Steve Sladkowski of PUP joins Blake for a conversation about the strange business of building a life out of noise.

This one wanders into the good stuff. The human stuff. The part nobody puts on the laminate. Imposter syndrome. Burnout. Getting older. Learning that rest is not the same thing as quitting, even if your brain, like an underqualified middle manager, keeps sending panic memos in all caps.

Steve talks about PUP’s early days, growing up in Toronto, falling into music through school programs, and slowly realizing that the thing you love might become the thing that carries you, if you’re willing to drag it uphill long enough.

There’s also the darker chapter. The moment when Stefan’s voice gave out, a doctor delivered the kind of sentence that can rearrange your organs, and the band had to stare down the possibility that the whole machine might stop.

What comes through here isn’t just the crisis itself, but the way a band survives something like that: by choosing not to let fear, blame, or bad luck rot the foundation from underneath.

And then, because no Tone Mob episode can go too long without somebody describing an amp like it’s their best firend, the conversation rolls into guitars, pedals, and the slow, stubborn art of figuring out what actually works. Fender guitars. Vibroluxes. Dr. Zs. Roland Cubes. Road-tested pedalboard choices. The glorious stupidity of moving real air. Steve talks about finding gear that feels like home and hanging onto it, which is maybe not so different from finding people like that too.

It’s a conversation about surviving long enough to mean it. About staying curious. About making peace with the fact that even after years of doing the thing, some tiny part of you still expects a knock at the door from a guy holding a clipboard and bad news.

Check out all things PUP on their website HERE https://www.puptheband.com/

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RJM’s Ron Menelli: The MIDI Wizard Behind the Pros’ Pedalboards

Description
Ron Menelli from RJM Music joins Blake Wyland to tell the long, nerdy, wildly practical story behind one of the most essential “behind the curtain” brands in modern guitar rigs.

Ron walks through his early days building circuits from Radio Shack notebooks, studying electrical engineering and computer science, and eventually bailing on the corporate telecom world to build something of his own. That leap leads to RJM’s first big breakthrough: the AmpGizmo, a solution that brought MIDI control to the era of giant channel-switching amps with giant multi-button footswitches.

From there, Ron explains how RJM evolved from amp control into full rig command centers, including the RG16 and the Mastermind ecosystem, and why products like the PBC-6X became the best-selling “brain” for players who want one button to handle loops, pedal order, and MIDI commands in a single move.

You also get a real talk segment on the business side: what it’s like building gear for a small, pro-focused niche (where your customers are the artists everyone else watches), why Ron intentionally keeps RJM small, and what he’d tell anyone trying to start a pedal or guitar company today.

Plus: a deep dive into MIDI 2.0, why it’s taking forever, and why the promise of “plug and play” control could finally make MIDI less terrifying for normal humans. Then we wrap with the essentials: favorite Boss pedals (OD-1 love), a Rush-inspired tap-dance origin story… and Chicago thin-crust pizza supremacy.

Check out all the stuff at rjmmusic.com

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Kris Crummett is on the show, and this one rips.

Kris has been in music for basically his entire life and has worked on records by Issues, Sleeping With Sirens, Dance Gavin Dance, Alesana, Jonny Craig, Emarosa, Night Verses, and a whole lot more!

If you’ve ever wondered why one record punches you in the chest and another one sounds like it got sat on, Kris explains exactly why. We go deep on his path from making demos in a garage with ADATs and a Mackie mixer to becoming one of the most trusted names in production and mastering around Portland and beyond.

This is not a fluffy “studio guy” interview. Kris gets into the real stuff:
how his early demos beat local “pro” studios,
why bands accidentally sabotage their own masters,
what mastering engineers actually need from you,
and how knowing when to stop tweaking might be the most important skill in the room.

We also talk about the shift from chasing the band dream to building a career behind the scenes, the difference between hearing music as a fan vs hearing it like a technician, and why AI might create less of a takeover and more of a backlash toward real, human music.

Give Kris a follow HERE https://www.instagram.com/kcrummett

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Ian Martin Allison is back, and this episode is a full-on gear-nerd thunderstorm with actual life lessons hiding in the lightning.

