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.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Hey, what's going on? Happy Thursday, everybody.
Big shout out to all you local music lovers out there. Welcome to another episode of Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight. I'm your host, BJ Swinghammer. And it's good to be doing another episode. It seems like forever. It's only been a week, but man, just busy this hell these days. So it's nice to get back on the mic again.
And for everybody who was lucky enough and able to go to the Nightmare Market Slash Expo on Saturday, well done to you. It was an amazing experience for a lot of people and I'm sure you heard that, you know, Andy was there, he interviewed Stephanie Harlow was, from what I understand, was an amazing experience for him. And why wouldn't it be?
And you had a lot of stuff. You had. Agony of the Clown was kicking around as usual. Agony. If you're out there right now, listening, dude, you're awesome. I love the fact you just pop up and things like this just make your way around. It's amazing.
And don't forget also there was the. The showing of the movie Farmhouse. Farmhouse was written by Andy and shot with Frank Polangi. And it was incredible movie. And I think like a hundred people showed up. Over 100 people showed up, which is amazing and exactly what you want to see for that kind of showing for a local, local movie. For you, the local director, because Frank is always working, you know, he sings. He's got so much stuff going on. He has so much irons in the fire.
That guy is, is always busy and always creating, always doing amazing things, you know, in the, in the area. And it's just, it's. It's so cool what he's been doing. And the fact that Andy and him have been working together is fantastic. So well done. To everybody who went to the Nightmare Market Expo, everybody that made it happen more like that. We need more of things like that in the local area.
Getting people in the community together and just hanging out with each other and just being around each other, that's. That's what it's all about. Especially these days. You know, we need each other to, to enrich our lives. You know, there's a lot going on, so, you know, gotta lean on each other and just have a lot of fun together whenever we can. And yeah, that's it. I don't know if that's quite the opener people were expecting from me these days. But, you know, it's good to give shout outs where they're needed, you know.
And I guess I don't have a great segue into the Swinghammer pick of the week, which is what I'm calling it right now. But that's what I'm calling it for now anyways. So maybe I'll change in the future. Maybe I'll come up with some super clever name for it. But for now I'm just gonna stick with the low hanging fruit that is Schwinghammer's pick of the week. And this one actually is my pick of the week right now is Aaron Hark's new album.
I just came out in December called Blue, and it's been just lighting every Everybody on fire. Yeah. She's been getting such recognition for the album and for very good reason. It's an excellent album. The songs that are on are well written. An absolutely fantastic album. I decided to go with the song that is the same name of the album. So Blue, so Blue on Blue from came out December of last year.
So let's start this off with a little bit of Aaron Harks. And this is Blue.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: You wouldn't ask me to run if I were walking with a limp Speak on your behalf if I were talking like a simple but you ask me how I'm feeling When I'm all so clearly numb that's done.
I'm not looking for attention in fact I want to be left alone they make ban aids for the cubs Splint for a broken bone they make nothing you can wear to show your healing from within not to sin.
Maybe I don't wanna let you know maybe this time I hope you figure out on your own if I held my breath and waited for you to get a clue Will I turn bl I could go to carnivals and only focus on the tent But I missed the act completely Couldn't tell you how it went But I lie to you and say that I had the best times to see Fine Sometimes I don't know who I am I know who I am now But I'm feeling like I'm not enough I feel like I'm alive and I'm isolating back and forth Between Trying to be true not bother you.
Maybe I don't want to let you.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Know.
[00:05:40] Speaker C: Maybe this time I hope you figure out on your own if I held my breath and waited for you to get up when I turn.
Well I make a damn good criminal I'd rather be blind dear myself to you and from inside I blow your mind and I pick up all the pieces and make way with all the clues to fuck with you.
Dishonesty's rewarding and I'm slowly going broke Some lies like these are tragedies and mine is just a joke but you give away the punchline and you spoil it every time I don't want my time.
Maybe I don't want to let you.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Know.
[00:07:01] Speaker C: Maybe this time I hope you figure out on your own if I held my breath and wait for you to get up I turn.
