PODCASTS

Episode 11 — March 30, 2022

Build Your Own Monster

You know when you’ve eaten a meal and instantly knew you had to go back for seconds? The same can be said for discussing music with Eric Beetner of Go! Dog! Go! and Build Your Own Monster, so that’s exactly what we did.

In order for there to be “seconds”, there must have been a “first”. Luckily, we have that for you. Keith R. Higgons and me, (Rob Janicke) interviewed Eric to discuss all things Go! Dog! Go! here and it was a blast.

Part II delves into Eric’s second band, Build Your Own Monster. Musically, both bands have Eric’s sonic stamp on them, but BYOM delivers a bit of an updated sound, a new bass player, and pulls a few more of the band’s influences into the mix.

Released in 2000, Build Your Own Monster’s debut (and only) album, Giant-Sized Wonderment picks up, sort of, where Go! Dog! Go! left off.

The aggressive, post-hardcore stylings are there, along with the punk sensibilities of bands like Fugazi and Quicksand. Giant-Sized Wonderment though finds a way to weave in hints of Husker Du, Nirvana, and At The Drive-In.

Talking with Eric was fun, insightful, and really shined a light on the difficulties of the business side of record labels, poor marketing, touring, and a lot more.