#66 - Jordan Criss and Ben Kapolnek: Football, Music, and Storytelling
In this episode, we are joined by Jordan Criss and Ben Kapolnek. Both of them are long time guests and been features of this podcast from the beginning!
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In this conversation starts with a discussion opening of American football season. From sports, we enter into a conversation around music touching on the artists we enjoy or have made an impact on us. For Ben and myself, we've always connected with Tom Delonge of Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves.
We also talk about concept albums; albums meant to be listened to in sequence. Erich share a recent album of Mike Posner A Real Good Kid - The album shares how Mike dealt with the loss of his father. We highly recommend you give this a listen! Also check out his walk across America!
We close with a discussion around storytelling. We mostly centered around impactful films like The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. We talk about what makes characters compelling. Why do we enjoy characters with nuance and flaws more than black and white?
"It's funny now that I'm talking about it out loud where its like I've always enjoyed nuance and depth. Especially within characters. Nothing is ever as cut and dry as it seems like on the surface. I think adding that complexity to characters makes them more compelling or at least interesting. Because it makes them more like us." - Erich Wenzel
It's not a stretch to have see an entire podcast on many these topics! Let us know if there's a favorite we should cover sooner than later!
Show Notes:
[00:05:02] - First episode with Jordan and Ben - #9 Addiction
[00:05:09] - Football Sunday
[00:06:59] - Payton Manning / Mike Ditka Skits
[00:08:04] - Chicago Bears 100th Season
[00:08:44] - Lombardi Trophy
[00:09:10] - First time Bears opened a season
[00:09:44] - Chicago is known for a strong defense
[00:10:24] - Mitch Trubisky
[00:11:39] - Jordan's MVP candidates for this year
[00:12:54] - Can you imagine this play didn't end in a touch down?
[00:14:34] - Hype around the Bears team
[00:15:34] - Jordan is a huge Patriots fan
[00:16:29] - Drew Bludsoe the quarterback before Tom Brady
[00:17:44] - The Tom Brady story
[00:18:14] - "Everyone wants the underdog until its their team that's winning all the time."
[00:18:59] - Everyone hates on you when you're not a fan of the home team.
[00:20:14] - Jordan does not like Eli Manning
[00:21:14] - Music tangent
[00:21:44] - Nick Wenzel's music taste
[00:22:29] - Spotify shoutout
[00:23:14] - Linkin Park
[00:24:29] - Blink-182
[00:25:14] - Angels and Airwaves
[00:25:54] - Tom DeLonge always had a dream to create a multimedia blending or music, video and storytelling.
[00:26:14] - Album Love Part 1 and Part 2
[00:26:54] - Ernie Ball Tom Delonge Documentary (Secret Link)
[00:27:54] - How Blink-182 got there first show to sell tickets.
[00:28:54] - Where did the name Blink-182 comes from?
[00:30:44] - Angels and Airwaves movie
[00:31:04] - Kanye West "The Wall" Pink Floyd
[00:31:34] - Tom's Co Authored Books and released EP albums to immerse yourself while reading
[00:33:14] - Travis Barker on JRE
[00:34:34] - Letters to God Part 1 and Part 2
[00:34:54] - Listening to albums out of order
[00:35:34] - Why do artists choose the album name from on one song
[00:36:14] - Mike Posner - A Real Good Kid
[00:37:24] - Mike Posner's Walk Across America
[00:37:54] - Wearables: Meet Whoop and Oura Ring
[00:39:44] - Mike Posner getting bite by a rattlesnake
[00:40:34] - Jordan doesn't like nature
[00:41:04] - Australia everything wants to kill you
[00:43:44] - Thoughts on concept albums and the creative process
[00:45:04] - Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid Mad City
[00:45:59] - Shout out to Saint Ripley
[00:47:04] - Talking about All Day - Glorifying and Demonizing Addiction at the same time.
[00:48:24] - Jordan's favorite song is Roses
[00:48:44] - Saint Ripley's Show September 20 Save Money Save Life
[00:52:44] - Post Malone and Ozzy Osborne Song
[00:53:44] - The younger generation not realizing that he already is a legend
[00:54:54] - Sunflower by Post Malone
[00:55:39] - Post Malone is unapologetically himself
[00:55:54] - I Fall Apart by Post Malone
[00:56:24] - Ben draws the line at Fallout Boy
[00:57:54] - If you have the balls to go out and create something they way you want to create it. I'm going to respect you - Ben Kapolnek
[00:58:44] - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
[00:59:14] - Matrix 4
[01:00:29] - Thoughts on the Matrix Trilogy
[01:01:29] - Archetypal Stories
[01:02:24] - Harry Potter
[01:02:44] - Least favorite Harry Potter Movies - BIG Ass Snake
[01:04:04] - Track one of Jordan's Concept Album - Big Ass Snake
[01:04:44] - Why Ben enjoys the first Harry Potter movie - It was what bought the series to life
[01:06:24] - The themes of Harry Potter
[01:07:14] - When you are successful the audience has expectations
[01:08:34] - Dream movie would be a Horror/ Thriller Darth Vader Film
[01:09:44] - Darth Maul is still one of our favorite characters
[01:11:14] - Does George Lucas have a say in the spin offs like books, games, comic books?
[01:12:14] - People will know if you do Star Wars wrong
[01:13:34] - Jordan's critique on Star Wars: Darth Sidiuous was too one dimensional - Evil for evil's sake
[01:14:54] - Darth Plagueis Book - The Backstory of Darth Sidiuous
[01:15:44] - Darth Sidiuous represents absolute evil
[01:16:24] - Star Wars is Darth Vader's / Anakin's Story
[01:17:44] - The comic books add texture to Darth Vader's character
[01:18:34] - Enjoying nuance and depth within in characters
[01:19:44] - Marvel is in the same view of world building
[01:22:14] - Video games are the most daunting multimedia project
[01:23:14] - Elder Scrolls series
Other Episodes you might like:
#61 - Jordan Criss: Creating With A Purpose
#45 - Ben Kapolnek: Invisible Battles
#44 - Dante Brooks and Jordan Criss: Cultural Chameleons
Checkout our blogs:
The One Who Wears The Mask by Jordan Criss
Poem - Digging the Hole by Erich Wenzel
Spiraling Upwards: A Poem on Being by Joe Jackowski
Connect with Us on Social Media:
Twitter: @erichwenzel & @feedingcuriosity1
Instagram: @evwenzel & @feedcuriosity
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