Maybe I don't want to let you.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: Know.
[00:07:22] Speaker C: Maybe this time I hope you figure out on your own if I held my breath and waited for you to get a clue Will I turn blue?
If I held my breath and waited for you to get a clue Will.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: I just tell you all right, that was blue off of Aaron Hark's new album of the same name. Congratulations on putting out such a great album, Aaron.
People are loving it and just keep doing that. It's absolutely beautiful.
And getting on to tonight, you know, Once again, happy Thursday. And it's Here we go tonight. No Fun en Troy. And no Fun, of course, pops up just about every damn time because there's always something going on. There they are, I think, just about every damn day of the week. Now they're doing something. And ever since, you know, the staff had taken over when they bought it with, you know, with Shane and everybody, they've been doing amazing things.
So I love. I love promoting them. I love supporting them. It's a great venue. It's one of my absolute favorites with a great group of people and just a great vibe. The place is amazing.
So tonight at 7pm as usual, you've got Gray Monitor, headless relatives, Sabrina Trueheart and Charlie Uffelman. It's gonna be a great show. I mean, let me just. It's a great lineup, and it's a really good way to kick off the weekend. And especially since if you're inclined to have a beer, they have Carlsberg there, which is one of my favorite things on the planet as far as beer goes, so. Hooray. A tall boy is always good. And I decided to go with Gray Monitor because I actually haven't played a song of theirs in months. It's been way too long.
And so. Yeah. Hell, yeah. And they just. They had. They put out the album Solutions in 2025. So I'm gonna hit a song that. And this is Brief Notice.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Sa.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: All right, that was Brief Notice. From Gray monitor off the 2025 album Solutions. It's a great album and a great song and just get on it. You know, if you enjoyed that song, which you, you likely did, because it's a fantastic song. Just check out the rest of the album. It's, it's like five or six songs or something like that. So, you know, definitely something that you can just listen to like throughout your day or, you know, listen to some of it if you have a decent drive to work on the way back. And yeah, you'll love it. You'll thank me later for it, you know, feel free to email me, you know, or send me a message just being like, hey, that was a great album, thanks for suggesting it. And I'll be like, hell yeah, it was. You know, I like a good pat on the back once in a while.
And moving on to Saturday, now this is, this is a little bit of a switch up right now here because Saturday, once again, no fun. Troy, 7pm is when the doors open. The show starts at 8. As usual, you have CZR presents Trans Rage.
So this is a collection of artists that got together, put on a show and all the proceeds go to the Transgender Law Center. All right, so this is something that really hits home for a lot of people. There's a really good chance that you know somebody who's trans, somebody in your family, friends, you know, so this one is, it's an important show, you know, and it's got a great lineup. It's got dog pisser film and gender damage.
And once again, you know, it goes to a really good cause.
But the switch up is even though it's gonna be an awesome show on Saturday, I couldn't get anybody to get back to me fast enough to get permission to play their song songs.
So.
But I still want to mention it and bring it up because, you know, it's an important thing. But this leads into some news. I heard a few days ago that our friends sees Atlantis on our a indefinite hiatus. So, you know, it usually means that that's the end of things, which makes me really sad. You know, they brought some great music to the local area. They had some great shows. I enjoyed seeing them so much.
So I will miss Seize Atlantis immensely.
But I'm happy that people are, you know, going on and likely putting out some more great music just not together, which is sad but also exciting to see what the future, what the future holds for it. But since, since this is what it is, I am going to play a seas Atlantis song.
And because I'M such a huge fan and I just love this song so much and it will likely be the last time I put up a Seas Atlantis song unless I just feel like doing it for, you know, a song of the week. That's a different thing.
But you know what, so this is a shout out to Seas Atlantis. Thank you so much for all the amazing music and this song is awesome.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: It up take a spin it might never feel so good again.
Sun goes down running high I'm possessed by something dark inside Something wrong deep within it might never feel clean again.
Goddamn monster I'm a goddamn monster.
I'm a goddamn monster I'm a goddamn.
Sam.
