Talkhouse Podcast

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got two performers who’ve got friends in common, and became fast friends themselves while recording this chat: Maya Hawke and Sabrina Teitelbaum. Maya Hawke is best known for her day job as an actor, most visibly in a little show called Stranger Things, and she was also in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the new Wes Anderson movie, Asteroid City. But as you’ll hear in this chat, she might be most excited by a side path as a singer and songwriter. Hawke has released two understated but fantastic albums so far, and she’s basically finished another. The vibe is sort of indie-folk, sort of floating and ambient but lyrically really engaging. She’s worked with some cool folks to realize her musical vision, including Christian Lee Hutson, who’s the “Christian” referenced in this conversation, just so you know. Check out a “Sweet Tooth” from Hawke’s 2022 album Moss right here. Sabrina Teitelbaum just released her debut album under the name Blondshell, and it’s one of the best of 2023 so far. She describes it in this conversation as an emergency album—meaning a bunch of songs that she felt almost desperate to write, record, and unleash on the world. It’s direct and angry in spots, but also darkly funny and completely unafraid. She’s toured with the likes of Horsegirl and Porridge Radio, which might give some indication of what you’re in for. Or I could just play you Blondshell’s opus, “Salad,” right here. Check it out. These two have a fantastic conversation, and just in case it’s not clear from the context, they’re both good friends with the singer Samia, and each has contributed to a Samia covers series called Honey Reimagained. Blondshell did a song called “Charm You,” which is available now. Elsewhere in this chat, they talk about Hawke’s playing “body air guitar,” the weird emotional hit you get when a tour is finished, and the difficulties of stage banter. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Sabrina Teiltelbaum and Maya Hawke for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

For this week's Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a special two-part episode featuring both members of one of my favorite bands, Wye Oak, in conversation with some other fantastic musicians, so be sure to stick around for both halves! First up it’s Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner and singer-songwriter Johanna Samuels, both of whom have new music coming out, coincidentally, on June 23. Samuels has been making beautiful, deeply personal music for the last decade or so, and her new one is a doozy. The album is called Bystander, and it was recorded with Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horseman—he’s the Josh you’ll hear referenced in this chat. Check out “Ugly on the Inside” from Bystander right here. Samuels is joined here by Talkhouse pal Jenn Wasner, who’s probably best known as half of Wye Oak, but has also recorded music recently under the name Flock of Dimes. It’s no wonder that Wasner and Samuels get along, as both are incredibly thoughtful and sincere in their musical pursuits: They’re looking for something much bigger than a hooky song to sing, they’re out to connect on a deeper level. Wye Oak has sort of morphed into a different kind of band in recent years, choosing to stay away from the make-an-album-then-tour-forever cycle and instead release singles and one-off songs as Wasner and Andy Stack are able. A bunch of those songs have just been compiled on an album called Every Day Like the Last. They sound as good as anything the duo has done, which is to say they sound great. Check out “I Learned it From You” right here. In this conversation, Wasner and Samuels talk about the magic of the Newport Folk Festival, how great it is to work with Josh Kaufman, and how to express heavy thoughts within joyful music. You’ll find out whether these are women of mystery, and you’ll hear Wasner refer to herself as “a big golden retriever of a person.” Enjoy. In the second half of this epic Talkhouse two-parter, we’ve actually got three speakers: Andy Stack, who’s best known as half of Wye Oak, but who’s also made some solo records under the name Joyero. Along with him is Jay Hammond, with whom Stack recently made a great instrumental record, and Joe Westerlund. I’ll start with Westerlund, and I’ll try to do his bio justice: He started out in the Wisconsin band Deyarmond Edison, which has a massive retrospective box set coming out this year, and which is best known as the band that started Justin Vernon of Bon Iver down his musical path. Westerlund has also contributed to lots of other song-based music over the years, drumming for the likes of Califone and his project Megafaun. But it definitely feels like Westerlund has found his true calling in his solo instrumental work, including the recent Elegies for the Drift, whose compositions were largely inspired by important people in his life who’d passed away recently. It’s a gorgeous, emotional ride. Check out “The Circle,” which is dedicated to Akron/Family’s Miles Cooper Seaton, a friend of Westerlund’s who tragically died in a car crash in 2021. It makes sense that Westerlund got together for a chat with Andy Stack and Jay Hammond, because they all have North Carolina in common: It’s become something of a refuge for a bunch of bands over the past few years, with their friends in Sylvan Esso building a studio there, and lots of folks—including both members of Wye Oak—taking up residence there. Stack and Hammond got together recently and struck gold with a series of electro-acoustic improvisations that they winnowed down to album length and titled Inter Personal—a nod to the connection that they deepened by making this music together. Check out “Life on a Ship” right here. