The Mink & The Monk: Recent Episodes
matthewfinck
A new podcast featuring hosts Matthew Finck and Brad Monkell interviewing interesting people talking about cool stuff.
This week Brad and I got to sit down with Grammy nominated singer and keyboardist Nigel Hall! Nigel is a current member of Lettuce and also fronts his own band, The Nigel Hall Band. We spoke about timeless albums, his own solo releases including Ladies and Gentlemen, his projects with Butcher Brown, Jon Cleary, and Warren Haynes as well as life in New Orleans and on the road. We had a great hang with Nigel and we sincerely hope you enjoy it half as much as we did!
Throughout his career, Louis’ stand-up has been featured on NBC, HBO, and 5 times on Comedy Central, including his own half-hour special and an appearance on their storytelling show This Is Not Happening, which has since been viewed over 2.7 million times on youtube.
His latest album KATZKILLS was named one of the top 5 comedy albums of the year by vulture.com, who called it “a raucous comedy party. We had a great time talking with Louis about his process, past relationships, and his life as a writer and doing stand-up.
Hip Hop legend Brady Watt is an American producer, bassist, singer, and bandleader whose performance resume reads like a who’s who in the music world including collaborations with Marc Rebillet, Talib Kweli, and Melanie Fiona. His 2015 release LIFETRONICS was met with critical acclaim and his ‘Bass and Bars’ podcast features him laying down some fat, low-end bass grooves accompanying Warren G, Murs, Xzibit, and Styles P to name just a few. Brady sat down with us, bathrobe and all to let it all hang out for a 90 minute discussion on his career, life in NYC, and keeping up with his socials. We sincerely hope you enjoy!
Butcher Brown's own, Andrew Randazzo, one fifth of the Virginia-based musical power house. A tour de force of extraordinary musicians, superb writing, and Andrew's incredible large ensemble arranging. We talk about Butcher Brown's latest release Triple Trey, life in Virginia, road stories from traveling the world, and their upcoming performances. If you haven't checked out Butcher Brown then do yourself a favor and dig in! We sincerely hope your enjoy the chat, we had a blast!
Bill Ware has performed and recorded vibes with Steely Dan (Alive in America), Elvis Costello, David Byrne, DJ Logic, Corey Glover, and John Zorn just to name a few. As a leader he has released 7 albums and has composed 5 film scores. Bill sat down with us to discuss his fascinating career, the amazing places it has lead him (including Kerhonkson to join us at the Fat Mink Studio), and his creative process. We hope you enjoy! Please rate, like, and subscribe on all platforms for more good stuff!
Shawn McNair is a brilliant guitarist, songwriter, producer, YouTuber, and all around great dude making his way to the pantheon of guitar heroes. We spoke with Shawn about his love of Dave Mustaine, building a successful YouTube channel, murdering zombies online, his band Last to Fall, and his fear of heights all while navigating the pitfalls of the music business, dealing with anxiety, and his jealousy of Brad's hair. We hope you enjoy!
Legendary bassist Bubby Lewis checked in with Matt and Brad from Japan to talk about his current projects, living in Japan, and his approach to making music with everyone from Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Lupe Fiasco, Jhene Aiko, AI, EXILE the Second, Stevie Wonder and many others. We had an amazing conversation and quickly realized we weren't going to cover everything in one sitting. We look forward to part 2 soon!
YouTube sensation Dean DiMarzo stops by the studio to talk about the incredible success he's had with his YouTube channel @longestSoloEver which has well over 50 million views and 280k subscribers. We cover his reimagining of Sonic the Hedgehog songs as funk tunes, metal covers of Friday Night Funkin', creating new music based on Bendy and the Dark Revival, and a whole lot more! Dean goes in-depth on how he built his fanbase using Youtube and Patreon, how he developed his audio/video editing skills, creating animation, and what it takes to thrive in today's music business. This was a fascinating conversation and we hope you enjoy!
This week, saxophonist Mike Dopazo stops by the studio for an in-depth conversation about his time studying with Phil Woods, performing with a cruise ship orchestra, past and future exes, quotes from Daniel Day-Lewis, and being selected for the Grammy band when he was in high school. We laughed, we cried, at least one of us peed our pants. Buckle up, this was fun!
This week, the incomparable Joey Eppard stops by the studio to talk about his life in music, growing up Eppard, his group 3, his brother Josh (drummer for Coheed and Cambria, his tours with Parliament-Funkadelic, Opeth, and Dream Theatre. Joey is an extremely prolific composer, monster instrumentalist including guitar, drums, and keyboard. The conversation was an absolute joy and journey. We even get a chance to talk about his writing process. If you like the interview you should definitely subscribe to Joey's Patreon page, you'll be amazed on a daily basis. https://www.patreon.com/JoeyEppard/posts
We hope you enjoy the chat!
