The LIFERS Podcast The LIFERS Podcast

It’s great to have an old friend on the show — and this week we’ve got Jonny Polonsky. Lucky you. This is a great episode where we talk to the great singer-songwriter-studio rat about moving to and prospering in LA, growing up as a backstage-teenaged Chicago presence, bossing around Rick Rubin, Mark Lanegan, playing on a Neil Diamond session, being Frank Black’s boy, Chris Cornell & Dio, Gabe as Sid Haig, and Jonny’s great new record that comes out June 7 on Loosegroove records.

Unleashed in the East! Gabe and Ben talk to Scott and Justine while they’re doing laundry in a hotel in Osaka before making their way to Monkey Island. Confused? You won’t be after you hear this episode featuring Japanese metal bars, overconfident deer, Hear ’N Aid, Bali belly, Japanese toilets, Louise Stratten, rainy neon umbrella nights, Facebook posts that are actually ransom notes, and songs that start with choruses.

Scott is supposed to be on vacation in Bali, but Gabe and Ben are relentless. So they dragged him out of bed from half a world away to record this goddamn podcast! This week the guys talk about fine Balinese cinema, spice-averse Australians, Brittany Grinder, cat poop coffee, Steve Albini’s love of Costco, Susan Backlinie, Roger Corman, “One Handshake Away” with Peter Bogdanovich, silly middle names, and saving the chorus until the end.

On another edition of the QUITTERS Podcast: Tim Edwards used to be Local H’s booking agent until he decided enough was enough and he walked away from the entire industry. What would drive a person to throw away the good fortune to be working with Scott? Well, if there’s an answer — good luck trying to get it out of him. On our shortest interview ever, we talk to Tim about toga parties, Russia, sub-tertiary markets, the glory days of Flowerbooking, forcing Scott to sing the National Anthem, and we pick the best songs about giving up. You can’t quit us, baby.

When the LIFERS Podcast moved offices and we needed movers — we wanted real movers, real service… real rock and roll. So we called the guys at REAL ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MOVERS. These guys delivered rock solid service. If you’re planning a move —residential, commercial, whatever— you gotta call the REAL ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MOVERS. Plus their boss man used to play drums in Starball and Moreno (and was also the drum tech for Local H). You’ve seen their cool black skull moving trucks everywhere. That’s them! REAL ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MOVERS. These guys know the meaning of rock!

Behold the quintessential lifer in these matters: Scott McCaughey. Now this podcast is getting somewhere. Scott was a king of Seattle before it was cool while his band Young Fresh Fellows were roaming the untested wilds of the ‘80s college-rock countryside. This led to now-mythical tours with The Replacements and a crucial and long-standing musical friendship with Peter Buck — which, of course, led to The Minus 5 and Scott being something of a 5th member of REM. From there, he went on to play with EVERYBODY. We’re not kidding. You could do a Kevin Bacon-style six degrees of separation game with Scott that would probably make the universe fold in on itself like a slice of New York pizza. Anyway — Scott’s great. He hung out with us. We are grateful. Take a listen.