A wonderful chat this episode with Rob Mohan, aka Night Owl. I really enjoyed this conversation - it took place between a bunch of travelling I had to do for work, and was a much needed refuge to decompress and talk guitar, music, art, community, family, and other interrelated topics of interest. Rob is a really special guitar player, who, to my ears, has mastered a unique style of playing which blends the orthodoxy and deep rooted traditional style and sound of American Primitive with the more earnestly beautiful and hopeful sound of transcendental guitar soli.

We talk guitar, composition, tunings, capos, inspiration, etc. but the real good stuff for me is the conversation about family and balancing musical and artistic pursuits alongside nurturing a family, raising kids, and juggling a full time job. Not to mention the impact that these other priorities in life have materially on the type of art you create.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this conversation, so check it out, but more importantly, check out Rob's music, both under his own name (for more instrumental guitar focused stuff) and as Night Owl (for instrumentally and tonally broader singer, songwriter type stuff) - it's all good and deserves a deep listen!

Were I a gambling man, my money would be on everybody (in the world of instrumental acoustic guitar, which is, admittedly, a limited world of people) knowing the name William DeLee by the end of 2026. He is finger-picking wizard playing solo acoustic guitar, charango and ronroco in a style that has extended beyond the trappings of the increasingly popular American Primitive style, and embraced flamenco and classical techniques to land on something truly unique and transcendental (bear in mind, I'm saying this as someone who absolutely loves AP). He has a full length record coming out in June on Carbon and Feeding Tube Records, and a tour with (king of AP) Liam Grant lined up for July, so the momentum is just starting to build.

Our conversation covers Will's history with guitar (and a range of other instruments too), how he developed his technique and landed on his distinctive style of playing. But a prevalent thread throughout the discussion is the importance of community and connection with other people in getting Will to where he is today. Within the first three minutes of us talking he says "I can't emphasise enough how much of a mentor Rob [Vaughn] has been", while he shares numerous accounts of friends introducing him to music, his meeting with Skyler Pia at university (who now, years later, has recorded part of Will's forthcoming LP), and subsequently meeting Emmett Martin of Bud Tapes, who ultimately recorded and released Will's first EP, amongst other friendships that have nudged his musical journey along the way.

It's a pertinent reminder of the importance of community and connection in this world of underground music, and frankly, in life generally.

Also, as a fellow South African, I've got to shout out Derek Gripper, because after we stopped recording Will suddenly realised he hadn't mentioned how encountering Derek's Tiny Desk Concert on YouTube was a critical formative moment in helping him recognise the possibilities of acoustic guitar.

This time we have a great conversation with one of my favourite artists flying under the radar, Merit Fisher-Medrano. Merit performs under the moniker Sound and Voice, and released what is one of the finest albums of 2026, entitled "All My Dreams Are Absent From Me" on beautiful, hexagonally cut double lathe vinyl. If you have an interest in psychedelic acoustic music and great songwriting, I strongly suggest you check it out. In addition to his work as a musician, Merit also runs the wonderfully homespun label Tepid Toad, which releases lathe cut releases exclusively, cut by Merit himself at home. Every release is unique, limited, and an incredible work of art in itself. From his home studio, Merit has constructed an incredible world of sound and art, which we are fortunate to glimpse into.

This episode constitutes a remarkably wide-ranging and thoroughly enjoyable conversation with Joe Tunis of Carbon Records; a creator and artistic conceptualiser of note. To the outside observer, Joe is an insanely busy musician, artist, and curator of musical releases and shows. He generally disagrees with being called "busy" (which is wild), but some of his ongoing projects include: putting out a steady slew of diverse releases on Carbon Records (for over 30 years now!), doing his annual Joe+N Day Tour, organising what's become the annual (week long!) Carbon Fest, playing blizzard shows with the outlandishly performative project, Tumul, participating in at least 5 different musical projects, and endless other boundary pushing musical and performative exploits.

Our discussion covers a broad range of topics, from Joe's musical history, to his artistic exploits, the trials and tribulations of running a label, organising shows, the interplay between personal and community expression, and a whole load of other stuff. We also briefly chat a bit about guitar and Joe's history with the instrument. For me, this is a conversation not to be missed!

We return with none other than the mighty wielder of 12-strings for the bands Elkhorn and Universal Light (and bassist / six string player for a bunch of others), Jesse Sheppard. The conversation meanders through the valleys and creeks of American Primitive, the USA underground, the musings of a lifetime spent making and being surrounded by amazing music, making videos, putting together the legendary 1000 Incarnations of the Rose Festival, and journeying through time, letting the music simply bloom along the way. Questions of community, orthodoxy in playing, and what drives us to create music thread through the conversation. Definitely one of the best chats I've had in ages. Huge thanks to Jesse for taking the time to talk.

For the first time on the podcast we have the privilege of being joined by a guitarist extraordinaire from that most illustrious of cities straddling between the Pacific coast and Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia. He is a man with three decade's worth of experience as an active musician and DJ, and is currently carving out a path as an ecstatic primitive acoustic guitarist who dabbles in the blues-rooted traditions of American Primitive, but also bends this medium into what can be termed "madcap ambient" forms - most evident on his most recent album, Wizrad, which dropped last Friday. This isolated Australian axe-wielder is none other than Darren DC Cross.

