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In this episode Ben chats with Kyle Crew of the NYC art punk band Consumables. They discuss the thematics and stories behind Consumables’s new LP ‘Infinite Games’ (produced by Ben) including Kyle’s father’s LA punk pedagogy, the influence of Parquet Court’s ‘Life Up Gold’, post punk vs. the blues, tribulations of collaboration, and a six month stint in Arkansas jail.

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For the final episode of the season, Ben chats w/ Bodega Bay drummer Aiko Masubuchi about ’N.A.S.S.’, the violent song Bodega Bay used to close most of their sets. The duo also discuss Aiko’s unique sticking of the motorik beat, Sonic Youth’s use of prepared guitar, and the impossibility of re-creating the charming naiveté of first recordings. The episode ends with Ben pondering the nostalgia-obsessed state of postmodern pop culture, Charli XCX’s Brat, and the song ‘Realism’. 

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For the 21st episode, Ben chats with filmmaker and Bodega Bay member Joe Wakeman about ‘Cultural Consumer IV’ and his other songwriting contributions to Bodega Bay. The duo also discuss the B Bay outtake of ‘Brancusi Brainwash Birds’ featuring Joe’s keyboards, of Montreal’s progressive pop, Bowie and Bolan’s only collaboration, ‘Notoriety’, Wes Anderson, Courtney Barnett, the song Joe initially wrote for Endless Scroll (Toyzanne’s ‘Maps’), Acrylic Gesso, and the time Bodega Bay staged a rock opera. 

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For the 20th episode, Ben and BODEGA bassist Adam See discuss the song ‘Adaptation of the Truth about Marie’ and the existential romance novel it’s based on, Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s ‘The Truth about Marie.’ The duo also discuss the philosophical implications of first and third person narration, Andre Bazin, Goldeneye for Nintendo 64, Roger Corman’s ‘The Raven’, Godard’s ‘Contempt’, Ben’s first film ‘Annunciation’, R.E.M., and the concept of adaptation itself.

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For the 19th episode, Ben breaks down the ideas behind the song ‘Listen w/ Yr Eyes’ w/ a little help from BODEGA singer and percussionist Nikki Belfiglio. Ben and Nikki also discuss Nikki’s attraction to the hi-hat, ‘conscious rock’, the ten year anniversary of Alphaville, music listening phenomenology, and the new Bandcamp compilation for Palestine that features a new BODEGA studio outtake of the Bodega Bay song ‘Second Row Center'.

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For the 18th episode, Ben dissects the song ‘Music Hall of Williamsburg’’ and the long bewildered journey it took as an adaptation of the Bodega Bay song ‘ATM II’. He also discusses Brechtian rap rock, Dinosaur Jr.’s use of flanger, the absurdity of wanting a band to be your life, and his own rock existential crisis that inspired the lyrics about a cultural consumer questioning everything while waiting at a venue’s ATM.

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For this very special episode, Ben gets a play-by-play history of one of his favorite NYC bands, the legendary Milk Dick. Ben interviews Milk Dick’s leader Mike Delaney about growing up in the Bronx, working at CBGB’s, playing music w/ Juan Wauters, shitgaze and the Fall, the Hospitals, the Velvets, playing punk quiet, meeting Bodega Bay, and Mike’s use of yearning, memory, comedy, sex, hard drugs, and damage in his songwriting. The guys also discuss Mike's profound emotional connection to his ex-bandmates Meg and Brian and dissect the process behind the three Milk Dick LPs and the Milk Dick song BODEGA covered on their new EP, ‘Cry When Yr Young’. 

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For the first episode dedicated to the new BODEGA EP Brand on the Run, Ben interviews sometimes live BODEGA bassist and engineer/mixer Tim Race about recording ‘Myrtle Parade'. Ben and Tim also discuss Tim’s band Big Bliss, ‘butt rock’, covering Joy Division and Interpol, the BK DIY venue Aviv, sobriety in the music scene, the claps on ‘Genius of Love’, the origins of Earthquaker pedals and The Party of Helicopters, the NYC post punk class of 2018, Bodega Bay's version(s) of Endless Scroll, the spontaneous birth of 'Proof of Life', and the song Tim wrote to understand his dad’s PTSD as a Vietnam vet.

