Shows / The J-Card Podcast
The J-Card Podcast
The J-Card Podcast is a weekly music show that asks guests to make a personal mixtape. Every episode, a guest walks host Alexei Shishkin through their mixtape. We talk about the songs, sure, but really we're talking about the person, what shaped them, what they're chasing, why a song from years ago still gets them every time, stuff like that. It's part music discovery, part oral history, part hangout show. Past guests have been musicians, comedians, photographers, label heads, booking agents…
Episodes
The J-Card PodcastRyan Hemsworth Talks Numbskull, Tegan and Sara, and Growing Up in Halifax | The J-Card Podcast
Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth joins me to talk about Numbskull, his first solo album in eight years (out now on Topshelf Records), from making it late at…
The J-Card PodcastMike Hanford (The Sloppy Boys) on His First Stand-Up Special, Live in Toronto | The J-Card Podcast
Mike Hanford (The Birthday Boys, The Sloppy Boys, and the ghost of John Lennon on Comedy Bang! Bang!) joins me to talk about his very first stand-up special…
The J-Card PodcastAC Mack on How Wrestling Matches Really Come Together | The J-Card Podcast
AC Mack, the Atlanta pro wrestler who became the first openly gay male world champion in pro wrestling history, joins me to talk about why wrestling is…
The J-Card PodcastMK (mkay world) on Why Vibe Coding Won't Make You Interesting | The J-Card Podcast
MK of mkay world is back to talk about the myth of the one-person billion-dollar company, why most video essays (and most vibe-coded apps) suck, and whether…
The J-Card PodcastJeremy Shatan (AnEarful) on The Band Before The Beastie Boys | The J-Card Podcast
Jeremy Shatan has been writing about music at AnEarful since 2009, and he’s also the guy who shot the Paul’s Boutique cover (no big deal). His mixtape is six…
The J-Card PodcastMark Whitby on 20 Years of Dandelion Radio and John Peel's Legacy | The J-Card Podcast
Mark Whitby is a DJ on Dandelion Radio and FSK Hamburg, and honestly, the guy is a walking music encyclopedia. Dandelion Radio started right after John Peel…
The J-Card PodcastWill Schwartz (The Male Pattern) Turns a Right-Wing Weirdo Into a Concept Album | The J-Card Podcast
Today’s guest is Will Schwartz. Will is a songwriter, novelist, and English professor, and he makes music as the male pattern. His new album, I Was Shot In The…
The J-Card PodcastJoe Schaefer on Editing Hot Ones and Freelance Filmmaking | The J-Card Podcast
Today’s guest is Joe Schaefer. Joe is a filmmaker, photographer, and video editor based in San Francisco, and someone I go way back with. We met working…
The J-Card PodcastRachel Cholst (Rainbow Rodeo) Talks Queer Country | The J-Card Podcast
Today’s guest is Rachel Cholst, editor of Rainbow Rodeo, a website, podcast, and physical zine dedicated primarily to queer country music. On today’s show…
The J-Card PodcastCate Hukle (Kallai) on Turning a Bleak Year Into 'We Are Forever' | The J-Card Podcast
Cate Hukle makes darkgaze music in Portland, OR, under the name Kallai. Last year Cate released an album called We Are Forever, inspired by the aftermath of a…
The J-Card PodcastBailey Blake (Uptight Magazine) on DIY Music Journalism | The J-Card Podcast
Bailey Blake is the founder and editor of Uptight Magazine, a digital music publication that reads like something out of a 90s newsstand. It features real…
The J-Card PodcastArthur Alligood (phoneswithchords) on His Most Personal Album Yet | The J-Card Podcast
Arthur Alligood makes music as phoneswithchords, and his sixth full-length, High Up on the Wheel Well, is out now. This one’s a concept record built from…
The J-Card PodcastRose Lewis (Love In Hell) on Punk Zines, Booking Benefit Shows, & Portland DIY | The J-Card Podcast
