Can two veteran musicians use AI to make music that’s actually good — or is Suno just a shortcut that’s killing the craft? Jay Martini and Mitch Germaine have been playing together for 25 years, going back to a covers band called Big Witness and a smooth-jazz project called Opening Night that sold, in Jay’s words, about eight copies in Romania. Jay’s a working pro and Pete’s old School of Rock instructor; Mitch is a drummer who ran his own studio and spent a career as an enterprise CIO. This week they walk through exactly how they built their track “Dystopian Charm” with Suno, ChatGPT, and Cubase — the Steely Dan hack, the disturbing AI lyrics they had to rewrite, ripping out the Michael Bublé vocal, the Moog and drum-machine panics of decades past, the SOO YES idea, why nobody in Nashville will admit they’re using Suno, and the one Pop-Tart rule. 🎶 Jay & Mitch release their AI music as Deus Ex Machina — search “Deus Ex Machina Dystopian Charm” on YouTube. 🎧 More Hogpod AI music on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2QtmZ… 🎯 KEY MOMENTS00:00 Intro02:35 WildStreet crashes the line — Eric Jayk & the June 10 Woodstock show06:30 Mitch joins + “you taught my dumbass to play bass” — Jay & Pete’s School of Rock history08:37 25 years, Big Witness & Opening Night — the CD that sold 8 copies in Romania10:01 Discovering Suno — and why everything came out Bublé or Scott Stapp11:48 The prompt grind — a billion YouTube videos & why you need music theory13:35 LIVE Suno demo — Pete builds a modern country song on the spot17:09 “Who cares who wrote it?” — Rhodesy on Grammy winners & the AI authorship question18:34 Pulling stems into Cubase — how they actually refine a track19:47 “Dystopian Charm” — the Steely Dan hack & the disturbing AI lyrics23:44 “If Jay Martini isn’t a musician, I don’t know who is”25:35 Ripping out the Bublé vocal — dropping the real voice back in27:23 The Moog test — is AI just the synthesizer panic all over again?32:21 “It’s a tool, not the whole band” — garbage in, garbage out33:37 Drum machines, the LinnDrum & “think of it as a collaborator”36:58 The SOO YES idea — real bands playing original AI-built songs live39:59 Deus Ex Machina — where AI & musicians peacefully coexist42:10 “How do you make money?” — seven million songs a day46:02 The AI video reveal — 30 Gemini images, premiered on the show48:19 “I hate you because it sounds so good” — the stigma nobody admits55:12 Debuting it live at Shirley’s — and the “Real or Fake” song aimed right at him58:58 “AI purists” & the 50% success rate — the Genesis turd in the punch bowl1:03:32 Pete’s prediction: “you’re learning a language — you’ll be fluent”1:07:58 First concerts — Chicago at the Erie Crown & Jeff Beck/Jan Hammer1:09:59 Worst shows — Robin Trower note-for-note & a 4-hour CSNY night1:14:10 Rapid fire: the Pop-Tarts question 📍 AI music – Suno – Deus Ex Machina – Dystopian Charm – Cubase – songwriting – Moog – drum machines – Steely Dan – School of Rock – Chicago music scene – AI and musicians 🎤 Jay Martini & Mitch Germaine — search “Deus Ex Machina Dystopian Charm” on YouTube ❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon  / hogpod   🎙️ Hosted by Pete Jansons, Mike “Bongo” Orfanos (Bongo Mike) & Chris “Rhodesy” Rhodes 📞 Booking — booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #AImusic #Suno #AImusicdebate #DeusExMachina #Songwriting #MusicProduction #ChicagoMusicScene

Same high school. Same college. Same football team. Same career pivot — and somehow the same suburb. Steve McEwen and Pete Jansons have been living parallel lives since Lane Tech, and this week the former Q101 afternoon DJ walks through every spot those two worlds collided.Steve was on the mic at Q101 when Chicago’s alternative scene was white-hot — he introduced Jakob Dylan at the Cubby Bear, caught the last Soundgarden show at the Aragon, and earned what he calls his “PhD in music” at SIU’s WIDB. From there it’s Medusa’s, the Q101 band-name audition, Lollapalooza then vs. now, JVO, Joe Shanahan and the Metro, whether AI music is even music, why he traded the mic for real estate, the Bears stadium mess — and the one Pop-Tart rule he refuses to break.🎶 We turned this whole conversation into an album. “Two Worlds Collided” — 8 AI tracks built from Steve’s stories, from “Bill Pang” to “Before They Were Huge” to “Go Sell a House.” Out now on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/album/1q7Jj5…🎧 All Hogpod AI Albums on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/2QtmZ…🎯 KEY MOMENTS00:00 Intro02:26 Two worlds collided — Lane Tech, SIU football & parallel lives03:38 Cubby Bear GM meets Q101 DJ — introducing Jakob Dylan07:09 WIDB radio school — Bob Odenkirk the legend, “my PhD in music”09:19 The Q101 audition — pronouncing 100 band names10:48 Before they were huge — Gwen Stefani, the last Soundgarden show, Lenny Kravitz x312:56 Lane Tech melting pot — the “Bill Pang” story14:55 Medusa’s — the all-ages industrial playground17:22 JVO — Chicago’s interview king before Carpool Karaoke19:53 Cubby Bear lore — Sue Miller, Lounge Axe & Jeff Tweedy22:50 The 1980s George Loukas clip — punk nights at the Cubby Bear27:39 Lollapalooza then vs. now — is the scene dying?34:38 Is AI music? Autotune, Bad Bunny & Al Jourgensen’s two computers38:20 Fake faces, filters & “reconnect as humans”39:46 Why he walked away from radio for real estate43:45 The Bears stadium mess — Arlington Heights vs. Indiana53:42 How to actually pick a real estate agent56:52 The trades are the future — what AI can’t touch59:13 First concert confession — Barry Manilow at Ravinia1:01:24 Rapid fire — the Pop-Tart rules📍 Q101 – Chicago music scene – Cubby Bear – Medusa’s – WIDB – Bob Odenkirk – Jakob Dylan – Smashing Pumpkins – Lollapalooza – Joe Shanahan – Metro – JVO – Al Jourgensen – AI music – autotune – Chicago real estate – Chicago Bears – the trades – Lane Tech – SIU Salukis🎤 Steve McEwenhttps://stevemcewen.comhttps://makingchicagomove.com❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon  / hogpod  🎙️ Hosted by Pete Jansons & Mike “Bongo” Orfanos (Bongo Mike)📞 Booking — booking@hogpod.org#Hogpod #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #ChicagoMusic #Q101 #CubbyBear #ChicagoMusicScene #Medusas #Lollapalooza #AImusic #ChicagoRealEstate

Scott Muzzey is a Chicago drummer-for-hire who plays the washboard, can trace his family in America back to 1633, and at seventeen sliced through five tendons, an artery and the carpal nerve in his wrist after falling onto a drinking glass mid-practice. The therapy that brought the hand back? More drumming. He joins Pete and co-host Bongo Mike (26 years in The Mosquitoes) plus fellow drummer-for-hire Chris “Rosie” Rhodes for a Chicagoland drummers’ roundtable: early vs. 80s REO Speedwagon, the rub-board vs. washboard fight, the trick of gluing thimbles to work gloves, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, a 1978 Foghat first concert, and why he still won’t trust AI — on the show that turns every conversation into an AI album. 🎶 NEW HOGPOD AI ALBUM — “The Hand Remembers” (8 tracks) is out now on Spotify, built from this conversation:https://open.spotify.com/album/0vydx1… 🎯 KEY MOMENTS00:00 Intro23:27 REO Speedwagon — the stalled tribute, early vs. 80s, “157 Riverside Avenue”32:45 The washboard — antique-store find, thimbles vs. gloves34:34 The glued-glove thimble trick37:02 The wrist — five tendons, one drinking glass, drumming as therapy38:21 Washboard vs. rub board (frottoir) — zydeco, Black Oak Arkansas, New Orleans44:02 What got him going — Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa (all-time hero), Keith Moon, Carl Palmer50:00 Bongo Mike’s origin — Santana at Poplar Creek, Take Two, 26 years in The Mosquitoes54:55 Two drummers for hire — scottmuzzy.com, 90-band site, why he won’t trust AI56:00 The Muzzy family since 1633 / Battle of Lexington57:05 Rosie’s update — Tesla, July show, Dirty Nelly’s cancer benefit58:00 Octobans & roto-toms from Allen1:00:42 First concert — Foghat + Pat Travers, International Amphitheater, 19781:03:25 Worst concert — Supertramp, fourth row, Alpine Valley1:05:50 Rapid fire — Pop-Tarts (hard no), greasy lunchroom pizza1:07:09 Sign-off 📍 Chicago drummers — washboard — REO Speedwagon — zydeco rub board — Gene Krupa — Buddy Rich — Foghat — Rush — drummer for hire — tribute bands — drum gear 🎤 Scott Muzzey — scottmuzzy.com ❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon 🎙️ Hosted by Pete Jansons & Bongo Mike 📞 Booking — booking@hogpod.org #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #Hogpod #ChicagoMusic #Drummers #Washboard #REOSpeedwagon #TributeBands #LocalMusic #Chicagoland

For 22 years, Teddy O’Brian’s was the down-and-dirty Highwood room where bands hauled in their own PA and the patio packed out on a summer Friday. Ted Banick bought the bar in 1999 and ran it for over two decades — booking Mr. Blotto, watching Bongo’s eight-piece own that patio — and on this Hogpod he tells the whole story, right up to the new stage on the west side that’s still waiting for a band. Hosts Pete Jansons and Mike “Bongo” Orfanos take Ted through the rise and fall of live music on the North Shore: the Highwood festivals that made a bar’s whole year, the Wisconsin reggae band Unity that turned a 4/20 into legend, the Umphrey’s McGee connection, and a Jimmy Buffett bookend that runs from Ted’s first concert at Poplar Creek to Buffett’s last show at Alpine Valley. 🎧 All Hogpod AI Albums on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2QtmZ… 🎯 KEY MOMENTS0:00 Cold open — live set8:02 How Bongo met Ted at Teddy’s9:44 Ted’s story: 22 years, bought it in ‘9910:00 WCBR & Mr. Blotto — earning the music cred16:59 Bongo on the patio: the eight-piece room23:53 The new stage & the room people miss25:30 Highwood festivals: Nashwood, Highwood Days, Pumpkin Fest27:19 Umphrey’s McGee (Brendan Bayless)27:38 Unity: the Wisconsin reggae band & the 4/20 sit-in29:21 Running the room: “being open is the gravy”31:14 What changed in 22 years42:23 “Nothing’s like the old days”43:26 The biggest night: a Nashwood49:30 Jimmy Buffett: Poplar Creek to Alpine Valley 📍 Highwood – Teddy O’Brian’s – Chicago music – North Shore live music – Mr. Blotto – Umphrey’s McGee – Unity reggae – Jimmy Buffett – bar ownership – music venues – Bongo Mike ❤️ Support Hogpod — patreon.com/hogpod Hosted by Pete Jansons and Mike “Bongo” Orfanos (Bongo Mike). 📞 Booking — booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoMusic #ChicagolandMusic #Highwood #TeddyOBrians #LiveMusic #NorthShore #MusicPodcast