The Upful LIFE Podcast

Tuesday Feb 07, 2023

064: KATHY IANDOLI [author/journalist: Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, Lil’ Kim, Prodigy/Mobb Deep, Black Lily]

Tuesday Feb 07, 2023

Welcome KATHY IANDOLI to The Upful LIFE Podcast! Ever since I tore thru her Aaliyah book last year, I've been patiently-yet-anxiously awaiting an opportunity to speak with Kathy on this show. Ms. Iandoli is a media professional whom I've admired for some time, there's a lot to glean from how she moves thru music/media industries, and I aspire to the levels she's already climbed time and again. An Okayplayer OG, Iandoli has projects and relationships with movers n' shakers all over the map, in hip-hop, punk, fashion, and more.

Topics of conversation include - Women coming of age in hip-hop since the golden era, stanning Lauryn Hill, the book on Aaliyah's life, co-authoring Lii' Kim's forthcoming memoir The Queen Bee, the groundbreaking God Save the Queens book, Iandoli's book and friendship with the late Prodigy of Mobb Deep, memories of Okayplayer/Black Lily, her NYU course focused on Lana Del Rey, and Kathy's own personal reflections/stories/perspectives.

5:30 - The Upful Update
12:15 - Introducing KATHY IANDOLI
22:00 - INTERVIEW w/ Kathy
2:18:45 - Reflections + Vibe Junkie JAMZ

Kathy Iandoli is a critically acclaimed journalist, author, podcaster, media coach, and documentarian. She has nearly 25 years experience working in the music industry—from media, to publicity, radio, and artist management. Her first book, God Save The Queens: The Essential History of Women In Hip-Hop (2019, Dey Street Books / HarperCollins) was named an NPR Best Book Of the Year. She is the author of the biography Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah (2021, Atria Books / Simon & Schuster), as well as the co-author of rapper, Lil’ Kim’s upcoming memoir, The Queen Bee (2022, Hachette Books). Kathy has written about music and gender for two decades, with bylines in VIBE, The Source, XXL, Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, BUST, Teen Vogue, PAPER, Playboy, i-D, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, The Guardian, VICE, and many others. Kathy was a professor-in-residence of Music Business at NYU for 7 years as well as an alum of Steinhardt's Music Business Graduate Program and has served as a pundit (television, radio, and panels) for discussions on hip-hop and gender.

Follow all things KATHY IANDOLI here!

Vibe Junkie JAMZ

"The Sweetest Thing" Lauryn Hill (live in Japan 1999)

"More Than A Woman" - Aaliyah (last live performance, July 2001)

Upful LIFE 2022: Favorite Records & More! 22+ album reviews, 22 more records recommended, 22 singles/EPs, 22+ DJ sets/mixes, plus 2022 live releases. 6th annual B.Getz compendium w/ playlists

Listen on Spotify !

LOUD: A Mac Miller Experience. bass/dubtribute mixtape by Lavier

Saturday Dec 24, 2022

063: The Return of DAVID MANHEIM - DOPEY PODCAST [dark comedy on drugs-addiction-recovery]

Saturday Dec 24, 2022

Season's Greetings n' Upful vibrations! Please welcome back to the show Dave from Dopey Podcast - now going by his gov't: David Manheim. After 5 years of my dedicated listening/contributing to Dopey, plus his epic, record-holding May 2020 appearance on Upful Life ep.033, and much correspondence between us in the interim, the man they call "Dopey Dave" and yours truly finally met in person, live n' direct at Park City Song Summit in Utah, Sept.2022. A cosmic convergence in stunningly beautiful environs where we were both there in our respective official capacities: as podcast hosts and journalists. We dropped in pretty deep on the last evening of the 4-day event. The revealing - at times intensely-personal - conversation was recorded from the cozy confines of my palatial suite at a high-falutin' ski lodge I really had no business staying.