I'm ashamed There's a monster who shares my name can't believe who I feel in the dark it all begins again.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: All right, that was Monster from Seas Atlantis. Sorry to see you go, guys, but I can't wait to see what you guys start putting out as far as music and everything that you start producing. It's going to be exciting in and of itself. So once again, thank you so much and I'll probably see you guys at a show or something like that pretty soon. And now we're moving on to one of my favorite sets segments of the show. This is our band show. We like to catch up with our band show every week whenever we can.
And they're always putting out great content and they take local artists and they just give them the rock star treatment. They treat them exactly how they deserve to be treated, like the rock stars that they are because everybody works their ass off doing, doing everything as far as making music and just doing creative stuff and we like to check up with them. So guys, what is going on this week with our band show show?
[00:20:17] Speaker D: Thank you BJ and welcome in to our band show. Patrick W. Huber here, producer and director of an amazing team of recording artists that aims to film musicians in the Hudson Valley area and beyond. I just watched 28 years later the Bone Temple this past week and found it very refreshing. If you've seen it, you may be thinking, how does this bloody film about a murderous cult leader in a zombie filled world as satisfying as a lemonade on a summer day, comes down to storytelling. I've been getting very down with the major blockbuster movies as of late. They're all focused on characters with special abilities beyond everyone else. The subtext being that the majority of us should take a back seat in society and let those special characters handle the important stuff.
Maybe it's just me that feels this, but being part of a Music scene that helps uplift each other by working together. Together seems to go against what I see in the movies.
That is why the Bone Temple feels so refreshing. It explores a doctor trying to make sense of a disease, a zombie trying to regain its humanity, and a traumatized cult leader trying to maintain his dominance over his jimmies. Recently at an event I attended, someone invoked Baldwin, bringing up the idea that to know where you're going, you must know where you've been.
This film, film being grounded in religious storytelling makes the post apocalyptic rage virus world feel real.
This brings me to the Pine Boys, creators of musical stories.
At the core of their songs is an appealing lore that draws you in.
Something familiar, but also piquing our sense of mystery.
[00:21:58] Speaker E: I have a question and Mike wants to know, is that a UFO on your guitar and you drew.
[00:22:05] Speaker F: Oh, no, this is actually one of the three eye. Oh, it's. It's a logo of the. The Eye of Lord Pine.
It's kind of a long story, but.
[00:22:18] Speaker E: The eye of. Of Lord Time.
[00:22:20] Speaker F: Lord Pine.
[00:22:21] Speaker E: Pine, yes.
[00:22:21] Speaker F: Yes. There's another, you know, from Vacation Land Tree that was cut down on Indian reservation and. And he came to life and killed some people.
We made a deal with them. If we started a band and kind of talked about him and spread the word, he wouldn't do anything to us.
So, you know, our first album, the Ghost Pine is an ode to him. And there's three I's representing the three pieces of the Pine Boys. And this is our logo.
[00:22:52] Speaker E: We all answer to someone.
[00:22:54] Speaker F: Exactly.
[00:22:55] Speaker E: Understood.
What was the creative process like for them?
[00:22:58] Speaker A: That.
[00:22:59] Speaker F: Yes, well, we are always writing new stuff. We're working on some stuff beyond Gleam just the other day. But some good songs came together about a couple years ago and Sam has been contributing some awesome songs. It kind of. I think we all bring a little bit of an idea into something and we, the three of us together, make it what it. What it really becomes. But the really. The seed of Gleam was one day we were arguing about the Water Slide World theme song, that commercial, the old Water Slide World. And there's a. There's a word at the very end of it and there's a lot of controversy about what it is. Some people think it's smile and some people think it's gleam and feel. Or feel. Yeah. So like on Reddit, there's a bunch of stuff and you know, we had an internal debate and we said that might be a good. I think that might be a good title. So from there, a lot of inspiration. Just water.
Water Slides, water scenes, and John Popper from Blues Traveler.
[00:23:55] Speaker E: Oh, don't get me started on John Popper.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: We're getting you started.
[00:23:59] Speaker E: I. I think he is criminally underrated.
