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UPDATE: This story was updated at 11:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.

Visitors to Gregg Yeti’s Syracuse home are immediately welcomed into his makeshift studio — though it has more instruments and sound machines than most professional ones. Every crevice is covered in instruments, cassettes, records and posters that Yeti has spent years collecting.

“I’ve loved music ever since I can remember,” Yeti said. “Music is the front page, it’s the main course. I can just sit in a chair and listen to ‘Exile on Main Street’ by The Rolling Stones all the way through, and that’s the entertainment.”

Born and raised in Syracuse, 50-year-old Yeti grew up listening to music “as an activity,” he said. When Yeti’s not working at Pastabilities as the restaurant’s purchasing manager, where he’s worked for over 25 years, he is probably prepping for his weekly radio show “Yetiland” or performing with his rock band, The Flashing Astonishers.

From the makeshift studio in his living room, Yeti produces his weekly radio show. In the room filled with instruments galore — dulcimer, mandolin, bass, air organ, 12-string guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, a drone and more — Yeti uses programs like REAPER on his computer to record the show.

Before he records, Yeti combs through the different categories of songs he has in folders across his computer, ranging from Syracuse-based bands to strong guitar instrumental songs. Hosting his show is completely recreational, he said, he doesn’t make any money from it. He does it purely because “music is life.”

“I’m a big fan of eclecticness, really. It’s the freedom of being able to play whatever I want, as long as there’s no swearing,” Yeti said. “What I try to impart on people is to keep exploring. Because to me, that’s life, that keeps you alive, it keeps your brain moving.”

Yeti said curating what songs he will play on the show is very similar to the mixtapes that he would make as a kid on CDs. Now, his three-hour show is an extension of those. While Yeti’s music taste is diverse, he shares his favorite genre of rock and roll with his coworkers, like Pastabilities kitchen manager Rachel Heagerty, whose family owns the restaurant.

Heagerty has known Yeti for over 20 years, since he started working at Pastablities when she was 12 years old. Now 34, Heagerty still loves Yeti’s humor, the books he recommends and his expansive music taste.

In 1995, Yeti formed The Flashing Astonishers — whose name is a spinoff of The Rolling Stones — and still plays bass, vocals and guitar for the band.

Chuck Gwynn was in another band with Yeti, beginning in the late 1990s. He said that he was a fan of Gregg before he had even met him or joined his band.

“Gregg is the guy who comes up with a f-cking idea like that and actually does it. He puts the time in to do it,” Gwynn said. “I’ve never met anybody who puts that kind of time into music like that.”

Gregg Yeti’s Syracuse home has been transformed into a makeshift studio to produce his radio show Yetiland. Since 2021, Yeti has produced over 300 episodes for his radio show. Avery Magee | Photo Editor

When Dana Bonn, president of Syracuse Community Radio, took notice of Yeti’s passion and diverse knowledge in music five years ago, he asked Yeti if he would join Spark! Radio. Since 2021, Yeti has hosted the “Yetiland” show on the station from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. every Wednesday night.

When someone hears Yeti’s show, listeners are not only listening to great music, but are also learning something from his show as well, Bonn said. Often, Yeti plays decades-old classics or local bands that are based in central New York.

“It’s almost like when you sit down to read a good book and you just sort of snuggle into the chair,” Bonn said. “His show has that kind of effect when you’re listening.”

In the five years that he’s hosted his three-hour radio show, Yeti said he’s hosted about 300 different episodes and appeared as a guest on other shows.

A true testament to Yeti’s commitment to music is the preparation that he puts into one of his radio shows. Yeti said he felt nostalgic one day and decided to compile as many songs as he could with the word “rock” in the title, like what he listened to religiously on mainstream rock radio stations as a child.

Now, he has a running list with over 1,200 songs that he plays on his own radio show for the “all-rock” days, each of which have “rock” in their song name.

When Yeti isn’t curating music for his radio show, his music taste is the soundtrack of the restaurant. If music isn’t playing through the Pastabilities speakers when Yeti arrives, he immediately turns some on, Heagerty said.

In the five days a week Yeti works at Pastabilities, he assesses the kitchen’s inventory and buys groceries in addition to cooking. His favorite part of the job is “experimenting” with the soup menu.

“He knows so much more than just the music,” Heagerty said. “He knows the history and where the lead singer grew up and what guitar they play on. His depth of knowledge of music and books is extraordinary.”

Rock and roll can be attributed to every part of life, Yeti said. Playing in a band and curating music for his show is an activity in itself.

As a musician, Yeti often talks about the chords and melodies being played in the songs on his radio show, Gwynn said. The songs that Yeti chooses to play are ones that he’s been playing in his own car, he said.

For Yeti, music is his past, present and future. He said he lives by German-American novelist Charles Bukowski’s quote, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

“It’s probably going to be music that’s going to put me in my grave,” Yeti said. “It’s just going to be like, I’m gonna die with headphones on or playing guitar on stage, or something. Music is an all encompassing thing.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article identified Dana Bonn as using she/her pronouns. Bonn uses he/him pronouns. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 11, 2026 at 10:44 pm
Contact Lily: lvzucker@syr.edu