The Chronicles of Michael Christopher
Music • Culture • Film • Travel • Photography • Vinyl
You've heard of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Well, this year over at Vanyaland, we did something like that...but not really like that at all. The staff compiled a dozen of their favorite songs, films, comedy moments, and more from the past dozen months to close out another loop 'round the sun for "The Year... Continue Reading →
One year ago I was in Portland, Maine for Thanksgiving and to work on some writing. Looking for something to do, I hit up ‘Beatles Night’ that Saturday at the State Theatre, expecting very little. Fab Four tributes are always good for a few laughs but tend to get old fast. That wasn’t the case... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, I sat down over Zoom with Ryan Adams for an interview to preview his show at the Shubert Theatre in Boston tonight. It was to be part of my ongoing 617 Q&A series with Vanyaland, the name inspired by the Boston area code, where I run through six questions, ask the subject... Continue Reading →
Roundly recognized as one of the top films of the '90s, A Bronx Tale first began as an autobiographical one-man play by Chazz Palminteri, who went on to star in the cinematic adaptation, which is also notable as it marked the debut of Robert De Niro as a director. Perhaps most interesting, Palminteri has continued... Continue Reading →
Musicians taking up the paintbrush is nothing new. From Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood to John Mellencamp to the late David Bowie, it seems like anyone who randomly wandered into a Blick art supply store while on tour found a new hobby throwing paint on canvas. That wasn’t quite the case for Paul Stanley. The... Continue Reading →
It's fairly normal for interviews to run a bit longer than the allotted time. Not too much, but sometimes they go over to a point where I'm thinking to myself, "Alright I really need to shut this down, no matter how interesting it is to me." But with John Christ, guitarist best known for his... Continue Reading →
One of the more unexpected reunions in the past however many years was that of Jane's Addiction. Not because bands reconvening is anything groundbreaking in these days of Oasis and Linkin Park, but because these guys had tried it over and over and over again across decades and always had the same problems split them... Continue Reading →
Backstage in the dining area last night at The Xfinity Center, I'm sitting down to dinner with Jeff Gutt, the singer from Stone Temple Pilots - which is an absolutely bonkers way to start a story, I realize this - and we're talking about the Vanyaland 617 Q&A he did with me recently. He mentions... Continue Reading →
First of all, it must be said that that headline got a chuckle out of Jeff Gutt, who has been the singer for Stone Temple Pilots since 2017. I sat down with him recently for a Vanyaland 617 Q&A where he talked about his resiliency in an unforgiving industry, one where his alternative was going... Continue Reading →
Being under the weather is never fun, so imagine having to get up in front of thousands of people night after night and appear as if you're right as rain. That's what Gavin Rossdale had been doing for a spell with his band Bush, leading to our interview getting pushed back a few times as... Continue Reading →
