Music And We – Details, episodes & analysis

(RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 28, 2025) Black Metal as a subgenre tends to get a pretty bad rap- not only because of its sound, but also because some of the most well-known proponents have unsavory, toxic and hateful alliances.   On jamilah's search for some counters to this stereotype, she found the Youtube channel of a certain Brutus Bathory, a leftist Black Metal fan who gave an anticapitalist, critical lens to the music he loves. 

Slightly sarcastically described as a channel which discusses "Metal, politics, and other uncontroversial topics," Brutus addresses the contradictions of patriarchy, consumerism, and the various forms of reactionary sentiments and behaviors which permeate the scene.  His commentaries are a measured love letter of sorts; with well-researched, and pretty accessible responses.  While he displays adoration for a music that has gotten him through life, he pleads for its static nature to cease.

In the conversation, jamilah and Brutus discuss some of the content of the commentaries, as well as addressing some of our own personal (at some points major) contradictions regarding the music we love. 

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON JANUARY 20, 2025) Well...  We don't know what to say.  jamilah is usually the one asking the questions, talking to others about the things which inspire them.  Because she recently came out with a record (called One Day I Slipped And Fell On A Thought), jesse had an idea- and to her surprise, that idea was to flip the mic around and ask jamilah some questions. 

She discusses the process for making the record, as well as some of the methods, events and people which inspired her.  Hopefully, the episode is interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Day I Slipped And Fell On A Thought is here: https://teodorasfist.bandcamp.com/album/one-day-i-slipped-and-fell-on-a-thought

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED DECEMBER 4, 2023) Whoo boy...  jesse owes jamilah big time for this one. 

The best way to describe this is to just listen to the episode!!!  In it, we discuss once again, a documentary that doesn't exactly do justice to the musical legacy of Michael Jackson.  We attempt to make sense of why this has (again) occurred, we ask why some of the people in the documentary are there, and we go in a bit on John Landis (because honestly, people who love film should). 

We'd love to hear from you!  For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON DECEMBER 2, 2023) After many months of technical mishaps and life experiences, jesse and jamilah have returned, discussing some (but not all) of their favorite albums released this year; they also discussed the culture of mass information (in relation to Shawn 'Puffy' Combs and other predatory figures), our own contradictions, as well as other cultural events that have since occurred since this posting!  

We'd love to hear from you!  For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON AUGUST 7, 2023) Yes....  The unbelievable happened.  jamilah met her second favorite band of all time, and her greatest musical inspiration.  She is still in immense shock about it.  This episode was recorded the day after Metallica did their two sets (with no repeats) at MetLife Stadium, so please forgive her relative incoherence, and many tears (hopefully jesse does as well!!!). 

We also discuss the passing of Sinéad O’Connor (and experiences with mental health struggles), constantly getting names wrong as a possible personality trait, sexuality and objectification, the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Ice Cube and KRS ONE going full counterrevolutionary, as well as the 'throwing phones' situation.

It's an action packed show!!!

We'd love to hear from you!  For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

In addition, if you struggling are in need of a voice to talk to, please call 988 (for the u.s. national number), or go to https://988lifeline.org/current-events/the-lifeline-and-988/

(RECORDED ON MAY 29, 2023) After a ton of mishaps and mental health episodes, we finally have this episode up!!!  jesse and jamilah felt inspired to discuss this after the physical transition of Tina Turner, given a few anti-African stances she took throughout her life.  While these things were known by some prior to her passing, many opined that addressing her contradictions was inappropriate because, well...  she's Tina Turner! 

We must remember that she was human, just like any of us who do not share her fame or financial status.  No one, regardless of celebrity status or amount of income they make should ever be immune from critique, whether they are physically on this earth, or not. 

In this episode we also discuss William 'Smokey' Robinson and his latest album, Gasms.  We discuss portions of his memoir, the ageism surrounding reactions to the album, and more. (Note:  The audio got kind of messed up between the 51-54 minute mark; we hope that doesn't take too much away from the content!  Thanks!)

