As I've previously stated, every mix I put together is totally instinctual. And after batting around this collection of songs for a few months, I landed on the title because it's the name of my dear friend Harris' latest single with his project Name Brand Safe.
It asks simply, "What If It All Works Out?" As far as the cover image? I was hanging out with my friend Christie Gee a few days back, showing her a lot of the cool movie locations in South Pasadena, and she brought along her little mascot, Ghost Dee, and posed him in front of things like the Michael Myers house and Doc Brown's house from BACK TO THE FUTURE! That picture, in particular, just felt right for this.
2026, Vol. 3: What If It All Works Out?
1. Reward the Scars by Korn 2. Get To It by Quicksand 3. Devateen by The Afghan Whigs 4. Sweet Hallelujah by Royel Otis 5. Cryogen by Muse 6. drop dead by Olivia Rodrigo 7. Stone Over Water by Death Cab For Cutie 8. Sinner Systems by Dead Poet Society 9. It's For The Kids by Anthrax 10. Lord of the Underground by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies 11. Seconds Before The Sunrise by Dean Lewis 12. Every Part Of Youth by Playing Dead 13. Chance Encounters by The Menzingers 14. Seven Degrees by Friko 15. Better Than Before by Pamela. 16. Coming On Strong by Bloc Party 17. Twizzler by Cigarettes After Sex 18. Starless by A Perfect Circle 19. Someday Soon by Failure 20. Window by Foo Fighters 21. Sleep It Off by Brockoff 22. Always Everything by Will Sheff & Okkervil River 23. Beat It (Demo) by Michael Jackson 24. Switch Up by Mike D 25. Prey by Ganger Baster 26. What If It All Works Out by Name Brand Safe 27. Life Is A Long Goodbye by Young the Giant 28. When I Die Will I Miss Living by Luke Spiller
Believe it or not, sometimes I spend weeks, even months, testing my mixes before publicly sharing them. The order of any mix is THAT important to me, so I have to get it just right. And that's how I've done it since I started these (mostly) quarterly playlists back in 2020. Volume 2 for 2026 was a stubborn one! But after listening repeatedly in the car on my daily drives, contemplating moving one song up, or one song later down the line, there's no better feeling than when you absolutely nail it and you start a mix from the beginning and it feels and sounds seamless.
Why put in all this work and effort? If maybe people don't even listen or just skip around? I don't know, it's just important to me! And if one person appreciates it, then it was worth it. I guess this is my way of saying that any time I have shared a playlist in the past 6 years, I promise you I didn't just throw a bunch of songs together and put them out. I put a lot of thought and heart into creating an experience, and even if it's just for me, so be it. Even if just one song stands out and sends someone down the rabbit hole of that artists back catalog, then it was totally worth it. It's happened to me before!
I know it's been a really, really tough time for everyone out there. So, I used this photo of Alisa on one of her epic hikes, and paired it with the title, "Just Beyond The Horizon." Because I truly believe if you've been going through it, hang in there. Your celebratory "arms in the air" pose is coming. This time, I'll let the songs speak for themselves. ENJOY!
2026, Vol. 2: Just Beyond The Horizon
1. Dammit by Alexandra Kay 2. Arrow (Ghost No. 2) by The Head and the Heart 3. Where the Trees Remember Me by Name Brand Safe 4. Twisting The Knife by Ice Nine Kills featuring McKenna Grace 5. Kerosene by The Warning 6. Circles by Christian Alexander 7. Enjoy It Will It Lasts by Dean Lewis 8. as i wave goodbye by Artemas 9. leaving is easy by almost monday 10. All In Now by Dogstar 11. Rewire by Corella 12. WIRED by Basement 13. Riptides by Death Cab For Cutie 14. The Biggest Dick by Amy Shark 15. Red Car by Ty Teg 16. SORRY! CRASH! by Ecca Vandal 17. Threshold by Sevendust 18. BREAK AWAY by Execution Day 19. You Get One by The Plot In You 20. House Of I by The Afghan Whigs 21. zombies in love by paris jackson 22. let it be loud! by 20:02 23. Lovelorn by DATE OF BIRTH 24. Island Of One by Miki Berenyi Trio 25. Superwayne (Jason Griff remix) featuring Alaska Atoms by Playing Dead 26. Shine Again by Weezer 27. Going Shopping by The Strokes 28. Deja Vu by Pixie McCann 29. Days We Left Behind by Paul McCartney
I love making mixes. I love sharing new music. But in the past 6 years, what I've loved about getting into this habit of sharing new bi-monthly "playlists" is that they truly become time capsules of specific moments in time; soundtracks to various ups and downs of my life. Back in December, I had no clear vision for what anything in 2026 would like like, at all. It made me nervous and anxious. With no job prospects in sight and the period between Thanksgiving break and February being a complete dead zone for the entertainment industry, I looked up flights to Paris, France, put it on my credit card and took off for a month to be with my beloved Alisa. It beat sitting around my apartment doing nothing for a month, especially considering one full year back, all of LA was literally on fire!
