Month: May 2020

Kate Nyx – Musician & Wrestling Costume Maker

May 25, 2020 Artist, Entertainment, Music 51:54

Kate Nyx is a folk-rock musician in Philly as well as a nationally recognized costume and luchador mask creator. She is our guest for BLUNTCAST #14. These Bluntcasts air live on Friday nights on our Facebook page. 

Kate creates honest, grass-roots folks rock that has been garnering local and national attention. From originals to covers, her music is raw and honest.

Kate is also a wrestling costume creator. She works with independent wrestlers as well as creating designs for the WWE. She may be best known for her luchador mask creations, which you can purchase from her website.

LINKS:
KATE NYX: www/facebook/twitter/bandcamp

Nikil Saval – PA 1st District Senatorial Candidate

May 21, 2020 Activist, Politics 46:09

Nikil Saval is Philadelphia’s Democratic Ward Leader of the 2nd Ward and is currently a Pennsylvania Senatorial candidate for the 1st District. He’s also our guest for our pandemic quarantine Bluntcast #13.

Nikil was born in Los Angeles, went to school in New York City, and now lives in Philly, where he plans to stay.

He is also one of the co-founders of Reclaim Philadelphia, which has been quite influential in recent local elections through extensive canvassing and phone-banking.

Nikhil is currently running against incumbent Larry Farnese for PA State Senate.

Saval was also a major force in the local Bernie Sanders efforts.

He speaks with us about the current situation, how Sanders’ like policies which were deemed too controversial or expensive are now part of life, the balance between improving neighborhoods  while safeguarding the folks who have called those neighborhoods home for decades, as well as dealing with The Philly Blunt.

Nikil young guy with a bright future in Philly and maybe beyond. 

We hope you enjoy.

LINKS:

Nikil Saval
Youtube video of the BLUNTCAST

Joe Gunn – Co-Owner of Pistola’s Empire

May 11, 2020 Food & Drink 00:36:48

Joe Gunn owns Jose Pistola’s, Sancho Pistola’s, and Pistolas Del Sur. He’s also one of the funniest people in the area. He joined us for Bluntcast #12.

Joe Gunn went from bartender at Fergie’s to successful restaurateur now owning three restaurants across Philly with locations in Fishtown, Center City, and South Philadelphia.

He’s also one of the driving forces behind Philly’s annual Beer Week.

Joe talks with us about his transition from bartender to bar owner, hiring and firing people, and dropping out of college. Fergie is an influential figure in Joe’s life and talk about what he learned from Fergie about being a boss. We also discuss what it was like having three prosperous locations suddenly shutting down all at once while he was away at Disney.

We talk about the eventual Philly re-opening and what the future looks like for the local bar scene.

You’ll laugh. You might cry. It’s better than cats.

Stay safe and enjoy.

LINKS:

Jose Pistola’s/Sancho Pistola’s/Pistolas Del Sur

Full Length YouTube of the Live Interview

SLUTCHURCH Performers Honeytree EvilEye & Kitana Kedavra

May 3, 2020 Entertainment, Music 00:32:25

For BLUNTCAST 11 we are joined by burlesque dancers Honeytree EvilEye and Kitana Kedavra to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Slutchurch, Philly’s very own heavy metal/BDSM monthly burlesque event.

Slutchurch is normally held on the last Tuesday of every month at Raven Lounge at 17th and Sansom. As Honeytree professes, it is an actual church and these two dancers are the clergy for this denomination.

As they ladies as: Do you like butts? Do you like metal? Do you like BDSM? If any or all of them apply to you, then Slutchurch is your people.

We discussed the origins of the Slutchurch event and how both of these ladies found themselves in the middle of all of us. Johnny, who has never been to a Slutchurch, has the ladies describe, in detail, a typical Slutchurch happening.

The ladies, not to be deterred by COVID-19 precautions, recently celebrated their 4th Anniversary remotely by having the featured dancers perform via Instagram Live from their domiciles. We talk about how that all works and what they do if two dancers want to dance to the same track on the same evening.

If you’ve been to Slutchurch, you should enjoy this. If you have no idea what Slutchurch is, you’ll definitely enjoy this.

Don’t forget, if you have Facebook, you can watch these Friday night BLUNTCASTS LIVE and you comment real-time. If you don’t have Facebook, you can check out the videos of the interviews on our YouTube page, just search for “The Philly Blunt Podcast”.

LINKS:

Slutchurch: Facebook/Instagram
Honeytree EvilEye
Kitana Kedavra
The Raven Lounge

The Philly Blunt YouTube Channel

Undertaker John – Inside the Mortuary World

May 3, 2020 Business 00:47:55

Undertaker John joined us for the LIVE BLUNTCAST #10 to discuss what life in general is like as a Last Responder (Undertaker) during a pandemic and raising a family while living in a funeral home.

Undertaker John, known better as John Barnes of McCafferty Sweeney Slabinski Barnes Funerals and Cremations has been in the funeral business since he was in high school. He talks about how a kid from Frankford born and raised under the becomes an undertaker with no family connections. He had no idea washing limousines as a teenager would turn into a career.

Most importantly, he sheds important and useful information about how COVID-19 has affected the industry and the families of loved ones who have passed during these social distancing times.

We discuss the precautions and hazards of the industry during a pandemic and how funeral directors everywhere are scrambling to keep up with current CDC recommendations, as well as securing enough PPE supplies.

While we are all doing our best to avoid any contact with COVID-19, John has had over 30 people who have passed due to the virus brought into his home, where he both lives and works.

This is a must-listen where we think you’ll both learn and laugh.

We hope you enjoy and that you and your loved ones are safe.

Don’t forget, if you have Facebook, you can watch these Friday night BLUNTCASTS LIVE and you comment real-time. If you don’t have Facebook, you can check out the videos of the interviews on our YouTube page, just search for “The Philly Blunt Podcast”.

LINKS:

McCafferty Sweeney Slabinski Barnes Funerals & Cremations

The Philly Blunt YouTube Channel

Sandwich King TONY LUKE, JR

May 3, 2020 Entertainment 01:01:00

Philly restaurateur and sandwich icon, Tony Luke, Jr joins us for our LIVE QUARANTINE BLUNTCAST #9. We all know Tony Luke sandwiches. It’s a brand that is known nationwide as Tony has been on numerous food shows. We guarantee there is a whole other world of Tony Luke, Jr’s life that you may have had no idea about.

Tony discusses his entry into the sandwich world, but also about the creative passions that have burned within since he was in high school and a student at Philadelphia’s High School for Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA).

He’s an actor, a writer, and singer, and a songwriter. Tony shares insight into all his endeavors, as well as some new songs he’s been working on. Tony is doing some songwriting for new artists. He’s really excited about working with one in particular, Gabrielle Delisi.

Tony talks about addiction and how COVID-19 personally struck his family as his son was diagnosed with the virus. Tony walks us through that harrowing experience as his son had a tough time getting through it, but is good now.

Tony talks about addiction and the long, arduous process in finding a high quality frozen version of his sandwiches, down to the bread. Now, great tasting Tony Luke sandwiches can be enjoyed nationwide.

These LIVE BLUNTCASTS will go on as long as getting into a bar together proves challenging. We do them on our Facebook page via ZOOM/Facebook Live every Friday night. You can also catch the videos of most of them on our Youtube Page. You can find them by searching “The Philly Blunt” podcast.

LINKS:

Tony Luke, Jr: Instagram/Facebook

Video of Interview:The Philly Blunt Podcast YouTube

Philly Detective, Rapper, Actor, Comedian Lawrence Arnell

May 2, 2020 Artist, Crime, Music 00:49:52

For Quarantine BLUNTCAST #7 we talked with Philadelphia Police Detective, MC, Comedian, podcast host Lawrence Arnell.

This originally aired as part of our LIVE BLUNTCASTS series via Zoom every Friday night on The Philly Blunt Facebook Live page.

Lawrence Arnell was born and raised in North Philly. Music was always important to him and he secured a record deal with Tommy Boy Records early in his life and then experience soured him on record labels and the corporate world of the music business. That experience motivated him to find other ways to support himself. Lawrence talked about what motivates him to pursue so many diverse careers and how COVID-19 has affected Philly police work. He talks about being shot at as a police officer and keeping his cool while under fire by cracking jokes. 

Lawrence also gave a candid and insightful discussion of Philly race relations with regards to law enforcement and his personal experiences being African American police officer in Philadelphia. 

LINK:
Lawrence Arnell

Photographer Kyle Cassidy

May 2, 2020 Artist, Authors, Writers 00:48:36

West-Philly photographer Kyle Cassidy, who is currently working on photo-documenting essential workers and first responders during COVID-19, joins us for a LIVE BLUNTCAST. Our live Bluntcasts air regularly on Friday evenings via our Facebook page.

Kyle has authored numerous photo books and photo essays documenting the lives of roller derby players, gun owners, librarians, those will military tattoos, Occupy Wall St. protesters, and now the essential workers of Philadelphia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current project has him photographing folks like Philly sanitation workers, doctors, and nurses.

He joins us to talk about what motivates him, how he came to his latest project, and his thoughts about a post COVID-19 world. 

Kyle’s work has been featured in national publications and sites such as the New York Times, Barron’s, Slate.com and HuffPost. He has photographed countless artists, actors, and musical acts. He also collaborated with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer on the book Who Killed Amanda Palmer.

LINK: 
kylecassidy.com