001: MICHELANGELO CARUBBA - (Turkuaz), J.A. talks Phish Summer Tour

Pilot episode of The Upful LIFE Podcast, hosted/curated by B.Getz, a music-culture reporter and historian. We’re lucky to have our first guest TURKUAZ drummer MICHELANGELO CARUBBA for a long-form sitdown, which took place during High Sierra in NorCal back in early July. (The early part of the interview takes place while a band is playing nearby, please excuse the background blues; we eventually relocated to a quasi-suitable quarters for the majority of the convo.). Mikey talks ‘Kuazology, their live album 040717, Denny Laine and playing with heroes, his lifelong connection to Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi. After the music nuggets, Mikey takes a turn for the serious, heartfelt, and inspiring, no-holds-barred recounting the circumstances that led to his sobriety, We spend time detailing his budding relationship with a Vermont-based singer/songwriter. Turkuaz is slated to drop Live in the City, a brand new studio LP, on September 28th.

The episode’s second half features a spirited segment with J.A., one of the host’s lifelong friends going back three decades. J.A. and B.Getz first met in the press box at a KISS show on the Hot in the Shade Tour in 1989. Turns out they both went to Bret Harte Elementary School in Cherry Hill, NJ, and have been best buddies ever since. J.A. is an authority on everything from glam metal to pro wrasslin’, as well as Springsteen and The Rolling Stones. Jason is a noted Delaware Valley Phishtorian, so for this first segment, the old friends get on the phone to chop it up about the state of the union and all things The Phish from VT.

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The Upful LIFE Podcast is available on iTunes!

Theme Song: Mazel Tov by CALVIN VALENTINE