Olatunji is a calypsonian from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. We had a wonderful time chatting about the history of calypso music as well as how to preserve it and advocate for it moving forward.

Andrew is a guitarist and composer who hails from Labrador in Canada. We had a great time chatting about his current work as well as the current state of affairs in online culture.

Sarah is a member of the Bergamot String Quartet. We chat about life in a string quartet as well as navigating the new music world.

Mike is a percussionist who studied at Northern Illinois University. We do a short podcast and chat a bit about our time with Cliff Alexis.

Evan is a former SoSI student/intern who is now a radio host near Cincinnati. It was great to catch up with Evan and chat about his experiences as a student and hear about his life in the world now. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did!

Ben and I pick up where we left off from our last chat. We talk about aspects of privilege when talking about issues of race and class as well as dive into the ethics of teaching and what works and what doesn’t. I’ve really enjoyed chatting with Ben. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Brianna is a pianist and teacher living in Cincinnati, OH. We talked about her background in music and growing up with a farmer as a father. We also touched on issues of class and race in the new music community and how, in general, to try and make things better. Brianna was the first in person podcast I’ve done since Covid, and I have to say, it was a real blessing. I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.

Kadeem is a musician living in Brooklyn, NY and of Trinidadian descent. He’s a big advocate for the steel pan culture in NYC and Trinidad. We talked about pan culture as well as some of the issues around vaccine hesitancy. I truly am grateful to have had this conversation with Kadeem. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Ben is a percussionist, educator, arranger, and composer who teaches at NIU. Ben and I have a great chat about his time at NIU and his work with Cliff and Liam, as well as how to embrace cultures not familiar to you. I really enjoyed the chat with Ben and I hope to do more!

Duvone is the arranger and music director of Renegades Steel Orchestra in Trinidad and Tobago. It was a pleasure to talk with him about his background and get into some discussions about the steel band culture and history and issues of respect of the culture in the steelband community.

I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did.

Felix Reyes, Marcelina Suchocka, and Alan Hankers make up a trio of two percussionists and 1 pianist focusing on new commissions for the line-up. They all have a background of heavy metal influence and it was a treat to talk with them about their groups goals and future.

Kim is a Trinidadian historian focusing on the roots of the steelband movement in Trinidad and Tobago. His book “From Tinpan to TASPO” changed my life. We talk about the history of the steel pan and his approach to collecting all of that crucial information from figures who are alive today.

Shodekeh is a vocal breath artist, currently in residence at Towson University. We had a great chat about the innovating beat boxer, Biz Markie, among many other artists. We also talk a bit about his personal battle with suicide and how Buckminster Fuller’s ideation approach changed his life. Fascinating person and conversation. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Aaron is a SoSI alum and percussionist living in Seattle. We talk about ways to use funding to support local artists and ethics around all of that. I really enjoyed catching up with Aaron.

Andrea is a SoSI alum and percussionist/performer living in Florida. Her online persona is Andē. It was amazing to catch up with her and hear what she’s up to. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

I met Kunal at Silent Barn, a punk house music space he ran with his friend Joe Ahearn and many others. It was a pleasure to catch up with him and hear about his life in coding. I really enjoyed this chat especially the discussion around ethics in technology.

Todd is a founding member of So Percussion and prof of percussion studies at Baylor University. He is also the founder of Liquidrum. We chatted this morning about the concept of doubt.

Josh is the host of the Rudimental Podcast, and I sit with him to chat about how I’ve dealt with my own mental health issues as a musician and student throughout the years. I really enjoyed his candor and honesty and I wish more folks would be open about this topic. Hope this chat helps you as much as it did me. https://www.hartwelldrums.com/trp

Arone and I catch up after a few months to follow up on how our collective minds have been doing and what it means to grapple with our future. I always love chewing the fat with Arone.

Tracy is the professor of percussion at the University of Northern Alabama. I met him at OSU briefly in 1998. We chat about life in the marching band and my time with OSUMB. Tracy is a great guy and I got a bloody nose at the end so enjoy!