2:30- Upful Update: Give Thanks n' Gratitude in 2022
10:30 - Introducing DAVID MANHEIM of Dopey Podcast, + a personal message why I feel called to produce programming on wellness/addiction/recovery.
22:00 - INTERVIEW w/ DOPEY DAVE (100min)
2:03:30 - Reflections on Dave + Vibe Junkie JAM

Dopey Podcast is a unicorn program - a dark comedy on drug addiction and recovery, plus all the dumb sh*t that happens in between. (check out the profile on This American Life). In addition to holding down 2 full-time jobs (executive for Katz's Deli in NYC, father to two young daughters) - plus numerous losses and unfathomable grief - Dave has not missed a Friday night episode since he started the show with his late friend Chris over six years ago. Dopey recently celebrated it's 8 MILLIONTH DOWNLOAD, and has a legion of fiercely-loyal, dedicated listeners around the world, known colloquially as the Dopey Nation..

On Upful Life ep.033 in May 2020, for nearly 2 hours Dave meticulously and painstaking recounted his journey through heroin addiction of nearly 2 decades. We covered the nascent beginnings of Dopey pod, his relationship with Chris and his friend(s) sudden death, the tragedy and resurgence of Dopey in the wake of their passings, losing his family due to his addictions - then reuniting with them thru sobriety, and a whole lot more. (It's somewhat essential listening before tapping into ep.063, a reconvergence 30 months on down the number line.)

For Episode 063, we pick up where things left off, digging into the evolution of Dopey, embracing the transition to David Manheim, the legitimization of Dopey Podcast into professional wellness/recovery spaces, the concept of survivor's guilt, why Dave is a habitual line-stepper, and beyond.

After unpacking his magical interview with Carolyn 'Mountain Girl' Garcia, former wife of the late Jerry Garcia, we hear about his relationship with Seth Ferranti, renowned chronicler of outlaw/drug/psychedelic cultures. As we delve deeper beneath the surface, Dave and I chop it up on some real sh*t: more polarizing topics/Dopey guests like "Fentanyl Jay" and divisive shock-rapper Tom MacDonald. From there, things get a bit serious - and personal. The dialogue detours into family politics and our divergent approaches to conversations on the culture wars. Fret not, as friends we certainly course-correct for a properly warm n' fuzzy landing.

Thanks to David Manheim of Dopey Podcast for always bringing the Upful vibes! Shoutout to the Dopey Nation - WE SEE YOU!! If any Upful LIFE listeners would like to know more about the Dopey podcast, Dopey Nation, Dopey Zoom meetings, or link w/ Dave, send me an email or DM! Happy to connect, been doin' it for YEARS!

Vibe Junkie JAM

"Mouthful of Cavaties" - Blind Melon

Lab Group v.2 - Long Live the King (CharlestheFirst tribute curated by FAVREAU)

A Deadly Silence- Christopher O'Connor (video of late Dopey co-founder)
Please consider supporting Upful LIFE by donating. Thank You!
Upful LIFE 2022: Favorite Records & More! 22+ album reviews, 22 more records recommended, 22 singles/EPs, 22+ DJ sets/mixes, plus 2022 live releases. 6th annual B.Getz compendium w/ playlists

Listen on Spotify !

Oblighetto - Brother Jack McDuff (J Dilla remix)

Wednesday Nov 30, 2022

062: DAN CHARNAS [author/journalist - Dilla Time book, NYU professor]

Wednesday Nov 30, 2022

Welcome DAN CHARNAS! His latest book - Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, The Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm (2022) - is a New York Times Bestseller. Award-winning music and business journalist, author of four books, producer of records and television. Associate Arts Professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. In the 1980's, Dan was part of the opening team at The Source magazine, in the 1990's he worked A&R for Rick Rubin at American Recordings.

3:00 - The Upful Update
9:30 - introducing DAN CHARNAS & Dilla Time
17:45 - INTERVIEW (102min)

The product of four years of research and nearly 200 interviews, Dilla Time emerged from a course on J Dilla developed by Charnas at NYU in 2017, but its roots go back to Charnas’s time in the record business, when he first made the trip to Detroit to work with the producer then known as Jay Dee.

A huge fan of both Dilla & this expansive book, I'd been waiting since Feb.2022 to speak with Dan about this project, his process, & the Church of Dilla. I've been through the 430-page tome twice, listened to him on numerous podcasts in preparation for this conversation, still Dan was kind enough to give me nearly 100 minutes of his time and thoughtfully answered each inquiry with intention. This topic was so wide-ranging and engrossing that we didn't have the time to get into his long, colorful career path, we stuck exclusively to Mr. Yancey.