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON MAY 23, 2023) This is a multi-tiered episode of sorts, if you will.  The Mulkilteo Fairies were one of jamilah's most favoritest hardcore/punk bands in the early to mid 1990s, as she was a young punk kid trying to figure life out.  She wanted to always meet the people behind that band- and eventually met Josh (while he was in the band Behead The Prophet NLSL) and Quitty (while hanging out in Olympia, WA), respectably- so starting out, this is both an (a. 'Meet Your Heroes', as well as a (b. 'Giving Flowers' episode, combined. 

Of course, the people we looked up to as young people are humans, and sometimes those humans are around the same age as us, and sometimes we have similar friend groups (which is not hard if you're in the punk scene, especially in a smaller city on the map).  So of course this is also a 'reunion' episode, as jamilah and Josh have reconvened after a long, long period. 

Josh has been very, very busy over the years, bringing awareness to the connections between punk and veganism via his role as a traveling chef over the years doing dinner parties.  A few published cookbooks of his are 'So Raw It's Downright Filthy', 'In Search Of The Lost Taste', 'Hey Ho Let's Dough!' and 'This Ain't no Picnic:  Your Punk Rock Vegan Cookbook'.  Residents in Billings, Montana have also seen him selling baked goods and herbs at the local farmer's market. 

Josh is a person with such a well-rounded experience (while not ignoring the punk roots that shape him), and we hope you have a positive experience listening to this conversation!  (ed. note:  We want to apologize for whatever tech/mic issues occurring in this episode.  We hope it doesn't get in the way of the content.  We did our best to work through them- so even the tech spirit is punk as well!)

To get updates from Josh, go to his website:  https://joshuaploeg.blogspot.com/

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON MAY 13, 2023) This is an interesting episode, as tables have somewhat turned...  jamilah is usually the fanboi (of various things) out of the two hosts; however, given that he was massively beloved by her in the past, it was discovered that jesse is far more of one when it comes to Stevie Wonder.  There are attempts to explore this emerging discovery. 

jesse and jamilah discuss Stevie Wonder's discography, the songs and albums they connect to, what the best songs are to introduce others to his music... as well as (of course) the contradictions.  Even with all of these things, they feel his contributions to the arts and music are definitely deserving of flowers. 

For questions, comments, your favorite Stevie songs, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON APRIL 30, 2023) One of the objectives of this podcast is to engage with the ways we all connect with and to music.  Of course, that would be boring if it were just jesse and jamilah every episode, so we always love when others get to share their experiences. 

jamilah was very glad to have been able to share some time with fellow podcaster and creator (and lover of St. Anger) Old Head, whom she first became familiar with through his YouTube videos.  Steven/Old Head is also a radio host (which jamilah was for 11 years); another thing she learned through this conversation was the similarity in which they both play guitar (which he is much better at).  Throughout the episode they also discuss the erosion of cultural musical delineations, social awareness and responsibility of artists, and the healing power of music. 

Old Head Podcast: https://oldheadpodcast.podbean.com/

Old Head's YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@OldHead

Supporting Actor:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NwEPvnhvzF7OesykYdQBM

Radio show: https://live.onamp.com/oldhead.tx

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com

(RECORDED ON APRIL 23, 2023) jamilah has been fairly open on this podcast about her experience as an amputee, and the ways music is now experienced due to it.  We want to take time in various episodes to explore the various experiences had, under the spectrum of disabilities that exist.

On this episode we have Nick, who was born with cerebral palsy.  jamilah and Nick met via a community of listeners and appreciators of Metal Up Your Podcast (MUYP), a... podcast (!!!) developed out of a love for Metallica.  There's a bit of conversation about MUYP; as well as discussions on how our disabilities shape our experiences, our love for the band beginning with the letter M, as well as what can be done in order for metal to be more welcoming.  And of course, Nick discusses his profession as a lawyer (and the way metal inspires him- hence the name, MetalLawyer).

For more information or queries for Nick, go to https://www.nrollerlaw.com/

For questions, comments, etc.  you can reach us here: musicandwejj@gmail.com