Waterproof Records with Jacob Givens

Remember when making a mixtape meant something? You didn’t just throw songs together — you crafted a vibe. You built a story. And if you were like me, you probably spent hours deciding which track belonged where.  So that’s exactly what I did here.

Released on February 25, 1992, this record arrived at a time when I was trying to figure out who I was. I was a young metalhead in Tulsa, Oklahoma, feeling awkward, small, and unsure of where I fit in. Then along came this cassette tape — Vulgar Display of Power on one side and Gish by The Smashing Pumpkins on the other — and it completely reshaped my world.

In this episode of Waterproof Records, I dive deep into Matt Johnson’s 1993 masterpiece — an album that charted huge in the UK but flew under the radar here in the U.S. We talk about the haunting atmosphere of Dusk, the emotional weight of tracks like “Love Is Stronger Than Death,” “Dogs of Lust,” “This Is the Night,” and “Bluer Than Midnight,” and why this record still feels just as powerful decades later.

On this episode of Waterproof Records, I sit down with the artist known as Two Feet (Bill Dess) for an intimate, honest, and deeply human conversation. We talk about Two Feet’s rapid rise after “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” went viral, what it’s really like navigating massive success as a DIY artist, and how that moment changed everything.

Happy New Year and welcome to 2026. In this episode of Waterproof Records, I’m kicking things off by reflecting on time, age, and how music continues to meet us exactly where we are—and then diving headfirst into my Top 10 Albums of 2025, along with a very necessary list of honorable mentions.