InternetFM after more than a decade: Steve Leventhal and Eric Leventhal

A musical discussion: Steve Leventhal, creator of InternetFM, and his son and cofounder Eric Leventhal, talk about their music and broadcasting experience, what is top-shelf radio, paying for songs, why vinyl is popular with some younger music fans, commercials, changing technology and music delivery, how they define oldies, the resurgence of psychedelic music, concerts, rock’s waning popularity, the role of the Internet for radio, the future of music radio, and more. The last time I interviewed Steve was more than 10 years ago.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac). 

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG195.mp3

Watch the Radiogirl livestreams and videos at the Radiogirl FB page and on YouTube (also live-streaming on Radiogirl Twitter, Metrolingua Twitter, and my own Fakebook page).

If you like what I'm doing, Buy Me a Coffee...thanks!

Justin Roman: media master, from music to radio to TV!

Justin Roman has done a lot during the 21st century: he hosts The MVP Game (sign up there to be a guest on the show) with Kenzie K (who was his fiancée when this was recorded); it's a super-fan Cubs game show (and a couple of Bears shows during the off season) on the Marquee Sports Network. He talks about his media and performing career, which includes the Vi3 boy band and their hit Eyes Closed so Tight before he started at B96 in 2004; producing music with the Jump Smokers and DJ Flipside (who also does the music for The MVP Game) and their popular remix My Flow So Tight. Roman explains how he got on the air at B96 when he was a super-fan, doing nights and afternoons for several years with Stylz then mornings at US99 in 2016 until they had to leave (get the full story in episode 2 of The Stylz & Roman Uncensored Podcast); being the entertainment host at the Chicago Bulls games; famous people he's met and toured with; why he likes Pitbull; success and failure; appearing with Kenzie K on the Windy City Live TV show and ABC 7, why he and Stylz did their podcast for only a year, why he's positive, and more. 

This is from a livestream that we did; watch the full interview here.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac). 

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG192.mp3

Watch the Radiogirl livestreams and videos at the Radiogirl FB page and on YouTube (also live-streaming on Radiogirl Twitter, Metrolingua Twitter, and my own Fakebook page).

If you like what I'm doing, Buy Me a Coffee...thanks!

Jim DeRogatis: very smart and interesting

Jim DeRogatis is a co-host of Sound Opinions and has been a music critic and music journalist for several years, and is also an author. He talks about what he teaches at Columbia, what he thinks of “dead tree journalism” and how journalism has changed over the years, how he was able to write the Buzzfeed article about R Kelly, how to write and fact-check articles, why journalism is expensive, why reading is important, what he reads and what he thinks about reading, how to write well and persevere in it, why criticism is important, pizza, why being creative is important even without pay, why he cares about mentoring, hard work and perseverance, interviewing Lester Bangs, playing in a punk rock band, if he gets cool invites around town, getting banned from Lollapalooza, reporting and mentoring, how he stays motivated, why he thinks Chicago is the best city in America, and more.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG167.mp3

Bill Cochran: his own beat

Bill Cochran's voice is everywhere in Chicago, even on the west coast. After graduating from Northwestern, where he was on the air at WNUR, he was on the air and was the production director at WXRT for a decade, then joined Rick O'Dell at WNUA Smooth Jazz for over 20 years, went online with WLFM Smooth Jazz, then returned to WXRT to do more production. He talks about: why he left WXRT for his current production job at MeTV-FM, understanding what listeners want, his approach to talking about music in an entertaining way, telling stories when he performs with his band Great Moments in Vinyl, how he creates stories, how he chooses songs to perform, how he maintains a creative lifestyle in a non-creative world, his clog blog Every Clog Has Its Day, Oklahoma, and more.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG152.mp3

Get info about Great Moments in Vinyl's next show here.

The personal story that he mentions in this interview starts on his blog with Chapter 1 here, continues with Chapter 2 here, then continues with the rest of the chapters here (it’s not a continuous string of posts, thus the separate links).

Panda Riot: Chicago Dream Pop

Panda Riot is a Chicago dream-pop band whose music is used for this podcast. Two of the members, Brian Cook (guitar, recording) and Jose Alejandro Rodriguez (drums), talk about how they came up with the band's name; how they developed into a band; their album, She Dares All Things, where the songs used on this podcast come from; how they started with films; why they moved from Philadelphia to Chicago; the tension between New York and the Philadelphia music scene; changes in the music industry and the Internet; why they mainly tour the East Coast; if they want their music to be in movies or commercials; what motivates them; the dream pop genre; how they came up with their style; their process, how they know a song is done, and more.

Panda Riot is coming out with a new vinyl LP of Northern Automatic Music, and have previously released the CD version of Northern Automatic Music, the EP Far and Near, the 7-inch Serious Radical Girls, and the flexi-single Amanda in the Clouds.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG107.mp3

Bonnie Koloc: Soulful Singer

Bonnie Koloc talks about her music career, the music business, living in New York, performing at the Earl of Old Town, the 1960's, art, her background, her brother, Iowa, Chicago, and her new CD Rediscovered. 

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG80.mp3

Jaime Black: Passionate About Chicago Music

An important part of the Chicago music media, Jaime Black talks about his popular Dynasty Podcast and his daily Chicago music news site Chicago Verse United. He also talks about working with Chris Payne on Q101/WKQX's Local 101 show, how it was different from WXRT's Local Anesthetic, and the Chicago music scene.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG60.mp3