The Sonic Road Podcast

The Sonic Road Media, LLC
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The Sonic Road is the definitive rock podcast — in-depth interviews with the musicians, producers and label heads keeping stoner rock, heavy psych, grunge and independent music alive. Host Beau goes deep on studio secrets, touring life and the records that matter. No clickbait, no drama — just honest talk about authentic heavy music. Guests: Dave Krusen (Pearl Jam), Jay Buchanan (Rival Sons), Ewan Currie (The Sheepdogs), Ben Berdous (Slomosa). For fans of stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal and desert rock — Black Sabbath to Kyuss to Elder. Listen: https://linktr.ee/thesonicroad

  1. 2d ago

    Moon Destroys on New Album "Omni," Zach Amster & Going Heavier | Juan Montoya & Evan Diprima | Ep. 39

    Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and Evan Diprima (ex-Royal Thunder) of Moon Destroys join The Sonic Road Podcast to talk about the band's new album Omni, out September 4th on Blues Funeral Recordings, and the new chapter that came with adding Zach Amster of Abrams on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. In this episode: How meeting Zach Amster on the road in 2025 changed everything, and why Omni is shorter, catchier, and more immediate than She Walks by Moonlight. The origins of Moon Destroys, the debut EP with guests Troy Sanders, Paul Masvidal and Bryan Richie, the breakout 2025 run touring with Elder, Dozer and The Sword, and signing with Blues Funeral Recordings after connecting with Jadd Shickler. The making of the record — the Type O Negative and Nine Inch Nails textures on "My Eyes," keeping it DIY with Evan recording in-house, Mario Quintero of Spotlights on the mix and master, and the analog, less-is-more approach. Plus the state of the heavy underground in 2026, why albums beat singles, the venue merch-cut problem, and the upcoming US tour with The Well — including a Cleveland stop at the Beachland Ballroom where the band plans to play Omni nearly in full. Order Omni: moondestroys.bandcamp.com/album/omniMoon Destroys on Blues Funeral: bluesfuneral.com The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms

    Moon Destroys on New Album "Omni," Zach Amster & Going Heavier | Juan Montoya & Evan Diprima | Ep. 39

  2. Aug 5

    Materializer on Going Heavy, DIY Touring & "As the Body Flies" | Nashville Heavy Psych Duo | Ep. 38

    Chris and Conner Poole — the two brothers behind Nashville DIY heavy psych duo Materializer — join The Sonic Road Podcast to talk about their debut album As the Body Flies, out October 2nd on Bandcamp. Materializer is the next chapter after nearly nine years as The Swell Fellas. This episode traces the whole arc — from playing Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath covers in Ocean City, Maryland bars, to booking DIY tours in a 1991 Chevy van, to the move to Nashville in 2020 after Ben McLeod of All Them Witches invited them out to record. It's also the first episode with Becky Franzel officially co-hosting, making a duo interviewing a duo the right way to kick things off. In this episode: How Materializer built a genuinely heavy sound as a two-piece, running a pair of '70s Silverface Fender Twin Reverbs with sub-octave low end, all analog, mostly in drop C. The writing and recording of As the Body Flies — tracked at their home studio with drums cut at Gnome Recording and mixed by Ben McLeod — and where the album title comes from, pulled from a lyric at the end of the second track, "Walking Home." What watching bands like All Them Witches, King Buffalo, YOB and Cave In up close taught them about leveling up, the state of the Nashville underground in 2026, phone-bagging shows and the fight for presence in a room, why they chose the name Materializer, the reality of running a fully DIY band on night-shift jobs and endless emails, and the freedom and uncertainty of starting something new after nine years in one project. If you care about DIY heavy music, analog tone, van life on the road, and bands doing it entirely on their own terms, this one is for you. Materializer: materializerband.com | materializer.bandcamp.com | @materializerofficial The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms

    Materializer on Going Heavy, DIY Touring & "As the Body Flies" | Nashville Heavy Psych Duo | Ep. 38

  3. Jul 29

    Ep. 37: Becky Franzel Joins The Sonic Road Podcast as Co-Host

    Becky Franzel officially joins The Sonic Road Podcast as co-host, and she and host Beau open up about what led to this new chapter. They talk about building a real community around music conversations, the shift from Zoom interviews to in-person recording, and how Becky's ties to Milwaukee's rock scene will bring fresh stories to the show. It's the start of a new era for this stoner rock, heavy psych, and independent music podcast. 🌐 Website: https://www.thesonicroad.com📺 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thesonicroad📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesonicroad✖️ X: https://x.com/thesonicroad📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Sonic-Road-Podcast-61572482309190/🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sonic-road-podcast/id1796040439

    Ep. 37: Becky Franzel Joins The Sonic Road Podcast as Co-Host

  4. Jul 21

    Ticket Prices Up 41%: John Gist on Ticketmaster, Live Nation & Planet Desert Rock Weekend

