Episodes
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Jacob Paul Herring, more commonly known by his stage name BabyJake, is a music artist, writer, and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. BabyJake's first big break came when his song Cigarettes on Patios released in the winter of 2019. Shortly after, he was signed to Republic Records was expected to be the next mainstream star. Just before he was supposed to go on his first major international tour, the pandemic hit and everything fell apart. His support from the record label fell away, he blew most of his money, he partied way too much, and got severely ill for almost 2 years.
BabyJake has since left Republic Records, and Los Angeles, to become an independent artist living and making music in Nashville. Over the last few years he has been steadily putting out new music and developing as both an artist and a person. His sound has went from indie rap, to pop, to 70's rock, to alternative rock and more.
His latest album titled Beautiful Blue Collar Boy is available to stream on all platforms. It showcases his diverse music styles and brings a raw emotion that stands out in today's music.
We recorded this interview backstage before his recent performance on Friday, October 25th at 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In this episode we discuss how his music developed, healthy addictions, learning from past mistakes, how to grow a core fanbase, performing live, finding yourself, life goals, music industry misconceptions, new music, touring on a budget, and much more.
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Dalton Hessel is a 2nd grade teacher, content creator, writer, podcaster, and "Up North" enthusiast based in the small town of Hayward, Wisconsin. Dalton grew up in Hayward before earning his teaching degree at UWEC. While he enjoyed his time in Eau Claire, he always knew he wanted to end up back in his hometown. Inspired by the popular sitcom Boy Meets World, Dalton wanted to become a real life Mr. Feeny.
He secured his first teaching job in the fall of 2019 and got to teach for about 5 months before the pandemic shut down everything. Dalton had to adapt, and with his computer skills became a leader among his teaching team as they adjusted to virtual learning.
Since then he has published 4 books, started his Northern Nerd brand, built an audience of over 100,000 followers across his social media platforms, got married, became a father, and more.
In this episode we discuss small town life, having boundaries, best places to camp, writing poetry, going viral, the responsibilities of teachers, organizing events, building community, juggling passions, and much more.
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Khary is an independent music artist whose sound is a unique blend of alternative hip-hop and rock. After spending 5 years living and building his music career in Los Angeles he has recently moved back to his home state of Rhode Island.
Khary and his good friend Abhi the Nomad recently released a 6 song EP together titled Icarus. Abhi announced his farewell tour and Khary took to the road with him to travel the country and spread their music. We recorded this interview backstage before his performance at the Fine Line in Minneapolis on October 6th, 2024.
In this episode we discuss musical inspirations, getting back into skateboarding, his friendship with Abhi, performing for himself first, favorite anime shows, living in a recording studio, an upcoming full length album, his new EP with Abhi the Nomad, and much more.
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Zane Statz is a multi talented artist based in Green Bay, WI. Most people have seen his work at, or around, the Packers stadium Lambeau Field. Many refer to him as the unofficial artist of the Green Bay Packers due to how much of his work so far has been dedicated to the Packers in one shape or another.
His first big project was a one day mural job when he painted the Packers Fence, a 70 feet wide by 6 feet tall fence located just across the street from Lambeau Field. Every year since he has repainted the fence with a new Packers design, but that's not all. So far he has painted custom cleats for a dozen of the Packers players that have been worn in nationally televised games, created a whole clothing line, painted dozens of other murals throughout the midwest, and more.
We recorded this episode outside in Zane's backyard, but unfortunately the sun chose to get right in our faces during parts of this interview. Still, we had a great time discussing how he came to Green Bay, his love of street art, other favorite artists of his, how to get hired for mural work, painting custom cleats, his experience on the Cripescast with Charlie Berens, using AI to schedule his time, painting a mural with 500 other people, and much more.
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Dustin Nickerson is a stand up comedian, podcaster, and family man originally from Washington that now resides in San Diego, California. Dustin has steadily built a name for himself in the comedy world over the last handful of years and now travels the world performing nearly every weekend all year long. He was kind enough to let me record this episode with him in his hotel room during his recent trip to Appleton, Wisconsin.
In this interview we discuss juggling family life and travel, building a career "brick by brick", his favorite Nate Bargatze story, late night appearances, viral social media moments, his lifelong memory at Red Rocks, genres of stand up comedy, personal branding and more.
