Conor Grebel's Master Sky concept

As I've been reading through the Star Wars: Ralph McQuarrie archives these past few weeks, I feel as if I've been sucked back in to the space concept art black hole that consumed much of my young life. Conor Grebel...

VBR #17: 'Dude, Not Ballin', with guest Mike "Gunz" Gunzelman

It took a while, but I finally got Gunz on the show. After a few weeks of rain delays and train crashes, the Idobi posterboy gives us the dish on his career in broadcast journalism. > Mike Gunzelman aka Gunz is...

Donald Glover cast as Lando Calrissian in Han Solo stand-alone film

Donald Glover (Community, Atlanta, the rap game) has been officially cast [http://www.starwars.com/news/donald-glover-cast-as-young-lando-calrissian-in-upcoming-han-solo-star-wars-stand-alone-film] as Lando Calrissian in the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed Han Solo stand-alone film set for 2018, a role long rumored and...

BF 12: Comic Books Have Crawls

It's been a few weeks, but here we are, waxing poetic about the greatest science fiction saga of all time yet again. > In the 12th episode of Bantha Fodder, Mike and Jacob talk about traditions. Specifically "the crawl" and time...

Borrowed Time: a depressing short by Pixar animators

Through Pixar's Co-op program, animators Lou Hamou-Lhadj and Andrew Coats spent bits of spare time over the course of 5 years to create a six minute short telling the tale of an aged and depressed old-western sheriff. Hamou-Lhadj from the...

VBR #16: 'I Would Just Like Band Pages', with guest Tyler Sharp

I almost took a job at AltPress out of high school, there have been times I regretted going a different route, but knowing what I know now, I'm glad I didn't make the move to Cleveland. I love Alternative Press....

Gimlet Media's Mystery Show deemed "unsustainable"

Gimlet Media's Starlee Kine (as well as her entire staff) got the boot before production had wrapped on Mystery Show's second season. While working on an episode, actually. Starlee Kine, via the Mystery Show Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MysteryShowPodcast/...

Podcast Recommendation: Heavyweight

Of all the new shows this year, Gimlet Media’s Heavyweight is easily the one most worth trying. 1 [https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/heavyweight/id1150800298?mt=2&at=10lPxg] Show description via Gimlet Media: > A podcast about...

Creative Consultation #01: Adapt

My guest last week had to cancel on me due to an on-the-job conflict. This left me with no guest for the first time since starting this show 16 weeks ago. Determined to keep the feed alive every single week,...

VBR #15: 'It's Hard For Helpers', with guest Sheridan Allen

Just when I think the podcast is becoming easier to produce on a weekly basis, it isn't. In actuality, this episode was very easy to produce. It has the shortest run time, has one of the best speakers I've interviewed...

VBR #14: 'Have A Nice Package Together', with guest Nate Sirotta

Nate Sirotta of Impulse Artists sat down with me this week to share some great tips surrounding PR. Whether you're in a band, write for a blog, or have an interest in doing publicity yourself, this is a great episode....

Pinegrove make their television debut on CBS This Morning

[YouTube videos removed by CBS] This morning, Pinegrove made their TV debut on CBS This Morning. They performed 3 songs, Cadmium (above), Aphasia [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYHcl03x05I], and Angelina [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPfHQewlYP4]....

Frank Ocean's 'Endless' Visual Album Arrives

It's been a long wait, but the time has come. Frank Ocean has released a visual album, Endless, on Apple Music. Watch it here [https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/endless/id1143705097?mt=1&app=music] . Thank you Frank....

STT #02: Chapter Two: 'The Weirdo on Maple Street'

James and I are back to our respective states after his wedding (which was really fun). That means we can continue watching Stranger Things! Naturally, James' recording laptop took a bath before recording so we're working with Skype audio until...

Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals on Tiny Desk

Yes Lawd! Those who listen to Variable Bitrate will know that I greatly love two things, Tiny Desk Concerts and Anderson .Paak. Today, those things collide and it's a wonderful thing. I normally listen to the audio podcast for Bob...

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

When I was in the first grade, I read both Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets. By the time I reached the third grade, I had mastered the existing four books multiple times.[1]...

VBR #08: 'It's Just A Lot Of Teenager S**t', with guest Mark Garza

I started this music writing thing "officially" in January of 2011. I was a senior in high school at the time. Mark Garza, founder and owner of Funeral Sounds (a record label and online publishing company), Label Manager at Broken...

BF 11: I Am An Awful, Terrible Nerd

We're back! After a short hiatus imposed by our increasingly busy podcasting schedules and the sheer length of time it took to prepare and produce this episode, Mike and I haves something really special for you. We've had collecting on...

STT #01: Chapter One: 'The Vanishing Of Will Byers'

I've got the podcasting bug and a lot of ideas. As a result, I wanted to try a pop culture show centered around one specific television program called Stranger Things. Netflix has been crushing it with the exclusives all year...

VBR #05: 'Live In The Chinese Factory', with guest Ian Kenny

After years of jamming his music in my car to and from school, I finally got the opportunity to talk to Ian Kenny of King Neptune. Ian spilled all the juicy deets on the fate of NGHBRS and revealed what...

BF 10: 45 Days Later

We hit two digits in the run of our little Star Wars program. It feels good. We have some higher production episodes coming up, so expect some longer droughts in-between. > In the tenth episode of Bantha Fodder, Mike and Jacob...