Popular culture influenced Giorgio A. Tsoukalos at an early age, as one of his cherished childhood memories was attending a Star Wars exhibit with his father in Germany in the 1980s. He would later learn that the replicas of costumes and sets were not actually used in the films, but it was a small introduction into the world of conventions.

When the film magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland invited Tsoukalos to their booth at San Diego Comic Con in the 2010s, his television series Ancient Aliens had already amassed a significant following in the few years it had been on the air. It was his first real taste of meeting fans of the show in a controlled setting and made for a wonderful first convention experience.

Since then, Tsoukalos has appeared at numerous conventions and given fans behind-the-scenes accounts of his career as a sports promoter, television host and magazine publisher. The chance to interact with his audience is something that still astonishes him to this day, especially when he can immediately tell they are fans of Ancient Aliens.

“I can’t tell you how many times people at conventions like this have come up dressed as me,” he said. “That’s still to this day very surreal, very awesome. If you would have told me that 15 years ago, ‘one day they’re going to dress up as you as a cosplay’ I’d be like, ‘yeah, yeah, whatever’. I love my fans. I really think that I’ve got the best fans in the world. What more can I ask for?”

Attending conventions also gives him the opportunity to do two of his favorite things: reunite with old friends and add to his various collections. Tsoukalos said that he is a “collector of creatures” and loves searching for masks or busts to add to his treasure trove.

“If I see something like that, chances are I’m not going home empty-handed,” he said.

At Nightmare Weekend Chicago, Tsoukalos shared space with actor Butch Patrick, best known for his role as Eddie Munster on The Munsters. Tsoukalos and Patrick have known each other for more than a decade, having met through mutual friend Kevin Burns. Burns, who produced Ancient Aliens until his death in 2020, was a massive collector of The Munsters merchandise and struck up a friendship with Patrick while growing his collection. Getting to see each other throughout the weekend was just as special as seeing his fans.

From aliens to monsters and everything in between, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos can trace his interests back as far as he can remember. Getting to share those interests at conventions, with people equally as interested, can easily be considered as the best part of the job.

Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab

The Newport Music Hall in the mid-90s was something else. Located on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, it was, and still is, a staple venue for any national touring band on its way up, and it’s where I saw the majority of shows in my formative years.

My older brothers and I practically lived there and we saw some life changers - Bad Religion on their Stranger than Fiction tour (super rough pit), The Reverend Horton Heat every six months (like clockwork), the Foo Fighters on their first tour when people were just yelling at Dave Grohl to play Nirvana songs (he did NOT take it in stride), but there’s one that stands out above all; and that would be Tool.

Maynard and the fellas were touring the Ænima album and had not yet graduated to arenas, so in November of 1996 they rolled through town and absolutely blew the doors off the place. I think the only other show I saw that was louder was the Deftones, and I still maintain my cumulative hearing loss stems from that one.

Regardless, it was a good time to be 16 years old and angsty. Grungy grunge was in full swing, the industrial scene was freaky (incidentally, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral tour was my first show ever), and my brothers and I were huge fans of Tool but hadn’t seen them live yet. Now I had made the comment earlier that they hadn’t graduated to arenas, but they certainly already had that ‘arena’ sound and the Newport’s capacity is only 1,700. They were loud and intense and I think Maynard had fake boobs on. The crowd was ravenous.

I’m only three months into being 16, I’m 5’6” on a good day and 150 pounds that’s including my tough-guy chain wallet, and I’m smack dab in the middle of THE most aggressive pit that’s chock-full of ACTUAL tough guys. My one brother, Mick, loved a good pit, but he’s a bigger dude. I was more of a ‘pit adjacent’ guy and given my, ahem, petite carriage, I became a natural crowd surfer. I wasn’t going to dare try it at this show though as it was way too dangerous. I thought, “I’ll hang out at the back, still on the floor, but out of harm’s way.” Yeah well, the impetuousness of youth got me, and I flung myself into the middle of the scrum. It did not work out well.

