The Chronicles of Michael Christopher
Music • Culture • Film • Travel • Photography • Vinyl
It's never, ever boring interviewing George Thorogood. Back when I was a budding journalist and would interview the bluesman from Delaware, I could never keep up. He was too quick; like his mind was able to hold the current train of thought while at the same time it barrelled down the track six towns ahead.... Continue Reading →
This was a pretty unique one. Queens of the Stone Age, who are currently on the road playing a bunch of festival dates this summer, have announced a mini-tour to close out the long-running "The End Is Nero..." trek. To announce the dates, QOTSA keyboardist/guitarist Dean Fertita gave me the scoop over at Vanyaland as... Continue Reading →
Johnny Dynamite first came onto my radar with his 2021 instant earworm masterpiece "Bats in the Woods," which we were pretty stoked about over at Vanyaland too. Ahead of multiple shows hitting the New England area, I got the man himself to take part in a proper 617 Q&A where we talked about his new... Continue Reading →
Present me with a gothic rock band any day of the week and I'm in. Helsinki's The 69 Eyes are one of the best out there, embracing the ethos of the subculture and living the life like few others. I sat down with frontman Jyrki 69 recently to discuss how the band made the change... Continue Reading →
When I started putting this list together, the intent was to check off my 23 Top Songs of 2023. I ended up with a playlist over eight hours long and decided to do the 123 Top Songs of 2023. Then I realized how insane that was and somehow whittled it down to the original idea... Continue Reading →
Jeff Lynne is saying goodbye to the road with his brand of the Electric Light Orchestra, only a decade after relaunching and just a handful of years after returning to the States. Jeff Lynne’s ELO will begin a trek dubbed “Over and Out” in late August, with more than a dozen shows across America. Known... Continue Reading →
The last time I saw Billy Bragg was in 2017 when he played Iceland Airwaves at a small church right on a lake in Reykjavík. Now I was sitting down over Zoom to talk with the brilliant and outspoken UK folk punk singer, songwriter and guitarist to talk about his late friend Gary Smith, who... Continue Reading →
What's been going on behind the scenes with pop punkers Alkaline Trio in recent years I've found fascinating on a couple of levels. First, founder, guitarist and co-lead singer Matt Skiba decides to join Blink-182 in the same exact role back in 2015, taking the place of Tom DeLonge. Meanwhile, fellow Alkaline vocalist/bassist Dan Andriano... Continue Reading →
If you're a fan of music documentaries, especially the rough and tumble/conflict-filled type, then you probably love Dig!, which landed the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004. Shot over a period of seven years, it details the up and then down relationship between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. One person... Continue Reading →
I never really got into the prog-metal of Coheed and Cambria, other than the odd song here and there. However, The Prize Fighter Inferno, the side project from frontman Claudio Sanchez, that's right up my alley with its electronica tinged folk. Though he's been creating material under that umbrella for around 25 years, the current... Continue Reading →
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 