because I don’t believe White’s story has been told before.

Anthony Green Interview

Anthony Green is the vocalist of post-hardcore bands Circa Survive and Saosin. He and I are both natives of the Philly suburbs; chatting with Anthony about bands we both saw as teenagers (and much more) was a joy.

Ian MacKaye Interview

Ian MacKaye is arguably the single most influential figure in punk rock history. He is the founder of stalwart D.C. label Dischord Records and seminal bands including Minor Threat and Fugazi. Our interview about Donald Trump and social media was timely, and MacKaye’s perspective was refreshing.

Marissa Paternoster Interview

Screaming Females are one of the best bands in contemporary punk. I’m an admirer of Marissa’s talents and I love a chance to discuss an artist’s collaboration with interesting producers – in this case, Steve Albini. Listen to the Screaming Females interview.

Dean Ween Interview

Ween are hometown heroes of Pennsylvanians like myself. I spoke with The Deaner over the course of three phone calls for  a wide-ranging interview touching on subjects ranging from Ween to depression and Queens of the Stone Age (did you know he plays guitar on three songs on Songs for the Deaf!?!). Dean Ween wrote a generous testimonial about the interview on Facebook, calling it “one of the more insightful interviews I think I’ve done in a while.”

Walter Schreifels Interview

Walter Schreifels is a hero to many for his work in an astounding array of influential bands including Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Vanishing Life, and many more. I sat down with Walter on the stairs inside Webster Hall after his performance with Vanishing Life in November. Trump had been elected President only a few days prior, so we had a lot to talk about in our wide-ranging interview.

Ryan Wyer Interview

In July, I published an interview with 12 year-old Aphex Twin video director Ryan Wyer and his mother. The audience seemed to find Ryan’s story inspiring; this interview landed on the Reddit homepage and scored over 120,000 visitors in one day, resulting in the year’s strongest traffic day.

Stay Tuned for More Interviews in 2017

Thanks for reading, listening and sharing! See all Culture Creature interviews or all Culture Creature podcast episodes. You’ll find interviews with members of The Darkness, Russian Circles, PUP, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Snapcase, Operation Ivy, and many more.

Please stay tuned as Culture Creature grows! Keep in touch by liking the Facebook page and following me on Twitter.