Washington, DC based BRNDA's infectious "snack-punk" can be hard to classify… and even harder to get out of your head. Hot off the release of their sophomore release, Year Of The Manatee, Dave Lesser (guitar), Leah Gage (drums) and Jhn Whytefoot (bass) pay a visit to the basement to talk about the history of the band, where their uniquely fearless music fits into the current DC scene, how to make it as a modern artist in a modern world, and much, much more.

PLUS! Kevin shares some thoughts on this past weekend's inaugural Landmark Music Festival, and Dirty Ghosts are back with Let It Pretend, the follow up to 2012’s Metal Moon and we’ve got “Cataract”, the album’s first single for you to shove in your ears and verily be rocked.

Get ready for a serious, and seriously fun, conversation with one of the most exciting bands going in DC today on Episode 134 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

This week on the podcast, our friends Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray are back on the best coast which can mean only one thing: PODCAST TIME. After months of hard work, their upcoming follow up to2014’s Lean Into The Wind is almost ready! Erin and Chris sit down with Kevin for a supremely heady chat about their new album and why it’s their most ambitious project yet, Erin’s fledgling foundation Musica Feminista, and what it means to be outspoken activists in an industry that far too often rewards silence over basic social responsibility.

Plus! We’ve got a new track from the darkly elegant Frog Eyes album, Pickpocket’s Locket, for you to put in your ears. Grab a seat and get comfortable, because here comes one of the best episodes of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast to date.  

This week on the podcast singer/guitarist/composer Marian McLaughlin returns and is bringing her collaborator Ethan Foote with her to talk about their upcoming album, Spirit House. Equal parts folk, chamber music, and magic, Spirit House is the evolution of the work Marian began on 2014’s Derive taken in directions she only hinted at previously. In this return to the basement, Kevin sits down with the duo to discover more about the albums inspirations, its many collaborators and how it changed the people who made it.

PLUS! Check out new track from The Low Lows Monk Parker off of his debut solo album, How The Spark Loves The Tinder, on Episode 130 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

This week on the podcast Kevin sits down with the Rainbow Lady and Guitarmony Gus (aka Kate Moran and Derek Evry) to talk about the Rainbow Rock Band! Grown up rockers in their own right, Kate, Derek and a whole host of other familiar names in the “IOTA scene” are giving back to the community in the best way they know how: PLAYING MUSIC! “Rocking the rainbow” at libraries, children’s hospitals, schools – pretty much EVERYWHERE – Kate and her crew are bringing joy and knowledge to kids throughout the DMV area and beyond with their smart, fun, and educational original songs. With their debut CD, Meet The Rainbow, released earlier this year they are poised to take over the world, Kate and Derek tell all about the group’s beginnings, deeper ambitions, importance of their mission and more. It’s a kid friendly, rated G for GREAT time in the basement on Episode 127 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast 

This week on the podcast we’re talking to Washington, DC’s Sara Curtin! For years she’s been wowing audiences as one half of The Sweater Set, and more recently singing backup DC’s “supergroup” Justin Jones and the B-Sides, but now it’s time for Sara to stun on her own…again. Michigan Lilium, out July 24th, is Sara’s second solo album and in advance of her release show in New York City on July 17th, Kevin sat down with the illustrious singer/songwriter to talk about singing, family, cats, the DC scene, and, most importantly her fantastically adventurous and sublime new record.

Whether you’re just discovering Sara Curtin’s music or are a longtime fan, this is a chat you’re not going to want to miss on Episode 124 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

This week on the podcast, Louis Weeks returns to the basement with his friend/collaborator Noah Berman in tow to talk about their upcoming release, haha! Recorded with a live band and greatly expanded instrumentation, haha builds on the the fantastical foundation laid down by 2014’s Shift/Away, and launches Weeks’ musical horizons into the stratosphere. 

