Adrian Has Issues

Mustin a multi-instrumentalist and music producer based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He's credited as being a pioneer of the videogame music remixing scene with early contributions to OverClocked ReMix and Project Majestic Mix before founding one of the first videogame music record labels, OneUp Studios, and one of the first videogame music cover bands, The OneUps, who still perform regularly at conventions such as PAX, MAGFest, VCON, and more to this day. Mustin has been featured on CNN and MSNBC, remixed for MC Frontalot and Freezepop, and has worked with the likes of brentalfloss, Mega Ran, and more. In this episode, Adrian speaks with Mustin about his solo album entitled "The World Is Square" from Scarlet Moon Productions. The album is a 7-track videogame tribute album, featuring laid-back "chillout" renditions of songs from Squaresoft games such as Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. Mustin also discusses how the album was inspired by various women in his life plus he and Adrian bond over being gamers as well as fathers.

Young Doctors In Love is a 6-piece indie pop band from Toronto, Ontario. After taking something of a hiatus since the release of their 2014 full-length album “World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band,” band leader Clay Puddester returns with a new lineup for their latest album. In this episode, Clay and vocalist/songwriter Stephanie Matos chat with Adrian about the songwriting process of their new album entitled “…In Love” plus some other fun topics including: Brainstorming ideas for future music videos. The album’s connections to the Thomas Pynchon novel, “V." The timeless novelty of smoke machines and lasers...and much more.

Mario Candelaria is a comic book writer and comedian based out of Philadelphia, PA. Some of his credits includeAshes: A Firefighter's Tale(Z2 Comics),Corktown(Alterna Comics) andBaroque Pop: A Lana Del Ray Fanthology(Red Stylo Media). In this episode, Mario brings Adrian up to speed on all the events leading up to Wrestlemania 35, which includes storylines from WWE Raw, WWE Smackdown and even NXT. Also in this episode: Kofi-mania sweeps the nation...The rise of Becky “The Man” Lynch...Brock Lesnar is still wrestling, I suppose...And much more!

Janet LaBelle is a singer/songwriter based out of Brooklyn, NY. During her formative years as a teen, she got her start as the vocalist for the New Jersey pop-punk band Avery, which landed her an indie record deal and the band toured nationally and had their music was featured on television shows & commercials. Since those days, Janet continued to grow as an artist and a solo performer, having released a number of EPs: Moon Songs (2010), Blossom & Blue (2011) and Just A Little Rain (2012). Janet has also performed for other bands including Brooklyn’s Sharkmuffin and Jimmy Destri & The Sound Grenade, a project helmed by Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri. This week’s episode features Adrian’s conversation with Janet LaBelle, which covers various topics including the songwriting and recording process of her latest EP, 2018’s I Only See You from Loantaka Records as well as New York’s surfing scene and how music can help people therapeutically.

Cody Carpenter is a third generation multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. His grandfather, Howard Carpenter, is a founding member of the Nashville Strings. His father, John Carpenter, is a filmmaker and composer. In addition to contributing music for his father's films, Vampires (1998), Ghosts of Mars (2001) and 2018's Halloween along with Daniel Davies, Cody has composed the full-length scores to projects such as Showtimes' Masters of Horror. In this episode, Adrian speaks with Cody regarding his two most recent albums: 2019’s Force Of Nature, an instrumental jazz/fusion album from Blue Canoe Records featuring Grammy Award-nominated bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Scott Seiver and 2018’s Reflections, Cody’s snyth-heavy solo album under his pseudonym Ludrium. Additionally, Adrian and Cody explore various concepts including: The rising popularity of synth/progressive music, the challengers of touring as a musician and music as a universal language.

Today's guest is Jayson Napolitano the owner and founder of Scarlet Moon Productions, a music label, PR firm and artist group that specializes in gaming music that rangers from AAA titles to independent games. Jayson, along with composer Lena Raine (Guild Wars 2, Wandersong & Friends), is the co-producer of Prescription for Sleep: Celeste, the Seventh installment of the popular series, Prescription For Sleep: Game Music Lullabies. The collection is a jazz/ambient arrangement of the soundtrack of the acclaimed videogame Celeste. The Billboard charting album features music by Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta composer Norihiko Hibino on saxophone and Etrian Odyssey and PersonaQ performer AYAKI on piano as duo dubbed GENTLE LOVE. They are joined for the first time in the series by guest violinist Maiko and the composer of Celeste, Lena Raine. In this episode, Jayson details the formation of Scarlet Moon Productions, his experiences in co-producing Prescription For Sleep: Celeste and introduces the concept of videogame music as a form of healing.

This week’s episode features a first-time guest on the Adrian Has Issues podcast: Adrian King himself! Vancouver-based comic book writer/artist Kelly Brack returns to guest-host the show and put Adrian in the hot seat. Fielding a series of crowdsourced questions asked by comic book creators including Danny Lore (Queen of Bad Dreams), Stephanie Cannon (Hexed) and Lonnie Nadler (Age of X-Man), Adrian gives listeners and irreverent and insightful takes on topics including: Meeting your idols as a fanboy, Canada’s Grandpa adoption agency, Tropical Fruit...and more!

This week’s episode features writer David Pepose and artist Jorge Santiago Jr., the Ringo Award-nominated co-creators of SPENCER & LOCKE, the comic book crime thriller from Action Lab Danger Zone. The comic, featuring Jasen Smith (colors) and Colin Bell (letters) tells the story of the misadventures of a hardened cop and his imaginary partner: an anthropomorphic blue panther. Picking up where we left off back in Episode 101, David and Jorge bring Adrian up to speed on the latest installment SPENCER & LOCKE 2 and the series’ new villain Roach Riley, a twisted take on Mort Walker’s comic strip Beetle Bailey. David and Jorge also discuss how they approached the second volume and continued to build on the high concept of the original arc by raising the stakes, but also maintaining the heart and personal connection to the characters.

Picking up where things left off at the closing of Episode 132, a somewhat unconventional encounter inspires Adrian to revive the "Minisode" format. In this episode Adrian discusses the future of the podcast as well as other potential projects. These past 5 years of podcasting have brought dizzying heights and staggering lows, but Adrian brings a renewed vigor for the art of podcasting and perhaps with it, a new direction.

This episode is not only the first of 2019, but this also marks the 4th anniversary of the Adrian Has Issues podcast! Hosts Adrian King and Eileen "The LatiNerd" Melendez celebrate by discussing various topics including surviving the flu season, analyzing the themes found in the award-winning animated feature Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and penning a love letter to Marvel Comics' most iconic character: New York City.