Don't tell me he has two hits. That just tells me you haven't listened to four or anything else prior the three albums prior.
[00:24:10] Speaker F: It's John Popper, Miles Davis.
[00:24:15] Speaker E: Okay, okay. You're allowed to have that, you know.
[00:24:17] Speaker D: The Pine Boys share a love for fun, original, and most of all, groovy music. Their live shows typically feature keytars, rapping and improvised solos. The Pine Boys have earned a reputation as one of the most intriguing and unique musical acts in your capital region.
When in our studio with us, we were mesmerized by stories of seagull boys meet trains and daycare dropouts.
Storytelling is what I wish the spotlight this was week that is why I am very happy to share. The Pine Boys lunatic recorded live on our band show.
[00:25:16] Speaker G: But told the story it was passed down Was the first year that this place was a town the men met in the town square Everybody scared There was no way that they could have prepared Kids had gone missing nowhere to be found they brought guns and fed the bloodhound not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic.
He drank from the moonshine like he was addicted Been a full month since he was afflicted Was a full moon when he was bitten the curse was much worse than the folklore Britain.
Tore off his clothes he had the wolf go from his head to his toes Hungry, had to eat but not from the woods yo, we hit the street There was a It ain't nothing it was no this type of creature Then old man Joe came down from the silver bullets in it will be chill yo Silver bullet to the dome, yo Silver bullet to the dome, yo not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic not sick, he's a lunatic.
[00:27:17] Speaker D: Oh, man. Another amazing performance.
I hope you'll check out all the full videos of this week's spotlighted artist on our YouTube channel. And check out some clips from all our past guests on the Instagram, both at our Bandshow.
Also, for a catalog of all our sessions, check out our website, our bandshow.com.
anyway, that's all the music I had to share with you this week, bj, back to you.
[00:27:48] Speaker B: All right, Thanks a lot, man. That was our band show doing some of the most important work in the 518. So if you have a chance to or if you feel like just looking into it, let's say you've never had a chance to really get into what our band show does. Like you can get on. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram, our bandshow.com YouTube. YouTube is my personal favorite because it just shows you all the things they do when they put on like a live show, you know, with one of the amazing bands just kind of pluck out of the lineup. And I love doing it. They put out, they've done so much already. You can just sit there and just lose a day easy. Just like watching what they do.
You know, my buddies at shortwave radio band had a great time there and put out some great music and so, yeah, definitely check it out and.
Oh, God. As far as segments go. Metroland now. Metro land now this is is time for the hot singles in your area. So that is the list compiled by T.J. foster. He didn't have time to do the reviews this month, so Andy sculling decided to do it. And he's been rocking it out and picking out some amazing music and just giving them great reviews and just really giving you a great rundown of the of the songs.
I decided to go with Sabrina Trueheart.
So Sabrina true heart's always one of my favorite performers and she gets as much attention as I can give her on this show because she's a great artist. And I decided. So I decided. I did not decide. TJ decided to put up put in for a review of Alice in video land. All right. So, yeah, you are listening to Sabrina Trueheart. And this is Alice in videoland.
[00:29:37] Speaker H: Alice, I feel we are the same Easily enchanted by the mirror makers Alice, you and I just make sense as opposed to children children a fatal innocence Memories poison so happily died floating inside the boat beneath the sun in the sky and all the girl above Vulnerable girls like you and I Can gather all the river and curse the men who made us cry.
Cry.
The remnants of before.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: Would it be.
[00:31:01] Speaker H: Fatal circumstances hands But I ended up coming back here again Memories come sometime to dust Inside the world that floats as we lose our minds Tonight.
We've grown the trust can gather all the forever and curse the man told not to touch.
Alice, you and I we share the.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: Dream.
[00:32:29] Speaker H: Waking up tomorrow in yesterday's body Outside of.
I pretend I'm sleeping.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: Good night.
[00:33:11] Speaker H: My fingers in the golden CLE.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: Above.
[00:33:22] Speaker H: Me together.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: All right, that was Alison video land from Sabrina true heart. That's her newest single going on and yeah, love it. Love the song, love Sabrina. She does great work.
