This week I chat with three of the members of Forget The Whale, a seven piece Indie band from Jersey City. Joining me are Dan Pieraccini (bass), AJ Zienowicz (drummer) and Pete Durning (guitarist). With the band as creative outlet, everyone's a songwriter! We talk about each of their approaches to that, and how they develop their arrangements.

Look out for their upcoming EP, "Stick With Me Kid", that comes out on May 8, 2026.

BBQ sauce that the jingle song was written for:

https://kinziefoods.com/

Songs played in the interview:

"I Know Where You've Been", Forget The Whale (Jamendo Licensing)

"Clocks", Forget The Whale (Jamendo Licensing)

" Carry Your Own Weight ", Forget The Whale (Jamendo Licensing)

[Forget The Whale songs are licensed for the published interview through Jamendo Licensing and the band has given us permission directly to use his music related images in associated thumbnails.]

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This week I'm spinning a Latin groove song using lots of different vocal textures, and I've got some acoustic Blues. There's a Queen sounds-similar song. Some slow Jazz from Paris. And an intriguing song sung in Arabic and French. We'll look at stepwise harmonic motion and vocal gymnastics. I'll spin songs from Nick Falcon, Dazie Mae, Alfonso Lugo, Danzberg Music, and Elyes Landoulsi.

In Hits and Hooks Vignettes, we play some great tunes and lift the hood to see what makes them tick. HHV is a music podcast about how songs keep listeners engaged through hooks, structure, and subtle musical decisions.

Follow Hits and Hooks Vignettes, and join me, TuneMoose Matt Bates, for a weekly short walk through musicland! Hits and Hooks Vignettes is produced by Everyone's A Star Records, and hosted by TuneMoose Matt Bates.

Songs In This Episode:

Alfonso_Lugo_-_Alfonso_Lugo_(Feat._Jasmine_Crowe) (Jamendo Licensing)

Bralitz_-_Dinner_Plans

Danzberg-Music_-_Welcome_To_Euphoria

Dazie_Mae_-_Time_With_My_Lover

Elyes_Landoulsi_-_Eddhamir

Music Inserts:

TuneMoose Matt Bates, "India Lake" (Everyone's A Star Records)

TuneMoose Matt Bates, "Everythin' 'Bout Love" (Everyone's A Star Records)

TuneMoose Matt Bates, "The Arival" (Everyone's A Star Records)

Keywords:

music, song analysis, hooks, melody, harmony, rhythm, genre, songwriting, engagement, recording, mixing, production, instruments, performance

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This week I chat with Nashville Indie artist Jon Worthy about three of his original songs, his recent South America tour, and the Nashville scene. He's a busy guy managing every aspect of his career. He tells us about his successes in music syncing business with over 400 songs picked up. Listen in for all the details.

You can hear Jon's music at...

https://jonworthy.bandcamp.com/ (Bandcamp)

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jon-worthy/1004258932 (Apple Music)

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Jo3IYxXbnkBX8irFxeGX2 (Spotify)

And follow him on...

https://jonworthythebends.com/ (Website)

https://www.instagram.com/jonworthymusic/ (Instagram)

https://www.tiktok.com/search?lang=en&q=jon%20worthy&t=1775867647630 (TikTok)

Songs played in the interview:

"To Love", Jon Worthy (Jamendo Licensing)

"Who I Am", Jon Worthy (Jamendo Licensing)

"Song YW", Jon Worthy (Jamendo Licensing)

[Jon's songs are licensed for the published interview through Jamendo Licensing and he has given us permission directly to use his music related images for the YouTube video version.]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.