Dylan James Bowker

15 Minutes with Gunning and Cormier ft. Dylan Bowker

I caught up with Gunning and Cormier ahead of their performance at Bear Creek Folk Festival in Grande Prairie.
 
 
We talked about performing in GP yet again, playing concerts at houses and court houses alike, their debut collaborative album Two, their vast solo careers and if the individual efforts inform their G&C music, having enough material for a sophomore record, the benefits of teaching guitarists and helming workshops, producer efforts and whether that informs the musician role, having their own personalized Gunning and Cormier brand of beer, and more!

AJ Matthews Bellator 204 co-main event bout w/ Logan Storley, wanting to tap into Doc Holliday mindset by growing out his mustache, and his upper lip garden may have ended a relationship

On Bowks Talking Bouts #99, I caught up with AJ Matthews ahead of his Bellator 204 co-main event bout with Logan Storley.
 
We discussed his prep/ thoughts on his opponent on August 17th, going back and forth between 170lbs and 185lbs (2:10), defeating Kendall Grove and how MMA has changed (3:15), overcoming a bit of a losing skid in his recent outing (4:26), wanting to tap into that Doc Holliday mindset by growing out his mustache and how his upper lip garden may have ended a relationship for him (7:05), living out in the Phillipines and training with guys like ONE Heavyweight Champion Brandon Vera (8:25), his pro Boxing experience and his desire to compete in more kickboxing going ahead (10:26), training to Nina Simone (11:31), being a longtime Bellator competitor and growing as a fighter alongside the organization (13:02), and more!

15 Minutes with Darcy John

It was awesome to have rising country star/ hot shot guitarist Darcy John in the YL Country studio.  
 
We talked about local communal spaces for music growing up and his parents being musicians, pushing forward with his first single "Hunt" (1:31), honing his chops as a guitarist on cruise ships and playing the World Cup in Africa (2:34), the experience of playing lead guitar for Tommy Cash that left him shaking (4:07), Darcy's love for guitar-driven music regardless of genre and playing Eminem on guitar for fans (5:33), what's in Darcy's guitar rig (7:06), the benefit of teachings kids guitar in as far as adding to his own repertoire (8:26), moving out from Ontario to Nashville in his early 20's (9:33), playing in a lounge band with huge names in Nashville and his interesting brush with Carrie Underwood (11:00), our mutual bond through the Corral in Oshawa (12:41), and more!

Laugh N Stalk talks the overlap between battle rap and pro wrestling, the hot air balloon battle with Thesaurus,+ LNS' kushy/ dank idea for a battle concept involving Reverse Live

On this BTB installment,  I had a great time talking with KOTD/ GZ battler and Ruin Your Day contributor Laugh N Stalk...………Bowks Talking Bouts #98
 
We discussed his first exposure to hip hop as well as battle rap, LNS' love for Taylor Swift (2:41), we discussed the overlap between battle rap and pro wrestling (3:20), the present day being a golden era for indie wrestling (6:05), wrestlers and what our dream matches are (8:39), Pigsty's world ender bar about Lance Storm against Reverse Live and Esem's insane wrestling bar on the DBD show  (11:14), LNS' Caddy Ron battle and how LNS felt he wasn't ready for the Caddy Ron battle (12:48), how the hot air balloon battle with Thesaurus came about and trolling Mad Illz (15:52), the possibility of a Simpsons bars battle and other themed battles LNS has taken part in (21:37), performing at the Belly Room/ his Jokes over Bars standup set and the historical significance of performing at The Comedy Store (24:54), battle rap being much easier than standup (28:35), the lead-up video titled "The Calling" as LNS prepared for his Red Flag battle and organic promotion as a battle rapper (29:36), LNS' interviews through his Weekly Battle Feed show (34:46), LNS' writing methodology/ his preference to battle friends/ gaining motivation to battle certain people based on his respect level for them (36:25), the 2 on 2 hotel freestyle battle for RYD and appealing to battle fans that want to laugh/ have fun (42:26), the talk show between LNS and Carter Deems that never saw the light of day (46:22), LNS' kushy/ v dank idea for a battle concept involving Reverse Live (48:50), LNS not being anti-MMA but never becoming fully invested in it (1:00:00), MMA fans that hate pro wrestling and hive minded people who lack self awareness (1:00:48), and more!

Tanner Boser talks cringe dudes looking for vape pits, possibly competing against Frank Mir in ACB, Danger Cats, and more!

This BTB episode saw the return of top Canadian Heavyweight/ one of ACB's top contenders, Tanner Boser. 
 
