Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: We get Spotlight with BJ Swinghammer.
Is that his real name? Yes, it is.
Yeah, we can Spotlight with BJ Swinghammer.
Is that his real name? Yes, it is.
Yeah.
BJ Weekend Spotlight.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Well, hey. Hi there, Ho there. Hello there. Happy Thursday. What's going on? 518? Welcome to another episode of Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight. I'm your host, BJ Schwinghammer, and yes, that is my name.
Welcome to another exciting week of local music.
It is, though.
But before we get to all that, don't forget, if you ever want to reach out to me on Insta, which is where I am, you can go to Weekend Spotlight with no ease. So wknd Spotlight. And there I'll be. You can ask me questions, you can send me music, you can send me new music, old music, whatever, whatever you want on the air. For local music that's original, I'm here for you.
And don't forget, we have other podcasts besides mine. We have Aaron Hark's Mistress of None, we have Andy Skillin's unsigned 518, and we have Angelina Valente's two normal people. And those can be found on the metroland.com, go to departments, go towards the bottom. We're right there. We're there for you always.
And yeah, all right, moving forward.
We're just gonna move right along here because we got some stuff to go through this week and I've decided to stick to Schwinghammer's pick of the week. That's what I decided on for now. That might change, it might not, but we have a little bit of a special one. So this week I decided to go with Girth Control, who has a new album coming out on the 21st of this month and we are gonna. We had the opportunity to play one of their songs, which is what I'm gonna do. So this is off their November 21, 2025 album, what Got you stoked in the first place?
And this is.
Alright, Mom.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: I get a new one. Driving to Hot Topic. Can you get it? It's just a face. I look back at this and laughs all day. All right, Bob. All right, Bob. All right, Bob, you fucking pro.
You fucking crosser.
Save up my allowance for weak Scotty. Faster in the edition. AFI band. Thought I knew despair before, man, I thought wrong. You threw away my fucking shoes so I wrote you this. So say they spell they were late Holographic this and laughs all day. All right, all right, all right.
You poser.
You poser. Yeah, you're such a poser.
War this means war War this means you.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: All right, that was all right, mom. Off the 2025 soon to be released album from Girth Control. All right, we are going. We're skipping over Thursday. We're going right to Friday.
So Friday the 14th, the Lost and Found Barn Kitchen in Albany at 9pm you have the feminine Ominon sing along. The one year anniversary.
And this is going to have Sydney Worthley, Isla Char, Haley Stafford and Julia Alerof. And this is going to be. I mean, I didn't go to see the first one, but I heard it was amazing. And I'm sure this one is going to be easier, equally as amazing if I can make it, I will. But who knows?
But I reached out to Sydney and just like, hey, you know, we want to put you on the podcast. What song would you like? And she picked the 80s song. So here it is, off the 2024 album. It was nice while it lasted. This is the 80s song.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Smell in the autumn heat sa take me down to that shallow feel you see to believe it but I was never real Try me by losing the one. Someone told me you quit playing to the mov have to sing while you're still dreaming of an 80. So you can't stop here in 80 song can't seem to remember where all went wrong when you start to make me listen to.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: All right, that was the 80s song off the 2024 album. It was nice While it Lasted by Sydney Worthley.
And great, great song, great album. If you haven't checked it out yet, do it. What has been taking you so long? It's been a year already. Knock it off. Listen to it, damn it.
All right, and we're gonna go right into Saturday. So Saturday at the Stephen Talk House at 8pm and I'm not sure how to pronounce this town in New York amongst it. I'm not sure. And I apologize if I'm butchering the hell out of that. I've simply never been there before or heard of it, so. But at 8pm you're gonna have Annie Treza and her band and the Bell Curves. And you know, we love the bell Curves on this program.
With that in mind, I decided to go with the 2024. What is about 2024 on this show right now? The 2024 EP, subject to change.
And this song is Pour Over.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: Mother's been telling me that I should get some rest.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: Mother.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Not to let it get my best.
I keep saying yeah, you are right I keep saying yes easier said than done Easier done than dress, mother says. Mother's right she's really up on things.
Father with something good Baby can pull.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Some strings.
[00:10:25] Speaker C: I make town out of.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: F.
