The "I Gotta Ask" Podcast

Simeon Meyer of Stupid Rad Mech Co. stopped in on the pod via Zoom to talk all things surrounding manufacturing awesome band gear and a ton of other stuff. Simeon was an amazing and fun dude to speak to and I hope to have him back real soon!

Rami Krayem from the great band Cigar, joined me to talk all things band related. He gave me some great history on the band, we talked about song writing, writing the new Cigar record, touring, guitar gear and so much more! Thanks for listening!

Don Spence from the fantastic band Versus the World joined me to discuss all things surrounding the band including their amazing record Homesick/Roadsick, writing and recording the yet to be released album that is currently being finished up, raising children, strained paternal relationships, his recent purchase of a business, getting tattooed, gear, recording demos at home, being out on tour and so much more! Go follow @donvtw and @versustheworldmusic on instagram, and of course do me a big solid and follow the @igottaaskpodcast and @ol_surly Instagram pages and the podcast Facebook page! Thanks for listening!!

Pat Bergevin of the pop-punk band Lonely Avenue is this episodes guest and what a great time we had getting to know each other. Pat is a really interesting young man and he and I discussed everything from his guitar playing, to musical influences, to what Lonely Avenues song writing process is like and even crashing his poor Toyota Matrix! Lonely Avenue is a really fun band full of very talented musicians and I look forward to following their journey because I'm sure it's gonna be full of success!! Thanks again for being on, Pat!! Let's do it again!! Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen, rate the show on the platform of your choice and follow the show on Instagram and Facebook!! And, if you like what you hear, TELL YOUR FRIENDS!! THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT, EVERYONE!!!

Mike Garrett (aka @mikeoolshades on Instagram) joined me to discuss many things from playing "step drummer" for the band Assorted Jelly Beans, being the frontman of his band 3 Chords, music writing process, recording the bands latest album, growing up as punk rock kids and so much more! Mike is cool as hell and I was thrilled to get to have such a fun conversation with him! Come hang and listen in on a couple of goofballs talk music and feelings for 2 hours straight and then go tell your friends to do the same! Follow the show on Insta and Facebook and please follow my personal Insta, @ol_surly !! Thanks for all the love and support and I'll try to put these out a little more regularly, ok?? K, bye.

Alex Hernandez, who is otherwise known by the handle “Dig Out The Sky”, was on way back when I first started the podcast 4 years ago but then the show kind of fell off the rails and I didn’t release an episode for a number of years. But now that we’re back in business and releasing episodes as steadily as possible, I wanted to have Alex back for a part 2! He’s switched up his artistic style since the last time we spoke and he's worked his ass off to keep pumping out art pieces, and his hard work is paying off big time. His social media following has increased almost 10 fold since we last spoke. I’ve been following him forever and seeing the natural and organic growth of his fan base has been inspiring to watch. In this episode we discussed what drove his artistic style change, how Alex took full advantage of the pandemic by releasing a new piece of mixed media art almost daily, what his creative process is like, having his work featured in a brick and mortar gallery, and since we both live in the same city, we dove into a little bit of local hometown talk and discussed some nostalgic topics surrounding that. Alex is a great guy and I love talking to him. He and I don’t do it enough but we always have a lot to discuss and I’m sure he and I will be communicating more often and I really think we’ll have to do a part 3 at some point because we have lots more to cover, and I’m sure Alex’s success is only going to continue to skyrocket. So, we’ll have lots of new stuff to talk about in the future. If you don’t already know about Alex, check out his stuff by searching for “Dig Out the Sky” on Instagram and Facebook and go check out his website, which is www.digoutthesky.com. It’s laid out really creatively and is a fun experience in and of itself. You can check out his work there, shop for your favourite pieces and contact him with any custom requests! Check him out and hit him up! If you haven’t already, please remember to follow the Podcast on either Instagram or Facebook (or both) by simply searching for @Igottaaskpodcast. It’s the only one on those platforms so it’s easy to find, like rate and review the show wherever and however you listen, hit me up with feedback or just to say hello via DM’s on the social media platforms or by emailing me at [email protected]! Enjoy the episode, everyone!