On Bowks Talking Bouts #97, we talked about how Tanner finds it odd that he's ranked at #2 in ACB, the assessment of Tanner's performance in beating Chase Gormley at ACB 88 (2:46), his desire to re-sign with ACB and what his goals are with the promotion going forward including a possible Frank Mir contest (4:48), who Tanner sees himself fighting next among the top ten ACB Heavyweights (6:16), wanting to fight in either October or September (7:34), embracing his time in Australia during his last trip with ACB (8:51), Brisbane and Hawaii fun that he got up to recently (9:22).......
 
being tight with Teddy Ash and the mindset he had when he recently cornered his training partner (10:28), the work Tanner puts in every day with Frank Lee's Muay Thai and Shaved Bear MMA (12:13), the big strides Alberta MMA has made in recent months (13:03), Cringey guys looking for vape pits and not wanting to make enchiladas every Monday (14:40), managing to work in some Canada Day fun with all of his travelling (15:30), still showing love to Bonnyville and shouting out his brother's martial arts gym (16:19), the future of Tanner's involvement with Danger Cats (17:22), Tapology being better than Sherdog and if either site is going to update his photos (19:04), being a fan of  The Killers and digging melo music with strong storytelling (22:12), and more! 

Krome talks representing the Montreal battle rap scene, blue waffle references, and battle methodology

On Bowks Talking Bouts #96, I welcomed GZ/ DMS battle rapper Krome onto the program.
 
 
We discussed catching a bit of the recent I Battle event, his Big Valley Battles match up with Jaws and the methodology of Krome's writing process (2:59), being nominated for KOTD's breakout battler of the year in 2017 (6:55), appreciating guys like Drake who make calculated chess moves and if he makes similar big picture moves in his battle rap efforts (8:16), his first exposure to hip hop and when he became privy to battle rap (11:03), Krome's experience in recording studios and if he has any immediate plans to drop new music (13:52), if Krome has a methodology for figuring out angles for battle rap opponents (16:48), his key battle with Loe Pesci and how it seemed to represent a changing of the guard in the Montreal battle scene (18:56), the practice of diffusing angles used against you in battles (22:11), if he'll ever have a battle where someone doesn't bring up his first name (23:36), the most fire shit an opponent has ever said to him (25:03), Krome's battle with Jeff and how crazy both sides were in that battle (27:08), the Ryan Gosling angle that Krome took against Esem (28:25), his Blue Waffle reference in the Esem battle and the internet era of steady trippy pictures/ videos dropping (29:28), being combat sports fans and his thoughts on the UFC 226 main event as well as Canelo/ GGG II thoughts (30:28), and more!

Caustic discusses being the last minute king in battle rap, being heavy into DragonBall Z gaming, and being immortalized in the Marvel Universe

I caught up with battle rapper/ career killer Caustic on this BTB episode (Bowks Talking Bouts #95). 
 
 
We discussed the first time Caustic was exposed to battle rap, his goals to release an album this year (2:17), his recent efforts in standup comedy and with commentating fighting games (3:08), being offered a URL battle against Young Kannon and matches that Caustic wants going forward (4:55), teaming up with FLO to take on Esem and EK at BOTZ 10 (6:38), the possibility of BOTZ tag team titles and how Caustic would beat Marv in a TLC match (7:25).........
 
his Megadef battle and prepping for battles the night before (8:45), the order confiscating his material before he battled Daley and how Caustic is the last minute king (9:25), being heavy into Dragon Ball Z and Smash Bros gaming (12:08), what character Caustic would be in the Dragon Ball universe (13:23), becoming a regular fixture on The DBD Show and how doing the show is the most fun thing for him to do on a week to week basis (14:42), how DBD Show freestyles have created a few bangers (17:41), how King's Dead low key sounds like a DBD Show freestyle and Future's thoughts process writing that world ender verse (18:20).......
 
the creative processes involved with his collaboration on the DBD Show EP (19:10), the advent of Bar Pong and how it has partly renewed his vigor for hip hop efforts (21:52), the film project Caustic put together with Reggie Watts (26:06), Gym pet peeves (28:00), Caustic's gym being across the street from the active shooter that hit up San Bruno Youtube Headquarters and how he had to become a leader to scared locals (30:54), being immortalized in the Marvel universe along with Dirtbag Dan and how it was one of his favorite life moments (32:40), and more!

Liberty Music: Sarah McQuaid

I had a great talk with Sarah McQuaid on this LM installment. 
 
We talked about early communal spaces for music fans in her area, sketching the art for her latest record If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous, the pros and cons of the modern system for musicians getting their material out there, the touring van sliding out of control on the icy roads in East Germany, track breakdowns from her latest full length album, inspiration/ writing processes, converting a shed into a studio, Sarah incorporating new instrumentation into her recordings (ie/ piano), how Sarah warning her son became the catalyst for naming her latest LP, Sarah's proficiency with DADGAD tuning and how she imparts knowledge to people through workshops/ authoring books on alternate/ open tunings, and more!