I held my own for a couple songs but when “Hooker with a Penis” (yup) started, it happened… BAM! Knocked unconscious. Apparently, as I was being tossed back and forth like a voodoo doll in a washing machine, my head came into direct contact with the windmilling combat boot of a crowd surfer. All this was told to me by the incredibly nice, baldheaded shitkicker that pulled me off the ground and got me to safety. Well, ‘incredibly’ nice is a stretch; I think he said something like, “Stay off the floor you dumb fuck!”

There I was, sitting up against the wall on the side of the club by the door that lets you outside to smoke, bleeding, ears ringing, head exploding, “Undertow” playing on amps turned up to 11, no clue where my brothers are, and suddenly the reality of how bad it could have been starts to set in. ‘I could have been stomped to death’ I thought.

I would like to say I shook the pain off like old Chucky Bronson, but a tear or three was shed that night. Partly because of the pain, but mostly it was because I was freaked the fuck out. And the soundtrack to this lunacy was Tool, so you know, that didn’t help.

Eventually I found Mick and our other brother Jeff, dusted myself off for the encore and lived to get my ass kicked at other Newport concerts (like the aforementioned Bad Religion show). So sorry, bald guy who arguably saved my life that wild November night thirty years ago. I probably should have taken your advice, but dang it, I can’t live without passion.

Photo courtesy of Lillie Hollabaugh

Patrick “Poppy” Geoghan had one goal in mind when he began his freshman year at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music: form a band. A Bachelor of Music in Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship was going to help him write, perform and record music, but he had no intention of doing that as a solo artist.

On the first day of orientation, he met a fellow M.A.D.E. major, Spencer Ford, and they became fast friends. He watched Ford perform at an open mic night and knew he had found his lead singer.

“He was gathering us like Infinity Stones,” Ford joked.

One of his professors told him about Jack Dratch, a drummer from Philadelphia that was really impressing people. The three of them performed Chris Stapleton’s “I Was Wrong” at an open mic night and knew they had something special. As they began brainstorming what this band could look like, they agreed that they wanted to add a second guitar player. Another of Geoghan’s classmates, Trent Jones, gave him and Dratch a taste of his skills, and they inducted him into the band without formally sharing the news with Ford. Thus, the origin story of Pump Action.

Ford and Dratch, who initially was a Music Engineering Technology major, switched to Media Scoring and Production after their first semester while Geoghan stuck with M.A.D.E. and Jones learned the business side with a Bachelor in Music Industry. By the beginning of their junior year, the band had been living together and living through a global pandemic that gave them zero opportunities to play shows. They had a heart-to-heart conversation (at a Shake Shack, no less) about how serious they wanted the band to be. They collectively decided that yes, this was a project that they wanted to devote all their resources and energy to.

As senior year commenced, they realized that they all had different ideas of where the band should live post-graduation. They agreed to visit each city on the list - New York, Los Angeles, Nashville - to get a better idea of how it could elevate their music. It took two days of visiting Nashville for them to come to the conclusion that they did not need to visit the other cities.

“I think that it made the path to get from where we were as college graduates, or eventual college graduates, to professional musicians," Ford said.

They had seen friends and acquaintances make Nashville their home base and thrive. The music industry wasn’t a nebulous concept in Nashville; it was an obtainable goal thanks to a city full of people ready to welcome them in.

“One of the things that I found comfort in is having that community here,” Ford said. “Having that community of musicians here that are really, truly very supportive.”

Around the same time as their move to Nashville, their single “Maybe It’s You” caught fire. It taught them a powerful lesson on utilizing the internet as a resource.

“It transitioned us from lovable, music school friend band to people who don’t know us are catching wind of what we’re doing,” Ford said.

What they knew about a traditional path to releasing music with marketing plans and photo shoots seemingly disappeared as a video clip of them playing “Maybe It’s You” at a bar received five million views on TikTok. The song had yet to be recorded, so they dropped everything to get it released. A song that was recorded, mixed and mastered in their living room is still their most streamed song to date.

