The Hustle

How to describe Gary Marks? Deep vinyl junkies might know him for the three albums he released in the 70s that fused jazz and folk in a fresh way that no one had heard before or since. He quickly chose to move on and came back a few years later recording pop rock music very much like you would have heard on the radio in the 80s and 90s. Why this drastic change? Not to mention, he chose early on not to tour or promote himself, meaning he would remain a fiercely independent artist for the long haul. For Record Story Day this weekend, a sampler of his entire career called Crossroadswill be released on vinyl for the first time. Gary explains his reasoning for these decisions, how he feels about those 70s albums fetching hundreds of dollars on the secondary market, the many novels he's written, and his love for pickleball. He's a wonderfully eccentric artist who happens to make wholly unique music that will blow your mind. Enjoy! 
www.garymarksmusic.com
www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

Even though Wire are considered one of the most important post-punk bands ever, it's actually been a long time since they played in that genre. The band quickly evolved over a couple albums to incorporate more dance beats and front man Colin Newman has been in that groove ever since. In the 80s he was hired by Israel's Minimal Compact to produce an album, then he and Malka Spiegel fell in love and have been partnered in life and music ever since. Their main outlet is their electronic group Immersion who released a new album recently aptly titled WTF??. These two join us this week to explain how their worlds came together, their successful radio show Swimming in Sound came to be, the difficulty of maintaining the business of a music career, and they pull no punches with their thoughts on Elastica. It's a fascinating conversation with two vital artists. Enjoy! 

www.immersionhq.uk

www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

One could argue that the sound of American indie rock and power pop was shaped by Mitch Easter. Of course, he produced those early REM albums that are practically canon now, but his own music with Let's Active and his partnership with the likes of Scott Miller (Game Theory, Loud Family) and the db's have further cemented his legendary status. Recently, he's lent his talents to the Salt Collective, a fascinating project by French artist Stephane Schuck that has gathered a bunch of all-stars (Mitch, Matthew Caws, Andy Partridge, Peter Holsapple, Ken Stringfellow, Juliana Hatfield, Richard Lloyd, Susan Cowsill etc) to release a couple albums, the most recent being A Brief History of Blindness. Mitch and I get into how he signed on to this project and everything else he's done. Enjoy! 

www.thesaltcollective.propellersoundrecordings.com

www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

We love the Tubes around here so we're breaking one of our rules of not dipping into bands we've already covered on the show. There's a very good reason for this. Drummer Prairie Prince is a lot more than the Tubes' drummer. His long and storied career includes Todd Rundgren, Chris Isaak, Brian Eno, Jefferson Starship, Journey, David Foster and tons more. Prairie just released his first solo album, Colors and Passions, which is more of an ambitious art project than a collection of songs. Inspired by a 1966 album by jazz/spoken word artist Ken Nordine, the album is poetry and spoken word pieces about colors put to music as only an artist like Prairie can do. He joins us this week to discuss the creation of the album and to share stories from his long and diverse career. He's one of a kind. Enjoy! 

www.prairieprince.com

www.label51recordings.com

www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

Helix front man Brian Vollmer has been bringing the rock for over 50 years. From humble Canadian beginnings, Helix have managed to keep the metal moving through trends, periods of indifference, super highs ("Rock You") and low lows (deaths). His commitment to rock has never wavered. Recently, the band released the aptly named Scrap Metal, a collection of new songs and reimagined classics that fans old and new will enjoy. What's great about this conversation with Brian is his openness to discussing the societal and financial challenges of keeping the band viable. He's been forced to learn the business side and it's helped immensely. Enjoy! 

www.planethelix.com

www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod