Episodes

Aug. 12, 2025

E282 PLAIINS on Their Debut Album, Hamburg, Wearing Paper Bags, and Making People Laugh About Themselves

This week, we're scratching The Itch to put on Happy Faces ! And by that, we mean the debut album from Germany's indie punks PLAIINS . Chris , Flo , and Dizzy joined us to discuss how they remain playful in their music even w...

Aug. 7, 2025

E281 Concert Catch-up: Winona Fighter and MSPAINT

This week, we're scratching The Itch for a Thursday episode! Aaron saw pod favorites Winona Fighter at the Q101 Lounge and pod newcomers MSPAINT at Wicker Park Fest , and he's got a wholesome tale to tell about it as we conti...

Aug. 5, 2025

E280 Arejay Hale of Halestorm on Marriage, KemikalFire, Ozzy's Last Show, and Growing as a Lyricist on Everest

This week, we're scratching The Itch to reach new heights! Halestorm 's new album Everest arrives on August 8th, and drummer Arejay Hale stopped by to become a three-time guest and talk about it! This album was a growth exper...

Guest: Arejay Hale

July 29, 2025

E279 CRegg Rondell of Boy Hits Car on New Music, Returning to the Road, and Being a Blockbuster Stuntman

This week, we're scratching The Itch for Lovecore! CRegg Rondell of Boy Hits Car joins us for a look at the band's history as they prepare for their first show in a year, a gig at the famous Whiskey a Go Go that was originall...

Guest: CRegg Rondell

July 22, 2025

E278 Concert Catch-up: Babymetal, Jinjer, Bloodywood, and The Warning

This week, we're scratching The Itch for our cutest episode ever! not only did Dan get to see Babymetal, but he brought a couple kids of his own... and then had them on the show to talk about it! That's right, it's the proper...

July 15, 2025

E277 Retro Champ on Rap, Rock, and Wrestling, Losing a Parent, and Remembering Adam Ramey

This week, we're scratching The Itch to go retro! We're showing hometown pride again as St. Louis' own Retro Champ joins us to discuss his past, present, and future in music. Retro is the very definition of "rap rock," taking...

Guest: Retro Champ

July 10, 2025

[Short Cuts] Wayne Static, High School Math Teacher?

As mentioned in this week's conversation with elementary school teacher and dead7 frontman Jason Kozik , here's the story of Dan's high school match teacher, who bore a curious resemblance to Wayne Static of Static-X . We've ...

July 8, 2025

E276 Jason Kozik of dead7 on Dealing With Deaths, Teaching Special Ed, and Being SharpTone's St. Louis Band

This week, we're scratching The Itch for local boys to make good! Jason Kozik of St. Louis' own dead7 joins us on the eve of their debut release with SharpTone Records, Love What You Can While You Got Something Left To Love. ...

Guest: Jason Kozik

July 1, 2025

E275 The Itch On Tour: Brand New

This week, we're scratching The Itch for something new! Brand New is back for the first time since 2017, and we've got to talk about the Chicago date of their tour. But first, we'll explore their history, evolution, and of co...

June 24, 2025

E274 Concert Catch-up: Winona Fighter, Good Boy Daisy, Sleigh Bells, Sophie Hunter, Phantogram, and more!

This week, we're scratching The Itch for ladies' night! The Itch saw a series of shows featuring fantastic frontwomen, including some friends of the show, some hopeful future friends of the show, and some first times seeing l...

June 17, 2025

Replay: Millennium Mania

This week, we're scratching The Itch for a throwback! We're celebrating 20 albums turning 25 with an episode from back in our Rock Matters days of 2020! Check out our takes on albums from Deftones, hed PE, Flogging Molly, Col...

June 10, 2025

E273 New Rock Roundup: ALT BLK ERA, Architects, The Darkness, and Sleep Token

This week, we're scratching The Itch for new rock! We're five months into 2025 and overdue to spotlight some of our favorite albums of the year so far. The Itch has been enjoying sounds from across the rock spectrum, and we'r...