It seemed like an easy choice to utilize their social media platforms to get the word out about their music, but at the same time it was a philosophical struggle for Ford. He said that his mindset at the time was, ‘I don’t want to be an internet band. We’re not TikTok musicians.’ They have bachelor’s degrees in music. They did not stumble across the ability to play music or write songs. It was difficult to disregard the feeling of people not connecting with him as an artist, especially being the primary songwriter of the band. It took him a bit to realize that if the songs weren’t good, people would not be giving them the chance to be heard five million times.

“Using the internet and using the stupid little internet videos as the catalyst and as the hook to get people in, there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “It works, and to forsake that for the sake of being a ‘real artist’ is just not, in my opinion, recognizing the times that we live in.”

2025 is when they plan to execute the next phase of Pump Action. Converting fans into super fans is a high priority for them, and giving them a peek behind the curtain is how they plan to do so. The hope is that giving their audience a better idea of who they are personally will create more investment in what they put out artistically.

“We always say that the goal is world domination,” Ford said. “We’re really trying to put some things in motion to make that happen.”

Photo courtesy of Amryn Shae

Just like most kids I wanted to be like the cooler, older kids - be the captain of my house league hockey team, be an actor on my favourite family channel show and be a musician. While I dabbled in all those endeavours, nothing stuck quite like music. From humble beginnings in learning trumpet through my middle school’s newly adopted music program in Ottawa, I ended up falling deeply in love with the creative outlet of music.

I joined my first band at 13 years old as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed burgeoning bass player with an AC/DC cover absolutely nailed. Listening to music on the radio through the car speakers on the way to 6 a.m. hockey practice is one thing, but nothing compares to the feeling of weaving together sounds through your instruments in a live setting. Truly nothing like it.

After that first band practice I was hooked. Rifling through tabs of all my favourite Beatles songs and fantasizing about one day having that gorgeous $600 Hollow Body Ibanez from Long and McQuade quickly became a staple of my daily routine.

There was nothing that compared to the magic of discovering a new song that spoke to me. The tiny details meant everything. From the tiny voice crack on the second word of the second chorus to the wailing guitar feedback that hung over just a little too long into the bridge were the parts of the music that drew me in. I so badly wanted to find a way to get my music recorded and start experimenting with the sonic appetizers I was craving.

I quickly branched out to guitar, drums and the incredibly lofty and wholly terrifying goal of being a singer. Yes, everyone hears their own voice all day every day but most people don’t experience that painstaking embarrassment of hearing their voice crack over their high school PA from a recording of the previous night’s talent show. However, quitting was never an option for ol’ Cam. The challenge of reaching uncapped heights is something that has and always will draw me to music. People spend their whole lifetime honing their craft as an evolving reflection of their personal journey and I intend to do the same.

Fast forward to the current day as a full-time musician through being a singer/guitar player of my own band, session guitar player, teacher and more - I feel like I am just beginning my path.

In 2022, That’s 4 Entertainment turned Hartford, Conn. into the ultimate 90s reunion. Stars of film and television that shaped millennial’s childhoods were brought together for the first time to savor one-on-one opportunities to meet, take photos and participate in panels. For actress Vinessa Shaw, she had no idea how incomparable her first ever convention would be.

90s Con was an experience she won’t soon forget, where she and Hocus Pocus co-stars Omri Katz and Jason Marsden publicly reunited in a space that not only cherished their characters but gave convention goers the space to share those cherished moments with them.

“It was right after the pandemic, pretty much when everything was opening back up,” Shaw said. “People were just ready to get out and be nostalgic about the 90s, so for me, having that experience as my first was insane.”

The first person in Shaw’s autograph line was a memorable one. The minute she walked around the front of her table, the young woman collapsed in her arms. She shared how tough the last few years were for her; the feeling of hopelessness that plagued her days until she decided to rewatch Hocus Pocus. She told Shaw that rewatching the film was her own prescription to heal herself, and thanked her for being such an integral part of her childhood.