Tune in to hear Louis and Noah tell all about how the album was made, what it’s like transitioning from being a largely solo musician to the leader of a seven piece band, bass drops, and get a taste of one of 2015's best albums. It's all happening on Episode 117 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

This week Kevin sits down with Beauty Pill front-man/mastermind Chad Clark to talk about their astounding new record Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are. Initially conceived of in 2006, the project was unexpectedly put on hold when Clark fell ill in 2007. Multiple life-saving surgeries and a new outlook on life later, Clark and his cohorts have crafted a rare, exploding-with-life masterpiece that sounds as big as the universe while managing to tackle smaller, more personal matters of the heart (often quite literally) with sophistication and ease. 

Tune in for a deeply human, moving, and life affirming conversation on Episode 114 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast.

*Photo courtesy of PJ Sykes

On this week’s podcast, Andrew Grossman and Michael Hernandez of DC’s The North Country stop by the basement the morning after a most triumphant show at Babe City to talk about their upcoming album There Is Nothing To Fear. A pastiche of early 2000’s indie rock (think Arcade Fire, Wilco, My Morning Jacket) mashed together with whip-smart observational lyrics and sublimely honest, observational, lyricism, Fear not only marks the arrival of a major musical force on the DC scene, but happens to be one of the best albums of 2015 to date.

Whether you’re already a fan, or just getting hip to The North Country, this is one conversation you’re not gonna want to miss on Episode 112 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

On the just-released Pattern Matching, the sophomore album from DC-based indie-folk outfit Stranger In The Alps, main man Steve Kolowich and friends have built upon the foundation he laid with 2013’s Honey If You’re Lucky to produce a record that is as willingly playful with its songwriting and use of language as it is with the boundaries of the genre which it operates in. For our latest podcast Kevin sat down for an in-depth discussion with Steve to discuss the making of the album, the art of songwriting, the DC scene through his eyes and much, much more.  It’s a double-sized, music-nerd extravaganza on Episode 102 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

For our HUNDREDTH EPISODE (!!) we re-present to you our chat with one Damien Jurado, recorded almost a year ago to the day! His 2014 album Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son ultimately topped many a year end list, and before a stop in Washington, DC on his first tour for the record, Damien opened up to Kevin and Andre about the deeper meanings of the record, how his inspirations often come from the most unlikely of places, and… saxophones? PLUS! Kevin takes a quick walk down memory lane to revisit the beginnings of the podcast, shares how this interview was a turning point in the the long, often strange, trip ye olde 'cast has taken us on, and  hints at where we might be headed from here. So tune in and marvel at our unchecked tenacity, as we present to you EPISODE ONE HUNDRED of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!!

In our latest podcast (and last regular podcast for 2014) we sit down with the wonderfully unique Marian McLaughlin. Her sublime work on her debut Dèrive , released early in 2014, has led Marian and her musical cohorts from the smallest of smallest of house shows to being featured on NPR’s acclaimed Tiny Desk Concert series and back again. Kevin sat down with Marian to discuss what the future holds for the talented musician including her artspace/home The Holy Underground in Baltimore, her plans - including her in progress Kickstarter -  for her second album Spirit House, and much much more.

It’s the last regular podcast of the year and we’re going out on a high note on ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast Episode 94!

Both formidable musical talents on their own, together Olivia Mancini and Jarrett Nicolay make up the electro-pop duo known as Astra Via! Prior to the release of their upcoming EP SUPERBESTLUCKYSONGS (due out 12/16 on Aerobic International) Adam sat down with his friends and past collaborators to talk their long, strange trip of a music career, Cracker Barrel, some ugly truths about the industry, and much, much more.

PLUS! Because Astra Via loves you,  A LIVE IN THE BASEMENT performance of SUPERBESTLUCKYSONGS track “Action Junkie” to put in your ears and enjoy early and often!

