Dylan James Bowker
Interviews with people I think are interesting. I make cool sounds with my mouth and my guest makes more noises from their sound cave.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 08, 2017
Tuesday Aug 08, 2017
In the latest BTB episode, I spoke with battle rapper Dunsh about quite a few topics:
-First exposure to hip hop (0:44)
-First exposure to battle rap (2:26)
-Getting introduced to Lexx Luthor at his tryout battle.....Big shouts to Lexx (3:24)
-The alternative, smaller room vibe of I Battle (4:08)
-How the venue/ crowd set up affects performance (5:05)
-Attending law school in Brooklyn and how it makes him appreciate the creative outlet battle rap provides (7:22)
-Treading the line between putting in your best effort and not being a weird try hard in battle rap (9:11)
-Goals for the next battle.....Illmac? Compliment battle with Carter Deems? (10:52)
-Illmac and Chase Moore making unsavory comments about Lexx Luthor and I Battle (11:58)
-Fan of Ruin Your Day......Regular viewer watching in most live streams.......The Watch episode with him and Farrell's battle (13:24)
-Big respect for Eddy I and goofing around on Talkback with Saynt (15:54)
-Talkback silliness and how Dunsh should delete Facebook off his phone (17:53)
-Potential plans for a two on two (18:31)
-Dunsh's odd writing process (19:27)
-Love for Norm MacDonald, comedy in general, and how it informs his writing approach (20:46)
-Being inspired by things outside battling more so than battle rap (25:06)
-Not feeling the comedy of Anthony Jeselnik despite Farrell's recommendation (26:00)
-Writing his angles.....The story behind writing the mole angle on Minnix......(27:36)
-The benefits of being hyper critical and not being able to watch older material (29:41)
-Being a casual fight fan (31:48)
-Dunsh's dad being friends with DDP and Bam Bam Bigelow.......DDP telling an 11 year old Dunsh that he pisses blood every morning (34:01)
-If there's any plans for a mix tape or some sort of future release (36:19)
-Being the only person on the planet who's ambivalent about Tim and Eric......Bedtime Stories being great........digs their darker material......The smug, elitist vibes Tim has given off lately (37:34)
Friday Aug 04, 2017
Friday Aug 04, 2017
I spoke with Vice Chairman at Grande Prairie Combative Sports Commission and veteran Manitoba wrestler under the pseudonym Steve Stryker, Darren Metselaar! We discussed XFFC 15 and G1 Climax 27 primarily and it was a blast.
(1:10) the winner take all fight that Darren almost didn't let go forward, (2:06) the amateur mma scene in Canada, (5:00) the considerations of putting on alberta's first outdoor mma show, (7:14) The pro wrestling in Darren's formative years and his love for Japanese wrestling later on,
(8:24) why strong style doesn't come across as well to North American audiences,
(9:30) Winnipeg connection to Kenny and worked with him early when Kenny Omega had a surfer dude gimmick, (10:40) thoughts on Okada and Omega's matches past as well as future, (12:19) thoughts on Kenny's controversial Toru Yano match, (13:06) differences between Japanese fans and North American fans, (14:01) modern North American fans being ridiculous with chants, (17:03) Kenny's Yano match showing that he can work the fluid Japanese style and adapt to comedy heavy stylings if needed, (19:06) michael Elgin's efforts this year and how I saw him wrestle regularly in Oshawa in 2006,
(20:14) G1 being the toughest stretch of pro wrestling anywhere on the planet, (21:21) Tanahashi vs Ibushi being excellent with both the storytelling and the in ring, (23:46) why Cody Rhodes should be in the tournament this year, (26:39) seeing big things for juice robinson going ahead, (28:04) the importance of a talent leaving a given promotion to later return with renewed fan interest, (29:02) dusty rhodes' indelible mark on the business, (33:25) predicting the first ever all gaijin final of a G1, (36:33) Don Callis doing commentary for njpw and the strong connection Darren has with him through the Winnipeg scene, and more!
Monday Jul 24, 2017
Monday Jul 24, 2017
On this week's episode I have the rare boy B Man on to break down the full WWE Battleground 2017 card.
B Man also calls out Sam Roberts for a match at Summerslam and does not hold back in his promo.
Check it out!
Tuesday Jun 27, 2017
Tuesday Jun 27, 2017
I caught up with battle rapper Mike P after the I-Battle event featuring Goodz vs Jeffrey.