Multi-Instrumentalist Josh Morris stops by the studio to do some playing with me and brad as well as have a conversation about his career as a founding member of the band Hasty Page, his solo work, and killing zombies online. The first 7 minutes of the podcast is us playing a Fat Mink tune followed by the interview. Enjoy!
Matt and Brad welcome Matt's high school band teacher, Larry Balestra to the podcast to discuss the importance of music in schools, life in the Hudson Valley, playing gigs, and our musical heroes. We had a lot of fun, hope you enjoy!
Machan Taylor drops by to talk about her fascinating music career including tours with Sting, Pink Floyd, George Benson, Bobby Caldwell, Government Mule, singing in the band Hiroshima, as well as her life in education. She's been around the block and around the world and shared some of her experiences with us. We hope you enjoy Machan, we had a blast speaking with her!
Producer Pat Flores stops by to hang with Matt & Brad and chat about Will Smith's hand and what it had to say to Chris Rock's face. Much like the Oscars, Will and Jada dominated most of this discussion. We laughed, they cried, now on with the show!
Matt and Brad sit down for an in-depth conversation with renowned bassist/composer Jay Anderson. Jay has been featured on over 400 recordings (20 of which have been Grammy nominated) including collaborations with Frank Zappa, Celine Dion, and David Bowie. Jay has even made several albums with Matt Finck (the Mink of this podcast) which is what you're hearing at the beginning of the interview. We had a blast talking about his career, countless world tours, and the many friendships he's cultivated over the years. We sincerely hope you enjoy our discussion with Jay, we sure did!
Bassist/composer Jay Anderson is among the most versatile and respected jazz artists performing today. He has performed/recorded with a wide range of jazz artists including Woody Herman, Carmen McRae, Michael Brecker, Paul Bley, Bob Mintzer, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, Joe Sample, Maria Schneider, Stanley Cowell, John Scofield, Lee Konitz, Vic Juris, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, Mike Stern, Anat Cohen, Toots Thielemans, Kenny Wheeler, Jay Clayton and non-jazz artists like Oswaldo Golijov, Dawn Upshaw, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Robert Spano (Atlanta Symphony), Michael Franks, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Terre Roche, Chaka Khan, Michel Legrand, Allen Ginsberg, and Celine Dion. He has been featured on over 400 recordings, seven of which have received the Grammy Award. His original recordings “NEXT EXIT” (DMP), “LOCAL COLOR” (DMP), and "DEEPSCAPE" (Steeplechase) have received critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. Jay has conducted clinics around the world and is a Professor of Jazz Bass Studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and New Jersey City University.
Matt and Brad discuss developing a career in the arts, higher ed, and of course ISO camera settings to avoid unwanted sparkle.
Our producer, Pat Flores stops by for a candid conversation about his band The Bad Mothers, working with Eventide, his favorite movies, mental health, and Jennifer Anniston. We laughed, we cried, some even peed. Enjoy the show!
Matt and Brad sit down with the incomparable Mike Clark for an in-depth look at his life in music. Mike gained worldwide recognition as one of America's foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Herbie Hancock in the early 1970s on the album Thrust. We talk about his friendship with Paul Jackson, playing with Sonny Stitt, and the limits of Buddhism.
Scott Petito is a legendary bassist and producer who has worked with the likes of Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Jack DeJohnette, James Taylor, The Band, Rachel Z, Omar Hakim, Simon Philips, Peter Erskine, and many others. In this interview he talks about his relationships with these artists, his album Rainbow Gravity, and his artistic process.
Matt and Brad discuss the trials and tribulations of becoming a better musician, how to be open to criticism, and recognizing criticism as either supportive or destructive. It ain't easy out there!
Matt and Brad sit down with Composer and multi-instrumentalist DANNY LOUIS who is a member of one of the most respected and widely acclaimed jambands, Gov't Mule. He is featured on keyboards, guitar, and trumpet, and is co-writer of numerous Gov't Mule songs. Their legendary live performances have been gaining them much notoriety worldwide.
Matt and Brad discuss their upcoming interview with Danny Louis, keyboardist with Gov't Mule for the past 20 years as well as Matt's wife and her disdain for Brad. You don't want to miss this!
Brad and Matt recap the first week's episode and discuss upcoming guests. Brad also talks about life as a ginger. An episode you'll surly not want to miss.
Our interview with Jennifer Maidman is out now! Jennifer is a bassist and producer who has worked with a legendary cast of artists including Boy George, Paul Brady, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Linda McCartney, George Clinton, Gerry Rafferty, and many many more! Check out her recent solo album Dreamland, featuring Annie Whitehead, David Torn, and Jerry Marotta! Sent from my iPad
Jerry Marotta speaks with Matt and Brad about his 45+ year career in music. He's been on hundreds of albums and has worked with Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, and Hall & Oats to name a few. Jerry talks about working in the studio, touring, producing, as well as his family background including stories about his big brother Rick Marotta.