Joe Popp
Host, Video Editor, Post-Audio Engineer
Joe Popp got the idea of doing Popp Over America after taking a cross-country trip on his old BMW K75C in 2012. He enjoyed the traveling, but missed his guitar. He decided that would never happen again and Popp Over America was born. Joe is a musician, composer, writer, studio designer, amplifier/effects builder, motorcyclist, and skateboarder. He resides in New York City and has served as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the bands, Plasma in the Ukraine, The Hornrims, Joe Popp, and dogs on ice. Joe has also composed rock music for theater including adaptations of Pericles, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, and Macbeth. He will be taking a hiatus from the rock acoustic duo Lost Axis while he is on the Popp Over America tour starting in May of 2017. For his day gig, Joe is the Technical Director for the Sonic Arts Center at The City College of New York and also teaches the CCNY Rock Ensemble.

Shaugn O’Donnell
Lost Axis Band Member
Popp Over America began as a solo project, but Shaugn approached Joe Popp at City College of New York where they have both worked together for 15 years, and asked him if he wanted to jam. This lead to the formation of the acoustic rock duo Lost Axis. The band’s first album, Magnetic Place, ended up becoming the soundtrack for the pilot episode.

Maegan Hayward
Production Supervisor
Maegan was the former Chief Operating  Officer for Soundtrack New York. Her incredible depth of knowledge in the post-production field, organizational skills, and visual aesthetic, are a huge asset to Popp Over America. Even with her demanding schedule, Maegan somehow finds time to run her brick-and-mortar store East Village Vintage Collective, and her online vintage clothing store Red’s Vintage Threads.

Uladzimir Taukachou
Cinematographer, Colorist, Drone Pilot
Uladzimir Taukachou was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the US from totalitarian Belarus in his twenties. An accomplished cinematographer specializing in scripted, unscripted, documentary, fiction, short and feature films. He brings his unique vision to his work and problem solving having lived in two opposite systems communism and capitalism. His cinematography credits include: Beard, Vince Giordano – There’s a Future in the Past, Plain Jane, Urban Animals, and, Saint Agatha. In collaboration with Alex Vetrov he recently directed, produced, shot and edited short fiction film Waiting for a Train, about a couple struggling with a health challenge.

Paul Kozel
Production Audio Engineer
Paul Kozel is the founding director of the Sonic Arts Center and the guiding force behind it’s curriculum, facilities design, and overall operations. His professional credits include: Vince Giordano – There’s a Future in the Past, Place Out of Time – The Bordentown School, and Racing Daylight. Paul is Joe Popp’s boss at the Sonic Arts Center and they have previously worked together capturing the sounds of the Eiffel Tower on Joseph Bertolozzi’s Tower Music project currently in production.

Tylor Durand
Graphic Artist
Tylor Durand created the Popp Over America logo as well as many other graphic designs for Joe Popp’s amplifier, effects pedal, and, skateboard products. Tylor and Joe have been friends for over 17 years  and the two have played in more bands together than they count. Their material can be heard along with many of Tylor’s other projects on the King of Beef website. Tylor also publishes a blog about rock music appropriately titled The Rock File.

Winy Taveras
Additional Audio Recording, Technical Support
Winy assisted Popp Over America by recording the early demos for Lost Axis. She is also covering for Joe as Technical Director at the Sonic Arts Center at The City College of New York while Joe is on sabbatical and traveling around the country for the show. A talented singer, songwriter, performer, multi-instrumentalist, and technical whiz in her own right, Winy currently performs with the Latin infused rock band Camello Feo based in New York City.

Ken Candelas
Additional Audio Recording
Ken Candelas helped getting the word out about Popp Over America in the very beginning. He also assisted in recording Joe’s demos while Joe was composing songs.  He is a talented musician, audio engineer, and graphic artist. Ken earned his BFA in music at the Sonic Arts Center at The City College of New York. He is currently the drummer for the hard rock band Four Trips Ahead.