The Hustle
Every artist has a story. Whether big or small, they‘ve all seen the ups and downs and worked hard to maintain careers in music. We chat with some of the most interesting legacy artists in pop music and go in depth on their careers, how they feel about them, what it‘s like being a ”rock star” and also hear their best stories. If you‘re a music junkie you will love these long form conversations with beloved figures from your life.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 85 minutes
- Episodes
- 757
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
Deep Dive - Brad Sundberg on Quincy Jones' Back on the Block (1989)
Audio engineer Brad Sundberg returns to discuss the making of the epic Quincy Jones album Back on the Block from 1989. The legendary producer called all of his famous friends to contribute to this op…
Episode 243 - Tom Croucier of Life By Night
Imagine getting only one chance at the big time and it not working out. That can't be easy to deal with, but that's what happened to this week's guest, Tom Croucier of the band Life By Night. Tom's c…
Episode 242 - Chris Stamey/Richard Lloyd
It's another Merry Chris-mas at the Hustle! This year we hear from indie legend Chris (get it?) Stamey! After forming the dbs in Chapel Hill 40 years ago with Peter Holsapp…
Promo Mode - Richard Bush discusses the new Peace Creeps album Social Studies
Forrmer guest Richard Bush (ep 69) returns to talk about the brand new album Social Studies by his current band The Peace Creeps. You may remember that 40 years ago, Richard fronted the wonderful Phi…
Episode 241 - Prescott Niles of The Knack
The Knack are the poster band for both extreme success and extreme flame out. They had the biggest hit of 1979 with their debut single "My Sharona", a song that remains as killer today as it was then…
Bonus - The Hustle vs. Suburban Underground Vol.4: Songs That Move Us
Jon and the boys from Suburban Underground come together for another hour of music. This time the topic is "songs that move us." You'll notice when you listen to this that we each define "move" in di…
Episode 240 - Joey Shuffield of Fastball
The 90s were a fickle time. Fads came and went, stars were made and just as quickly left behind. Austin's Fastball had what it took for the long haul, but it hasn't been easy. Lead by the dual songwr…
Episode 239 - Johnny Edwards of Foreigner/Montrose/King Kobra
Imagine this - one of the greatest rock singers in history decides to leave his hugely successful band and you've been selected to take his place. That's what happened with Johnny Edwards. Though it …
Deep Dive - Walter Egan on Wild Exhibitions (1983)
Walter Egan's 1978 smash "Magnet and Steel" will follow him around wherever he goes, deservedly so, but what gets lost sometimes is the absolutely stellar power pop album he made in 1983 called Wild …
Episode 238 - Mike Watt of the Minutemen/fIREHOSE
Episode 237 - Art Alexakis of Everclear
In a decade that churned through artists as tastes and fads changed weekly, Everclear managed a heckuva lot of hits. Storming the gates with the hyper-catchy "Santa Monica," the guys dropped radio st…
Bonus - Tom Keifer of Cinderella/Solo
Cinderella may have been put to bed years ago, but frontman Tom Keifer has been slowly building up his solo project for a while now and it just keeps getting bigger. The Tom Keifer Band recently rele…
Episode 236 - Juliana Hatfield
The last few years have been a blur of prolific activity for Juliana Hatfield. There was the anti-Trump album Pussycat from 2017, there have been side projects with Paul Westerberg (The I Don't Care'…
Bonus - Jon and Georgia Countdown Their Top 5 Kiss Songs
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Jon engages in conversation with his 12-year-old daughter Georgia, discussing their love of Kiss and counting down their top 5 songs. This was done quick and d…
Episode 235 - James Atkin of EMF
The summer of 1991 belonged to bands like EMF. When they took over the world with their debut single "Unbelievable," it signaled a change in the sound of mainstream music where white British guys mer…
Episode 234 - Ruben De Fuentes of The Hollywood Stars
Sometimes you just have to wonder why some bands don't make it. Take the Hollywood Stars. Brought together by famous impresario Kim Fowley, the guys were meant to be a West Coast answer to the New Yo…
Episode 233 - Rocco Barker of Flesh For Lulu
Flesh For Lulu had it all. They mixed the Stones' swagger with the New York Dolls' grease and added a healthy dose of 80s glam to perfection as evidenced on possibly their best known hit, 1987's "I G…
Bonus - Top 10 Soundtrack Songs of the 90s with Reliving My Youth
In part 2 of our crossover episode with Reliving My Youth, Jon and Noel countdown their Top 10 soundtrack songs of the 90s.
Episode 232 - Darren Hill of Red Rockers
Red Rockers were all set to be the "American Clash." They may have started as the go-to punk band in their native New Orleans, but when they wrote the 1983 hit "China" for their second album, not onl…
Recap 2019 v.3 with Brad Page
It's that time again, Hustlers and this time Jon and Jan are joined by Brad Page of the I'm In Love With That Song podcast. We're honored to have the man with the buttery voice slumming it with us kn…