Ron Thorn, Principal Master Builder with the Fender Guitars custom shop took some time out of his day to chat with me via zoom. Ron and I obviously talked a lot about his career from the early days of doing custom inlay work for the Fender Custom Shop via the Thorn Guitars company prior to joining Fender. How he found himself employed at the Fender Custom Shop as the Principal Master Builder there. His love of muscle cars, and cars in general, as well as some of his automotive restoration projects. We scratched the surface on a couple of Ron’s amazing custom one off guitar builds. We dug into Ron’s background as a guitar player and how he got started playing the six string. Ron filled me in a little about his current personal guitar collection and told an incredible story about a specific serial numbered Guild Brian May signature guitar that he tried to purchase but got scooped out from under him, and then years later inadvertently found again and bought from a very special surprise seller! We also talked about a whole bunch more, and had a great time! I hope you all enjoy the episode and please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW wherever you listen, and follow the shows Instagram and Facebook pages!!! Thanks for listening!!!!

Mike Davenport, bass player with a couple of my favourite bands, The Ataris and Versus the World, joins me on the podcast to discuss his career with both of those bands, where Mike grew up, what the scene was like there, how he got into punk music, his early careers as a bassist and what his earlier bands were like, how Mike made the best of a rough couple of years, how he got into writing short stories and novels and a whole bunch more!! Although Mike has had some recent legal troubles, it was amazing to see how positive of a guy he is and how he hasn't let his past sideline his plans for the future. Mike was an amazing guest and I hope to keep in touch with him and have him on again someday for a "part 2"!! Thanks for listening everyone!! Please remember to follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram (@igottaaskpodcast)and subscribe, like and share wherever you listen!!

Jerry Also (aka Jerry Gonzalez) of the band Murderland joined me via Zoom to discuss a ton of stuff including Murderland band history, our similarities growing up in catholic families, recording in the days of cassette tapes, how Jerry got started on playing bass (and how he got his first bass guitar), why he applied to and attended Musicians Institute, Jerry’s new art initiative which he is sharing on Instagram as the G13 Creative and what that’s all about, Jerry’s woodworking projects and SO MUCH MORE!! I hope you all enjoy our in depth convo as much as I did! I really liked talking to Jerry and getting to know him a little, and I hope to do another episode with him one day to dive even deeper into, and check in on, all of his projects! Please don't forget to like and share the episode and FOLLOW/RATE/REVIEW the pod wherever you listen!! THANKS A TON EVERYONE!!!!!

Josh Lewis, drummer of the awesome Fat Wreck Chords band The Bombpops, and also of the band Murderland, joins me to discuss a plethora of topics! We talked about how he began his drumming career, how he joined 2 of my favourite punk bands ever, touring, fighting with band mates (including being put in a choke hold!), his current day job growing at an indoor cannabis farm, helping out during a very scary diabetic emergency and SO MUCH MORE!! Please enjoy the episode and don't forget to like, share and SUBSCRIBE!!!!

I set up a Zoom call and chatted with Mike Kinshella, singer/frontman for the horror punk bank Murderland! Mike is such a great guy and graciously spoke to me at length about Murderland's history, working in the gaming and porn industries, parenting styles, getting married in a cemetery and so much more! This was a super enjoyable conversation for me and a big thanks again to Mike for being interested in doing the show and for being so easy to talk to! Please don't forget to follow, like, share and subscribe on any platform you use to stream the episodes! Enjoy!

