Talkin' Rock With Meltdown Podcast

Two monstrous metal/rock musicians are on Talkin' Rock.
Wolf Hoffman is up first. The new Accept tribute album is out now. Teutonic Titans 1976-2026 has 50 guest artists covering 19 classic Accept songs. We talk about the process of starting this project, the massive rockers on it, whether any former members were a part of the album, and more. What's in Accept's future? Does he see an end to the legendary band? These questions and more will be answered.
Davud Ellefson is next. The bassist is now part of Metal Church, a band he's loved for years and is happy to be a part of. David says his focus has been on the band and not so much on other ventures as he's done in the past. We discuss his favorite Megadeth album, whether he'll stick around to see his former band play when they share the stage at Louder Than Life next week, and much more.
David's been a friend for years, and I'm glad to see him loving what he's doing on and off the stage.
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I spoke with Rik Emmett earlier today and thought it was so good I didn't want to wait to post it. Yes, I know I posted an interview already today (with Gene Simmons), but it's my podcast, and I make the rules!
Obviously, I had to ask Rik about the tour and putting the band back together with some help from Phil X, Brent Fitz, and Todd Kerns. He was all about talking about that, Mike Levin not playing any of the shows, and the "Summer of Canadian Rock Trios" with Rush getting back on the road in 2026.
Then, it's a classic interview with Fred Durst and Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit from 2010. This interview aired on WRIF but was never posted online, so here it is. It's cool to go back and listen to how the guys split and got back together. There are also some other cultural references, including a social media interaction with Neil Diamond. You may or may not recall that.
Enjoy these two interviews.
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It's always a thrill to talk with "The Demon" Gene Simmons of KISS. The dude is a rock icon, and he's coming to UWM Field in Utica on September 20th, along with Derek St Holmes and Kaliedo.
Gene was gracious with his time as we spoke for thirty minutes about his upbringing, recently turning 77 years old, his solo band and KISS, and lots more.
What's the best non-musical financial decision he ever made? How have he and Paul Stanley remained so tight over all these years? How much unreleased KISS material remains in the vault? Those are some of the questions Gene answered along with his thoughts on his son's band, Stanley/Simmons, touring with RUSH, and much more.
Give the interview a listen, then grab your tickets to see Gene at the USPBL Fall Music Classic at UWM Field in Utica, Michigan.
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Battle Axes: A Hard Rockin' History Of Pointy Guitars is the book out now by Canadian author/musician Sean Kelly.
Talking with Sean was a blast! I'm not a guitar player, but I've seen a few in my life. Many with "pointy" guitars. Sean briefly dug into the history of how guitars got pointy and who played them. He showed off some of his own (the video will be posted next week) and his favorites.
Sean is a Canadian musician who's played with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Cooney Hatch, Honemoon Suite, and many more. He's been around a guitar or six, and tells great stories of getting some meg-rock stars to contribute to the book, some misses, and everything in between.
This is a fun conversation. Go grab the book wherever you buy books; it's out now!
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Great to reconnect with Phil Collen of Def Leppard. If you didn't know, he has some other projects outside of his main band. One of them is a band called Man Raze. Back in May, they dropped their Lock, Stock & Barrel (Complete Recordings 2008-2011) Phil tells me about that, along with another project he's in called Crossbone Skully with Tommy Henriksen of Alice Cooper, and the great Mutt Lange.
As he brought that up, I had to ask him about the impact that Mutt had on Def Leppard. Let's just say that Phil gave Mutt a LOT of credit for their success.
We talked about new music, upcoming tours, residencies, and lots more.
Thanks to Phil for the time and to you for listening.
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