[00:10:34] Speaker C: I make town out of H club that could be my own holiday When I'm alone under my quill When I'm leaving my own guilt I'll try break this see through paper into play.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Into play into grave what if I.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Got to.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: What if I got to lose?
[00:11:24] Speaker C: What have I got to do?
[00:11:32] Speaker A: What have I got to lose?
[00:11:38] Speaker C: I make town out of pourpin with my dreams I make town out of P.O.
that could be my own holiday.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: When.
[00:11:54] Speaker C: I'm alone under my quill When I'm relieving my own guilt I watch my breakfast seep through paper into clay.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Into.
[00:12:11] Speaker C: Play.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: All right, that was Pour over by the Bell curve off their 2024 EP subject to change.
And we're moving right along. We're moving right along. We're going to one of my favorite segments of the show and that is our band show doing some of the most important work in the 518 that take bands that you love or haven't had a chance to listen to yet, and they give them the rock star treatment. They pull out all the stops and it is an amazing experience to watch. And I've seen several of these and if you haven't, you really should. It is impressive what they do. So let's check in with the guys at our band show. Guys, what is going on with our band show?
[00:13:15] Speaker D: Hey, guys. Chris here with our band show back again on the spotlight this week to promote some music from our own team, myself, Christian Ivanko. I've released my debut episode. It's a five song album called Valley of the Bluebird, which has been very kindly featured here in the past. And this week I'd like to feature the closing track from that ep, Rain Falls. This is a song that I wrote almost 10 years ago, but I couldn't finish until recently. It's a song about past bands breaking up and sort of the pain that you feel because not only are you losing all of that great music, whether it was released and you can't play it anymore, or even worse, the unreleased songs that you worked so hard for that never get to see the light of day, but you're also losing those friendships, those connections with those people. And even if you keep in touch, is it gonna be the same? You don't really know. And as all artists do, we go through phases, we create with different people. Folks come and go, never on purpose, you know, Whenever you enter a creative partnership, you just have fun with it and you take it where it can take you. But sometimes good things unfortunately come to an end. So this song is sort of a reflection piece about those creative partnerships about rain falling. But how are you going to respond to that coming rain? Are you going to pick yourself up and keep creating art or are you just going to sulk and let. Let it slip away and let that creativity die? And I think it's kind of perfect that a song that took me 10 years to complete is about those themes. A lot of this record really is about art picking you up and putting you down. And as much as we love it, sometimes it doesn't love us back. But I am truly proud of this record and without further ado, I'm excited to share with you guys. Rain falls.
[00:15:01] Speaker E: Rain falls down out of my head over my head Never let me down Two years now I'm not quite fixed I've only missed what I lost somehow Help me fly over the ocean Bring me back home Take me to a place where I'm not alone I don't wanna be hopeless I don't wanna be broken I just wanna realize that I'm not who's not enough who's given up who's lost his touch I need you now so hear me out Be my soul my lost and found I want you to help me fly over the ocean Bring me back home Take me to a place where I'm not alone and I don't want to be hopeless I don't want to be broken I just want to realize that.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: I'm not the only one who's not.
[00:16:34] Speaker E: Enough who's giving up who's lost his.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Touch I'm holding on but I ain't.
[00:16:45] Speaker E: Strong enough so come on down and save me Won't you help me find the meaning of this life I lead in all the roads I walk the fight I keep the friends I.
[00:17:04] Speaker A: Bring me back so I may find my.
[00:17:08] Speaker E: Peace Let me be I need to fly my Help me fly myself Right out over the ocean Bring me back home Take me to a place where I'm not alone See, I don't wanna be hopeless and I don't wanna be broken I just gotta take my time and hope you'll find me as rain falls down out of my head over my head Never let me.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: Tammy.
[00:18:23] Speaker D: And that's going to do it for all of us here at our band show this week. Our final episode of the year, if you guys want to tune in, is coming up December 13th with a local band from right in our area called if I were you. Those guys are awesome and we're so excited for them to take the R Band show stage. We'll be back again next week with Patrick featuring good friends of ours phenomenon, who actually featured on an episode last year promoting their newest upcoming album, Energy Vampires. So be sure to tune into that and please follow us at rbandshow and visit www.com. see you guys soon. I've been your host, Christian Ivanko, and I've also been your entertainer. You can listen to my record Valley of the Bluebird anywhere. Music is streamed by just searching either Valley of the Bluebird or Christian Ivanko, bj, back to you.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: All right, thanks a lot, guys. That's awesome. Yeah, and don't forget our band show. You can see them on Facebook, Instagram, ourbandshow.com I personally, as usual, I enjoy YouTube the most because you can just hop right on it and see what they're doing. Just right there you can see everything they've done and you can go to the website and, you know, get into what they're doing and what's coming up, which is always a blast too. So thanks again, guys.
