Episode 131: Dopapod's Rob Compa

Episode 131 of The JamBase Podcast, a partner of the Osiris Media Network, features an interview with Dopapod‘s Rob Compa. JamBase’s Scott Bernstein interviewed the guitarist about the band’s recently released self-titled studio album, Dopapod, and much more.

Compa spoke to Bernstein from his home in Vermont via a video call. The guitarist discussed the timeline of the Dopapod album, which the quartet began working on before the pandemic started. The self-titled record features a mix of “new” material along with older songs. One of the tracks in the latter category is “Grow” and Rob explained how Dopapod returned to the song with a new outlook and fresh arrangement nearly eight years after its live debut for inclusion on the album.

The guitarist also talked about how he knows the particular strengths of each of his bandmates and is fine with them handling aspects such as naming the album and coming up with its sequencing rather than having “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Compa went on to discuss the songwriting process that birthed Dopapod cut “Fannie.”

Dopapod’s vinyl packaging integrates a playable board game. Compa recalled the initial idea behind the time-traveling board game and how the band collaborated on the concept with former crew member Luke Stratton. Rob also discussed Dopapod’s year-plus hiatus that came before COVID-19 led to a pause in live touring and how the hiatus actually prepared the band to handle the realities of the pandemic.

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Hear Episode 131 of The JamBase Podcast via all major podcast services including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcast.