A new chapter for digital recording studio, The Proving Ground, has begun and owner and producer, Dylan Titus, is ready to celebrate two-and-a-half years of operation by putting together an event showcasing artists who have recorded within its unique castle walls. Housed in the Pawtucket Armory and true to its tagline — “a studio with room to grow,” the Proving Ground has been a creative space not only for incredibly diverse musical acts, but also for podcast episodes recorded by Dylan and longtime friend Mario Lima (of Friggin’ Nerds Media) for their show, Connery Curious. I chatted with them both to dive deeper into the vision for Proving Day 2026, happening November 21 at The Parlour in Providence.
Mayté Antelo-Ovando (Motif): How did this come about?
Dylan Titus: I wanted to put on Proving Day 2026 because I’ve never put on a concert before, never organized one. So I figured, why not go really hard and organize six bands and a live podcast? I wanted to showcase all the awesome bands that I have worked with, and while I wasn’t able to get every single artist, I was able to get a lot of them to agree to play the show. And it’s also celebrating a new chapter of the Proving Ground. I’m now running it by myself.
MAO: I see, it’s a solo endeavor now. And where are the bands from?
D: They’re from all over! Slow Boat Home, Mario- you should talk about them!
Mario Lima: I’m Mario Lima, and I am the co-host of Dylan’s podcast Connery Curious. I’ve also done a lot of music with him over the years. We met on the first day of college, at New England Tech.
DT: I met Erik three days later (Erik Gharaee, of Fungal Records and co-founder of the Proving Ground).
ML: I remember you and Sean Murphy (of Nobody’s Boyscout and No Pleateau) were talking about Rush. and I came up and I said, ‘you guys like Rush?’ None of us had friends going into this class. We hit it off, and all these years later, we’re still chasing the dream of making music- it feels like everything has led up to this moment, really.
DT: Without Mario, I wouldn’t know Slow Boat Home. They are bluegrass, swamp, country, folk — their music is freshly of the earth. Like when you think of gardening and enjoying a summer’s day. Christine (vocals) and Scott (bass) Southgate, are a married couple who lead the band. And literally today, they played a gig at the Midway Cafe in Boston, and opened for Everfiner, another band that will be in the show.
ML: Me and Scott used to play in a band together, Ones Will (founded in 2012) and Dylan was our biggest fan.
DT: I’d come out to your shows all the time.
ML: To the point where he covered one of our songs. I don’t know if that’s a spoiler or anything.
DT: We can say it, the song is called “Heal Me Clear”, and it’s on streaming services now.
ML: Me and Scott would play at The Spot Underground (which closed in 2016). We stuck together for all these years, and then Scott was looking for a place to record his band and – how convenient for this guy to have a studio. Dylan found a way to capture them the way they’re supposed to be captured. I love that record (Just Five Miles Away) because I listened to the songs being written, you know? Dylan truly listens to what [people] are trying to put out. So many producers will say, ‘this is cool and all, but it would be really cool if you just did this and put a 20-minute guitar solo on it’ or something. But he’ll hear a band’s vision and put some tweaks in there, a couple of Dylan flavors — but it’s still the band’s essence. The same thing when he covered “Heal me Clear.”. He made it a little bit of his own.
DT: I paid reverence to it.
MAO: Let’s talk about the podcast, how did it start?
ML: Connery Curious, like most things me and Dylan do, started as a joke.
DT: We were bored and unemployed.
ML: We share a … love of the James Bond franchise, and we were joking one day [about] other movies with Connery — “How funny would it be if somebody had a podcast that covered every single movie in his filmography?” And Dylan’s like — “We should do it!”
DT: I looked it up and he’s only in 75 movies, and I thought- we can do this! One a week? It’ll only take us a year and a half.
ML: There’s a couple documentaries in there. And a movie he wasn’t even in.
DT: It’s called “A Night to Remember”. He’s not even in it. For the readers at home, it’s Titanic before Titanic.
ML: So we did it, and [built] a bit of a community. We had cool guests join us, and we’d ask what movies they would be into, and were surprised. We thought they’d pick Bond movies, but our friend Sean, who we mentioned, he wanted to do Zardoz, which is Connery in a fucking red Speedo.
DT: ‘The gun is good. The penis is evil.’ (A line from said movie).
ML: We grew something really cool that felt like a passion project, and as of right now, we have one episode left to record.