This mix started with Morrissey. He's had an album sitting on the shelves for years now. Without any announcement, the first single dropped just as I was getting settled into our Paris apartment. And it was titled "Make-Up Is A Lie," and it opens with the line, "I found myself in Paris..." Well, there's the opener, for sure! Later, the second single would be "Notre-Dame," which Alisa and I went to visit. Who knew Morrissey's long buried album was all about Paris!
During that time, Megadeth released their self-titled final album. And I've always been a huge Megadeth fan, so I picked an unlikely non-single for this mix which has its fair share of super heavy bangers, thanks to Sevendust, Atreyu, HEALTH, and Poppy's inclusion! Brand new discoveries include Young The Giant, Artemes, Wisp, and HIMALAYAS. We have new songs from artists I've already liked such as Alice Merton, Voxtrot, and Ruth B. I like that I have a "love" theme that starts with Holly Humberstone's "To Love Somebody" through The Warning's collaboration with Carín León "Love To Be Loved."
Cover songs? Can't beat the 3 track consecutive run with Madi Diaz's "All The Small Things" (Blink 182), my dear friend Harris' new single with Name Brand Safe "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (The Proclaimers), and Wisp's version of "Yellow" (Coldplay). Speaking of Wisp, what a great new discovery! Having just recently finished Miki Berenyi's autobiography "Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success" about her time in the band Lush, it's beyond wild to hear a new, young artist proudly carrying forward the "shoe-gaze" subgenre!
Last week, I'm sitting at a coffee shop I'd never been to before and as I'm sipping my cappuccino, this amazing song is playing over the shop's speaker system. One quick Shazam later, and I discovered it was the song "Miss" by Florence Road, an all-female Irish band! It's a song that plays acoustically for the first half, and honestly, had I sampled it on its own, might've turned it off, but there's such a drastic shift at the 2 minute mark that's so rockin', I was just so impressed with the songwriting of this one song! And I loved that I only discovered it by being open enough to walk into a new environment I didn't plan to! That is the magic of music. (And a little fate.)
I say it every time and I mean it every time, this could be my best mix yet! I'll leave it for you to decide, and hopefully something on here will turn you on.
2026, Vol. 1: Salutations de Paris!
1. Make-Up Is A Lie by Morrissey 2. TRASH DECADE by HEALTH 3. Visions by Alice Merton 4. Preaching The End Of The World by King Ultramega featuring Ian Thornley & Pete Thorn) 5. Bruised Sky by Poppy 6. Another Bad Day by Megadeth 7. Guide light by Wisp 8. Miss by Florence Road 9. Ego Death by Atreyu 10. Every Once In A Blue Moon by a!ka 11. My Peace by Voxtrot 12. To Love Somebody by Holly Humberstone 13. Different Kind Of Love by Young the Giant 14. Love To Be Loved by The Warning & Carín León 15. Storm by Ruth B. 16. BLEACH by Ecca Vandal 17. Is This The Real You by Sevendust 18. Twisted Reflections by HIMALAYAS 19. professional heartbreaker by Artemas 20. God's Lonely Man by Anna Calvi & Iggy Pop 21. All the Small Things by Madi Diaz 22. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Name Brand Safe 23. Yellow by Wisp 24. No Damn Good by Le Matos 25. Votive by The New Pornographers 26. two thousand two by half-life souvenir 27. Notre-Dame by Morrissey
Wow, another year gone by. The thing I really enjoy about making these mixes is that they truly have become time capsules of different periods of my life. Even going back just a few years, a collection from 2022 will immediately remind me of that time period and play like a soundtrack to my life in that given moment.
So, now we come to the end of 2025, and there was so much good music this year that I made a total of 9 (!) volumes! As always, I've collected all of this years mixes together for one "master playlist" and added a handful of "bonus tracks." They serve as Mix 10 if you want to get technical about it. Or if you're just now tuning in, you've got about 259 songs to listen to! Hope you enjoy the ride as much as I did making 'em!
2025, The Master Playlist (BONUS TRACKS) 238. The Day I Tried To Live by King Ultramega (feat. Kim Thayil & Alissa White-Gluz) 239. Guardian by Poppy 240. Easy Peeler by Brockhoff 241. Partners by hemwick witch 242. MOLLY by Ecca Vandal 243. Cruel Intentions by Alice Merton 244. FIG TREE by sleepazoid 245. Welcome To Lonely Club by Alan Walker and Steve Aoki 246. Atlantic City (Electric Nebraska) by Bruce Springsteen 247. If I Could Fly by Scott Weiland 248. I Want You (Fever) by Momma 249. Kurt Cobain's Cardigan by The Pains of Being Pure At Heart 250. helix by Night Tapes 251. Doldrum Days by Miki Berenyi Trio 252. Train Dreams by Nick Cave 253. Nothin' by Guns N' Roses 254. Atlas by Guns N' Roses 255. Seek & Destroy by Testament 256. Free As A Bird (2025 Mix) by The Beatles 257. Real Love (2025 Mix) by The Beatles 258. Now And Then by The Beatles 259. We're The Lucky Ones by Dubstar
I love music. I love discovering new music. And I love sharing new music! Which is why I've gotten into the habit of doing these quarterly mixes. But this year, it's now November and I proudly present the 9th (!) volume, because there's just been that much good music this year!
The inspiration behind the title! I randomly stumbled upon this band Home Front via their song "Eulogy," and that opening line hit me like a ton of bricks! "I'm not afraid to die. It's the living part that's hard..." And I knew that had to be the title of this collection! And it's one of the most diverse I've put together!
Welcome new music from Rob Zombie, Megadeth, HEALTH. Surprise returns from Sugar, Earshot, Shudder To Think, Jimmy Eat World, Guided By Voices! My new discoveries include Dolo Tonight, sleepazoid, Of Monsters and Men. Unto Others "What I Did..." has to be one of the darkest songs I've stumbled upon in recent years! Just gnarly lyrics, and yet a catchy, bombastic punk tune. Speaking of punk, how about Rancid covering Motorhead! Or Filter covering Billie Eilish, or Cigarettes After Sex covering The Doors! Durry, being one of my favorite new bands, I had to include their single "idk i just work here," which has become my anthem this past month!
This mix pretty much has it all. For those that have long drives ahead for Thanksgiving weekend, I hope this mix can keep you company, introduce you to some new artists, and inspire! Enjoy!
2025, Vol. 9: It's The Living Part That's Hard
1. NEW AGE by sleepazoid 2. Ignorance Is Bliss by Alice Merton 3. Tipping Point by Megadeth 4. Punks And Demons by Rob Zombie 5. Out Of My hands by Earshot 6. What I Did... by Unto Others 7. VIBE COP by HEALTH 8. House of Dead Memories by Sugar 9. Forever Elsewhere by Weird Nightmare 10. Stop by 1000 Years 11. A Series of Unfortunate Events by a!ka 12. Two Pens by Dolo Tonight 13. idk i just work here by Durry 14. Moonshine by Alan Walker & Elley Duhé 15. Love & Affection by Hands Like Houses 16. Fruit Bat by Of Monsters and Men 17. Lady Moon by Perturbator featuring Greta Link 18. Eulogy by Home Front 19. Talk to You by Sam Fender & Elton John 20. Changes by Charlie Puth 21. Sex & Death by Rancid 22. Lucy's World by Guided By Voices 23. Bad Guy by Filter 24. Martyrs by Chateau Rouge 25. Shadow Life by Julien-K 26. Seay My Name by AL1CE 27. The Crystal Ship by Cigarettes After Sex 28. I See a Darkness by Anna Calvi & Perfume Genius 29. Asking For A Friend by Foo Fighters 30. Thirst Walk by Shudder To Think 31. Failure by Jimmy Eat World
I think the two greatest discoveries on this mix, and the ones that became the foundation I built around, were the saturday at your place and Ripe songs. The simple, curse-ladened straight forward catchy melody and lyrics of the track, "what am i supposed to do?" are irresistible. Thankfully, the rest of their album, "these things happen" is just as great! As far as Ripe, I briefly mistook them for an old Sub Pop band whose single I had from the late 90s, but it's not them! Totally different band. I was so taken about by the beauty in the lyrics to "Lonely Magician."