Shaw admits that interaction was overwhelming, especially for her first fan encounter at her first convention, but it meant so much to her. The more the weekend transpired, the more stories similar to that first one made their way to her.

That weekend at 90s Con also gave her the chance to express her admiration for her own idols. She was mere feet away from Christopher Lloyd when she said she was practically hyperventilating. Katz and Marsden kept asking her if she was ok while she stood and pointed at Lloyd sitting in the Back to the Future Delorean. They realized how much he meant to her, and asked the staff if they could pose alongside Lloyd for a photo op.

“There’s this iconic picture of the three of us with Christopher Lloyd in the Delorean,” she said. “He didn’t even care or know who we were, which is fine, I didn’t care. I [told him], ‘I love you so much’ and then I was like, ‘Wait… I love you so much? Why did I say that?’ But this was me being how most fans are about us and this movie, and I was literally hyperventilating for Doc Brown.”

Three years later, the cast has attended countless conventions, with their most recent being Nightmare Weekend Chicago. The newly released Funko Pop figurines of Max and Allison are perched on Shaw and Katz’s tables, eagerly awaiting for collectors to get them signed. Shaw said she has the collector gene in her and passed it down to her son, who is currently obsessed with Hot Wheels and tells people, “I have 279!”

A few years ago she found coins that her father had gifted her and decided to start researching them. Before she knew it, she had fallen down the rabbit hole of different types of pennies and errors on coins that make them more valuable. She still has her collection, and might pick it back up one day. For now, it’s all about funding the Hot Wheels collection.

When Vinesssa Shaw made her convention debut, she had no idea how impactful they would be. They continue to surprise her as she greets fans, signing their memorabilia and taking photos with her arms wrapped around them. Those moments are just as special for her, surrounded by people who get to share their stories and appreciation for a film that means so much to so many.

Photo courtesy of Ariel Kassulke

For years, fans of The Walking Dead gathered at conventions dedicated to the post-apocalyptic horror drama in several cities around the United States. It was Dallas, Texas in March of 2015 that season five’s newly introduced character, Aaron, made his first convention appearance.

Ross Marquand remembers being so nervous to attend his first convention. He had no idea what to expect, and it seems that his nervousness was palpable as his co-star, Michael Cudlitz, stepped in to offer his guidance.

“He gave me the best advice,” Marquand said. “He said, ‘Take the pressure off yourself by making it about them. Ask them where they’re from. Ask them what they do for a living. Make it about them.’ That helps, and I still [do that] to this day.”

Despite his initial nervousness, he knew he was in a welcoming environment. Not only was his character a fan favorite, but it gave him a chance to fan out over his interests too. Conventions are where fans of all aspects of popular culture can add items to their ever-growing collections, and Marquand is no exception. He said that Star Wars, G.I. Joe, LEGO® and ThunderCats are items he usually searches for, and joked that while he is glad to be a collector he should probably stop as he is now 43 years old. (We told him to never stop collecting. “Never?” he asked. “Never,” we replied.)

He also spent his childhood adoring Star Trek: The Next Generation and watching every episode with his brothers. Getting the chance to meet the actors - Denise Crosby, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes, to name a few - that were so important to his adolescence were life-changing moments.

He also took Cudlitz’s advice beyond the convention circuit. He has been a Celebrity Wish Granter for the Make-A-Wish Foundation several times throughout his career and finds it difficult to describe just how special those interactions are.

“When you can see the look of actual pure joy on their face because they’re meeting someone they really like, this is the best day ever,” he said. “It really feels amazing.”

Now, a little over 10 years to the date, Marquand and Cudlitz are sat next to each other at the inaugural Nightmare Weekend Chicago. Their fans might wait in line for a little longer than anticipated, but it is well worth the wait. When it is their turn to step up to the actors, they know that they are getting one-on-one time with people who will offer up genuine conversation. Marquand has had his own one-on-one time with his heroes, and understands the importance of giving someone the best day ever.