June 3, 2025

E272 Concert Catch-up: Pointfest, Primus, Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Padflower... er, Badflower

This week, we're scratching The Itch to rebel! AI art is trash, and you shouldn't use it. But if you put on a show as fun as this year's Pointfest, we'll forgive you. Mostly. The whole team made it to see 311 headline a lineu...

May 27, 2025

E271 Shiprocked Lineup Reaction

This week, we're scratching The Itch for community. Last week, the rock world experienced tragic losses. In this episode we honor those we lost and celebrate the way they touched people's lives and brought so many together th...

May 20, 2025

E270 Concert Catch-up: Boston Manor, Ocean Grove, Hot Milk, Pop Evil, Gore., and more!

This week, we're scratching The Itch to party! KC's birthday week was stacked with shows featuring podcast guests, and The Itch got to see plenty of them! First, KC and Aaron catch Boston Manor at the Subterranean in Chicago ...

May 13, 2025

E269 Alizon Taho and Ben Parker of Calva Louise on Time Travel, Tour Pranks, and DIY Innovation

This week, we're scratching The Itch for a reunion! Alizon and Ben , our vacation buddies and international inspirations from Calva Louise , return to discuss their brilliant new album Edge of the Abyss , which drops on July ...

Guest: Calva Louise

May 8, 2025

E268 Arya Goggin of Skindred on New Music and Releasing Their Biggest Record 20 Years Into Their Career

This week, we're scratching The Itch for a homecoming! Arya Goggin of Skindred was our second ever interview, back in November 2020. To celebrate 5 years as a podcast, the man who drums on our theme song makes his long overdu...

Guest: Arya Goggin

May 6, 2025

E267 The Itch On Tour: Dorothy and Cory Marks

This week, we're scratching The Itch for a homecoming! Itch guests Dorothy and her guitarist, our fellow St Louisian Sam Bam Koltun , played at The Hawthorn with Cory Marks , and The Itch had to be there! After dropping The I...

May 1, 2025

[Short Cuts] The Music Menu

It's our podcast anniversary and this month we're scratching The Itch to celebrate! The Itch Rock Podcast debuted on May 9th, 2020, originally under the name "Rock Matters". What started as a replacement for our radio show wh...

April 29, 2025

E266 Han Mee and Jim Shaw of Hot Milk on Punk Ethos, American Insanity, and the Death of Genre

This week, we're scratching The Itch for honesty! Han Mee and Jim Shaw of Hot Milk join us for a refreshingly candid conversation about their new album Corporation P.O.P (out June 27th) and the ideas surrounding it, including...

Guest: Hot Milk

April 22, 2025

E265 Justin Benlolo of BRKN LOVE on Self-Reflection, Trainwreck Shows, and Translating the Studio to the Stage

This week, we're scratching The Itch to get with The Program ! BRKN LOVE just dropped an excellent album by that name, and we talked all about it with frontman Justin Benlolo . We discuss the recording and release rollout dif...

Guest: Justin Benlolo

April 17, 2025

E264 The Itch On Tour: Superbloom and Footballhead

This week, we're scratching The Itch to bloom! Aaron had quite an unusual adventure seeing Superbloom and Footballhead at the Cobra Lounge in Chicago, so we had to discuss the oddities of the evening and how he might be the u...

April 15, 2025

E263 Cody Hanson of Hinder on Divorced Dad Rock, Honest Songwriting, Longevity, and the Importance of Timing

This week, we're scratching The Itch for extreme behavior. Cody Hanson of Hinder joins us this week for what turns into a roundtable talk about Bring Me Back to Life , the band's first new album since 2017. He discusses what ...

Guest: Cody Hanson

April 8, 2025

E262 Devour the Day on Border Patrol, Enjoying the Adventure, and Opening for Themselves with Pop Evil

This week, we're scratching The Itch to multitask! Blake Allison and Joey "Chicago" Walser formed Egypt Central in 2002, then Devour the Day in 2012, and most recently have both become members of Pop Evil . Being together in ...

Guest: Devour the Day