So now for your next trick You'll cut yourself in two Separate pieces Then fix yourself with glue Made from your heartache I hate to watch as you learn the hard way
This is why I love making and curating these mixes as much as I do. Not just to introduce new music to others, but to find new music for myself too.
We've also got new music from The Smashing Pumpkins (dropping a new surprise rockin' single!), a very welcome return from The Black Heart Procession who hasn't put out new music in YEARS! They'd been on my mind a lot lately because they feature so prominently in the opening of Jeremy Kasten's WIZARD OF GORE remake, and our conversation about that is featured in my new book, Icons Of Fright: 100 Interviews With Legendary Horror Filmmakers!
The track "4U" is from Rona Rapadas, one of my old Amoeba Music co-workers! When I used to fly back into Burbank Airport from a long trip, I'd always spot the Amoeba billboard in the long hall of the airport and Rona was featured so prominently in that ad. It always brought me a bit of comfort seeing her in that ad and it made me feel like this crazy city was always welcoming me home! She has a beautiful new EP out called "Our Blood," and that's where that song comes from.
I love that Sub Pop has re-issued and remastered Six Finger Satellite's classic sci-fi punk album "Severe Exposure," because it gives me a chance to feature them on this mix! New songs from Florence + The Machine, Bouncing Souls, Deftones! Thank you, NCIS: TONY & ZIVA for introducing me to the French song "Le bateau coule" by Louane. And bless the YouTube algorithms for bringing me Lavaros' cover of The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony."
A few heavy tunes, including Mudvayne's "Hurt People Hurt People," a title I was so tempted to title this mix with, especially since I posted a random musings video with this idea. But the world is dark enough as it is! That's why I, instead, decided to go with Ninja Sex Party's cover of "The Power Of Love" and paired it with the above photo that Alisa's mom took of the two of us while hiking the Hollywood sign. At the end of the day, love triumphs over all else.
I discovered The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (hell of a long band name!) and used one of their tunes on the last mix, but this time, I'm closing out this mix with their epic "Reject All and Submit." Such a cool band and sound! I say it every time because it's true every time, this is my best mix yet! Enjoy! 2025, Vol. 8: Can You Feel It? 1. Behind The Clock by AFI 2. what am i supposed to do? by saturdays at your place 3. Lonely Magician by Ripe 4. The Power Of Love by Ninja Sex Party 5. United by Bouncing Souls 6. Pretty by NewDad 7. enjoy the ride by almost monday 8. where did you go? by We Came As Romans 9. Hurt People Hurt People by Mudvayne 10. I Am The Dark by Ghosts in the Graveyard 11. Parlour Games by Six Finger Satellite 12. Old Habits by Alan Walker (feat. farruko & Sofia Reyes) 13. Le bateau coule by Louane 14. Chrome Jets by The Smashing Pumpkins 15. Following by The Black Heart Procession 16. Unravelling (Ghost Town Version) by Muse 17. Bitter Sweet Symphony by Lavaros 18. ecdysis by Deftones 19. 4U by Rona Rapadas 20. ORDINARY LOSS by HEALTH 21. Everybody Scream by Florence + The Machine 22. Mind Games (Signals Mix) by Collide 23. Reject All and Submit by The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
On Friday, August 15th, my birthday! The song "Kill Your Ego" by my band Pike Project, played in a scene of Episode 7 "Course Correction" of DEXTER: RESURRECTION, complete with Michael C Hall's infamous Dexter Morgan narration. The ultimate birthday gift!
If you'd be so kind, I'd appreciate you all checking out "Kill Your Ego" on whatever streaming platform you use.
Making music is a strange thing. I love making it, but we're not an active touring band, so it's not easy to be noticed. These Pike Project songs were the one positive to come out of the worst period of my life, so them finding any new life three years after their initial release is amazing to me. (And also a motivator to finally start finishing up the long dormant follow-up album!)
Pike Project has also been added to the official DEXTER: RESURRECTION Spotify playlist! So, if you want a full breakdown of EVERY song that played this season, here you go!
So, search "Pike Project" wherever you listen to music, or just stream it below, LOUDLY! 🤘🏻✌🏻🎶