Justin de Graaf is friend of mine who made his dream (and mine) of becoming a professional musician come true! Come listen to our conversation in which Justin details just how he transitioned from the world of the southern Ontario punk rock scene to playing with a host of awesome pro musicians in Toronto and Nashville as a hired musician and session musician! Justin is a true hustler and it's been inspiring to watch him continue to grind his way to fulfilling his goals in life. Thank you, Justin, for the great chat! Hope you all enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed speaking with this great human being!! Please remember to like, share, rate and subscribe!!!!

Mike Casarin of the band Somehow Hollow joins me to discuss a number of fun topics including, writing and recording the bands latest EP "Chasing Daylight", living in Mexico for winter 2020/2021, in depth history the band and so much more! I'm proud to call Mike my good friend and I hope to speak with him again soon since it's always a killer time! Come along with us as we discuss all the things, and please continue to like, subscribe and tell your friends if you've enjoyed the show! Thanks friends!!!!!

I chat with my new friend Sam from the fantastic YouTube channel/Instagram account, 90's Punk Rock Covers! Sam is such a cool guy with a super fun YouTube channel where he covers awesome punk/pop punk tunes and films his covers beautifully, which only adds to the full-on entertainment value Sam regularly provides with his uploads. We had a great chat that spanned everything from how he got the channel started, to what it was like being a teen in the punk scene in south Florida, to what's currently in his collection of amazing gear. Come along for the ride enjoy my talk with this gem of a human being!

Ep - 12 Brad Casarin (Somehow Hollow/Grade) by The "I Gotta Ask" Podcast

Punk Rocker, Davey Knight, "Zoomed" in to the show to talk about pop punk, our respective "scenes" growing up, meeting and becoming friends with some of our musical hero's from our youth, the advantages and disadvantages of home recording, the right of passage of playing the venues local to our high school bands and much more! Davey is a fantastic dude, and I can't wait to see Debt Cemetary kick ass in real life again as soon as the world allows it!

I sit down (via Zoom) with my good friend Angela Stinson to catch up on 20 years of friendship radio silence and discuss her new business, AudreyLou.ca!!

Ryan and I sit down to discuss recently declassified UFO videos from the US government, Bob Lazar and his somewhat believable story about reverse engineering work on allegedly recovered UFOs, pay inequity and more! Thanks so much for listening! Enjoy!

Ep. 8 - Rob Hughes/Matt Elder (Shred Penner/One Point Loss) by The "I Gotta Ask" Podcast

Ep7 - Erica Petricola (Dolcelicious by Erica) by The "I Gotta Ask" Podcast

Ep6 - John Elder and Ryan Van E by The "I Gotta Ask" Podcast

Brennan Galley is a friend of mine, and an all around awesome guy! He works for a company that produces many great brands of electronic music gear under it's umbrella. Brennan not only knows about the products he sells, but is also very knowledgeable in their use! Oh, did I mention he also plays bass in a cover band, too?? Brennan Galley is super nice, and also super interesting. Please enjoy our conversation!

Alex Hernandez (@the_soloist_project) is an extremely talented artist and an all around great guy. He came by today and we discussed his art, stand up comedy, music transcending time, the resurgence of vinyl records and many other fun things! Please don't forget to subscribe, share and like!

Two good friends of mine, Rob Hughes and Nate Bulla, came by to discuss being in the excellent cover band "Shred Penner", Nate's career as a professional drummer, and what it's like to be on the road with 2 internationally touring bands. We also talk about humanity's potential "death by AI", being called "Screwy Louie", the death of the electric guitar(??), and late night recording sessions.

The Casarin brothers came by to talk about their extensive experience over the past 20+ years involving music, touring, and having fun along the way! Notably, Brad (and later Mike) played in the very influential band Grade and, together, formed one of my favourite bands ever, Somehow Hollow. Please enjoy the episode!

My good friend Alex Armbruster joins me to discuss his career as a professional stuntman, meeting Kevin Spacey (and other cool people), his world travels and tons of other cool stuff!

A quick rundown of what the "I Gotta Ask" podcast is all about (kind of).