As a music journalist and lifetime hip-hop head, Dan Charnas is nothing short of a North Star to me; as such it was an honor, privilege, and educational exercise to host him on Episode 062 of The Upful LIFE Podcast.

Funk It's Dilla Time Mixtape 2022

33-hour J Dilla Anthology courtesy of Mista Vee

Vibe Junkie JAM

Listen on Spotify !

Saturday Oct 15, 2022

061: LEAH SONG [Rising Appalachia]

Saturday Oct 15, 2022

Live & direct from the Park City Song Summit with the sensational LEAH SONG ! An 80+ minute deep dive with one-half of the siren sisters Rising Appalachia. Explore the passions, pathways and pillars that built the bedrock of their unicorn sound. Unspooling Rising App fifteen years in: ambitious activism, adventurous travels, treasured traditions, and a kaleidoscopic career. Musicology and cultural anthropology. Community, collaboration, catharsis. This is powerful podcasting.

2:30 - The Mertails / The NOHM Co
6:00 - The Upful Update
10:00 introducing LEAH SONG x dedications
18:00 Conversation w/ LEAH (81 min)
1:40:00 - reflections / Vibe Junkie Jamz

Leah Song takes us back to the early days in the filthy dirty South. Coming of age with one foot in fiddle camps with Mama Appalachia, and the other kickin' Dungeon Family rhymes in the high school cafeteria. Leah's version of the heroine's journey, and the sisters' half-decade long Crescent City swoon. Coming full circle to the French Quarter for a live LP from the prestigious Preservation Hall. We unpack the improv-heavy, surprise 2020 album The Lost Mystique of Being in the Know and get a window into it's ethereal masterpiece "Silver".

Leah Song loves long and hard on her sister and their ever-loyal squad: essential contributions like Chloe's magnum opus "Resilient". The unique skillsets of multi-instrumentalists David Brown, Biko Casini, Duncan Wickel, Arouna Diarra, plus longtime Bayou collaborators Aurora Nealand and Brandon Lewis. Get hip to brand-new girl-band Starling Arrow, a celestial acapella quintet featuring Leah, Chloe, Tina Malia, Marya Stark, and Ayla Nereo.

Rising Appalachia has always been proudlly - and defiantly- an activist band. Leah discusses retreating from front line justice work, she ruminates on softening the storytelling with regard to protest music in a post-pandemic landscape. With her band hitting the road again, dealing hopeful global soul in search of community and spreading catharsis, the veteran songwriter reflects on the effects of the epic pause.

One of the more profound programs this podcast has produced, a proud day from Atlanta G-A all the way to the East Bay. Big Up Leah Song and Rising Appalachia.

Give Thanks! Yes, indeedy.

Stream / Download links

Vibe Junkie JAMZ

"Downtown" - Soul Visions

Rising Appalachia/The Human Experience

"Novels of Acquaintance"

Rising Appalachia - live in Switzerland,

14 Sept 2018

Monday Sep 19, 2022

060: JOEL CUMMINS [co-founder/keyboards - Umphrey’s McGee, author]

Monday Sep 19, 2022

Checking in from the Asking For A Friend Tour, Umphrey's McGee keyboardist/co-founder JOEL CUMMINS saddles up for an insightful chat. I was lucky to run right into Joel at Sacred Rose outside of Chicago at the end of August, where UM headlined with two sets on Saturday night. Turns out the multi-faceted artist was keen to come on this show! I'm a bit less familiar with this band's catalog than many of the guests who bless up these podwaves, yet I've always been friendly with Joel over the past decade or so. I have a tremendous respect for what he - and his brothers in Umphrey's McGee - have worked so diligently (and independently) to build over the course of twenty-five years.

2:45 - The Upful Update
7:00 - Introducing JOEL CUMMINS of Umphrey's McGee
14:00 - Interview- JOEL CUMMINS

I was stoked to link up with Cummins right after Sacred Rose, and chop it up on the backstory on his band's new album and the latest on the tour behind it. We get into Umphrey's McGee road-dawg trends and preferences, the advantages to routing weekend runs, keeping an improv band fresh and focused onstage, getting along off of it. We hear about the music business book that Joel authored a couple of years ago, plus some wisdom and perspective on the back end of the pandemic experience.

