THE SECRET EPISODE! Not actually, but we're still glad you're here for another conversation centering around music paralysis, curiosity, discovery, and the human experience. Today on the show, the Spicy Boys had Phoenix, AZ-based comedian and friendly neighborhood Erick Biez (a.k.a. Tony Gonzalez) by for a chat on Graveyard's 2018 LP "Peace" We taped this episode early in 2022 and given Erick's ilk [as a comic], we found particular value in dusting this episode off and getting it to your earholes. By all objective assessments, it's been a rough year and sometimes we just need a little silliness and levity. So we hope the official Season 2 Poker Night Episode brings you a laugh or two or three and also opens your heart and mind to some tasty hard rock with some deep soulful vibes. Check out the full show notes here for all kinds of tasty accoutrement.

Victoria Shen is a life-force of insanely creative ideas and commanding performances. We had a lot of fun sitting down with her and talking about her process, how she creates sound devices, AI rendering, iron oxide tattoos, and so much more. Be sure to check the show notes on our website to get in on more of the fun!

Have you ever bore witness to the sparking of an amazing friendship: one which will transcend time and space, stand up to the weathering of the ages, and bring mere mortals to the edge of pure wonderment and awe?

Season 2 Episode 12 is one such moment, so hold on and get ready for the ride along with your hosts, Connor and Andrew, and their guest Sim Bartholomew of Sydney-based orchestral-experimental-math-post-rock ensemble SEIMS.

Originally conceived as a learning project, SEIMS' "FOUR" debuted at #7 on Australia's Independent charts following its release in October 2021 and will be featured on the Saturday main stage at ArcTanGent 2022 in Compton Martin, England this August. Check out the spiciest of spicy show notes on virginearspodcast.com

Oh, and remember: send memes.

It's been a really interesting experience kicking off a podcast as a "pandemic project" – rarely, if ever, sitting in the same room as co-hosts and almost never sharing a space with our guests. Despite the challenges of producing this show remotely, these conversations have remained engaging, enlightening, fun, and have quenched the thirst that is our curiosity for human beings. 

In today's episode, we broke the mold a bit and invited the entire roster of Phoenix, Ariz. based "downer shoegaze" ensemble Ghost Island to join us in a discussion of Sigur Rós' 2002 LP "( )" We hope you enjoy today's episode with our guests Roddy, John, and Michael of Ghost Island. Get the full SHOW NOTES HERE. NOTE: In this episode, John (of Ghost Island) posits that Hammock brought a significant following to the project from previous projects which, as John suggests, were religious in nature. Hammock has disagreed with this assumption. Virgin Ears, at its core, is a project that seeks to highlight experiences from diverse and varied backgrounds. Virgin Ears values all opinions and perspectives as a means to kick off discussion and discourse and as such will not amend this episode to exclude this statement (00:18:48) and instead include this note.

One of the best things about this podcast is getting to connect with truly amazing creatives that we know or know of by just a few degrees of separation; people that have been locked in some lovely binary orbit with us, drifting through time and space. This episode's guest is one such person. Micah Hummel is a percussionist and musician based out of Portland, OR who has an incredible list of contribution credits to his name and who, by way of the pandemic, will be releasing his first solo offering later this year on an instrument he, for all intents and purposes, just picked up. We hope you enjoy today's episode with our guest, Micah Hummel. Get the full SHOW NOTES HERE.

This season has truly been a joy to book and record. We have had the opportunity to connect with some incredibly intelligent, kind, and fun creatives, like the guest of this episode: Ivana Dama. 

Ivana Dama is a sound artist and researcher who is challenging the was ways we think about and produce sound. She is a current artist in residence at The Har­vest­works Art and Tech­nol­o­gy Pro­gram on Gov­er­nors Island, with her work Command and Control. Listen in to hear more about her fascinating work and find the deeper show notes HERE.

CJ Boyd brought to us the lovely, experimental sounds of Cher Von and her Banyan Tree EP. This is a great entry point for anyone curious about exploring experimental music.

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CJ Boyd dropped a live album, via Gold Lion Arts, in February of 2022. All of the proceeds go directly to the Tucson Abortion Support Collective! Please go out and support our lovely guest, and most importantly, the idea that women, trans people, and gender nonconforming individuals have ownership over their own bodies and the basic human right to have safe access to abortions.

Donate to Tucson Abortion Support Collective Here

Visit Show Notes Here

Jess Tsang brings her discerning palate to spicy town this week and wows the Boys with the sweet and dynamic sounds of Ben Sertetan's  2020 release, Youth Pastoral.

Jess came to us from Brooklyn, NY, where she lives, works, and inspires as a percussionist and sound artist/innovator as well as a curator of beer-flavored sonic vibrations. Jess has also recently released an album of solo work called Sound Shadows; check it out!

Click Here for Show Notes