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Wayne Hoffman is one of the most successful mind readers and illusionists in the world and also a good friend and past guest of the Passion Pod (Episode 42).
I first met Wayne when we recorded an interview in his home back in the winter of 2021. We immediately hit it off and still to this day his episode is one of my all time favorites. We since have kept in touch and remained friends. He recently was on a tour and performing in Wisconsin. He reached out to me to see how far away I was and if I wanted to get together and catch up. It was a little over a 3 hour drive to go see him, but we were able to make it work and decided it would be a good excuse to record a follow up episode while we were at it. I highly recommend listening to our first interview as we reference quite a bit during this one.
In this interview we discuss his new tv show he's pitching, his newfound love of motivational speaking, the benefits of traveling the world, collecting no's, impactful mindset shifts, finding mentors, getting out of your own way, and much more.
When I say on this show that I end up becoming friends with a lot of the guests I really do mean it and you can see it in this interview.
Thanks for watching!
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Nur-D and DJ Hayes performed on Friday August 16th at Reverb Music Festival 2024 in Eau Claire, WI. Nur-D and DJ Hayes were the first performers to arrive at the venue and were kind enough to sit down backstage for this interview before they took the stage to get the whole weekend started.
In this interview we discuss how they first met, the difference between a producer and beat maker, why having a good DJ matters, walking with integrity, performing at Sound Set, working at call centers, opening a recording studio, influencers vs. performers, and much more.
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DJ Strizzo grew up and started his career in Tampa, Florida and is now touring the world with platinum selling artist Bubba Sparxxx. Strizzo spent a decade working in radio building his fanbase and catalogue of official remixes he produced. As he got booked to perform in bigger and bigger clubs, he also went on tour as a DJ for bigger and bigger artists around the country.
In this interview we discuss making the Olympic trials as a hurdler in college, playing around with turntables for the first time, how he met Bubba Sparxxx, his musical influences, missing the old Kanye West, club hits vs. radio hits, getting official remixes with rock legends like Def Leppard, and much more.
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Bekah Worley is an illustration artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota best know for her bright and colorful folk art paintings. Bekah was a late bloomer in the art world, but over the last few years she has found her own voice and grown an audience to over 100,000 followers on Instagram. What started with printing on tote bags that she sold at markets has grown into her full time career. Bekah was kind enough to let us record this inside her new art studio in Uptown.
In this interview we discuss how she got her start, getting her first big commission, how she blew up on social media, why affordable art is so important, which other artists inspire her, how to make a living as an artist, and much more.
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Jared Schutz aka Wisco Dive Bar Reviews is a dive bar enthusiast from Spring Valley, WI. It all started with a simple question. How many bars are there in Wisconsin? After a quick google search Jared found the answer to be in the thousands and so the journey began. He recorded his first review video in January of 2022 and since has amassed an audience of over 50,000 followers on Instagram, over 60,000 on Facebook, and over 90,000 followers on TikTok. His mission is to bring more eyes, ears, and business to locally owned bars around the state.
In this episode we discuss what makes diver bars so great, entrepreneurship, juggling multiple jobs, getting his own vodka brand, the community of Wisconsin influencers, spreading positivity, designing his own clothing, and much more.
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Greg Lutzka is a professional skateboarder and entrepreneur from Milwaukee, WI. Greg's career has spanned decades and his list of accomplishments goes on and on. His new documentary titled "One Way Ticket" is now available on Amazon and gives a great summary of his career so far.
Greg dropped out of high school and moved to California to chase his dreams of being a pro skateboarder. It didn't take long for that dream to become a reality. Throughout his career Greg had pro models on Illenium, Krooked, Almost, and Darkstar before creating his own line of skateboards that are now sold in Walmart locations worldwide. Greg has had numerous video parts and won nearly every major skateboard contest on the planet throughout his twenties. He was one of the first pro skateboarders to branch out of the skateboard industry and rode for major corporate brands including Toyota, Visa, Rockstar, K-Swiss, and more. Eventually his window as a top pro began to close he turned to entrepreneurship and became even more successful. He now stays busy with his dozens of properties, businesses, his tv show on Fuel TV, and more.
We recorded this episode at Billy Duece's studio in Milwaukee on a recent trip back home for Greg. What was meant to be a one hour visit turned into 3 hours of conversation on and off the mic.
