

The Downbeat
Craig Reynolds
The Downbeat Podcast is an award-winning heavy music podcast featuring in-depth interviews with the biggest names in metal, hardcore, and alternative music.
Hosted by Craig Reynolds, The Downbeat explores metal, death metal, black metal, hardcore, and metalcore through long-form, unfiltered conversations with legendary musicians and rising artists. Hear behind-the-scenes stories, songwriting insights, touring life, and honest discussions from across the global heavy music scene.
New episodes feature iconic bands, underground favorites, and the voices shaping modern heavy music.
Hosted by Craig Reynolds, The Downbeat explores metal, death metal, black metal, hardcore, and metalcore through long-form, unfiltered conversations with legendary musicians and rising artists. Hear behind-the-scenes stories, songwriting insights, touring life, and honest discussions from across the global heavy music scene.
New episodes feature iconic bands, underground favorites, and the voices shaping modern heavy music.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 7, 2023 • 1h 41min
Jerry Horton (Papa Roach)
My guest this week is Jerry Horton, guitarist and founding member of the massively successful rock band Papa Roach. We talk about their pivotal role in creating what is now known as ’Nu Metal’ and their resilience to that genre‘s somewhat bad connotations that has seen them remain successful and relevant for 30 (THIRTY) years. We also talk CARS, PRIMUS, METALLICA, and much more.

Nov 30, 2023 • 1h 36min
Josh Middleton (Sylosis)
My guest this week is guitarist and frontman of Sylosis, and one of my personal oldest friends Josh Middleton. We talked about their latest album A Sign Of Things To Come but mostly about growing up together (including his CRAIG REYNOLDS DOS AND DONTS sign for his room), a killer Anthony Kiedis impression, touring with Metallica, and much more. We also make eachother cry laugh at least twice. This episode is also the first episode on the new cinema cameras, thanks to the Patreon for making that possible.

Nov 16, 2023 • 1h 7min
Dan Tracy - Deafheaven
My guest this week is Dan Tracy, drummer of genre-bending black metal band Deafheaven. We caught up before their blistering set at Core Fest to talk about the 10th anniversary rerelease of their seminal album Sunbather, one of my favourite albums of all time. We also talk metal's recent resurgence, Metallica, the devils lettuce, and much more.

Nov 2, 2023 • 1h 45min
Jeremy DePoyster (The Devil Wears Prada)
My guest this week is one of my favourite people on planet earth Jeremy DePoyster. Jeremy is the guitarist/vocalist of iconic metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada. We talked about the business of metalcore, our fledging bromance, the secret to their longevity in the scene, our mutual love for Sam Carter from Architects... and much more.

Oct 26, 2023 • 1h 28min
Brendan Murphy (Counterparts)
My guest this week is internet funny man and your problematic fave Brendan Murphy. Brendan is the vocalist of the metalcore band Counterparts and grind/math/doom/whatever band END. We talked about my sexy criminal past, the price of a costco hotdog, twitter's rebranding and its devastating emotional effects, and I guess we talk about his bands. Brendan episodes are the best.

Oct 12, 2023 • 1h 22min
Tom Williams (Stray From The Path)
My guest this week is Tom Williams, guitarist of my band Stray From The Path, as well as multi-band manager, father, businessman and one of my best friends. We talked about the risks we as a band took when preparing for our upcoming headline tour, as well as what bands should look for in a manager, the father life, what makes a drink 'cool' and much more.

Sep 29, 2023 • 2h 30min
Matt Garstka - Animals As Leaders
My guest this week is the phenomenal Matt Garstka. Back for his THIRD episode. Matt is the drummer for Animals As Leaders and generally considered to be one of the best drummers of his generation. Back again, I got the chance to pick his incredibly ridged brain about the drums, working out, movies, and all the good stuff.

Sep 14, 2023 • 1h 46min
Emma Boster (Dying Wish)
My guest this week is Emma Boster, vocalist of Dying Wish. We talked about the creation of their STUNNING upcoming album Symptoms of Survival (and our Downbeat exclusive vinyl variant) as well as a variety of topics from Britney Spears conspiracy theories to gender and much more. Check out the exclusive Downbeat variant of Symptoms of Survival with insane death metal artwork at https://www.dyingwishhc.com

Aug 24, 2023 • 2h 35min
Jay Weinberg (Slipknot)
My guest this week is Jay Weinberg, drummer for Slipknot. Coming from a musical background, (his Dad is Max Weinberg of The E Street Band) Jay is a super humble, hospitable human and phenomenal drummer. We talked about his time in Slipknot of course but also about learning 200+songs for Bruce Springsteen at 16 years old. We also chat about drums, tattoos, doom metal, and much much more. This episode of the Downbeat is the first of a trip to Nashville, which was actually born out of Jay himself expressing an interest in doing the show. Thanks to the patreon we were able to make it work. Enjoy

Aug 10, 2023 • 1h 27min
Connie Sgarbossa (SeeYouSpaceCowboy)
My guest this week is Connie Sgarbossa, vocalist of SeeYouSpaceCowboy. We talked about the creation of their upcoming as-yet-untitled new album as well as her history in the myspace-adjacent music scene and soundcloud rappers, volunteering in a vegan anarchist cafe, her struggles with addiction and experiences being a trans woman in heavy music, the earth being flat, radical politics and many more buzzwords that could not possibly annoy the comment section any more if I tried.