Blake and Ian go deep on signature basses, the Walrus Mantle DI drama, and the eternal internet question:
“Why is this thing expensive if it only has a few knobs?”

Turns out, transformers cost money. Craft costs money. Not cutting corners costs money.
And sometimes the loudest opinions come from people who were never the customer in the first place.

Inside this episode:

• how Ian went from collaborator to Creative Director at Scott’s Bass Lessons

• what it really takes to design gear people obsess over

• why a $400 bass can absolutely punch above its class

• how brands weaponize price perception (and why we all fall for it)

• short-form vs long-form content, and where music media is headed next

• the creative freedom that shows up when you stop performing “cool” and just be yourself

There’s also a perfect dog interruption, some very real talk about staying in an industry because you love the people in it, and a reminder that we’re living in a golden era of instruments, pedals, and options.

If you care about tone, product design, content strategy, and building a creative life that doesn’t make you dread waking up, this one hits hard.

Keep up with all things Ian on his website HERE https://ianmartinallison.com/

Give him a follow on his social media HERE https://www.instagram.com/ianmartinallison/

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Episode 500, baby.
And we brought in Henri Cash (Starcrawler, Plague Vendor, Cash & Skye) to celebrate the only way this show knows how: by diving headfirst into glorious guitar chaos.

This episode has everything. Vintage amp obsession. Touring war stories. Studio nerdery. Gretsch evangelism. Voltage drama. Tape machine romance. Mild existential crises about digital modelers. It is a full buffet of tone.

Henri talks about Starcrawler being the first band to record on Les Paul’s restored recording console in LA, how different venue power can totally change your rig night to night, and why speakers are secretly doing half the job while everyone argues about pedals online. Blake and Henri also get into production philosophy, why perfect takes can sound lifeless, and how mistakes are often the secret sauce that make records feel human.

Along the way: Orange OR80 love, Magnatone/Vox combos, 5150 reality checks, old guitar neck magic, gear collecting vs actually playing, and why Gretsch might be the official guitar brand of beautiful weirdos.

If you like guitar talk that’s informed, unpretentious, and occasionally unhinged, this one is for you.

Hit play for Episode 500 and come celebrate with us.
Good luck, good tones, and thanks for being part of this wild ride.

Follow all things Henri on his social media HERE https://www.instagram.com/henricash

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Steve Rowe from 60 Cycle Hum returns to the show after an eight-year gap, and we immediately time-travel back to the era of wired earbuds, headphone jacks, and recording next to a wall outlet like it’s a survival game.

From there, it’s a full spiral through the modern guitar media landscape: audio vs video, why interviews work when “can I talk to you for an hour?” absolutely shouldn’t, and how NAMM feels different depending on whether you’re stuck at a booth or sprinting the floor.

We hit the silent pedal room (eerily quiet), Woodwire Volts (chill, boutique, intentional), Effectors Market (dangerous for your wallet), and the existential questions, like: if you pair an internal speaker guitar with a fart pedal… do we delete the universe?

Also: favorite Boss pedals, pizza opinions, and why the secret sauce is still just showing up and doing the work.

Check out everything 60 Cycle Hum HERE https://60cyclehum.com/

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My dude Jason Mays is back, and we get into the real stuff on this one!

We talk about wearing 12 different hats (PlayJason, Working Class Music, writing gigs, Orange, a band, and whatever else gets stapled to his name this week), and what happens when “hustle” turns into straight-up burnout.

Jason breaks down the behind-the-scenes evolution of Working Class Music, why he started PlayJason as a creative pressure valve, and how keeping things authentic sometimes means stepping back, changing roles, and rebuilding the workflow so it doesn’t eat your brain.

If you've ever wondered how some folks juggle it all, this episode is for you.

Find Jason on Instagram HERE https://www.instagram.com/jasontmays

Check out PlayJason HERE https://www.youtube.com/@JasonTMays/videos

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Here’s a vintage reissue that refuses to stay buried.

This throwback episode with Yvette Young started life as a Patreon bonus… until enough people yelled “this is too good to keep secret” and it hit the main feed, where it promptly became one of the most-listened-to episodes of the whole show.

