The obscene amount of driving I do for work has led me to various conclusions, chief among them that I’ll need a new car soon. That cold revelation aside, I’ve more recently been gifted the commute-saving majesty of the Getting It Out podcast, another topshelf show I urge you to deep dive. In all honesty, I have no idea as to how the Pennsylvania-based show landed on my doorstep, but I stumbled upon a recent interview with Fixation’s Matthew Green. Immediately and irrevocably hooked, I went backwards in shamefully short fashion. Admittedly, past, present, and future Baltimoreans get first priority. Having served time in the short-lived Charm City crushers Pleasant Living, I’m legally required to love this show.
Lest you think Dan Craley, the hilarious brain behind the show, is piggybacking on the glut of killer hXc pods, he’s quietly amassed 70 plus episodes featuring eye-popping guests since setting virtual sail in January of 2018. Chock full of both interviews, skits, songs, and absurdist observational humor; it’s sure to crack a smile on even the most hardened scene vets, be they hardcore, death metal, or punk diehards.
Managing to find the sweet spot between comedic free association and a more refined interview approach, Craley has crafted a truly unique lane for the show, one which I encourage you to travel. He was kind enough to take the time to chat with No Echo. By the time y’all read this, he’ll have posted a recent scorcher with Mike Score, the All Out War(rior) himself. Much like his glorious sidewinding episodes, he swings from “getting shit done” to werewolves to Ben Folds and back.
The modern miracle of podcasts is their ability to make us feel close to complete strangers. For the uninitiated, give us a peek behind the curtain.
I grew up in the suburbs of York, PA. Like most teenage boys who are into cool shit, skateboarding was my gateway drug and I've been getting fucked up on punk rock, hardcore, and heavy metal ever since. When I turned 16 I would steal a pack of Swisher Sweet Cigarillos from the gas station and go hangout at shows by myself, smoking constantly between bands at fire halls and skate parks. Eventually I found some like-minded friends and we ventured out further over the years Baltimore, Philly, etc.
By the time I was in my early 20s, I spent so much time in Baltimore that it only made sense to move there. So I did. At this point, I had spent entirely too much time and money invested into hardcore, but I had never been in a band. So I started one with my best friends and we called it Pleasant Living, which we got right off of a can of Natty Boh. We had our demo 7" come out on A389 Records and we recorded a second record, but never really finished it. I think I recorded vocals for maybe two hours and never went back. I was cool with ending it though because the guitar player and I fought too much and I was about to have my daughter.
Fast forward six years and I'm back in PA. I recently married my beautiful wife Lisa and we're raising our 12 and 6-year-old daughters in suburbia and it's fucking awesome. I work an office job where nobody knows about the podcast and I spend my evenings running, doing yard work, shooting hoops in my driveway, drinking beers and spending time with my family. It rules. I never thought I'd end up like this, but I'm unbelievably happy I did.
When did you officially kick off Getting It Out, and what prompted the podcast?
I started the podcast in January 2018. I went through a rough patch while living in Baltimore and working third shift for a printing company. I had very limited human reaction due to my work schedule and spent every weekend alone with just my 1-year-old daughter. I had periodically listened to podcasts, but eventually I found myself fully immersed.
Soon I realized how listening to other people talk was filling that social void for me and I started using them as a true source for humor, knowledge, and betterment. I laughed, learned, and made genuine life improvements that I can 100% credit to listening to podcasts.
One of the things I started doing was writing a daily to-do list. Initially it was made up of simple shit like: read the news, write a joke, go to the gym, read a chapter, etc. The idea being that these tasks, while menial, still provided me a sense of accomplishment and pride. That worked for awhile, but I think when I read Charles Duhiggs' Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business, I realized I was being active, but not necessarily productive. Growing up, I was always the class clown and when I got older I would frequently get compliments on my voice (which is always super awkward by the way). So why not combine my personality with something that I love? I bought a $17 USB microphone off of Amazon in December 2017 and downloaded Audacity. Then I put "Start a podcast by Jan. 31st" on my to do list for 2018.
The show seems to have evolved organically. Beginning with a loose format of observational hilarity, you’ve managed to segue into a great interview-based show. How and why did that happen?
When I started, I fully embraced that I had no idea what I was doing. I think I was pretty candid about that. I knew I'd have growing pains and I figured it'd be more fun to have them publicly. Ironically, I said early on that I didn't want the show to end up like a typical interview show, yet that's exactly what happened. I enjoy how I did the first 30-40 episodes, but it was kind of exhausting to come up with new things to humorously bitch about each week. So I started calling up my buddy Mike on Ice, he's a trip and a lot of fun to talk to and listeners seemed to enjoy him. Not to mention, it conveniently took a lot of weight off of my shoulders to have someone else on the show. I alternated between guest and no guest for awhile until this point where there is someone with me every week.
I try to keep the humor in the podcast though whether it's in the intro or in the interviews. I don't like when it gets too dry with the usual question and answer shtick. I have a few go to questions I like to sporadically throw at guests like:
- How often do you wash your legs?
- Is there a difference between pissing your pants, and pissing into your pants? (Credit: Mike on Ice)
- Are conjoined twins one or two things?
