What Else? The Podcast

Nic Porta does a jigsaw puzzle and chews a little gum whilst discussing moving to different countries as a child, dealing with life and death at work, and why he hates Van Morrison's music.

Eva Yusa comes to What Else headquarters to talk about finding a job that fits, acting, and more.

Part 2 (of 2) of my interview with Ken Simon, aka Gold Masta (or Gold Master). A terrific friend, and a thoughtful and interesting guy. He talks about working, drumming, anxiety, and being a human.Recorded outdoors on the deck at The Hitmaker World Headquarters in Uptown, Chicago.

An interview with Ken Simon, aka Gold Masta (or Gold Master). A terrific friend, and a thoughtful and interesting guy. He talks about the passage of time, growing up in another family's house, the appeal of athletics, and music.Recorded outdoors on the deck at The Hitmaker World Headquarters in Uptown, Chicago.This is Part 1 of 2.

Part 2 of the interview with BA. He talks about books, what happens after we die, and political awareness, among other topics.

In this episode, Mark “Biche” Schwarz talks about how pop-music criticism isn’t really about music, and how that does a disservice to the art form and creates a lack of historical knowledge; his love of Larry Graham’s bass playing; the ephemeral nature of the self; and more. This episode is a bit more of a chat than an interview, in part because of the subject matter and the setting, but also because it was a now-rare opportunity to spend time talking with my beloved best-friend-since-childhood Biche, so it was easy to get excited and fall into “conversational” mode rather than “interview” mode.Recorded live outdoors in Uptown, Chicago, in the summertime. Enjoy Biche!

In this episode you'll hear from BA Rosenblum. He talks about listening to music from an early age, quitting high school, serving in the Army, re-learning a musical instrument, and the album that saved his life.BA and I have been close since we were about 6 years old, and it's always interesting for me to hear his thoughts--I learned some new things in this interview, and I hope you'll enjoy it.The interview is being broken into two episodes--this is the first half of the discussion; the second half will be posted in the near future.---Thanks to the kind and generous people of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for hooking up our sponsorships (you can learn more about them at ChicagoPodcastCoop.com), and to this episode's sponsor, the lovely and talented Cards Against Humanity.

In this episode, Mark “Biche” Schwarz talks about going to law school in his 40s, talking a classmate into quitting law school, maintaining focus on work, running a recording studio, and the inaccessibility of past versions of ourselves. He also muses about music he likes/liked, including The Who, Van Morrison, and The Police—and the unique sonic character of Ghost in the Machine. And he talks about having/developing a musical ear. In this episode, you’ll hear a little more chatter from me than I’d like, in part because of the setting, but also because it was a now-rare opportunity to spend time talking with Biche, and we’ve been close since we were little kids, so it’s easy to get excited and fall into “conversational” mode rather than “interview” mode. There’s a second part of this conversation that will be released later.Recorded outdoors in scenic Uptown, Chicago. Enjoy Biche!  --Thanks to the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for hooking up our sponsorships (you can learn more about them at ChicagoPodcas

In the debut episode, we talk with Michael Simons: traveler, founder of the nonprofit Intonation Music Workshop, musician, and all-around wonderful guy. He talks about living in Sweden, his distaste for Steppenwolf, running a travel-tour business, and following his intuition in life decisions.With thanks to the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for hooking up our sponsorships (you can learn more about them at ChicagoPodcastCoop.com), and to our first sponsor, the delightful Field Notes Brand.