Height Zone World 56. My guest this week is Tom Kessler. Tom is the man behind She Will Rise Media, through which he’s documented hundreds of Baltimore shows. I first met him when he appeared with a camera at my record release show. Tom is a tireless documentarian and supporter of Baltimore music and arts, and I was happy to get his perspective on things.

He talked about being initially turned on to Baltimore music by Dan Deacon and Future Islands shows at the 2640 space. He tells me about being driven to document shows on the regular after being blown away by early Microkingdom performances. We talk about the frustrations he has with his non-stop grind, and his desire to step his game up.

Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to House Of Pains’s self-titled debut. This episode is hosted by splicetoday.com.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/splice-presents-height-zone-world-ep-56-tom-kessler-part-one

Height Zone World 55. This is part two of my interview with Mike Apichella. Mike is the main man behind the band Human Host. He’s spent the past few years creating Towson-Glen Arm Freakouts, an in-depth archive of the early 90’s music and arts scene in north Baltimore County. He currently contributes to Splice Today. (Who also host this podcast) I’ve been a fan of his music since 1996, and I was (very briefly) a member of Human Host.

In this episode, we talk about his earliest touring experiences with The Superstation, and about the ideas that led to him forming Human Host. We talk about the endless grind of booking tours, and his desire to leave the D.I.Y. scene and enter the D.I.F.M. (Do It For Me) scene. He ends the episode by reading some of Human Host’s written work.

Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to Trick Daddy’s http://www.thug.com. This episode is hosted by splicetoday.com.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/splice-presents-height-zone-world-ep-55-mike-apichella-part-two

My guest this week is Mike Apichella. Mike is the main man behind the band Human Host. He’s spent the past few years creating Towson-Glen Arm Freakouts, an in-depth archive of the early 90s music and arts scene in north Baltimore County. He currently contributes to Splice Today (which also hosts this podcast). I’ve been a fan of his music since 1996, and I was (very briefly) a member of Human Host.

He talks about being inspired by the free-form radio of Towson University’s WCVT, and how that station turned him on to Sun Ra and 60’s punk bands like The One-Way Streets. He talks about his friends coming together to form the Towson-Glen Arm scene, and the people that helped mold it into a movement with long-lasting influence. He talks about the tragic death of his friend Dave Willemain, and how that eventually pushed him to make music and art as a life-long pursuit.

Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to Trick Daddy’s http://www.thug.com. This episode is hosted by splicetoday.com.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/splice-presents-height-zone-world-ep-54-mike-apichella-part-one

Height Zone World 53. My guest this week is DavO, aka David Richardson. He’s one half of the hip-hop duo Double Duchess. We’ve known each other since 2000, and I was excited to get the full story on his music journey.

We talk about his early days as a rapper/drummer in Annapolis, MD, and his struggle to find his identity as a lyricist. He tells me about moving to the west coast, and how Double Duchess was spawned from a DJ night he put together in San Francisco. We talk about their debut album Hey Girl!, and the darker territory they’ve covered on their two most recent albums.

Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to Main Source’s Breaking Atoms. This episode is hosted splicetoday.com.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/splice-presents-height-zone-world-ep-53-davo-double-duchess

This is a special one year anniversary episode. I’m joined by Mike Riley, (the visual arm of Height Zone World) and Eze Jackson. (Eze was our first guest ever.) We reflect on what’s gone down in our world in the last 365. Mike and I discuss the experience of doing this podcast for 52 weeks straight. We each picked out four songs to play from guests who were interviewed on the show this year.

Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force’s Planet Rock. This episode is hosted by splicetoday.com.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/splice-presents-height-zone-world-ep-52-one-year-anniversary-with-mike-riley-and-eze-jackson