DT: For context on what the show actually is, it’s Mario and I going through the entirety of Sir Sean Connery’s filmography- film by film, randomly. We put every single movie on a wheel- ‘The Wheel of Curiosity’- each week one of us spins it, and then it lands on the next movie that we’re going to watch. You never know what the wheel’s going to spin next. Our first one was The Man Who Would Be King. So we went off and watched on our own- and took copious notes. Sometimes copious, sometimes not. Then we came back together and discussed it. At the end of that, we’d spin the wheel for our next movie. We never would have watched such good films like Memories of Me, where he has a 17 second cameo, as himself, otherwise. It’s a heart wrenching film. We did The Man Who Would Be King, then First Knight, which is a movie about knights and kings, then the green knight was in Sword of the Valiant. Two King Arthur movies in a row, all from the random spinning of the wheel. And when we landed on Memories of Me, it was the anniversary of my dad’s death, and the movie is about Billy Crystal losing his father.
MAO: That just gave me chills. That’s incredible.
DT: And so we decided we needed to make our last episode an event, and during our last recording session (which was more than a year ago), we took one film off the wheel and set it aside. It’s his final film. So his final film will be ours too.
ML: It’s a cartoon.
DT: It’s a CGI film called Sir Billi.
ML: It’s insane.
DT: It is a marvel of awfulness. He came out of retirement to do this voice role, and then died eight years later. So, we’re going to watch it together and then record an episode. And during the show we’re going to be men of our word and do a live Connery Curious, reflecting on the fact that- hey, maybe real adventure was the friends we made along the way. Also, every film gets five different ratings. An /sh/ rating for how thick the “h” is on his “s,” a sexy rating, we rate the musical score, the film, and then we rate Sean Connery himself. So we’ll probably give some live statistics at the show.
ML: The audience will not be prepared for the amount of data they’ll be shown.
DT: We do need to say this is not an endorsement of the politics of Sean Connery.
MAO: Which were?
DT: He was a misogynist. There’s an interview with Barbara Walters where he openly says it’s okay to hit a woman. So we’re not endorsing him, you can’t forgive that. And we did start the podcast originally, by having a warning before the episodes, to let people know that there are some films that have content that could be triggering.
MAO: So you were mindful. And remind me, how is the podcast connected to the studio?
DT: We started filming every episode here once I had the Proving Ground, previously it was audio only.
ML: It is the first thing recorded in the studio.
MAO: Coming back to the line-up for Proving Day, the order is?
DT: First it’ll be Slow Boat Home, then it will be Ferns and Fiddleheads, (2026 Motif Breakthrough Artist). They’ve recorded all of their music here. According to their business card, they play “warm, sunshiny folk music,” but they range from light, uplifting folk to legitimate heavy metal folk. I’ll be joining them on guitar. Then we’ll have our podcast, and next will be local legends, How’s about Charlie. They shot a music video here at the armory, for a song I produced called “The Tower”. They do uplifting three part harmony folk songs, but they can really rock when they want to- “The Tower” is straight up heavy metal.
ML: They’re almost mythical creatures. When they sing together, it’s like magic is happening.
DT: Then from Boston will be Everfiner, a pop-rock, ska, shimmer-funk band. A really good vibes band. We are working on a couple of tracks together. And after them will be Mario’s new favorite band, Mob Candy.
ML: Yeah! They are great. They deserve so much more recognition than they have had. They are very talented guys and the lead singer has a beautiful voice.
DT: They play sexy rock, it’s very smooth. It’s like R&B inspired metal, weirdly. I saw them open for Vanna (a hardcore punk band)! The bassist hit me up after we met, and said he had had a bad experience at a different rehearsal space, and needed a place to rehearse that night- so I offered the studio and they’ve been playing here ever since. They’re really sweet guys.
MAO: And then?
DT: I’ve put a band together for the first time.
MAO: For the first time ever?
DT: Not really the first time ever. I had a band that played 3 songs, one time. Everyone did well, but we could’ve practiced more. So this is the first real time that I’ve put a band together, and I’ve got Mario Lima, a super talented guitar player.
MAO: Do you want to share who else is in the band, or do you want to keep that secret?
DT: We’ll keep it a secret.
ML: I’m playing the clarinet.
DT: The electric boogaloo.
ML: Dylan’s been trying to do this, on and off for a while. I’ve always been kind of like- maybe and then I said yes. But, in my deepest brain- I’m nervous as hell. I haven’t played live in a long time.
DT: Oh, but he’s killing it. The practices have been wonderful.
ML: I’m not going to spoil the setlist, but a lot of these songs are either Dylan’s songs, there’s a song of mine, there’s songs from other artists that are playing. So when you do something like that, you want to make sure everything sounds true. It’s a little bit of pressure.
