Music Is My Life

May 25 2022 122

Music Is My Life Podcast artwork

During each episode of this Berklee Online podcast, we talk to a different music industry mover and/or shaker who is making us take note. Our guests walk us through their musical journeys, beginning with their first exposure to music, continuing through their epiphanies and into their current positions, where the subjects can proclaim from the highest mountain, “MUSIC IS MY LIFE!”

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070: Bruce Hornsby

May 25 2022 48 mins

Bruce Hornsby, legendary pianist, singer, and songwriter, discusses his humble beginnings in a Grateful Dead cover band and his graduation to a Doobie Brothers acolyte to his mega breakthrough with “The Way It Is” to his time as an actual member of the Grateful Dead and his resurgence, resonating first with hip-hop artists like 2Pac, and more recently with younger indie rock ar

069: Cindy Blackman Santana

Apr 02 2022 50 mins

Cindy Blackman Santana discusses her journey as a drummer, from the NYC jazz scene, to Lenny Kravitz’s band, to performing with her husband, Carlos Santana.

068: Kira Roessler of Black Flag

Feb 24 2022 56 mins

Kira Roessler played bass in Black Flag for two years, during which time the legendary hardcore band put out seven(!) records. Now, at the age of 60, she's an Emmy- and Oscar-winning dialogue editor and promoting her self-titled solo debut. In this interview she discusses her new album, being in a band with Henry Rollins and Greg Ginn, as well as being in a band (and a marriage) wi

067: Arooj Aftab

Jan 19 2022 33 mins

Arooj Aftab began getting notice with a viral cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” more than 15 years ago, but with two Grammy nominations, she has finally arrived (and quit her day job at Genius.com). Her 2021 “Vulture Prince” album is a stunning work that frequently reaches transcendence. In this wide ranging interview, she discusses playing White Stripes covers, how s

066: Bruce Sudano

Oct 31 2021 26 mins

Bruce Sudano has written songs that have been sung by Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, and his late wife, Donna Summer. He discusses coming up in Brooklyn and being taken under the wing of Tommy James, and meeting Donna Summer, writing "Bad Girls" and appearing on the album cover as a police officer. He also plays a stripped down version of that song, and talks about how he has been

065: José González

Oct 08 2021 37 mins

José González discusses his life in music, beginning with his tenure as a bassist in a hardcore band, through his time with Junip, and up to his latest release, "Local Valley." He also shares his views on secular humanism and how he was able to be more productive with lyric writing.

064: Colin Blunstone of the Zombies

Sep 13 2021 53 mins

Colin Blunstone began his career in music as a teenager with the Zombies. After a run of successful singles in the 1960s the group broke up, but not before releasing their masterpiece, “Odessey and Oracle,” featuring the mega-hit “Time of the Season.” A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Colin and Rod Argent reformed the Zombies at the turn of the century and have been play

063: Don Letts

Jun 28 2021 42 mins

Don Letts provides an important lesson in the fact that even if you don’t play an instrument, you can still be a part of the music industry, and not just on the business side either. He got his start as a DJ, and is widely credited for introducing reggae into the burgeoning punk rock scene in London in the 1970s, but he doesn’t want all of that credit.

062: Butch Vig of Garbage

Jun 14 2021 29 mins

You know Butch Vig as the drummer and producer of Garbage, or you know him as the producer of genre-defining albums from Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, but there is more to him than that. He has been working with most of the people he makes music with for more than 30 years. The new Garbage album, No Gods No Masters, is out now.

061: Sly and Robbie—Sly Dunbar

May 31 2021 49 mins

If you’ve heard any reggae music in your entire life then you’ve heard Sly Dunbar’s drumming, or at the very least, his influence. As one half of Sly and Robbie, he says he’s probably played on a million songs. Sly and Robbie got their start as the rhythm section for Peter Tosh in 1976, and after touring with him for a number of years started Taxi, where they would produce