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For this jam-packed episode, Ben interviews BODEGA bass player and philosopher Adam See about the history of gentrification in NYC and its relationship to colonialism, structural racism, red-lining, corporate misuse of eminent domain, Patti Smith, punk, and the track ‘City is Taken’. The pair also discuss Adam’s music history and his passionate commitment to veganism/animal liberation.

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For the 14th episode, Ben interviews filmmaker and ambient musician Devin Johnson about the film he made of Bodega Bay’s final show: ‘Bodega Bay Breaks Up.’ Ben and Devin also discuss Devin’s project Sunset Diver, their involvement w/ Capitalist Records, the dark side of Slack Gaze, Jay Wade, Bodega Bay’s improvisations, and the song ‘Cultural Consumer III'.

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For the 13th episode, Ben interviews saxophonist and frequent Bodega Bay collaborator Kate Mohanty about her musical history and contribution to the original Bodega Bay album and ‘Cultural Consumer II’. The pair also discuss Kate’s fascination with/ Coltrane and the Velvets, her time in Parlor Walls, Ben’s experiments w/ deconstructive mixes, and the psychology behind free improvisation.

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For the 12th episode, Ben and drummer Brendan Mehan dissect the story and repertoire of the band they formed in 2012 right before Bodega Bay, Big Fur. The pair analyze several of their recordings and the song Ben wrote for Big Fur that later became a Bodega Bay (and BODEGA) staple, ‘Cultural Consumer’. Other topics include the psychology and artistry of on-stage meltdowns, borrowing from The Pixies, and Brendan’s experience working in the branding side of the music industry.

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In this mini episode, Ben muses alone in a French motel on the origins of the track that became Bodega Bay’s manifesto: ‘Born Into by What Consumes’. He also discusses Bodega Bay’s critique of ‘naturalism’, Jean Renoir’s defense of hammy acting, and his brief time in a Pink Floyd tribute band.

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For the tenth episode, Ben interviews one-time Bodega Bay drummer and scholar Richard Vagnino about the band he started that shared members w/ Bodega Bay, Perfect Teeth. The pair also discuss the girl troubles that inspired their songs ‘Memphis’ and ‘Protean’ plus Jeff Tweedy’s theory of genre misuse in the studio, the psychology of karaoke, and the construction of self as a curated adaptive process.

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In the ninth episode, Ben interviews Bodega Bay bass player Tom Miller about his musical life and his contribution to the track ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Drum.’ Topics discussed include Tom’s classical childhood, Animal Collective, hair metal and indie hedonism, Steve Hanley and The Fall, repetition as an aesthetic strategy, authenticity, Pink Flag and Pink Floyd, ‘Ode to Drum’, DIY yuppies, swing and iambic pentameter, and the utopia of having a dedicated creative friend circle.

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In this very special episode Ben chats with Mystery Lights frontman Mike Brandon about the answer to the BODEGA Q: ‘What’s the deal with all these ATMs?’ As well as the band’s ‘ATM theory’, the pair discuss normalized sociopathy, mental health, PVT Chat, Carl Jung’s theory of shadow, proto-punk, Wick and Daptone records, Kant, playing with Fat White Family on late night TV, meeting Danny Fields, and the thorny relationship between genre, novelty, and artistic quality.

As well as dissecting the psychology behind the track ‘ATM’, Ben learns about the process behind the new Mystery Lights LP ‘Purgatory’ and his favorite song on that new disc, ‘Memories’.

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For the seventh episode, Ben interviews current BODEGA drummer Adam Shumski about his drum philosophy and details how a post-show fight was transformed into the song ‘Webster Hall’. Ben and Adam discuss the enduring influence of jazz, hearing Talking Heads in middle school, Squarepusher, Fugazi, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, American Idiot, jazz school, Vita and the wolf, The Lunar Year, meeting Dan Ryan, idiosyncratic stage plotting as a trope of indie rock, the ergonomics of stand-up drumming, Dehd, mallets vs. drum sticks, hard hitting jazz drummers, Elvin Jones, drum fills as timekeeping, The Beatles' ‘Come Together’, origins of music publishing, Bodega Bay’s band field trip seeing of Montreal at Webster Hall, and Adam’s mental evolution from craftsperson to artist.