I asked if he has any future plans to compete with I-Battle TV again, what Mike's first exposure to hip hop was (2:17), first time seeing battle rap and when he decided to battle himself (3:17), what his next battle will be (5:08), writing bars at work and his general prep process for prepping bars (6:39), how Mike went about crafting his multi-layered approach for battle rap (9:10)....
how the street fighter scheme came about from the inception to when it was performed [almost didn't perform that scheme because he wasn't sure it would hit] (11:37), The battle with Twork and when it will drop (13:29), using social media presence to optimize your stance as a battle rapper (14:36), his uncanny Vegeta impression and how he used that Vegeta voice against Twork (16:19), how he feels like Vegeta on-stage and how Beasly is Boditty (sp?) as well as his next opponent being Buu (18:36)....
dropping fire Chappelle's Show bars in battles (18:57), starting boxing training after getting jumped and being a few months into muay thai (21:06), seeing battle rap psychology as similar to a fighting mentality (22:41), The surreal nature of performing at NOME 7 and big goals going forward (24:30), prospective opponents for the rest of the year (26:28), non-hip hop music he jams out to (29:23), goals for a mixtape or album this year (30:18), Mike's ambitious interactive project between battlers and battle fans [be a battler for a day] (32:27), and more!
Photo credit to BattleRap.com for the display photo.
Saturday May 27, 2017
Saturday May 27, 2017
I spoke to Heather Trost (Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, A Hawk and A Hacksaw, etc) and she has an awesome debut full length record ready to drop in early June.
We talked about the key records of her formative years, international folk stylings informing her sound (1:46), projects that lead to Heather putting out her debut full length (4:12), creating a sonic portrait with her debut full length Agistri (5:30), how the spaghetti western inspired video for the track "Bloodmoon" came about (7:38)......
making the playful video for the title track Agistri (10:05), working with John Dieterich from Deerhoof as a player and producer (11:10), upcoming live dates with Thor and Friends in the summer as well as some fall dates beyond (12:57), having full creative autonomy by putting out her debut record through the label she owns (14:36)......
partially recording the third A Hawk and a Hacksaw album in a romanian village (16:54), the cathartic nature of putting out her first debut full length record (18:46), big outdoor festival gigs vs playing smaller intimate clubs (20:09), the 150 person music fest/ adult summer camp in the mountains known as Peppermill 2009 (21:38), the well dressed and wild concert goers of Gothenburg (23:21), and so much more!
Monday May 22, 2017
Monday May 22, 2017
(Pictured at the forefront of the photo)
I talked to art rock musician Kim Rancourt and we got into a number of cool topics. We discussed important records from his formative years as a music fan (0:16), what prompted his move to New York (1:44), Cool stories from the 70's New York music scene (2:46)......
meeting John Lennon and Yoko his first week in New York (3:31),Hanging with punkers during the '77 punk boom (5:12), When People Were Shorter and Lived Near the Water getting started (6:07), getting big and lively crowds on the Coney Island boardwalk for experimental psychedelic music (9:34).....
the art of covering a song in as far as faithfully recreating it versus providing one's own interpretation on it (10:55), discussing his record Plum Plum (14:16), Walking the Trashline track break down (16:50), Hail track break down (18:45), The New York references on Plum Plum and archiving the Lou Reed collection recently (19:56)......
seeing The Ramones in the early goings of their career (27:44), the influence of Don Fleming (30:28), writing an as of yet unreleased musical with Andrew WK (32:43), and the live performance of John Lennon "Remember" in memorium of 9/11 (33:54), and more!
Sunday May 14, 2017
Sunday May 14, 2017
I had decorated amateur wrestler and 3-0 Bellator heavyweight Tyrell Fortune on the show.
We discussed how he started wrestling in third grade through an after school kids program (0:42), His start in mixed martial arts training with the Blackzilians (1:38), the stress and adrenaline of mma fighting causing him to drop close to thirty pounds (2:55), Bellator's ahead of the curve grooming process for blue chip wrestling prospects (5:49), close ties to Chael Sonnen and predictions for the Bellator MSG card (9:48), the advantages of Bellator's presentation style as compared to UFC's uniform look (12:05), getting a WWE tryout and gaining respect for what pro wrestlers do (13:47), dedicating his last fight to the memory of his late childhood friend Tim (17:39), crossover combat news outlets getting more mma fans into amateur wrestling in recent years (18:27), the camaraderie of competition in wrestling and how that doesn't exist for him in mma competition (20:08), training to hip hop and salsa (22:07), being a Daniel Cormier fan and thoughts on his summer rematch with Jon Jones (23:04), recapping the Stipe/ JDS title fight (24:08), if he would rather rock a patchy hair style for a year or take another Will Johnson style nut shot (25:50), and more!
Tuesday May 09, 2017
Tuesday May 09, 2017
I spoke with the guitarist/ vocalist for avante garde punk/ noise duo Cinema Cinema and had a great talk with Ev Gold.
We discussed how the band got their name (2:10), new tracks from their recent record Man Bites Dog (7:45), the band's relationship w/ the legendary Martin Bisi (14:45), the band having their world turned upside down by Hurricane Sandy (19:48), Gowanus Ghost track breakdown and how all of their equipment becoming ruined strengthened them (26:40), what it was like touring with Black Flag (32:08), his rig run down (36:40), bonding over playing in a band with a family member (48:37), the Shiner series and how every cut is improvised (56:50), his partner Lauren being the artist for all Cinema Cinema material (ie/ merch, covers, flyers, etc) and the Raymond Pettibon-esque weight to having a running theme/ aesthetic (1:09:10), and more!