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PODCAST

Michael"s Record Collection

Let"s listen to records (or CDs, or mp3, or whatever you"ve got) together! I share stories, artist interviews and reviews from the world of music with an emphasis on rock, prog, metal, pop (especially 70s and 80s), indie, or whatever else is floating my boat at any given time. Support the show at: patreon.com/michaelsrecordcollection

music music interviews

All Episodes

80:45

Episode 164: Echolyn Interview (All Four Members!) -...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/12/01

My guests for this special episode are all four members of veteran progressive rock band Echolyn — Raymond Weston, Christopher Buzby, Brett Kull, and Jordan Perlson. The four musicians joined me to discuss their self-released twin albums, TimeSilentRadio II and TimeSilentRadio vii, which came out March 7. The band just released a new video and these outstanding modern prog albums are well worth your time. They were kind enough to tell me about the album, their writing approach, their history, some

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40:29

Episode 163: Nick D'Virgilio on Rewiring Genesis...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/11/24

Nick D'Virgilio returns to discuss the reissue of his 2008 Rewiring Genesis A Tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album. The reissue drops Friday, with some new parts recorded, including guitar by Genesis legend Steve Hackett and strings recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London. Nick discussed what's been added, what makes The Lamb special, his own personal history with the classic Genesis album and the band, touring as Hackett's drummer, what's next for D'Virgilio, Morse &

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65:06

Episode 162: Ted Leonard Talks New Spock's Beard...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/11/17

My guest for this episode is vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ted Leonard, who is the front man for Spock's Beard, Pattern-Seeking Animals, and Enchant. Ted and his Spock's Beard mates are set to release the band's 14th studio album (the fourth since Ted came in to replace Nick D'Virgilio as vocalist after the latter left the band). The Archaeoptimist drops Friday from Madfish Music. Ted talks about the big influence Ryo Okumoto had in writing the album, the many references to classic Spock's

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49:21

Episode 161: Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side - Time...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/11/03

My guest for this episode is Swedish multi-instrumentalist and composer Jonas Lindberg. His band/solo project, Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side is set to release its third album, Time Frames, on Nov. 7. Jonas was kind enough to tell me about the new album, his approach to songwriting, why the band hasn't played live in more than 10 years, his musical influences and background, and more. The music can best be described as a mixture of Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, Kaipa, and Genesis, but there

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67:51

Episode 160: Thomas Andersen of Gazpacho - "Magic...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/10/27

My guest for this episode is founding member and keyboardist of Norwegian progressive rockers Gazpacho. This is one of the most interesting bands in modern progressive rock, and they're back with a new album on Oct. 31 called Magic 8-Ball, a conceptual piece that provides everything you already love about Gazpacho and yet delivers some fresh new sounds and ideas as well. Thomas was kind enough to talk to me about his background and influences, the story behind the Magic 8-Ball concept, the album

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46:41

Episode 159: Mariusz Duda Talks New Lunatic Soul Album

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/10/20

My guest for this episode is Polish composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Mariusz Duda (Riverside, Lunatic Soul) about the upcoming Lunatic Soul album, The World Under Unsun. It's the first double album for Lunatic Soul (the name under which Duda records his solo albums). Despite being a double concept album, he keeps the length manageable, and Mariusz was kind enough to tell me about the new record, the story that underlies all of Lunatic Soul's recorded work, his influences and background,

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37:21

Episode 158: Lawrence Gowan of Styx on "Circling From...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/10/06

My guest for this episode is vocalist/keyboardist Lawrence Gowan of Styx. The Canadian musician took over for Dennis DeYoung ahead of the 2003 album Cyclorama and although he's only been part of the band's last five studio albums in that time, Styx continues to find ways to explore interesting musical ideas and create memorable music. Lawrence was kind enough to discuss the new album, Circling From Above (which came out in July), his first favorite record, how Jon Anderson of Yes ended up on his

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80:02

Episode 157: Celebrating 40 Years of "Dream Into...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/09/22

Jon Lamoreaux from the Hustle Podcast has been on the show before, and he returns to go track by track with me through the 1985 synth-pop masterpiece Dream Into Action by Howard Jones. The album turned 40 earlier this year and Howard is currently on his 40th anniversary tour for the album, playing most of the songs from it, along with other hits and favorites. We discuss the stories behind the songs and the differences between the original U.S. and U.K. versions of the album, how we discovered

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57:31

Episode 156: Tom Galgano of IZZ Discusses Debut Solo...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/09/08

My guest for this episode is IZZ co-founding member Tom Galgano, who has finally put out his first solo album after more than 25 years as a professional musician. Sleepwalking in a Strange Land will present many surprises for longtime IZZ fans, but at the same time, there is a lot that the band's longtime supporters will love. Tom was kind enough to take me through his process, his musical background, how he formed IZZ, his approach to soloing, which IZZ albums he would have liked to have worked on

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43:52

Episode 155: Arjen Anthony Lucassen on Solo Album...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/09/01

Arjen Anthony Lucassen, best known for his Ayreon all-star progressive rock project, is back with his first solo album in 13 years. Songs No One Will Hear is a conceptual piece about the world finding out that an asteroid is coming to destroy the planet in five months' time. The music is eclectic — at times fun, at others serious, with an excellent blend of darker and lighter moments. Arjen was kind enough to talk to me about his new album, his musical past, working with legendary actor Rutger Hauer