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For this unique episode, Ben goes all the way back to the BODEGA source and interviews the woman he started Bodega Bay with back in 2013: film producer, activist, and drummer Aiko Masubuchi. The pair discuss the formation of the band, early influences, the original lineup(s), the concept of the band, the importance of politics for Bay, Taiko drumming, ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Drum’, Eminem in Tokyo, Bodega Bay’s zine, Kathleen Hanna, poetics vs. analytics, no-fi, gain vs. compression, stand-up drums, The Beets, Ikue Mori and DNA, the pros and cons of poptimism, My Bloody Valentine, Captured Tracks, the quantification of culture, and the urgency of protest for Palestine.

The episode also features an in-depth discussion of the track ‘Stain Gaze,’ which is a simultaneous critique and celebration of shoegaze.

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In this special episode, Ben does a deep dive with Bodega Bay bass player Josh Fu about the book that inspired the new LP’s title, Michael Azerrad’s legendary ‘Our Band Could be Your Life.’ The pair wax about the roots of ‘indie’ and ‘alternative’, Black Flag’s move towards metal, ‘grunge’, Jane’s Addiction, RHCP, the philosophy of hardcore, Dead Kennedys, ‘Get in the Van’, the Protestant work ethic of DIY America, punk existentialism, BBC 6, 1999 David Bowie, classic rock in US alt, the mythology of the Mats, 90’s bar band pop rock, Josh’s teenage encounter w/ Calvin Johnson, Minor Threat’s punk perfection, the sexuality of twee and straight edge, Television Personalities as the ‘indie’ archetype, ‘record collector rock’, defense for Pavement and Liz Phair, Dan Ozzi’s ‘Sell Out’, Jawbreaker’s major label fiasco, RATM, Turnstile and Taco Bell, and the legacy or lack thereof of anti-corporate rock.

The episode also includes Josh’s recollections as an LA ska teenager, the countrified rock of Ben and Josh’s old BK band Perfect Teeth, Ben’s 2011 bedroom project Big Fir, an exploration of Bodega Bay’s first ballad ‘16x9’, and the story behind the track ‘Major Amberson.’

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For the fourth episode, Ben interviews BODEGA lead guitar player Dan Ryan who shares his process behind his solo in the single ‘Tarkovski.’ Dan treats Ben to guitar playing throughout the episode as the pair chat about Dan’s musical roots, his earliest bands, modern jazz, music school, prog rock, the forest of music theory, the guitar solos on 'Broken Equipment', 2000’s emo-core, Stravinsky, Bach, Super City, Prince, The Temptations, St. Vincent, DIY recording, Kevin Shields, live improvisation, and filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.

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For the third episode, Ben chats with filmmaker and Bodega Bay member Joe Wakeman about Bodega Bay’s Brechtian approach to composition and performance. Ben and Joe also talk about Jean Luc Godard, of Montreal, AC/DC, Modest Mouse, performance as confrontation, Andy Warhol, irony in music, the SXSW boycott, ‘selling out’, Joe’s 2015 film ‘They Read by Night’, Toyzanne, The Beatles, and the first Bodega Bay song ‘Your Brand Could be Our Life (Rock and Roll Corporation).’ 

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In this episode Ben chats with Nikki Belfiglio, the other lead vocalist of BODEGA, about joining Bodega Bay and writing her first ever song, ‘G.N.D. Deity.’ Ben also learns about Nikki’s early journey as an artist including discovering photography, dropping out of art school, and moving to NYC. Ben and Nikki also talk about growing up near Woodstock, DIY filmmaking, of Montreal, sampling, Bikini Kill, Milk Dick, sex work, sex in art, dragging femme, PVT CHAT, the first BODEGA recording, and ‘scenius’ vs. ‘genius’.

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