We love you so much. And when I say we, I mean me and Andy Scullin and a bunch of other people, of course. But this is simply a, a not so, not so great segue into Andy. Andy's got something to say. Andy comes in once in a while and he's got something to say. So, Andy, what is going on? Sir?
[00:20:03] Speaker F: Hey, thanks, bj. Yes, it's, it's me. I'm, you know, popping in like I like I do from time to time, but actually this time I'm gonna kind of, kind of hijack the episode a little bit. I have a couple things to talk about and I also just wanted to use it as an excuse to play the Girth Control theme song for the weekend Spotlight, which doesn't get used as much now that now that BJ's running the show and has his own theme songs and everything. So let's listen to the Weeknd Spotlight theme song from Girth Control and then I'll be right back.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: The weekend Spotlight. The weekend. Alright. Andy Scullin is such a good dude, the kind of guy that it's easy to talk to. He's got some cool stuff he'd like to share with you. Yeah, you. It's the weekend. You know what you should do? It's the weekend. Spotlight. The weekend. Alright, we get Spotlight. Unsightly.
All Right.
[00:20:58] Speaker F: So up first on Saturday at the Rustic Barn in Troy, we have the Big Happy and my band, Shortwave Radio Band, we get to open up for them. The Big Happy are coming in from out of town and actually we were hooked up with them. Our friends in Man Must Explore reached out and said that their friends in the Big Happy were coming into town and wanted to know if we would be the local opener for them. And of course, we said yes. We've never been to the Rustic Barn, so we're not only excited to play at a new venue for the first time, but we're excited to meet new friends. And the Big Happy seem like really, really good dudes. And, you know, when you have a. A band name like the Big Happy, it'd be really weird if you were, like, super grumpy and like, you know, kind of a jerk. So I'm expecting that they're going to be very friendly. They've been very friendly in the interactions that I've had with them digitally. And we're super, super stoked to play with them. And to get you stoked to come out to the Rustic Barn this Saturday, starting at 8 o', clock, I'm gonna play a big happy song. And they just sent this one over. They said this was what they. You know, it's new and it's upbeat and they figured this would be a really good song to kind of hook you and get you excited to come out to the Rustic Barn on Saturday. So anyway, it's the Big Happy. This song is called Forever and it's right here on the weekend spotlight.
[00:22:46] Speaker G: Why don't you step into the spotlight and forevermore Think of metaphors no one's ever said before Switch up your formula so we're never bored well, they give AI all the crap what was man made? How's a robot supposed to grow a fan base and go across the globe with no fan made to collaborate with? And how you celebrate with champagne if you can't taste it replaced by your mind is thrown I follow my bravado.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Of it likes to grow Kill two.
[00:23:09] Speaker G: Birds with one stone and start with the one outside my window making that noise we came to party if we're.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Too loud not sorry we just want.
[00:23:17] Speaker G: To rip your tar spit balls and get a little in our tip jar.
[00:23:20] Speaker A: Who forever can get us this far?
[00:23:39] Speaker G: And if I did quit out the music business, I'd have probably moved to something just as fiction. And I can see the vision now. Like Hemingway would say, if there's bait in my brain then I'M a fish it out yeah and if the quality is 4k then go wait Bobby time to filet and play it for all the haters the killing we get away with Lego J you never know when the licks fire your trial mode I'm spitting what I'm going to do the.
[00:24:01] Speaker A: Microphone well I was at the club Awestruck by the sights of the stage?
[00:24:07] Speaker E: The whole crowd perked up Lights in.
[00:24:09] Speaker A: My eyes so I can't see their face.
[00:24:11] Speaker G: You better cash out while you can hold your hand Cause we up in the stakes Say your last words from the submarine Try to write them on beat while you suffocate. And that's why when you set me gone Crowd shrunk to the size of a leprechaun not surprised it was in my tarot card guaranteed to leave MCs.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: Called Battlestar eight years from now if.