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53:18

Episode 154: Author Andrew Wild Discusses 80s British...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/07/14

It was my honor recently to speak with music writer Andrew Wild, who has written books about the likes of Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits, and Pink Floyd, as well as about the iconic Live Aid concert festival. Andrew just released his second book about the 1980s "neoprog" era in England, chronicling six British bands that kept the progressive rock torch alive when the 1970s bands were either fading out or pivoting to more pop-oriented sounds. Those bands are: Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon,

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01:22:18

Episode 153: Mark Zonder of A-Z Discusses "A2Z2"

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/06/07

My guest for this episode is Warlord and former Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder, who was kind enough to talk to me about A-Z's sophomore album, A2Z2, which dropped June 6 on Metal Blade Records. A-Z provides catchy and accessible hard rock music that's a bit more adventurous than your typical AOR fare. The band is made up of accomplished musicians and they just flat out rock. The band's second album has more bite and has more progressive elements than the debut, as A-Z continues to define its

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01:05:51

Episode 152: Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/05/05

I welcome back the legendary Roine Stolt from The Flower Kings to discuss LOVE, the new album from the Swedish progressive rock masters. This 17th studio release is sure to appeal to longtime fans of the band, as The Flower Kings have produced an album that builds on their recent releases while calling back to their classic sound. Roine was kind enough to tell me the stories behind the recording and writing of LOVE, the guitars he used, and even a few surprises about the band's co-headlining tour

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01:11:36

Episode 151: Imminent Sonic Destruction Interview -...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/04/28

My guests for this episode are Tony Piccoli and Pete Hopersberger from Michigan-based progressive metal outfit Imminent Sonic Destruction. Tony has been on the show before, back on Episode 58 to discuss the band's third album, The Sun Will Always Set, but the band is back with fourth album, Floodgate, which dropped April 25 on FC Records. Tony and Pete discussed the making of the album, the stories behind the songs, Pete's musical background, and much more. Learn more about the band on their

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01:02:44

Episode 150: Phil Keaggy of Cosmic Cathedral...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/04/21

My guest for this episode is legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy. Phil has joined forces with Neal Morse, ex-Genesis drummer Chester Thompson, and noted session bassist Byron House to form a new prog rock supergroup called Cosmic Cathedral. The band's debut album, Deep Water, drops April 25 from Inside Out Music. Phil was kind enough to tell me how the project came about, the making of the record, his musical beginnings and more. Cosmic Cathedral rocks, swings, grooves, and is full of all the proggy

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01:00:35

Episode 149: Steve Babb of Glass Hammer - Rogue

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/04/14

After the heavy, guitar-driven science fiction epic Arise (2023), Glass Hammer returns with the band's most accessible album yet. Co-founder Steve Babb returns to Michael's Record Collection to discuss the brand new album Rogue, the most human of all Glass Hammer's concept albums. Drenched in keyboards, Rogue shares connective tissue with some of Glass Hammer's most beloved albums, with hints of Genesis and Yes mixed with dream pop, space rock, and 80s synth pop influences. Steve was kind enough to

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01:21:56

Episode 148: Dave Kerzner on New Genesis Lamb Tribute

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/04/07

My guest for this episode is repeat offender Dave Kerzner, making his third appearance on the show. In his first, we discussed one of his all-time favorite albums, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis. That was a few years ago and he hinted about a Lamb tribute album in the works featuring performers such as Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train), Billy Sherwood (Yes), Steve Rothery (Marillion), and others. That album is now a reality, with the recent release of Sonic

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01:21:35

Episode 147: Grackle Interview - All That Matters

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/03/31

For this episode, I'm joined by three members of Grackle, a Louisville, Kentucky-based indie/progressive rock band that defies simple classification, with elements of prog, alt-rock, jazz, classical, folk, classic rock, and more. Primary songwriter Steve Katsikas (vocals, keyboards, saxophone, etc.) along with backing vocalist Jennifer Lauletta and drummer Jeff Gard stopped by for a discussion of the band's recently released third album, All That Matters, which sees Grackle take a big step forward

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52:36

Episode 146: Peter Nicholls and Mike Holmes of IQ on...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/03/24

My guests for this episode are the principal writers for the British progressive rock band IQ, Peter Nicholls (lyrics) and Mike Holmes (music). The lead singer and guitarist, respectively, along with their bandmates are set to release the band's 13th album, Dominion, on Giant Electric Pea Records on March 28. The two discussed the album's music, lyrics, and writing process, their musical backgrounds, Peter's fake-it-til-you-make-it approach to becoming one of the most unique voices in progressive

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50:40

Episode 145: Kevin J. Anderson Part 2 - Rush, Neil...

Michael"s Record Collection ·

2025/03/17

It's Part 2 of my interview with bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson! In this episode, Kevin discusses how he found out he was going to write the novelization for Rush's Clockwork Angels album, working with Neil Peart on the books, his friendship with Neil, his love of Rush's music, and his thoughts on the Clockwork Angels album. Visit wordfire.com for more information on Kevin's work.Get in on Kevin's Terra Incognita and Roswell Six Kickstarter here. Please hit the like button and/or leave a

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164 results

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