So if you’re new around here, congrats: you just found a greatest hit.
If you’ve heard it before, it’s absolutely worth a re-listen. This one is a ride.

We barely talk about guitars, and that’s kind of the point.

Instead we get into:

• sleep paralysis, shadowy hooded figures, red eyes, radio-static brain glitches, and why the stories are weirdly consistent

• UFOs, alien nightmares, and a “star” that breaks the rules like it’s trying to avoid getting reported

• DIY tour chaos, sketchy houses, cash hidden in books, and why “band horror” should be its own movie genre

• discipline, deadlines, and Yvette’s surprisingly genius riff-to-song system

• labels, contracts, and how to not get your creative soul pawned off in the fine print

• the gear world’s gender weirdness, and why sound doesn’t have a gender

Content note: this episode touches on sleep paralysis, anxiety-ish brain stuff, and some heavier life experiences later on.

Also, if you’re hearing this during NAMM week, come say hi at the Stringjoy booth (6300). I’ll be there, in the meeting room, or inhaling food like a man who has made poor scheduling choices.

Enjoy. And maybe don’t listen to this one right before bed.

Check out all things Yvette on her website HERE https://yvetteyoungmusic.com/

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Nashville bassist Alison Prestwood joins Blake for a deep-dive hang that zig-zags through the kind of career that only makes sense in hindsight: a near-miss with Waylon Jennings, a pivotal run with Rodney Crowell, getting the call to jump in with Patti Loveless on a few days’ notice, and why saying “no” at the wrong time can still be the right move.

They talk shop on what it really takes to break in today (attitude, reputation, the bus factor, and yes… learn the number system), plus why studio work still has that magic when a whole band builds something together in real time.

Also: a midlife detour into law school and practicing as an attorney before returning to music full-time, and a proper gear spiral, including her 1973 P-bass, vintage favorites, and why touring with Peter Frampton can actually be safer for great instruments than leaving them at home.

Check out her podcast Hey, Good For You! (podcasts.apple.com)

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Steve Reis from Does It Doom returns after four years and it’s one of those “wait… you did what?!” catch-up episodes. In the time since his last visit, Steve didn’t just add a couple new pedals to the shelf. He helped turn Woodwright Guitars into a full-on operation with a growing lineup, more dealers, and signature models tied to the heavy universe with names like Matt Pike, Brent Hinds, and Jimmy Bower.

We get into the real stuff behind the curtain: how a doom-obsessed niche turns into a career, what it takes to go from “I make content” to “we make instruments,” and how Steve thinks about building a brand without sanding off the personality that made people care in the first place.

Then we hit the creator brain spiral: why long-form YouTube can feel like building a ship in a bottle every week, how short-form became the steady river, and what happens when you finally admit you’d rather make the thing than perform the thing.

And yes, there’s plenty of gear goblin behavior: stage-played guitars with battle scars, modded vintage vs. museum pieces, and the kind of tone chasing that makes perfect sense if you’ve ever stared at a melted pickguard like it’s a clue.

Check out Does It Doom on the interwebz HERE https://doesitdoom.com/ and the guitars HERE https://www.woodriteguitars.com/

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This is the last episode of 2026!!! And just for that, I wanted to give you a special look at one of the other podcasts I do, Tape Spaghetti!

What happens when one of the biggest bands in the world takes on its industry’s Death Star?

In 1994, Pearl Jam was willing to find out. On this week’s Tape Spaghetti, Scott & Blake revisit the grunge-era showdown that pitted a group of scrappy rock idealists against Ticketmaster, the ultimate corporate monolith.

Having locked down every major venue in America, Ticketmaster strangled fans with specious “service charges” and squeezed bands with exclusivity contracts.

At the height of their popularity, Pearl Jam demanded fairer prices and more transparency. They even attempted to bypass Ticketmaster altogether by playing public spaces – but ultimately they had to put up with shady politics, convoluted permitting, and the reality that they were losing millions in revenue.

How did Ticketmaster go from a scrappy Arizona startup to a money-printing monopoly? In a world where we *still* pay $45 in convenience fees, this one hits home.

Support The Show And Connect!

• The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577

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