Cummins touches on his passion for the iconic Fender Rhodes electric piano. Nods to Keith Jarrett, Donny Hathaway, his love for Claude Debussy and classical music, as well as Metallica's 1988 prog-metal masterpiece ...And Justice For All. I was sure to sneak in a smidge of Steely Dan debate before our time ran out. Big thanks to Joel Cummins!

Vibe Junkie JAMZ

"So Much" Umphrey's McGee - Asking For a Friend

"Tonberry" lespecial Live from Rick's House June 2022

EMAIL the SHOW! B.Getz@UpfulLIFE.com

www.Polyrhythmics.com

Friday Aug 19, 2022

059: POLYRHYTHMICS : [Ben Bloom - guitar, Jason Gray - bass]

Friday Aug 19, 2022

Welcome BEN BLOOM and JASON GRAY of POLYRHYTHMICS! This wide-ranging conversation took place on the Sunday of Suwannee Rising, after the band dropped a pair of scorching sets on SOSMP. With the fest raging in the distance, the three of us snuck off to have a lengthy discussion on the band's journey, inspirations, intention, mission, future and more.

3:25 SACRED ROSE & BROOKLYN COMES ALIVE
8:30 The Upful Update w/ B.Getz
13:25 Introducing POLYRHYTHMICS
18:45 INTERVIEW w/ Ben & Jason of Polyrhythmics

A hard-driving modern afro-psycho-beat squadron, Polyrhythmics feature the heart-thumping bass lines of Jason Gray, and the colorful, intricate phrasings of Ben Bloom’s guitar. A true “democratic” collaborative, Polyrhythmics includes three horn players, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and keys. Meditative hypnosis and elements of surprise make up a sonic foundation for their mystical, genre-blurring brand of sound art. The collective continues to mature into a muscular live unit, known for painting vivid instrumental imagery using complex rhythms, impressive dynamics, and a searing level of precision.

Ben Bloom and I go back almost 25 years, to the fertile embryonic jam scene of the Northeast, and 1.0 Phish adventures too. So we were well acquainted before this chat. Bloom began playing guitar at 9, attended college at Boston University. By high school, he knew music would be his life’s work. Later, Bloom moved to Seattle, honed his skills with bands in local clubs, before co-founding Polyrhythmics in 2009.

Ben connected with Jason Gray, a Californian who had moved away from music while doing a stint on submarines in the Navy, eventually landing in Seattle. Gray found his way through to the city's musical bosom and into one of it's hottest bands. In addition to holding down the low end with Polyrhythmics, Gray operates Blue Mallard Studios, where he produces and engineers.

Vibe Junkie JAMZ !

"Stakes is High" - yasiin bey (fka Mos Def) w/ Robert Glasper Experiment

Live at Vaulx Jazz - 2019

"Chelada" - POLYRHYTHMICS

KEXP Live 2019

EMAIL the SHOW! B.Getz@UpfulLIFE.com

"Terrapin Station" - The Nth Power Ball

Thursday Jul 14, 2022

058: NATE EDGAR [bass, The Nth Power, ex-John Brown’s Body]

Thursday Jul 14, 2022

Welcome virtuosic bassist NATE EDGAR of THE NTH POWER to Ep.058! Nate is a helluva player, and he takes us inside his process, influences, mindset, and intentions as a bassist, band member, brother, and low-end medicine man. Heaping slabs of musicology with a healthy serving of humanity. Nate Dawg doesn't do very many interviews - certainly not lengthy, super-personal purges - so this ep is a real treat, and an emotional sledgehammer. A gentleman, scholar, subsonic sorcerer, and servant of the song, Buckle up fam, we're goin IN! Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Nate Edgar.

3:00 - new sponsor! THE LEGION OF BLOOM
5:00 - Upful Update
10:00 - Introducing NATE EDGAR
16:00 - Interview - NATE DAWG

We hop in the wayback machine to discuss Nate's roots in New Hampshire, from nascent backpack rap steez to a teenager runnin' away on Dead tour, playing in newgrass bands or working as a garbage man. Boston/Wally's/NE jam scene back in the day, learning tuba to get into college, and other random historical minutiae. In a touching, insightful segment, Nate takes us through his experience working with pioneering American reggae band John Brown's Body, and expounds on the legacy of his dear friend, JBB bassist, the late Scott Palmer.

