It's Not A Phase Podcast
233 episodes listed below
Alternative music, from riffs to release day.
It's Not A Phase follows long-form conversations with artists and industry figures across rock, punk, metal, emo, hardcore, and beyond. The show favors practical detail: album writing, visual identity, label moves, studio process, touring plans, collaborations, and what bands learn from earlier records.
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It's Not A Phase is a music interview show for listeners who want the backstage version of alternative music without losing the fan energy. Its conversations focus on rock, punk, metal, emo, hardcore, and beyond, where those sounds keep mutating. The show is conversational and direct. It spends less time on mythology and more time on how records, visuals, collaborations, touring plans, and career decisions actually happen. Episodes move through As Everything Unfolds, Never Easy, New Found Glory, Volumes, HEALTH, Valiant Hearts, Motion City Soundtrack, and producer Kris Crummett. That range gives the show a useful spread: vocalists, guitarists, bands, and studio voices all get room. A typical episode starts from a new album and widens outward. Guests talk about learning from earlier records, deciding when songs are finished, shaping a visual era, working with other artists, and handling the pressure of a fanbase hearing new material. The details matter. One conversation touches on electronic elements entering As Everything Unfolds’ sound, while another gets into New Found Glory sorting riffs into a record that feels varied. Motion City Soundtrack’s long gap between albums sits beside HEALTH’s continuation from one record to the next. The show also has space for industry craft, including mixing, mastering, gold and platinum records, and advice for newer producers. Its register is relaxed, scene-fluent, and lightly scrappy. The prompts are usually framed around albums, process, touring, and what changed since the last creative chapter. The result is useful for fans who want more than press-cycle headlines. It is also useful for musicians who listen for practical clues about writing, production, independence, labels, and collaboration. The show’s appeal comes from treating alternative music as both identity and labor. It hears the lifestyle, then asks how the work gets made.
Made for: For fans of rock, punk, metal, emo, hardcore, and beyond who want detailed artist conversations tied to new records, touring, production, and band evolution. It also suits musicians who listen for process rather than gossip.
What sets it apart: The show keeps its focus on the working parts of alternative music: songwriting choices, record cycles, visual identity, label context, touring realities, and studio craft. Its guest mix reaches both performers and behind-the-scenes figures.
It's Not A Phase is a podcast dedicated to giving you a full insight into the world of rock, punk, metal, emo, hardcore and beyond. I'll be hanging out and talking with your favourite bands in alt music, and also speaking with those in more "behind-the-scenes" roles in the industry, from tour managers, label owners, festival promoters, publicists, and more. New episodes will come every Thursday, so subscribe and tune in.
A cheese toastie becomes songwriting evidence here, just when your liner-note curiosity needs feeding.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused band conversation about growth, process, and the odd path from idea to song.
Charlie Rolfe talks through As Everything Unfolds' third album with a clear focus on what the band kept from the first two records and where the new electronic texture opens things up.
A loose, insider-friendly chat that works best once the songs start clicking into place.
The conversation follows Chad Gilbert as he walks through how New Found Glory's Listen Up took shape, starting with a pile of riffs and songs that had no vocals yet and ending with melodies that finally locked in.
A focused metal conversation about atmosphere, Slipknot, imagery, branding, and cereal box merch.
Alex Hill discusses Melancholia's Random Access Misery with a sharp eye for atmosphere, vibe, Slipknot, imagery, branding, and the band's cereal box merch.
Joe Wong interviews drummers and musicians about craft, history, and the working musician's life.
Records, careers and arguments, weighed by people who listen closely.
Zach Redrup interviews Lindsay Ward of Exploring Birdsong about the band's debut album Every House We Built, released through Long Branch Records.
Zach Redrup records separate Outbreak Fest 2026 interviews in Manchester with I Promise The World, Midriff, Lovers Noise, and Converge, while also naming Bodyweb, February, and Deaf Lens.
Zach Redrup speaks with Charlie Rolfe of As Everything Unfolds about the band's third album, Did You Ask To Be Set Free, and why Charlie sees it as a more inward-looking record than the first two.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Canadian duo Never Easy about their second album I Still Care, discussing its meaning, lessons learned, and being an independent band.
Chad Gilbert links New Found Glory's album "Listen Up" to rare-cancer treatment, a six-month life expectancy, and the decision to keep public updates hopeful.
Host Zachary Drup interviews Volumes vocalist Mike Terry about their new album Mirror Touch and his other band Fire From The Gods.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Johnny of the band Health about their new album Conflict DLC and other topics.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Tom Byrne of Valiant Hearts and Galleons about the new album Hidden Realms, touring plans, and collaborations.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Justin Pierre and Josh Kane of Motion City Soundtrack about their new album and the band's return after a 10-year gap.
Host Zach Redrup interviews producer Chris Crummett about his career working with alternative bands, discussing production, mixing, mastering, and advice for aspiring producers.
Alex Hill says Melancholia's Random Access Misery was written to prioritize atmosphere, vibe, and hooky sections over just "the heaviest riff." He describes a release rollout planned months in advance, with Google Calendar blocks, month-by-month Drive folders, and daily content scheduled through the start of next year.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Nathaniel Pulley of the band Archers about their new EP Temporary High, touring, and their musical journey.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Ben Hughes of the band Stateside about their debut album 'Where You Found Me' and signing with Pure Noise Records.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Ryan Hughes of the band Bleed about their debut album, the writing process, and signing with 20 Buck Spin.
Host Zach Redrup interviews Yasmin Liverno of Face Yourself about their new EP Martyr, signing to Sumerian Records, and her move from France to the US.