Always outstanding. Love making shows whenever I can. And any. As far as the Metro. Metro land, you know, don't forget the Metroland is back. All right, now you can find. And you can find the Metro Land on Facebook and Instagram. You've got the metroland.com, which, as I tell you all the time, it's just a treasure trove of information as far as stuff in the area that's going on locally. You can just find so much to do. If you're ever, like, just looking for something to do and you're not quite sure, go to the metroland.com you can find amazing stuff on there. But don't. Also, don't forget, physical copies are back. So. So the Met. So the Metroland was around and I was like, yeah. And then it was gone and I was like, and now it's thanks to Aaron Harks and T.J. foster and Andy Sculling, it is back again. And now you have a bunch more people just putting their heart and soul into it. And it's an amazing publication. It's an amazing website.
They do so much and I appreciate everything that they do. If you guys are listening, I appreciate you, a mentor, immensely and just keep going. You know, it's fantastic stuff. And so, yeah, the physical copies, though, you know, there's a lot going on those pages. There's a lot of. There's a lot of great information just as it ever was. It's the Metroland. So you open up the pages and there's just a great.
A great amount of content in those pages and you can find them just all over the place now. Like, the Metroland is really starting to take back the territory that it once had.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: And it's.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: It's so great to see. And if you're listening to this and being like, schwab Swinghammer. God damn it, swing hammer. I don't have this near me. I can't find a Metro Land. No problem. Go to the metroland.com. go to contact us. We can let you know it's close by. No problem. Take deep breaths. Breathe in. Breathe into the nose, out through the mouth. Okay, very good. All right, calm down. Yeah, There is a solution. If you're listening. This being like, you know what, Schwinghammer, you're right. And you're an amazing person and people say good things about you when you're not around.
And I want to start carrying the Metroland in my place of business. And of course you do it's such a good idea. Why wouldn't you do it in the first place? No problem. Go to the metroland.com, scroll down to the bottom and just says, carry the Metroland here. Click on here, fill out the information and boom, you get the Metro Land. It's. It's an amazing thing and it makes the universe make just a little more sense, especially in these days of complete and utter chaos.
And yeah, that's it. That's it was a quick little bing bang boom going on today. We had some great music. I hope you guys can make it to, you know, no Fun both days.
And if you see one of the guys from Season Atlantis, just give them a nice crisp high five and tell them what a good job they've done throughout the years.
And yeah, and don't forget also the other podcasts. I know you listen to me like all the time. You wait with baited breath to listen to swing here, hammer drop some knowledge on you and some music. But it's not just me. I know it seems like it. It's not just. I'm not the only podcast, you know, in the world. There are other things. You have other things. You have Angelina Valente's two normal people. You have Andy Scullen doing the ever present unsigned 518. You have Aaron Harks doing Mistress of None. You've got some stuff to listen to and they're all on the metroland.com, i guess you can stream at other places, but whatever, go to the metroland.com, you know, and just check it out. You got some great stuff going on and yeah, and that's it. That's it for me. I will see you next week. I love doing this every week. I love doing this for you. Thank you for letting me do this for you. Thank you for appreciating it. I get a lot of people who are just popping up now being like, oh, dude, I listen to your podcast. I really like it and I go, holy shit, people are listening to this and it's fantastic and I love it so much and I love you guys.
And yeah, that's it. Just keep it going, you know, Keep supporting the 518. Keep supporting your local artists and your local creatives. They need to be seen. They need to know that they're just not yelling into the void, even though that can be kind of cathartic sometimes.
And I will see you next week. All right, thanks for letting me blather into your ears. So you know what? Enjoy your Thursday. Enjoy your whole weekend. 518.
We all deserve it. And as you usual, you stay cool.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: I'm calling shotgun.
Where's the party tonight?
Let's take a ride with Swing and we're driving.
[00:38:20] Speaker C: It's the weekend spotlight.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Get ready.
[00:38:29] Speaker I: 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 DJ Schwinghammer. Look for new episodes every week at themetroland.com and everywhere you stream podcast.