- Would a werewolf go to a doctor or veterinarian?
Aside from a litany of killer guests from the world of hardcore (folks from Terror, Integrity, Fixation, 100 Demons, Sworn Enemy, and Steel Nation), you’ve had some eye-popping high profile guests from the metal world (Entombed, Morbid Angel, Khemmis, Pig Destroyer). Tell us a bit about how you’ve wrangled these interviews! Who are some dream guests?
The nature of the hardcore scene makes making those connections pretty easy and organic. There's only so many of us, and after 20 years you're going to know a lot of the people who have been in the same small rooms with you for years, whether you stand on the floor or stage. There's a little bit of crossover there to getting those metal guests as well, but there are other methods I'm going to opt to keep secret. Though I find it very interesting and usually true, that guests from hardcore bands are often much more standoffish and usually kind of dicks. I don't know if it's a posturing or an elitism thing, but it's pretty lame and disappointing. People from the metal world are typically more friendly, conversational, and willing to laugh.
My dream guests are all pretty feasible. In fact, a few of them are old friends that I'd just like to have long uninterrupted conversations with for selfish reasons. Hardcore conspiracy theorists might say the following two people are the same, but I'd love to have Martin Gonzalez of Billy Club Sandwich on to expose him for the absolute sweetheart he is. I'd also like to talk to Jotham Oliver of Wisdom In Chains, not only because WIC is easily my favorite hardcore band of all time, but because I like the way his mind works and I appreciate his perspective. If you haven't checked out the podcast he does with Richie and Chris of WIC, Post America Podcast, I suggest you do. Fenriz of Darkthrone would also be cool, and I'd do just about anything to fanboy out on Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth for an hour.
There’s a hyper-comedic and creative element to the show. Do you have a stand-up background? Have you ever gotten the Mitch Hedberg comparison?
I don't and I haven't! I'm a huge fan of both though. I've always enjoyed being funny, and if you listen to the podcast you'll hear that I crack myself up. I love stupid ideas like the rap intro that plays into every episode now, interviewing myself, reading song ideas from my imaginary band that actually exists, and making stupid ass promo videos on Instagram.
Truthfully, I always saw the podcast as a way to kind of back my way into doing stand up. I'm not sure if that will end up happening, but I love using it as a creative outlet and I've enjoyed having actual comedians on like Larry Venturino who is co-owner of Think Fast! Records and has sung for bands like Esteem and Where Fear And Weapons Meet. Check him out!
As a Marylander, I’m particularly interested in local scene stuff, like The Free State Collective and Skid Row Garage episodes. What’s your local scene in PA like?
I'm admittedly pretty disconnected from my local scene these days. I feel like I still know everyone, but I've had one foot out for awhile now. I still love the music, but my priorities have definitely changed and I'm happy about it. I pop in at a show here and there at places like Skid Row Garage in York or the Chameleon Club in Lancaster. From my perspective the local Central PA hardcore/punk scene seems to hum along consistently thanks to a few elder statesmen and a lot of youthful exuberance. Having said all that, I may be contributing more than ever by using Getting It Out as a way to play local bands for an international audience and promote local shows to people near by.
Where’s the best place to start for someone new to the show? Any favorite episodes?
Episode 40 featuring David Rodriguez of The Casualties is definitely one of my favorites and right around where the podcast kind of began to hit it's stride. I had a lot of fun talking to David and we actually had to record two entirely separate conversations in the same evening since the first disappeared. I wish everyone came into an interview with his level of enthusiasm. The following episode featuring Steve Shell of North Carolina's Just Die! was also a good one, but for completely different reasons. We ended up going a more serious direction in that one and talked a lot about mental health and the stigma around it. Not to mention, Just Die! is a criminally underrated hardcore band and I was glad to get their name out there.
Any episode featuring Mike on Ice is also a guaranteed good time. Erik Rutan from Hate Eternal/Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse is up there as a favorite. Dwid and Dom Romeo from Integrity were both great. Steve Fisher of Steel Nation was a blast. Ryan Lockhart of Funeral Chic cracked me up. Louis Gino from Ironed Out called in from London for a solid chat. I feel like I could go on forever with this list.
No one in my life can escape the dreaded lists. What’re your Top 5 Hardcore LPs?
Always subject to change:
Wisdom In Chains, Die Young
Dag Nasty, Can I Say
Agnostic Front, One Voice
Terror, Lowest of the Low
Biohazard, Urban Discipline
Top 5 embarrassing LPs?
Though I am not embarrassed at all:
Cake, Fashion Nugget
The Hollies, Greatest Hits
Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor
Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen
Journey, Greatest Hits
Where/how can people keep up with you and the podcast?
Hopefully, there will be an official website in the near future, but until then you can go here. As far as I know, Getting It Out is available everywhere that you can get podcasts at this point. If you can't find it where you want it, reach out to me at [email protected]. I highly encourage any comments, complaints, questions, and music submissions through the email address. If you send your music in, I can almost guarantee you'll hear it on the show within a couple weeks. I genuinely do enjoy promoting new and upcoming bands. The Getting It Out Instagram is where most of my social media posts originate and then end up on Twitter, and the Facebook page.
Tagged: podcast