Our conversation veers through Darren's rich musical history, including collaborations with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Kool Keith, playing gigs with the Avalanches and hearing the songs that would later become their breakthrough album "Since I Left You", as well as touring with an endless list of the finest and wildest musicians and bands of the 90s and 2000s.

And while a history like his undoubtedly makes for interesting conversation, the real meat of our chat (for me at least) lies in Darren's philosophy around solo acoustic guitar, as he talks about how he approaches each album and adapts his playing by adopting a new tuning and embracing new techniques. I reckon there's a lot to be learned and embraced by other players in listening to how he pushes himself on the instrument to expand his technique and compositional prowess.

We also talk guitars and discuss his most recent custom made Opus acoustic, and bond over our shared feelings of disgust for Ovation guitars. Key takeaway is that plastic guitars are awful and Florentine cutaways are the best.

Anyway, check out the interview, but much more importantly, go and listen to his latest album Wizrad on thee bandcamps (while it is still alive)!

Breaking out of the acoustic trend we've been riding for a while, I'm incredibly excited that on this episode we ascend the jagged, soaring peaks of transcendental, ambient, brutal death metal for a conversation with Cody Drasser of Long Island's wyrdest purveyors of brutality, Afterbirth.

All the more special, we had this conversation on Cody's 48th birthday, and I'm pleased to report he is "still alive, still playing death metal, still doing the thing". In fact, there's a genre shattering new Afterbirth album entitled "In But Not Of" coming out on Willowtip Records this Friday, October 20th.

We chat about how he got into metal by "borrowing" some Iron Maiden albums he found in (Afterbirth bassist; also of the band Helmet) David Case's older brother's record collection. Seeing the music video for "Betrayer" by Kreator at a sleepover when he was a kid, and a friend's immediate feeling of repulsion to the band, was another key touchpoint in nurturing his love for auditory malevolence.

We also cover the beautiful, albeit somewhat heartbreaking story of how he ended up with his first guitar, teaching himself to play, and briefly taking lessons from the guy who would later evolve into Bumblefoot (probably most well known for his brief stint in Guns 'n Roses).

But we talk about so much more - Afterbirth's strange, almost esoteric or, dare I say, "spiritual" sound, the importance of not trying to be explicitly "different" or a novelty act, but simultaneously not trying to fit into any kind of pre-existing musical template, and most crucially, creating art that is uncensored, honest and authentic. As Cody says "I don't know if there's any intention other than just being real".

Anyway, there's so much more we talk about, so give it a listen - Cody is easily one of the most kind, thoughtful, down to earth, and insightful players I've ever had the opportunity to interview.

It's difficult to fully express how much Afterbirth's music means to me. To date, I have heard nothing that makes me feel anything quite like this band do. They are certainly not for everyone, and I'm sure the vocals will be a challenge for anyone unfamiliar with death metal, but if you've got an open mind and a taste for that which is both esoteric and malevolent, definitely check them out, and either way, give this here conversation a listen!

Normality is restored this week as I have the privilege of chatting with acoustic guitar extraordinaire Ethan WL all the way from Boston. Ethan is part of the ever growing and snowballing third wave of American Primitive players, alongside the likes of Liam Grant, Joseph Allred and a blossoming plethora of young musicians in the USA (and around the world).

We chat about his album The Pink House, the album's convergence of acoustic primitive playing with field recordings, electric soundscapes and noise, and the shift he is making for his forthcoming new record, which looks set to consist of purely solo acoustic guitar performances, akin to a live show. We explore the debate around cheap vs. expensive guitars and gear (there remains no definitive conclusion to this debate), the relaxing nature of drone and even harsh noise music, and the not-so-tenuous links in meditative quality in the aforementioned drone and noise styles of music, and the transcendence of American Primitive.

I really enjoy discussing the college and underground music scenes of Boston, learning about a musical realm partly overshadowed by (and even in conflict with) the Berkley College of Music (my only prior knowledge of Berkley is gleaned from memes and Eric Andre). It's super cool to hear about house shows and regular gigs with bills consisting of American Primitive, harsh noise and Hyperpop artists back to back. I really dig the idea of a scene where participants lean into these vastly different forms of extreme music, and Ethan truly is the embodiment of someone who is all about extremes when it comes to music.

Finally, we talk about discovering American Primitive music, playing with Liam Grant, Mike Gangloff, Glenn Jones and many other giants of the genre, as well as working with the legendary Rob Vaughn (his work on Liam Grant's Amoskeag has become something of a benchmark in audio engineering). And of course, the ever present influence of big daddy Neil Young and embracing simplicity in composition.

But anyway... give it a listen - Ethan is doing awesome stuff, and you can expect to hear loads of amazing things coming from him over the forthcoming years, and dare I say, even decades. Early days for the third wave - don't sleep on it!