Rose Lewis’s multiple disciplines (visual art, music, radio, DJing, zine publishing, and more) are all tentacles of the same punk-infused, DIY jellyfish. In…
The J-Card PodcastDylan Gamez (bedbug) on 10 Years of Lo-Fi and Whether Bedroom Pop Is Really Dead | The J-Card Podcast
Dylan Gamez has been recording as bedbug for a decade, and this conversation catches him at a pivot point. Part of that pivot is his new, more collaborative…
The J-Card Podcast(leave) nelson b Talks How To Find The Best Samples and Working With Superdestroyer | The J-Card Podcast
(leave) nelson b joins The J-Card Podcast to talk sampling ethics, Lonely Ghost Records, and a mixtape full of deep cuts. Nelson has been part of the Lonely…
The J-Card PodcastWhy the Best Radio DJ You've Never Heard of Streams on Twitch w/ KaterFM | The J-Card Podcast
It’s the Season 4 Finale, featuring the one and only KaterFM! Kater is a Twitch streamer, playlist obsessive, and self-described “washed radio DJ” who…
The J-Card PodcastBuilding a Creative Partnership (and Friendship) That Survives 14 Time Zones w/ Josaleigh Pollett | The J-Card Podcast
At its core, Josaleigh Pollett’s upcoming album If I Let It Quiet is all about distance. A process that largely revolved around immediacy and spending hours…
The J-Card PodcastSix Songs That Were Lost (Until Now) w/ Darren Hayman | The J-Card Podcast
Darren Hayman has been making music since the early ‘90s, first as the frontman of Hefner, then through a sprawling catalog of projects including The French…
The J-Card PodcastInside Duplication.com, the Company That Makes Everyone's Tapes w/ Rob Feulner | The J-Card Podcast
Rob Feulner is the Marketing Coordinator at Duplication.com, the cassette and CD duplication company that’s been a cornerstone of underground music culture…
The J-Card PodcastHow to Make an Album That Sounds Like Nothing Else w/ Jeff Jakobs | The J-Card Podcast
Jeff Jakobs is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter who put out his beautiful album Lorem Ipsum last fall. We missed the first wave of press, but Jeff was kind…
The J-Card PodcastInside the World of Fringe Theatre w/ Erin Davis | The J-Card Podcast
Theatre people and music people have more in common than you might think, and Erin Davis is living proof. Erin is a Boston-based playwright, dramaturg, and…
The J-Card PodcastQuitting an Agency Job and Becoming a Freelance Filmmaker w/ Vince Alvarado | The J-Card Podcast
Vince Alvarado is a NYC-based videographer and documentary filmmaker who left agency life to pursue filmmaking full-time. In this episode, Vince talks about…
The J-Card PodcastMIXTAPE: Andrew Bennett (Jezus Factory Records) and Rudy Trouvé (Heaven Hotel)
Since you’re a paid subscriber, you’re getting the full mixtape from our latest podcast episode. This mixtape is from Andrew Bennett (Jezus Factory Records)…
The J-Card PodcastHow One Obsessive UK Fan Built a Belgian Underground Record Label w/ Andrew Bennett and Rudy Trouvé | The J-Card Podcast
Belgium doesn’t always come up when people talk about underground music scenes, but maybe it should. In this episode, we sit down with Andrew Bennett, founder…
The J-Card PodcastWhat Music Directors Actually Look For w/ Emma Maurer | The J-Card Podcast
Emma Maurer is a singer-songwriter, multidisciplinary artist, and music director at WNYU, and we get into all of that and more in this episode. From a werewolf…
The J-Card PodcastMusicians vs. AI: Is It a Tool or a Threat? | The J-Card Podcast
For the Season 4 premiere, we brought the roundtable format to J-Card for the first time! Eimear O Sullivan (Blakkheart, MusicNGear), Leilani Patao (artist…
The J-Card PodcastThe Multi-Hyphenate’s Struggle: Music vs Comedy w/ Lamar Woods | The J-Card Podcast
Lamar Woods is a musician, writer, comedian, and producer. His new album Rebel Love Language is out now, and we’re stoked to have him join us for the finale of…