This week we’re delivering a double-stuffed podcast just in time for Thanksgiving! It’s no secret that the DC music scene has been blowing up, and for the past three years one of the scene’s biggest supporters has been Hometown Sounds. Part internet radio, part blog, and part podcast, Paul Vodra and Tony Porreco have been working overtime to make sure the best and brightest sounds DC has to offer makes it to the place that’s most important: Your Ears.

Recently the pair paid a visit to the basement to chat with Kevin about the scene, podcasting, the ins-and-outs of music licensing and much, much more. So tune in, kick back, and loosen your belt as we serve up our latest episode of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast with the good gentleman of DC’s one and only Hometown Sounds. 

You may know him as the shred-tastic lead guitar player for Wilco, but with his trio the Nels Cline Singers, and more recently an upcoming collaboration with jazz guitar virtuoso Julian Lage, Nels Cline has proven to be a major player in the jazz/avante garde world for over 30 years now. We sit down with the man who Rolling Stone listed as “the 82nd greatest guitarist of all time” to discuss his beginnings as a musician and music fan, his ability to effortlessly hop styles/genres, his work with the Nels Cline Singers and their latest record Macroscope, and much, much more. Tune in and catch a fascinating discussion with one of the greats on our latest episode of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

In our latest podcast, Kevin sits down with multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter Louis (pronounced 'Loo-E') Weeks to talk about his stellar debut album Shift/Away, what all this music stuff really means, the house show scene in DC and much, more. You thought we were music nerds before? You ain't heard nothin' yet. Tune in and get turned on to one of 2014's best new artists - DC or otherwise - on Episode 87 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

In 2009, DC-based musico Andy Zipf decided it was time for a change, and thus The Cowards Choir was born. What was initially a “solo” project (there were always collaborators) has developed into a full-fledged band featuring fellow DC-area stalwarts Ryan Walker on bass, Ben Tufts on percussion and Adam Neubauer on drums, and October 4th, the quartet released their latest effort, Cool Currency.

Fresh off the release of that EP (and we do mean fresh…as in the morning after the release show), Andy and the guys stopped by the basement to talk about, the making of Cool Currency, the evolution of The Cowards Choir to date, their upcoming slot at the Magnificent Intentions Music Festival, and more.

In this week’s podcast, Kevin sits down with Ryan Walker and Brian Pagels of DC’s The Beanstalk Library to discuss their latest grand idea, the upcoming Magnificent Intentions Music Festival. Taking place at Arlington, VA’s legendary IOTA Club & Café and spanning THREE DAYS (Oct. 17-19), this ambitious event features some of the best, and most diverse musical acts the DC area has to offer. Tune in to find out everything you need to know about the fest, The Beanstalk Library, the burgeoning DC scene and more on Episode 83 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast!

In this week’s episode we sit down with up-and-coming singer/songwriter Lauren Calve. Soulful, storied and powerful are just few of the words that come to mind when talking about her debut EP, Between The Creek and the Tracks, and Lauren filled us on the inspirations for her music, the unique recording experience (in a barn!!) that produced her debut, and much, much more. So tune in and meet an artist that you’re going to be hearing a lot about soon on Episode 82 of ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast.

This week Kevin and Adam take a road trip…to Clarendon, VA. In our latest podcast we sit down with David Schlank, proprietor of CD Cellar - one of the few record stores left standing in the DC area - to talk about out how they have weathered the digital storm, what he sees as the future of retail music and much, much more. Live from the record store, it’s ChunkyGlasses: The Podcast Episode #76! 

 On Saturday, August 16th, Vienna’s famed Jammin’ Java will host the Fourth Annual Ben Tufts and Friends fundraiser for the Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship Fund. With a promised SEVEN HOURS of music from the best of the regional scene and more, it’s sure to be one of the most memorable events of the year. With his brother Dan and friends, Derek Evry, Ryan Walker, Jasmine Gillison, and Aaron Mason in tow, Ben stopped by the basement yet again to talk in depth about the Craig Tufts Memorial Fund, share stories of how he and his friends met, the music they’ve created together over the years, and much, much more.