Otis McDonald

“... when I listened back to “The Man In Me,” I was like okay we created this via “satellite” … but it really felt live, and it had a feel ... It felt like we were a band.” -- Eric Krasno

For the first episode of 2022, Eric Krasno returns to sit down with Otis McDonald to celebrate the release of their new album, Always! In this conversation, you’ll hear an in-depth rundown of the making of the record, including the story of how the two met through Adam Deitch in the beginning of the pandemic, the genesis of the Otis McDonald project, and using demo vocals for final mixes on the album. They also talk about Otis’ home base at Hyde Street Studios, which gave birth to classic albums by artists including the Grateful Dead and Herbie Hancock, using technology to work together remotely, and take a look inside of Kraz's musical headspace when he talks about the writing process for the album.

Joe Bagale, also known as Otis McDonald, lives by the philosophy that there are only two kinds of music; good music and bad music. He was born in upstate New York, but his tenure in San Francisco was where he definitively honed his craft, releasing three albums under his name from 2008 to 2014. Following the success of his early releases, Joe was commissioned by YouTube to write and record 30 new tracks for their audio library, which was the beginning of a new project he calls Otis McDonald. Playing all the instruments, writing, producing, mixing, and mastering 30 songs in a 3 month period, it proves to be his funkiest and most interesting music to date. Joe has shared the stage with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, Mike Gordon, and many other legendary artists, and by the end of this episode, you'll know why he's had the success that he's had in recent years.

Listen to Always on Spotify or Apple Music.

This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please leave us a rating or review on iTunes!

Eric Krasno Plus One is presented by Osiris Media. All original music by Eric Krasno. Executive Producers are RJ Bee and Christina Collins. Audio Production by Matt Dwyer. Produced by Ben Baruch of 11E1even Group.

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