The J-Card PodcastThe Entertainment Lawyer Who Started The Alternative w/ Henderson Cole | The J-Card Podcast
Henderson “Hendo” Cole is not only the founder and managing editor of The Alternative (a long-running independent music blog), but he’s also built a career as…
The J-Card PodcastThe New Colossus Festival & Behind the Scenes of NYC Venues w/ Steven Matrick | The J-Card Podcast
Steven Matrick (Co-founder of New Colossus Festival, manager of A Place To Bury Strangers, and co-founder of Dedstrange Records) joins The J-Card Podcast for a…
The J-Card PodcastAccessibility and Navigating the Industry as a Disabled Artist w/ Paul Hawkins | The J-Card Podcast
In this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by Paul Hawkins, Deputy CEO of Attitude Is Everything, an organization dedicated to making the music…
The J-Card PodcastContracts, Confidence, and Creating Space for Artists w/ Bailey Stephens-Johns | The J-Card Podcast
Bailey Stephens-Johns, founder and co-owner of Pink Street Management, joins the show to talk about her journey from helping her brother’s band to running a…
The J-Card PodcastIvy Boy, Beeef, and Allston Pudding w/ Perry Eaton | The J-Card Podcast
Perry Eaton is the songwriter behind the solo project Ivy Boy, a longtime member of the band Beeef, and a co-founder of the beloved Boston music blog Allston…
The J-Card PodcastThe Business of Touring and What Agents Do For Indie Artists w/ Martin Earley | The J-Card Podcast
Martin Earley is a member of The Ballroom Thieves, and he’s a booking agent at Little Revolution Artists. In this episode, we go deep into the business side of…
The J-Card PodcastWhat Artists Get Wrong About Labels, PR, and “Blowing Up” w/ Lonely Ghost Records | The J-Card Podcast
In this episode of The J-Card Podcast, I’m joined by John from Lonely Ghost Records, a self-described “weird pop” label that operates more like a collective…
The J-Card PodcastMiami Soul and Community Building w/ Las Nubes’s Emile Milgrim | The J-Card Podcast
Emile Milgrim is a Miami-based drummer, teaching artist, DJ, and community organizer whose work spans DIY bands, Brazilian percussion ensembles, archival sound…
The J-Card PodcastInside Boston’s DIY Scene w/ Tiberius’s Brendan Wright | The J-Card Podcast
Brendan Wright of the Boston-based band Tiberius joins us to dig into the process behind their latest album Troubadour, a deeply personal record shaped by…
The J-Card PodcastHow a Former NASA Engineer Built His Houston Recording Studio w/ Alvaro Rodriguez
Alvaro Rodriguez wears a lot of hats. He’s everything from a label head to a studio owner, audio engineer, producer, and one-time aerospace engineer. In this…
The J-Card PodcastBuilding a Creative Studio and Designing Immersive Environments w/ Daniel Carrai
This week’s guest is Daniel Carrai, the creative director at Sever. Sever is a multidisciplinary studio working at the intersection of music, film, and…
The J-Card PodcastInside the World of Vinyl Pressing and Physical Media w/ Patrick McCarthy
This week’s guest is Patrick McCarthy, Director of Marketing for A to Z Media Inc. and Solid Merch. In today’s episode, Patrick pulls back the curtain on the…
The J-Card PodcastRecording an Album in the Middle of Nowhere and a Melancholy Mixtape w/ Ezekiel Rudick
Zeke Rudick of Young Elk joins The J-Card Podcast to talk about his band’s new album Calm Down, recorded in a remote house on the Puget Sound. We dig into the…
The J-Card PodcastWhy Some Artists Are Leaving Streaming w/ Leilani Patao
Independent songwriter Leilani Patao is doing something bold: their new EP Daisy isn’t going to streaming platforms at all. In this episode, we explore why…
The J-Card PodcastStanding Out to A&R’s and When You Need a Manager w/ Benja Schick
