A Musical Life

Peter Verwimp is a producer, guitarist and vocalist based in Antwerp, Belgium. His main project is Ashtoreth, which he describes as “a guitar-driven dark ambient project with a shamanic perspective.”

Jerry Leger is a singer, songwriter and poet based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His albums include Songs From The Apartment, Time Out For Tomorrow, and Nonsense and Heartache, among others.

Markus Reuter is a guitarist and composer based in Berlin, Germany. He has recorded extensively as a solo artist and with acts such as Tuner, Stick Men and The Crimson ProjeKct. In addition to his work in what might be described as rock music, he has written compositions for the classical world, including Todmorden 513 and His Last Decade.

Jason Smith is a founding member of the Oklahoma City-based band Traindodge and plays bass in the band Rainbows Are Free as well. Traindodge has released albums such as Time Will Never Know Your Name, I Am Forever, and On A Lake of Dead Trees.

Dan Dixon is a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia’s PLS PLS and is a producer and recording engineer who operates his own studio. PLS PLS’s latest release is Everything That’s Left. Dixon has also recently overseen the reissue of several recordings from his previous band, Dropsonic, in addition to a rarities collection titled The Best of the Rest.

“PLS PLS’s music is often trying to find the balance between making you bob your head and singalong while, also, lyrically, bumming you out entirely.

Andre LaFosse is based in Los Angeles, California. His albums include Normalized, Pivot To Video: Six-String Mixtape Volume 2 and, with Ross Garren, the soundtrack to the film Malacostraca.

Chris Schlarb is a musician based in Long Beach, California. He owns and operates BIG EGO Studios and BIG EGO Records. His latest release with Psychic Temple is Houses of the Holy, a double LP, which features guest appearances from the Chicago Underground Trio, The Dream Syndicate, Xololanxinxo, and Cherry Glazerr. He recorded this segment of “A Musical Life” direct to tape.

Chris Opperman is a New Jersey-based musician and composer. 

Renée LoBue is a Montclair, New Jersey-based singer and songwriter who is a member of the band Elk City as well as having recently launched a side project called Flowers Of America (FOA). Additionally, she is a collage and visual artist.

“The best part of singing, for me, has always been engaging in possibility. Going beyond what I can see directly in front of me. Always immersing myself in what I like to think of as another realm. It’s a way of re-creating my story, re-creating the space.

Jon Regen is a New York City-based singer-songwriter whose latest album, Higher Ground, was released in 2019.