In this episode we discuss his transition into entrepreneurship, investing at a young age, his plans to teach others, his new documentary, top skateboarding moments, the school of life, giving back, how to negotiate with brands, and why it's all worth it.
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Amber Pacific is a Seattle based pop punk band that has been performing together since the early 2000's and is currently working on their first album in 10 years. Matt Young (Lead Vocals) sat down with Chris Johnson on the Passion Pod after their performance on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
In this episode we discuss how their music has evolved over the years, parenting pre teens, writing new music, an upcoming album, the state of the music industry, and why it's all worth it.
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Amber Pacific is a Seattle based pop punk band that has been performing together since the early 2000's and is currently working on their first album in 10 years. Will Nutter (Guitar) and Dango Cellan (Drums) sat down with Chris Johnson on the Passion Pod after their performance on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
In this episode we discuss how their music has evolved over the years, writing new music, an upcoming album, the state of the music industry, and why it's all worth it.
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Ginuwine recently performed on Friday August 16th in Eau Claire, Wisconsin at Reverb Music Festival 2024. He was kind enough to sit down backstage with Chris Johnson on the Passion Pod for a short interview about his experience on stage, his personal music preferences, saying "yes" to things, his journey towards sobriety, and more.
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Warren Anderson Mathis, or better known as Bubba Sparxxx recently performed on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Bubba was kind enough to sit down backstage after his performance with Chris Johnson for this episode of the Passion Pod.
In this episode we discuss new music, how he coulda been Eminem, his relationship with Timbaland, flying first class, spending $100,000 last year on DoorDash, biggest regrets, collecting Jordans, spending $600,000 on a music video, and more.
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John Vesely aka Secondhand Serenade and his good friend and supporting vocalist/guitarist Will Garrett performed on Saturday August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, WI and were kind enough to sit down backstage after their performance with Passion Pod host Chris Johnson.
In this interview we discuss technical difficulties on stage, how they became friends and bandmates, playing for massive crowds across Asia, most memorable experiences along the way, and more.
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Dan Marsala is the lead singer for Story of the Year, and was kind enough to record this interview backstage on the Passion Pod with Chris Johnson before their performance at Reverb Music Festival 2024.
In this interview we discuss which songs are his favorite to perform, juggling parenting and touring, the resurgence of emo music, longevity in the music industry, which rockstars he still fans out on, obscure tee shirts, and more.
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Anberlin's own Christian McAlhaney (Guitar) and Deon Rexroat (Bass) sat down with Chris Johnson on the Passion Pod after their performance on Saturday, August 17th at Reverb Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
In this episode we discuss the band's hiatus, switching up their singer to Matty Mullins, creating new music during the pandemic, the current state of the music industry, advice for young musicians, being fully committed to music, staying grounded, and more.
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Richie Murphy is the most followed D3 college football player in the country and he plays for the UW Stout Blue Devils and this is his very first podcast interview he has ever done. Richie went viral for the first time when he was only in 5th grade and has been steadily making content and building an audience ever since. He is about to start his final season as a college athlete, but he's already built his various platforms to an obvious career after college.
In this episode we share Richie's life story from posting his first YouTube video he shot in his driveway, to recently signing an NIL deal with Kwik Trip. Richie also offers us a ton of insight behind social media, content creation, strategy, tips, misconceptions, and more.
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Kevin Bolger is an Olympic cross country skier for the United States. Kevin grew up skiing in Minocqua, WI where his family is originally from. However for the last decade he has spent the majority of his time living and competing in Norway and the rest of Scandinavia where the sport really thrives. Kevin started skiing in 3rd grade, but didn't start taking it seriously until he was in high school. After graduating he moved to Utah to train full time before making the US national team. Kevin's skills grew more and more until he earned his spot on the United States Olympic team and competed in the Beijing winter Olympics in 2022 where he placed in the world overall.
Kevin's career hasn't been as glorious as some might assume however. Cross country skiing certainly has it's place in the midwest culture, but the sport is still very niche in the United States. That translates to not only a more difficult road to become internationally competitive, but it also makes it much harder for a professional skier like himself to make a sustainable living. In this episode we discuss growing up in the midwest, moving to Norway to ski with his heroes, fundraising to make his career possible, vlogging with his gold medalist girlfriend Maja Dahlqvist, competing in the Olympics during the pandemic, and much more.
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