Naturally, we dig DEEP on all things The Nth Power, past, present and future. Ruminations on his bandmates as family, the core trio perservering through adversity, the inherent spirituality in their music. Plus reflections on collaborating with Weedie Braimah, Nigel Hall, Rob Marscher, and the friendship, mentorship, kindness and unbelievable talent of the late, great Kofi Burbridge. We unpack Nth's unparalleled tribute mojo: from Earth, Wind & Power to Bob Marley to Steely Dan, High Sierra's Gospel According to Nth, and a little teaser for Cool Cool Cool just around the bend at Brooklyn Comes Alive.

MY MAN NATE. Came thru and came CORRECT! The Nth Power really does LOVE us.

Vibe Junkie JAM

Suwannee Rising 4.9.22

EMAIL the SHOW! B.Getz@UpfulLIFE.com

Tuesday May 31, 2022

057: RON JOHNSON on the Bass [Samantha Fish, Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Anders Osborne, ex-KDTU]

Tuesday May 31, 2022

RON JOHNSON on the bass. Ron Johnson on the BASS! Currently holding down the low-end with red-hot guitar phenom Samantha Fish. Ron worked extensively with Gregg Allman at the end of his life, developing a profound friendship in Gregg’s final act. Ron toured hard with Warren Haynes Band, has collaborated with Anders Osborne. Chris Cain, Nigel Hall, and dozens of others. Ron was the longtime sturdy anchor for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, during what I firmly believe to be their mightiest era, 2000-2006.

3:15 - PSA from your humble narrator
4:20 - Derrick Freeman & Smoker's World "HoTel" + BG catches Covid during Jazz Fest
10:00 - Introducing RON JOHNSON on the Bass!
19:00 - RON JOHNSON INTERVIEW (85 mins)

A few weeks back, Ron was traveling through NorCal, and we finally connected for a proper chat, all about his musical journey and more. It was long overdue, & nothing short of an absolute joy! Ron grew up in SoCal, came of age in NorCal, I met him 20 years ago when he was living in Brooklyn. Now he's got about a decade in NOLA. We had a LOT of ground to cover!

Please welcome to Ep.057 of *The Upful LIFE Podcast* the very first musician to pull back the curtain for yours truly, my first friend in the game. Fantastic bass player, gem of a human, open book. Ron Johnson LIVE & DIREKT from the Vibe Junkie Studios -aka- my back deck in Oakland.

Vibe Junkie JAMZ

KDTU - "New Tune" - Late Night Bonnaroo, June 2002

GREGG ALLMAN - "Whipping Post" - Wanee Festival April 2016

NIGEL HALL BAND- "God Bless the Absentee" (Paul Simon) Sullivan Hall, NYC 1/27/13

EMAIL the SHOW! B.Getz@UpfulLIFE.com

Wednesday Apr 27, 2022

056: SKERIK [saxophonist: Garage a Trois, Bastard Jazz, Emerald Quintet, Critters Buggin, DRKWAV, Syncopated Taint Septet, Bandalabra, Lorbo, Dead Kenny G’s, Omaha Diner, MORE!]

Wednesday Apr 27, 2022

Please welcome SKERIK, Seattle's inimitable master of saxophone skronk, to Episode 056 of *The Upful LIFE Podcast. Brilliant on both tenor and baritone saxophone, most often mixing in electronics, effects, and loops, Skerik is nothing short of a pioneer in saxophonics.

3:15 - Introducing Skerik
9:30 - Skerik interview

Co-founder of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois, Tuatara, DRKWAV, and Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet. He is also an original member of both Les Claypool’s Fancy Band and Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. Skerik has worked extensively with Stanton Moore (drummer-Galactic) and Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar) across numerous collabs, including Bastard Jazz, Emerald Quintet, plus Omaha Diner, Coalition of the Willing. His list of projects and peers is far too long for a podcast synopsis! Skerik is a son of Seattle through and through, even briefly working with grunge super-band Mad Season. We touch on a number of these topics in this wide-ranging conversation

Vibe Junkie JAM

30 mins of Col. Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade

LIVE from Tipitina's Uptown in New Orleans, during Jazz Fest late night May 2002

EMAIL the SHOW! B.Getz@UpfulLIFE.com