When I first started ELOAĦ, it was simply an attempt to give form to the emotions that words alone could not express. Over the years, what began as a personal exploration has transformed into something much greater - a collaboration of souls, each bringing their own light, shaping melodies that flow like ripples in the vast ocean of existence. Music, after all, is not merely sound but a reflection of the vibrations that pulse through all things; a cosmic resonance we are fortunate enough to tap into.

An Album Born from Reflection and Connection

Like the stars that burn and fade, leaving their echoes in the universe, The Book of Pain was shaped by the struggles, losses and moments of resilience that define the human experience. Each track is a story, a fragment of the vast journey we all undertake. Each song is a chapter in this metaphorical ‘book’. It’s about how pain transforms us and how, even in our darkest hours, we carry within us the light to rise again. One of the most personal tracks, “A Spark of Darkness”, was inspired by the loss of my dear friend, Michael Görig. The song, named after his unfinished novel, is a reflection on the tension between despair and renewal. Another key piece, “We Shall Rise”, embodies the cyclical nature of existence - falling, rising and continuing the journey, carried by unseen currents of hope.

The Collective Energy Behind the Music

Unlike our earlier works, which leaned more into jazz-inspired improvisation (The Mondstein Chronicles) and pop ballads (Proud to Love You), The Book of Pain embodies a denser, layered approach, a result of the synergy between those who brought it to life. The presence of Orion Roos (guitar), Peter Douwenga (bass), Lila Herderberg (vocals), Dominik Mittergradnegger (saxophone) and Johan van der Meer (drums) has always been invaluable, but this time, other voices became part of the journey as well. Zarja Medved (viola) infused the music with textures that expanded its reach beyond any single genre, weaving new dimensions into the soundscape.

The recording process itself became a kind of meditation, a conversation between past and present. Some of the vocal recordings stretch across decades, entwining memories with fresh creative impulses. One particularly moving moment was the inclusion of my late friend Jörg Horner’s voice on “Golden Summer (Girl to Adore)”. It was humbling to blend his voice into this work, a reminder that music is timeless; an energy that persists even when those who helped create it have moved on.

Looking to the Infinite Horizons of 2025

With The Book of Pain now released as a limited-edition LP, we turn our gaze toward new sonic explorations. Our next project takes a different path, embracing gospel-, electronic- and jazz-inspired elements - an experiment in spirituality and improvisation that seeks to capture the ebb and flow of life’s mysteries. With this new endeavour, we strive to challenge ourselves while staying true to the soul of our music.

Music is meant to be a shared experience, and I have found new inspiration through regular rehearsals of classical music with Zarja. These sessions reinforce my belief that creating and listening to music together deepens its emotional impact and enriches its meaning.

For their last three albums, The Devil Doves geared up for their releases with two singles. One, a delicate songwriter driven track. The other, more along the lines of their “clusterfolk” sound. A devil and a dove, if you will.

Their latest album, Parlor Tricks, is no exception.

“Banquet” is their devil; a Tim Burton-style track that is equal parts lively and unusual. Their dove, “Seventeen Streets”, is an ode to letting go of anything that is worth setting free. The eight tracks in between are carefully curated to provide a listening experience that resembles the traditional track listing of mixtapes: a strong start, followed by a cool-off period before bringing in an introspective b-side and ending with the song they’re most excited about.

While there is no narrative to tell in this batch of songs, there was a life event that inspired many of its lyrics. Songwriter and lead vocalist Junior Kauffman was to receive open heart surgery at the end of 2024, and he found himself expressing those thoughts and worries through writing. They took several of those songs along with the ones filled with pop culture references and turned it into Parlor Tricks.

Kauffman may be the primary songwriter but he gives all the credit to his bandmates for taking his ideas and making them a final version that everyone can be proud of. Bassist Eric Nassau has a deep understanding of song structure. Keyboardist Jeff Straw creates sonic landscapes to compliment the lyrics. Percussionist Kyle Davis brings a sound uniquely his own to the trejon. They may not relate to the story behind “Bandages”, with straightforward lyrics about how much it sucks to need open heart surgery, but the ukulele-driven song is just as much theirs.

