Music Life Radio

Steve Ricablana is well known as the bass player for the seminal San Francisco punk band VKTMS. The band formed in 1978, and no other band played the fabulous Mabuhay Gardens more than the VKTMS, but after a stalled attempt to get on a record label in the early 80’s, the VKTMS split up and […]

An interview with Ryan Camarda (filmmaker) and Kevin MacLeod (composer) about the making film about a composer whose music has been used in many, many, many videos. Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod is a documentary about one composer and millions of videos. The film will discuss the vast reach of composer Kevin MacLeod and his […]

Come celebrate with co-producers Dan Sauter, Erik Core, and Josh Almond on 100 episodes of Music Life Radio. We talk about what inspired us to start the podcast, how we find people to interview, and tell lots of inside and behind-the-scenes stories about many of the episodes from our past. We talk with some old […]

  Al Lujan is a film-maker working on “CLN/SBR/PNX –True Stories of Chaos, Redemption, Hope and Punk Rock”, a documentary on sober punks, mostly musicians who share their experiences staying clean and sober in an environment that is not conducive to it. Erik Core talks to Al about his passion for punk rock, his road to recovery, and […]

Glen Harris is a radio producer and award winning broadcaster for 1340 AM KWLE (The Whale) in Anacortes, WA.  We talk to Glen about the art of radio production, engineering, and broadcasting, and his love for voice over work.  We also hear many stories from his bass playing days in bands such as Otis Elevator […]

Chris Wade is an author, songwriter, and primary architect of Dodson and Fogg, a progressive folk recording project featuring an impressive lineup of musicians that help showcase his songwriting talents. He is the author of several nonfiction books about the music of Black Sabbath, The Incredible String Band, and the Kinks among others, and several fiction […]

David Snowden of David Snowden Promotions, Inc. which does management and marketing of fan clubs, merchandise, license deals, and promotion of entertainment artists, including graphic design work is our guest today on Music Life Radio.  David has worked with many artists including Kiss, Joan Jett, Vinnie Vincent, White Lion, Nelson, Vixen, Britny Fox, LA Guns, Icehouse, Y&T, […]

CJ is the soon-to-be new owner and proprietor of Winter’s Tavern in Pacifica, CA.  Winter’s website tagline “No, Really, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC!” is no lie, they feature independent, original live music acts weekly. It’s the new happening spot in the Bay Area to catch some great live music, and kick back to some […]

Matt Stevens is a musician and composer from North London. An instrumental artist, he uses an acoustic guitar and sampler to create multi layered tracks live. This is often called Live Looping. His music has been described as “a guitar orchestra”. He plays live all over the UK and listens to Sonic Youth, Carcass, Nick […]

Ralph Spight is a master guitarist, singer-songwriter, and best known for his work in the band’s Victim’s Family, The Freak Accident, and Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. After taking a guitar lesson from Ralph, Erik Core interviews him about his bands, approach to music, working with Jello Biafra, stories from the road, […]

The band Gunpowder talks about their third album, Songs of the Resistance, out now and available for free on their website.  Music Life Radio’s own Dan Sauter and Erik Core, aka Doc Sauter (Guitar) and Major Erik Core (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), along with Pancho Lamonte (Drums), and Al Yippikayda (Bass) sit down to a round […]

Carlos Daniel Ayala aka Carlos Guitarlos is a singer, songwriter, and guitar player extraordinaire. He picked up the guitar at age 10 back in 1960 and started writing songs, and has written over 7,000 and counting. He was the guitarist for Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs, a well known L.A. scene club band back in the 80’s, […]

Carlos Daniel Ayala aka Carlos Guitarlos is a singer, songwriter, and guitar player extraordinaire. He picked up the guitar at age 10 back in 1960 and started writing songs, and has written over 7,000 and counting. He was the guitarist for Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs, a well known L.A. scene club band back […]

Kyle and Carl are two aspiring artist from Phoenix Arizona looking to make a big impact on the music community. They are two cousins who have been working together on music for 5 years now devoting much time and effort into perfecting their craft and chasing their dreams. Taking pride in trying to spread a […]

Zen Tao-Journey Jimalric Stevensson-Zenith is a  musician, and guitar instructor from San Francisco. We talk to Zen about his upbringing in an “unschooled” household, his education at the Musician’s Institute, his musical career featuring his former band Please Do Not Fight, his work as a manager for the band Picture Atlantic, his podcasting work, and his […]

Greg Kihn is a rock and roll musician, author, radio personality, and podcast host. We chat with Greg about growing up in Baltimore, moving to the Bay Area and forming the Greg Kihn Band in the 70’s and how the band signed with Beserkley Records. We discuss his hits The Breakup Song, and Jeopardy, and how the music video for the […]

Clay Tarver is a guitarist, screenwriter, and author. We talk to Clay about his life, starting with both his bands Chavez and Bullet LaVolta, his work over at MTV, how he learned the art of screenwriting from J.J. Abrams and Mike Judge, about his love of working on smaller writing projects for newspapers, and about […]

 Thao P. Nguyen is a  Artist, Activist, and Academic. She just finished up a solo performance run of her show Fortunate Daughter at Berkeley’s Impact Theatre.  Erik Core talks to Thao about her training  in performance art and comedy, studying under comedy legend W. Kamau Bell, and winning his “W. Kamau Bell Solo Performance Black Belt,” a […]

 Zachary James is a songwriter and front man for the Zachary James and the All Seeing Eyes band. We talk with Zachary and fellow band and soul mate Alexandra Starlight.   Zachary James started his rock career in the Thunderboys with Gearhead Records, but quickly moved on to his current project. Zachary’s influences verge on his interstellar […]

James Tracy is an author, activist, community organizer, and former singer with the Bay Area band Space Masons.  MLR’s Erik Core talks with James about his musical past, his current organizing efforts, and his latest book (co-authored with Amy Sonnie) “Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times“. We also hear […]