[00:24:31] Speaker G: I'm still around with live mouth of fame or just be chewed out at this game, I'm never really knowing. That's a break the chain.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: It all.
[00:25:22] Speaker F: Right, that was the big Happy with forever. And you can catch them with Shortwave Radio Band at the Rustic Barn in Troy this Saturday at 8pm it's going to be a fucking amazing time. We're really looking forward to it. I think we're going to. We have like an hour, something long set. So we're going to pull out some fun covers and do some cool originals and have some sing alongs. It'd be a fucking grand old time. So we'll see you there. All right, so this next segment that I want to talk about while I, while I have the floor stolen from BJ is I got this message yesterday in my inbox in Instagram and it was a record release promo and it just said, you know, Victoria Forever was the name of the artist and that there was a record release. So like I usually do when I get something sent to my inbox that's a musician, I listen to it and I looked up the music and I checked it out and I thought it was really cool. And I was like, I want to see, you know, how close to the 518 this artist is. Are they, are they local or are they regional or whatever? Turns out they're in Sweden, which is not local to upstate New York at all. But it was like so cool. So I reached out to them and was just like, you know, hey, I really dig the song. It'd be pretty cool if you'd allow me to play it. And we also had a brief bonding moment over the band, Refused and Deftones, which are two bands I really like and aren't really on everybody's radar. So check out Refused.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: They're.
[00:26:54] Speaker F: They're amazing.
If you watch that show the Bear, they used a Refuse song, new noise, initially to great effect and then eventually in the show to complete over saturation. And I was like, oh, my God, you're, like, playing it too much. But anyway, Refuse, great band. Everything they've. They've put out has been just amazing. So. So go check them out. But right now we're also going to play the. The song from Victoria Forever out of Sweden. This song is called Shattered Dreams. And again, you know, they're probably not going to be playing locally around here anytime. But that's the thing about this day and age. And local music is everybody's local to somewhere and every local community has the ability to support any other local community on the entire fucking planet. So that's what we're doing here. We're showing some love to Victoria Forever. This song is called Shattered Dreams. And we'll be right back with some more of BJ Swinghammer after this.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: Sound of breaking a dream it cracks my skull.
Shards of hope on the floor.
The room feels dull. I pick up pieces with trembling hands. But they cut too deep I can't withstand.
Dreams don't whisper, they scream, they shout, they echo inside. Then they find their way out.
Breaking a dream feels like breaking a bone. But the pain just lingers.
You laugh to learn.
A shadow laughs as it walks through the door.
It stole my sleep, it wants even more.
I light a candle but the wick burns cold.
The flame won't fight, it just folds.
Do dreams die or just transform?
Do they freeze or keep you?
Dreams don't whisper, they scream, they shout, they echo inside. Then they find their way out.
Breaking a dream feels like breaking a bone. But the pain just lingers.
You're left alone.
I keep chasing clouds, they drift too fast.
Every step forward pulls me to the past.
The cracks in my skull hum the low refrain alone follow by twisted wrapped in pain.
[00:30:28] Speaker F: All right, that was Shattered Dreams, Victoria Forever out of Sweden. So go look them up. It's V I K T O R I A, the number four and ever, all one word. Victoria Forever on your streaming services, you can find it. So show them some love, give them some support. And bj, back to you.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: All right, man. Thanks a lot. That's awesome. Andy Sculling. Ladies and gentlemen, the ever present omnipresent man with his orange hat.
And we are rounding everything off all of a sudden we are getting into Metroland now.
And of course Metroland now. When we do get into it, we do the a song from the hot singles in your area segment done by T.J. foster. And this month, actually, actually T.J. foster, but Andy Scullen decided to. Once again, thank you, Andy. Andy Sculling decided to help out TJ because TJ was kind of getting. Getting under it a little bit, and as happens to all of us. So Andy decided to do the hot singles in your area this month, which was last month. Yeah, you'll. You'll see. Uh, and the hot single in your area this week. Week is going to be Christian Ivanko the gentleman, the co. Host, co owner of our band show, and he just put out an album on the seventh called Valley of the Bluebird.
And the song that was chosen by Andy Scullen is Changes.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: O.