Artist manager and A&R rep Benja Schick (Oddly Pacific) joins the show to unpack how artists actually build momentum in 2025, without chasing viral moments…
The J-Card PodcastInside the DIY Worlds of Music & Literature w/ Jonah Evans
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by writer, musician, and Spare Notes host Jonah Evans to talk about the unexpected overlap between DIY…
The J-Card PodcastHow Publicists & Bookers Get Artists on Shows w/ Mara Davis
From radio DJ to publicist to talent booker, Mara Davis has done it all. In this conversation, she opens up about her career pivot after radio, her years…
The J-Card PodcastGrowing the Fresh Finds Podcast Into a DIY Music Festival w/ Ryan Nicklas
Ryan Nicklas, host of the Fresh Finds Podcast and founder of the upcoming Fresh Fest, joins The J-Card Podcast to talk about how a bedroom project grew into a…
The J-Card PodcastDiscovering Ambient Music and Breaking Into Music Writing w/ Ted Davis
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by music writer Ted Davis; music editor at Merry-Go-Round Magazine, ambient columnist for Bandcamp Daily…
The J-Card PodcastWhy Live Performance Still Matters w/ Oceanic
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by Nathan, Jacob, & Sam from Oceanic to explore why their live performances might matter more than chasing…
The J-Card PodcastHow Designers Shape the Music World w/ Eric Castorena
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by designer Eric Castorena to talk about his creative journey as a designer, the intersection of design and…
The J-Card PodcastHow Absent Sounds Champions Underrated Artists & Full Albums w/ Weajue Mombo
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we’re joined by Weajue Mombo, one of the twin sister hosts behind Absent Sounds, a Canadian radio show devoted to…
The J-Card PodcastBuilding a Band and Booking Shows in NYC w/ Katie Callihan (Perish)
Katie Callihan of the band Perish joins us for a deep-dive into how her new project came to life, from recording their debut EP in a whirlwind weekend to…
The J-Card PodcastRunning a 100-Person DIY Radio Station w/ Brainrot Radio's Jackie & Spencer
Brainrot Radio is a live, fully remote, internet radio station with over 100 DJs across the U.S. — no pre-records. On this episode of The J-Card Podcast…
The J-Card PodcastHow Tech Took Over Music (and What Artists Can Still Do About It) w/ MKay
MKay (aka Michael Kelly) is a culture tech researcher (on Substack: mkay), YouTuber, and the founder of Shelfy, a social app built for thoughtful sharing. In…
The J-Card PodcastPhotographing Music Festivals, Love Stories, & NYC Streets w/ Jeremy Cohen
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, NYC-based photographer and director Jeremy Cohen (aka Jerm) joins us to talk about shooting festivals like Gov Ball and…
The J-Card PodcastHow to Handle Press, Promo, and Building Buzz as an Indie Artist w/ Ciao Malz
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we sit down with Malia Delacruz — the artist behind Ciao Malz — to talk about what really happens after you release your…
The J-Card PodcastWhy Undiscovered Musicians Matter (and What Algorithms Miss) w/ Justin MacFayden
Justin MacFayden is the creator behind Hope You Like It, a YouTube doc series that goes deep on the lives of working artists. In this episode of The J-Card…
The J-Card PodcastHow To Break Into Concert Photography w/ Graham W. Bell
On this episode of The J-Card Podcast, we have Graham W. Bell. Graham is a photographer, writer, and musician. He’s the founder of Focus Group Photo, which is…
The J-Card PodcastComing This Summer... The J-Card Podcast
Welcome to The J-Card! Join us every week as we chat with a guest (usually somehow connected to the world of music) about their career, their passions, and…