Michael Christopher, Author at Vanyaland https://vanyaland.com/author/michael-christopher/ The proven voice in music since 2013 Fri, 12 Dec 2025 19:09:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/31135224/cropped-V-SOCIAL-2023-32x32.png Michael Christopher, Author at Vanyaland https://vanyaland.com/author/michael-christopher/ 32 32 Year in ReView: Vanyaland’s favorite 617 Q&A recommendations https://vanyaland.com/2025/12/11/year-in-review-vanyalands-favorite-617-qa-recommendations/ Thu, 11 Dec 2025 09:32:24 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042795 One of the best parts of the 617 Q&A series (Six Questions; One Recommendation; Seven Somethings) is the one recommendation portion. Typically, if we haven’t flipped them already with our somewhat standard interview portion, it’s when the artist really comes alive and often provides some deeper insight into what they’re buzzing about off the stage as we ask them to tell us what they’ve been into recently that isn’t their current project. Over the years, we’ve had some doozies, from […]

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]]> 617 Q&A: Colin Hay forever remains a storyteller at work https://vanyaland.com/2025/11/04/617-qa-colin-hay-forever-remains-a-storyteller-at-work/ Tue, 04 Nov 2025 19:50:49 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042598 One of the biggest acts of the initial MTV era, along with Duran Duran, Talking Heads, The Stray Cats, and Pat Benatar, was Men at Work. Led by the Scottish-born Colin Hay, the Australian exports were known for a series of video clips that aired around the clock, filled with peculiar imagery to match the equally idiosyncratic songs. It was almost like an introduction to another culture, “where women glow and men plunder,” as detailed in the chart-topping hit “Down […]

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]]> 617 Q&A: Craig Wedren on the rise and resurgence of Shudder to Think (and all that time in between) https://vanyaland.com/2025/10/22/617-qa-craig-wedren-on-the-rise-and-resurgence-of-shudder-to-think-and-all-that-time-in-between/ Wed, 22 Oct 2025 11:45:09 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042521 Out of all the bands that were part of the late-’80s/early-‘90s Dischord Records roster, Shudder to Think was one of the least likely to be thrust into the mainstream. But that’s what happened come 1994 when the Washington D.C.-based post-hardcore outfit found their fifth LP, Pony Express Record, released by Epic Records. Even for a label diverse enough to have Pearl Jam, Gloria Estefan, Michael Jackson, Sepultura, and Oasis under its umbrella, Pony Express Record was an outlier, what with […]

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]]> 617 Q&A: Art Alexakis of Everclear has lived to tell his tales https://vanyaland.com/2025/10/20/617-qa-art-alexakis-of-everclear-has-lived-to-tell-his-tales/ Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:27:14 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042516 Art Alexakis hasn’t had the easiest life. But you don’t need us to tell you that; it’s all in the lyrics to some of the most popular songs by his alternative rock band Everclear. Growing up with an absentee dad? “Father of Mine.” Being a child of divorce? “Wonderful.” Brother succumbing to a heroin overdose and his girlfriend dying by suicide before he was even a teen? “Heroin Girl.” Relapsing after desperately trying to stay clean from the clutches of […]

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]]> 617 Q&A: Ian Astbury on goth romanticism, enlightenment, and a Death Cult revival https://vanyaland.com/2025/10/10/617-qa-ian-astbury-on-goth-romanticism-enlightenment-and-a-death-cult-revival/ Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:50:42 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042466 Before there was The Cult, there was Death Cult, a darker, more gothic iteration of the group that would later become known for hits like “She Sells Sanctuary,” “Fire Woman,” and “Love Removal Machine.” And while a shadowy side existed to the modern version through the years, no matter what musical path they ventured down, it was still surprising when core members Ian Astbury (vocals) and Billy Duffy (guitar) announced in 2023 that they would be doing a very limited […]

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]]> Back in Seisiún: Spider Stacy on resurrecting The Pogues https://vanyaland.com/2025/09/05/back-in-seisiun-spider-stacy-on-resurrecting-the-pogues/ Fri, 05 Sep 2025 09:13:03 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042303 When Shane MacGowan passed in 2023, it seemed as if he was finally in a good place after a life at the other end of the spectrum. The revered frontman for the Celtic punk outfit The Pogues often had his talents overshadowed by drunken antics, with his hard partying ways and drug abuse the stuff of legend. During one 2007 show at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre, sloshed and unsteady on his feet, he took a nasty tumble and destroyed the ligaments […]

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]]> Rolling With It: Oasis capture elusive American ‘Glory’ https://vanyaland.com/2025/09/02/rolling-with-it-oasis-capture-elusive-american-glory-in-chicago/ Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:50:54 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042285 A single live show on American soil is all it took for the hyperbole surrounding the reunion of a certain Britpop outfit to reach its apex. “Oasis finally conquer America,” screamed one headline following the gig last Thursday at Chicago’s Soldier Field. “Oasis rewrite history,” went another. Even CNN got involved with their quasi-thinkpiece, “Oasis never really cared about America. Is America ready to care about them?” Ok, let’s everyone slow their roll with it. Like any other act that […]

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]]> Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power https://vanyaland.com/2025/08/05/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power/ Tue, 05 Aug 2025 09:27:40 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042170 Editor’s Note: All photos by Jason Greenough for Vanyaland. Before a note from third-billed King Parrot even rang out this past Saturday (August 2), a man in the Xfinity Center parking lot was stretchered away by Mansfield’s emergency services after taking a couple of hits on a joint that probably wasn’t bought at a business searchable on Weedmaps. It was an early indication, in case there was any doubt, that a Pantera show was about to go down. The Texas […]

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]]> How Cymande reclaimed a legacy of funk and hip-hop https://vanyaland.com/2025/07/31/how-cymande-reclaimed-a-legacy-of-funk-and-hip-hop/ Thu, 31 Jul 2025 13:25:26 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042111 It’s rare in music for an artist to have a second act, and even more so to be recognized for their undeniable impact on entire genres. But it does happen, as is the case with Cymande, a footnote British psychedelic funk outfit from the early ‘70s who later found themselves as one of the building blocks to the foundation of hip-hop, along with being an influence on the UK’s underground rare groove scene. Guitarist Patrick Patterson and bassist Steve Scipio, […]

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]]> 617 Q&A: Richard Blade on Depeche Mode, Brazilian jazz, and why the ’80s still resonate https://vanyaland.com/2025/07/30/617-qa-richard-blade-on-depeche-mode-brazilian-jazz-and-why-the-80s-still-resonate/ Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:26:16 +0000 https://vanyaland.com/?p=10042098 “Nostalgia” is always a big buzzword, looking in the rearview when things were supposedly simpler – like right now with the ‘90s. It could manifest as a movie evocative of the decade or one that’s straight-up banking on the legacy of a franchise. Maybe it’s a Britpop band singlehandedly thrusting the genre back into the spotlight. Sometimes, albeit rarely, it’s an act who’ve decided to release an entire album of covers from the year they themselves peaked in popularity.     […]

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