    Concert ticket prices are up 41% since 2019, tours are getting canceled across the country, and unsold seats are showing up on Ticketmaster maps everywhere. John Gist — founder of Vegas Rock Revolution and creator of Planet Desert Rock Weekend — is building the opposite of all that. John spent years running marketing departments for Marriott and Wyndham before leaving the corporate world to promote heavy rock in Las Vegas. Seven years in, Planet Desert Rock Weekend has become one of the most carefully curated independent heavy rock festivals in the United States. In this episode: Pollstar data shows the average concert ticket went from about $96 in 2019 to nearly $136 by 2024. John breaks down where that money actually goes, how Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate, the role artist management plays, and why bands get blamed for prices they don't set. Why fewer companies controlling more of the industry is a problem, why marketing spend separates bands who sell tickets from bands who play to twenty people, and what "blue dot fever" says about the current touring market. The philosophy behind Planet Desert Rock Weekend: one stage, no overlapping sets, twenty minutes between bands, full 45 to 60 minute sets, and evening-only shows so people can enjoy Las Vegas during the day. John supplies the backline for international bands, obsesses over sound quality, and books at The Usual Place near Fremont Street so fans can walk from their hotel. Also covered: losing tens of thousands of dollars on the second edition in 2019 and rebuilding from scratch at volume three with John Garcia and Nebula, growing up on Circus and Hit Parader magazines, hearing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time from a cover band at a fraternity house, Kyuss in 1993, why Las Vegas has never had a real stoner rock culture, and his years co-hosting the Doomed & Stoned Show with Billy Goate and Bucky Brown. Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII runs January 28–31, 2027 at The Usual Place in Las Vegas — 21 bands from 9 countries over four evenings, including Greenleaf's exclusive West Coast show, Howling Giant playing their side of the Ripple Music split with Sergeant Thunderhoof for the first time ever, plus Sasquatch, Mothership, Black Rainbows, Cowboys & Aliens, Carousel and The Cold Stares. Tickets on Eventbrite. Vegas Rock Revolution: vegasrockrevolution.net | vegasrockrevolution.com | @vegasrockrevolution The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms

    Ticket Prices Up 41%: John Gist on Ticketmaster, Live Nation & Planet Desert Rock Weekend

  5. Jul 7

    Jadd Shickler on Blues Funeral Recordings, Magnetic Eye Records & 30 Years in Heavy Music | Ep. 35

    Jadd Shickler — founder of Blues Funeral Recordings, director of Magnetic Eye Records, and lead vocalist of Blue Heron — joins The Sonic Road Podcast for a career-spanning conversation about a life in heavy music that goes all the way back to the beginning of the stoner rock scene. Jadd has been shaping the heavy underground for nearly thirty years. In this episode he walks through the entire journey — from taping songs off the radio as a kid in 1984 and discovering the world of underground music through his older brother's mixtapes, to the grunge era, to founding the All That's Heavy online store in 1997 around a Kyuss bootleg and a dedicated landline phone in a house full of roommates. From there the conversation moves through the founding of MeteorCity Records — one of the first labels dedicated to stoner rock — the genre-defining Welcome to MeteorCity compilation, and the early demos that fell into their laps from a teenage Peder from Lowrider, Tommi from Dozer, and the New Jersey bands Solace and The Atomic Bitchwax. Jadd also tells the story of starting his own band in reverse order — filling in for Maryland doom band Iron Man on three weeks' notice in 2000, having never sung live before. The second half digs into the modern era — selling MeteorCity, stepping away from music for years, returning through writing before joining Magnetic Eye Records, and eventually founding Blues Funeral Recordings in 2018. Jadd breaks down the origin of the PostWax vinyl subscription series, the two-year pursuit of Elder that he finally closed with a SoundCloud audio message, the Mark Lanegan collaboration on the Domkraft record, and what a day in the life of running two labels actually looks like in 2026. He also gets candid about the business side that most labels won't discuss — transparency, delivering honest sales statements to bands, why "that which is measured improves," how Elder got burned before coming back to work with him, and why it's so easy to take advantage of artists who just want to make music. Plus: the Clutch story from a 2003 European tour, the health of the scene in 2026, why there are more bands than ever but attention is harder to earn, the younger fans showing up to Slomosa and Corrosion of Conformity shows, and balancing Blue Heron with running two labels. This is a deep one for anyone who cares about the heavy underground, the business of independent music, or the story of how the stoner rock scene actually got built — told by someone who was there from the start. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com | linktr.ee/thesonicroad 📲 FOLLOW THE SONIC ROAD PODCAST: @thesonicroad on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook & X thesonicroad.com 📲 FOLLOW BLUES FUNERAL RECORDINGS: bluesfuneral.com | @blues.funeral 📲 FOLLOW MAGNETIC EYE RECORDS: merhq.net | @magneticeyerecords 📲 FOLLOW BLUE HERON: blueheronabq.bandcamp.com | @blueheronabq

    Jadd Shickler on Blues Funeral Recordings, Magnetic Eye Records & 30 Years in Heavy Music | Ep. 35

  6. May 26

    Nick DiSalvo of Elder on Through Zero, 20 Years of Stoner Rock & Life in Germany | Ep. 34