MAO: You feel a sense of responsibility for it.
ML: With great power comes great responsibility, as Uncle Ben would say. It’s healthy pressure. I’m using Dylan’s show as a therapy session where I need to kick my ass into gear. I wasn’t going to make music anymore. I had really bad arthritis and I couldn’t pick up a guitar. Then a miracle happened and I started to feel better. Also, what’s great about this event is it’s showcasing a lot of amazing acts in this very small state that I feel like need to have this attention. We still need to keep live music in venues. Dylan was brave enough to say we’re going to do this- it’s very Wayne’s World 2 of him to be like, ‘if you book them, they will come.’ It’s shaping up to be a very exciting show and I simply cannot wait for it. I think it’s going to be a good way to get a spark in the scene in Rhode Island.
MAO: Is there more that you want to add, Dylan, about the vision that you have for this day?
DT: Really, it’s like a birthday party, I didn’t have one this year. And I’ve had a good relationship with all my clients, and want to bring them together and have them make music- show off to each other, to new people, and let them have a chance to sell some merch to a new audience. I want the audience to maybe find their new favorite band. Like bringing Everfiner from Boston- more people from Providence need to hear them. If I can get them more attention down here, maybe that can lead to more gigs. And also bands from here getting more gigs up north. Building positive relationships.
ML: The Proving Ground is creating community- it’s a bridge between artists, between spaces, between Boston and Providence. Music communities are always intertwined and it’s great to have a space that brings people together that would otherwise not have a chance to meet.
ML: Dylan’s tagline for the studio has always been, “A studio with room to grow.” I think the music community has room to grow as well.
DT: Everyone I’ve brought together has been a good human being. So if I can make that a community of good human beings then great.
ML: In the world we’re in right now, how much separation is there, you know? There’s so much negativity going on, let’s do something positive. It’s a nice opportunity to have people come together and forget about the hate in the world.
DT: Not in an ignorant way- ignoring suffering. We’re coming together to embrace. We’ve all got shit, I’ve had a tough year, and part of this show is me needing all these people that I really care about around me, people that make me feel good. And so it’s an acknowledgment of those hard times. And I’m sure a lot of other people that will be performing or coming to the show have had a bad year or two, and just need reassurance.
MAO: It’s so easy to isolate, and we’re making a choice with intention, to connect. What was the drive for you to do this, even though you’ve never done it before?
DT: Between taking this place over in its entirety and a mental health crisis earlier in the year, I just realized if I want these things, I need to pursue them. I don’t want to chase. I want to attract. But you still need to pursue a little bit in order to show the universe- I do want the thing. Please send it my way. So I realize now is the time to take some action. I’ve worked with a lot of cool artists and this place has been open for almost three years. I didn’t have a birthday party… So let’s celebrate. Let’s celebrate everything. I’ve done a lot, really built this place up from…
ML: From the ground up.
DT: I’ve recorded some great records with amazing people. I just want all those people to celebrate each other. But mainly me. I’m kidding! I want to make connections. I want you and I to leave with new friends. Good God, do I want How’s about Charlie and Everfiner to collaborate in some way! Those five voices together are you fucking kidding me?
MAO: Last thoughts before we say goodbye?
ML: We’d love to see you guys at this show. I think it’s going to be an amazing time. I’m honored that Dylan has trusted me in playing this music and doing this podcast with him, after all this time.
MAO: And what do you want the audience to walk away with, Dylan?
DT: More music to take home. I want people to walk away with a t-shirt, a button, and a CD from their new favorite band. I want people to 1) come and find something new to enjoy and 2) to learn about the Proving Ground, because it’s here, it exists. I’m starting a new chapter by tackling this completely alone, and trying to start that by having all my friends around and all these great artists that I’ve worked with coming together to make music — that is the most important thing to me.
MAO: Will there be a Proving Day 2027?
DT: One can hope, one with all new bands that I’ve worked with.
MAO: In a bigger venue.
ML: At the Met!
DT: At Carnegie Hall!
ML: At the House of Blues!
DT: Thank you, I’ve been Dylan Titus.
ML: I’ve been Mario Lima.
DT: And as always…
ML: Shtay Curioush.
Come to Proving Ground 2026 at the Parlour on November 21, doors at 4pm, show at 5pm, probably going until midnight! Get your tickets here Ticket link! Come be in community, book a session at https://www.theprovingground.studio/ and follow:
@theprovinggroundri, @frigginnerdmario, @connerycurious