“We’ve been together 13 years,” Kauffman said. “I think it’s hard to keep a band together. I’m just proud of that and that we still all like each other. When you have that shorthand, it makes everything go quicker. It’s rare to have everyone agree on that, but we do. We all have the same vision.”

Part of the reason why the 10 tracks from Parlor Tricks have horns or ukuleles or other lesser used instruments is that they continue to push one another to try something new. These songs may have been played once or a dozen times at a live show, and sometimes seeking a new way to play them to an audience gave them the opportunity to incorporate that into the recorded version.

“We are excited in a way that we’ve never been about a collection of songs,” Kauffman said. “The way they came through, it just seemed to work. We’re not patting ourselves on the back but we’ve been at it a while and I think we’ve figured out what we do best.”

They refer to themselves as odd or strange when it comes to their music, but The Devil Doves know how to push themselves creatively and bring forth a sound that is unparalleled. They can take the good and the bad and give it a beat that is difficult to not enjoy.

“That goes back to when I came up with The Devil Doves in the first place,” Kauffman said. “We all got the light, we all got the dark; the yin and the yang and all of that business. I do really feel that there is something to that.”

Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab

It was a cool damp night, April 17. The year was 2014 and the western world was enjoying one of its last foreseeable halcyon periods. The air smelled of fresh spring rain as the Nashville streets of Lower Broadway buzzed with pedestrians. The sounds of classic rock sing-alongs escaped from the sides of the historic brick buildings and honkytonks echoing up the hill as we marched toward our destination: Bridgestone Arena, to see the one and only Bruce Springsteen.

The lights dim as the E Street Band takes the stage. But, there is an unusual character amongst them: Rage Against The Machine’s resident riffer, Tom Morello. A name certain to evoke strong emotions, such as the tried and true, “he should keep politics out of it” or “he just makes noises on the guitar!” However, even his detractors have to admit that Morello has been one of the most innovative guitarists since Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads. As he wandered on stage that night, I couldn’t help but think, ‘this ought to be interesting.’

Indeed, interesting it was. Now I must confess once upon a time in my youth, as my folks ran through classics like “Born to Run” or “Thunder Road”, I didn’t immediately understand it.

“But he didn’t sing higher or play heavier like Sabbath or Zeppelin," I’d offered.

It wasn’t until Nashville, the city where songwriting is an official sport, where I finally ‘got it’. The words, the stories, the images; left to the imagination, it’s as if there’s a movie unfolding in front of you narrated by the song.

That warm spring night, the legends ripped through classics like “Badlands”, “Hungry Heart” and “I’m on Fire”… But there was one unexpected moment, nearly 18 songs in, that swept the entire arena off their feet: “The Ghost of Tom Joad”.

I wasn’t surprised to see Morello singing as he’d covered “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with The Nightwatchman before Springsteen heard it and invited him to record a new version together. The reason it was unexpected was because this was not a particularly well-known Springsteen track. It was never played during political rallies, football games or dances. Instead, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” was released at the height of the grunge era, and somehow with its laid-back feel and unpolished honesty, wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York.

As they started the song with the lights nearly blacked out, I could tell it was going to be a particularly powerful version. As their voices traded back and forth, the tension in the room was palpable. Finally, as Morello leaned away from the mic, with his guitar flying through the air, a screaming solo soars through the arena like a siren. Morello forcefully rips the chord out of his guitar, quickly smashing it against his hand in rhythm with the E Street Band, manipulating the pitch with his trusty Whammy pedal. At this point, and for the frst time in my life, tears began to roll down my face. I was taken aback by what was happening. I had literally never heard sounds like this in my life. I had even seen Morello play this very same room before with Prophets of Rage.

That night was different though. Morello didn’t play any other solos during the nearly three hour set. He didn’t take center stage. This was his one chance. His one moment. It was all or nothing. And as he tore through his blue Arm the Homeless guitar, strings flailing with facial expressions of pure agony, I knew I had just witnessed history. As I wiped those tears away, I felt the bittersweet sting that music really can change your life.