    Nick DiSalvo — vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of Elder — returns to The Sonic Road Podcast for a full conversation ahead of the band's seventh studio album Through Zero, out May 29th via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America and Stickman Records in Europe.  Topics covered: twenty years of Elder and what it actually feels like from the inside, life in Germany while working for a European record label and playing in two active bands, the heavy music renaissance of 2026, All Them Witches, playing smaller venues by choice, scaling back activity to avoid burnout, being a maximalist and learning to pull back, barely finding time to play guitar, why COVID proved stopping isn't an option, creating from passion vs. making a product, the most important advice for young bands, medieval imagery and modern technocracy, fans and musicians building a community ecosystem within a broken system, the making of Through Zero at Big Snuff Studio with engineer Richard Behrens, Mellotron and the sonic palette of the new record, Ron Nevison and Led Zeppelin, the three-label global distribution setup with Blues Funeral, Stickman Records and Bird's Robe, whether Elder will ever play Through Zero in its entirety live, The Black Crowes and Clutch playing full albums, ticket prices, and what's coming next on tour.  Through Zero out May 29th — Blues Funeral Recordings. bluesfuneral.com | beholdtheelder.com  The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com @thesonicroad on all platforms.  Elder: @elderofficial

    Nick DiSalvo of Elder on Through Zero, 20 Years of Stoner Rock & Life in Germany | Ep. 34

  7. May 15

    Backstage with Corrosion of Conformity: Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman & Bobby Landgraf on Good God/Baad Man | Ep. 33

    Host Beau sat down backstage at The Roxy at Mahalls in Lakewood, Ohio with Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman, and Bobby Landgraf of Corrosion of Conformity hours before their May 10th show for a half-hour deep dive into Good God / Baad Man — out now on Nuclear Blast Records. Topics covered: why the album sounds like a COC greatest hits record and why that was intentional, the heavy underground surge of 2026, how Stanton Moore's drumming caused Pepper to rewrite 60% of his lyrics, the double album concept and why it was fully sequenced before they turned the amps on, the hidden Mississippi writing retreat with no clock and no hotel, recording with no isolation or control room with mattresses against cabinets, Warren Riker replacing John Custer after his severe tinnitus diagnosis, drums and bass tracked live to tape at Dockside Studio in Maurice Louisiana, guitar at Barry Gibb's private studio, the six-foot oil painting by Scott Guion made during the sessions, Bobby Landgraf locking in with Stanton on bass, recording at Electric Lady Studios for Deliverance and Wise Blood with Superunknown engineer Jason Cassaro, human music vs AI, demo tracks and cassette vocals that made the final record, Handcuff County in one live take, Lose Yourself on radio everywhere, Brickman with brushes for the first time on a COC record, shoeboxes of unreleased material and Electric Lady cassette tapes still intact, and plans for Part 2. Good God / Baad Man out now on Nuclear Blast Records. nuclearblast.com | coc.com The Sonic Road Podcast: thesonicroad.com linktr.ee/thesonicroad | @thesonicroad on all platforms. COC: Instagram @coccabal | TikTok @corrosivecabal

    Backstage with Corrosion of Conformity: Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman & Bobby Landgraf on Good God/Baad Man | Ep. 33

  8. Apr 29

    Best Rock & Metal Albums of 2026 So Far: The Black Crowes, Corrosion of Conformity, Elder & All Them Witches | Ep. 32

    Returning guest and Milwaukee author Becky Franzel joins host Beau  to break down the best rock, metal, and alternative albums of 2026  so far — including The Black Crowes' A Pound of Feathers,  Corrosion of Conformity's Good God / Baad Man, Elder's upcoming  Through Zero on Blues Funeral Recordings, All Them Witches' House  of Mirrors, Weedpecker, Handsome Jack's Barn Burners, ABRAMS' Loon,  Fortune Child, Kat Clyde's Mud and Bone, The Black Keys' Peaches,  and more. They also dig into Record Store Day 2026 — the rising costs,  pricing concerns, and how smaller retailers get squeezed out — plus  the ongoing debate around Bandcamp vs. Spotify, singles culture vs.  full albums, the Ticketmaster monopoly, fair pay at indie venues,  and summer touring season. Becky shares updates on her fourth book, Death's Subcontractor  Derrick, and where to find her work. Beau announces a free  Sonic Road newsletter. Find Becky at beckyfranzel.com | @thesonicroad on all platforms.

    Best Rock & Metal Albums of 2026 So Far: The Black Crowes, Corrosion of Conformity, Elder & All Them Witches | Ep. 32
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About

The Sonic Road is the definitive rock podcast — in-depth interviews with the musicians, producers and label heads keeping stoner rock, heavy psych, grunge and independent music alive. Host Beau goes deep on studio secrets, touring life and the records that matter. No clickbait, no drama — just honest talk about authentic heavy music. Guests: Dave Krusen (Pearl Jam), Jay Buchanan (Rival Sons), Ewan Currie (The Sheepdogs), Ben Berdous (Slomosa). For fans of stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal and desert rock — Black Sabbath to Kyuss to Elder. Listen: https://linktr.ee/thesonicroad

Information

  • Creator
    The Sonic Road Media, LLC
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    60
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Sonic Road Media, LLC
  • Show Website
    The Sonic Road Podcast

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