[00:32:10] Speaker E: I wish that I could explain the way my life has changed But I know how the silence has a.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: Way.
[00:32:30] Speaker E: Of saying what I can't say?
Cause it hurts to speak this way and still I know there's a part of me who wants to stay.
[00:32:47] Speaker A: But.
[00:32:48] Speaker E: Is the pride worth the fall forever Even learned at all?
Cause if I put myself through this another time.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: There's a chance I could.
[00:33:10] Speaker E: Hold Or I could run out of the road and end up a few years from now all out of time I wish that I could explain the love I threw away and though I tried I still feel like lost a friend?
Cause it just don't feel the same and so I know that I can't stay But I'll try to visit on the holidays Was the pride wonderful forever Even learned at all?
You see I broke my back but nothing's left to show And I'll be here if you call But I'm not reaching out no more For I finally learned my lesson after all.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Now I casting come back no I can't come back No I can't go back tonight.
[00:34:52] Speaker E: Cause I'm afraid without my feel if I try.
[00:35:02] Speaker A: What if I can't hold back? All these feelings that I have known for all of my life?
Would I find it in my heart.
[00:35:16] Speaker E: To feel all right?
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Would I survive.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: All right, everybody, that was changes off the brand new album Valley of the Bluebird by Christian Ivanko of our band show fame, of course. And I say this for all the good albums, which are all the albums that we put on here, check out the the album. It's a great album. Christian really knocked it out of the park. And I think Changes is just A great. It's a nice little taste of a much bigger. A much bigger thing. So check that out. You will enjoy, I guarantee. And if you don't, in your face. But you will, so it's okay. And. All right, we're starting to round it off now. My God. Metroland, Metroland and the metroland.com. so if you go to the metroland.com and you're like, oh man, I don't know what's going on in the area. I'm bored this weekend. I don't have any plans. I don't hear of anything going on. Go to the Metroland and you can just find so much to do in the 518 and beyond in your area.
They've got so much local goings ons and so much local talent that they can just feed to feed to you. And you'll just be like, oh yeah, I'm gonna do this and this and this. And then you're gonna be like, I am inundated with things to do. I have too much to to do. And now I'm sleepy. But you're gonna do it anyways because it's a fun world out there, so grab a piece of it.
And don't forget also the Metroland, the physical copies, the Metroland is back. It was gone. I was pissed and it's back and now I'm slightly less pissed because the world is what it is right now.
But yeah, you can go there's. It's all over the place. You can go find it.
And if you can't find it, go to the metroland.com, go to contact and see who the closest person is to you. And if you are listening to this and you go, oh, Schwinghammer, I think I want to start carrying the Metroland physical copies at my business because it lets people know that I'm really invested in the local community. And I go, yeah, you can totally do that. Actually, if you go to the website, you scroll down towards the bottom, there's a whole thing that just says, you know, I want the Metroland in my business. You click on that, you give them information, you start getting the Metroland and the people in your area and around your local business will also be really happy, but also kind of pissed because. Because of the way things are now.
And yeah, geez.
Actually, you know what? I thought I had. We had a lot going on and we do, but this is. This went by, it's like the quickest. I say that everyone, I think they're getting quicker. Pretty soon it's gonna walk and go, yeah, and that's gonna be. That's the music is gonna play and it's gonna end.
So that's it. Once again, thank you for listening. I really appreciate it. I get people that recognize me by name now and they're oh yeah, you're Swing Hammer. And thank you to everyone who listens and thank you to everyone who will listen in the future.
I really appreciate it and I appreciate that you appreciate the local artists that we like to feature and push because they certainly deserve it because everybody works their ass off.
So thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I will see you next week. I'm really, really looking forward to get back into your ears. So enjoy the weekend. We all deserve a 518. And as usual, you stay cool.
[00:38:28] Speaker A: I'm calling shotgun.
Where's the party tonight?
Let's take a ride with swinging. We're driving.
[00:38:43] Speaker G: It's the Weekend Spotlight.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: Get ready.
[00:38:52] Speaker F: The Weekend Spotlight is a production of Unsigned 518 and part of the Metroland now network of podcasts. Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight is produced by Andy Scullin and hosted by BJ Schwinghammer. Look for new episodes every week at the metroland.com and everywhere you stream podcasts.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: Sam.