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Johanna Samuels, Jenn Wasner, Andy Stack, Jay Hammond, and Joe Westerlund for chatting. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got the ringleader of the year’s weirdest experimental hip-hop album, who also happens to be a well known comedian, along with two guys who helped him make it: James Acaster along with NNAMDÏ and Quelle Chris. Now Acaster isn’t a household name in the States just yet, but he’s definitely a known quantity in the UK, where he’s from. He’s a stand-up comedian, a TV presenter, and an author—he wrote a great memoir a few years back called Perfect Sound Whatever, which uses music as a starting point for telling his own story. Which sort of bring us to his musical project, which he calls Temps. Before his comedy career took off, Acaster was an aspiring musician, and he jumped back into that pursuit during the pandemic, creating a collective of over 40 contributors to make an album called Party Gator Purgatory. It’s a wild mix of experimental hip-hop with rock and jazz elements, and it’s chaotic in all the right ways. For this conversation, we put Acaster together with two of the guests he brought on to help out with Party Gator. NNAMDÏ seemed like a natural choice for a multiple-personality record like this one, since he’s one of the most restlessly engaging musicians working right now. The Chicagoan’s latest album, Please Have a Seat, was his first for Secretly Canadian, and it’s a blistering mix of hip-hop, electronic music, trap, and lots more—all tied together by his voice and outlook. Also in this chat is Detroit’s Quelle Chris, who’s been making records as a rapper, producer, and writer for the past decade plus. His latest album, Deathfame, also came out last year, and it’s a smart, politically pointed collection of songs that showcases both his incredible flow and sense of humor—again, it makes perfect sense that Acaster would’ve called on him to bring something special to Party Gator. Let’s check out one of the album’s tracks that features all three of these guys; here’s “no, no.” In this fun and insightful conversation, these three guys talk about collaborating long-distance, how whoever’s mixing an album is incredibly important, whether or not one should order cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory, and how Macklemore ruined thrift stores. Allegedly. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to James Acaster, NNAMDÏ, and Quelle Chris for chatting. The record is credited to Temps, and it’s called Party Gator Purgatory. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite platform, and check out all the goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of women who were prominent in the ‘90s alternative rock scene, and whose bands followed similar paths: Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo and Louise Post of Veruca Salt. Our producer Myron Kaplan has been pushing to have Hanley as a guest for ages, and of course singing the praises of both Letters to Cleo and Hanley’s solo work—plus letting me know that Hanley has had an incredible second musical career writing for children’s TV shows, including popular shows like Doc McStuffins, for which she won a Peabody Award. Hanley also won a songwriting Emmy for her work on last year’s animated series We The People. She’s still rocking in Letters to Cleo, too, though the band was broken up for a good long while there—now they get together on occasion to make some noise and play a few shows every November. Sounds nice to me. Check out the song “Back to Nebraska“ right here. The other half of today’s conversation is Louise Post, who was the co-frontperson of another ‘90s alt-rock titan, Veruca Salt. Together with her songwriting partner Nina Gordon, Post caused a huge stir back then, coming out of the gate (the gate being Chicago) with a ton of buzz and an incredible single called “Seether.” As you’ll hear in this conversation, the machinations of the music biz caused some real strife, and Gordon left the band. Post soldiered on with some great Veruca Salt music before things fizzled, but there’s a happy ending: Gordon returned in 2015 with the rest of the original lineup. And even better: Post has just released a firecracker of a solo album called Sleepwalker, which sounds grown up but still rocking in all the right ways. Check out “What About.” In this chat, Post and Hanley talk about the early days and seeing each other play; Hanley gushes over Post’s new record, and they talk about living through that moment in the ‘90s alt-rock world when women were undeniably in the driver’s seat. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Kay Hanley and Louise Post for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the written goodness on this very website. This episode was produced by this week’s special guest host Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got the singer and songwriter from a legendary ‘90s (and beyond) band alongside a relative newcomer whose songs he deeply influenced: Adam Duritz and Sean Barna. If you don’t know his name, you certainly know Duritz’s band, Counting Crows. Active since 1991, the group has sold 20 million albums, enjoyed a bunch of big hits, and been a powerhouse touring act for that entire run. To his great credit, Duritz—as you’ll hear in this chat—has never stopped engaging with new music, both as a songwriter and a sort of talent scout. He started two different festivals that you’ll hear about, the Outlaw Roadshow and Underwater Sunshine, which are built like jam sessions for both established and up-and-coming songwriters. Counting Crows continues to release new music, too, including a lengthy EP called Butter Miracle, Suite One, which was recorded during pandemic times and showcases a slightly glammier side of the band. Check out “Elevator Boots” right here, and check out Counting Crows on tour this summer with Dashboard Confessional. Today’s other guest, Sean Barna, was a drummer who was directly inspired to start writing songs after hearing Counting Crows. In some sort of amazing bit of serendipity, Barna found himself in Duritz’s orbit, and the two became fast friends and, eventually, guests on each other’s music. Barna recently signed to the venerated indie label Kill Rock Stars, which just released his second album, An Evening at Macri Park, which is a sort of concept album about modern-day queer life in Brooklyn. It’s emotional and catchy in all the right ways. Check out the song “Be a Man,” which features Duritz on guest vocals. In this fun and wide-ranging conversation, Duritz and Barna talk about playing shows together, the perfection that is a BLT, a bit of hazing that happened when Barna opened for Counting Crows, and lots more. There’s even a lengthy story from Duritz that starts with badly injuring his leg and ends with him looking for his underwear. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Adam Duritz and Sean Barna for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of musicians who are both part of a brand new Sun Ra tribute album that’s part of the long-running Red Hot series, Angel Bat Dawid and Georgia Anne Muldrow. We’ve also got a special guest in the podcast intro: former Talkhouse host and co-producer of the tribute album Elia Einhorn. Muldrow and Dawid hadn’t met before this call, but as you’ll hear, they’re definitely on the same wavelength both musically and personally—and they both have a deep connection to Sun Ra, the cosmic-jazz master who made incredible, out-there records starting back in the 1930s all the way through to his final journey off this planet in 1993. Dawid was born in Georgia but she’s most closely associated with Chicago, where she’s part of an incredible jazz scene. Not only is she a musician—an ace clarinetist, in fact—but also an activist and a teacher with plans to open a music school. Muldrow boasts an incredible—and incredibly diverse— catalog of music, which she’s been working on for the past couple of decades. Sometimes she records under her own name, but also under the name Jyoti—those records, Elia Einhorn notes, are a pretty good place to start with her catalog. There are elements of jazz, to be sure, but also hip-hop, funk, and blues in the mix. These two become fast friends on the podcast, talking about Sun Ra visiting them in dreams, how Ra came into their lives, and their definitions of living spiritually. Again, check out the first installment of Red Hot And Ra, which is out now, and then dive into these incredible catalogs. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Angel Bat Dawid and Georgia Anne Muldrow for chatting—and thanks to Elia Einhorn for co-hosting. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of New Zealanders who’ve forged incredible careers in music and comedy and comedic music: Jemaine Clement and Ruban Nielson. I’m guessing Clement is best known to our listeners as half of Flight of the Conchords, his musical and acting duo with Bret McKenzie. They haven’t put out a record or toured much in the last decade or so, but their albums and HBO series definitely endure with their subtle hilarity. Clement has of course been plenty busy post-Conchords as both an actor and director. His 2014 mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, co-directed with his old friend Taika Watiti, spun off into one of the funniest shows on TV, and you’ve also heard or seen him in everything from Despicable Me to the latest Avatar movie. In the awful event that you’re not familiar with Flight of the Conchords, here’s their David Bowie tribute, simply called “Bowie,” which is discussed a bit in this episode. Clement seemed excited—and well prepared!—to speak with Ruban Nielson, the singer-guitarist behind Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Though both of these guys are, as I said, from New Zealand and fans of each other’s work, they had never met before. UMO, as Nielson’s band is known for short, has been making a sort of uncategorizable music since 2010; they most often get pegged as psychedelic rock, which isn’t wrong, but also doesn’t tell the whole story. There are also elements of lo-fi indie rock, a bit of funk, and some garage rock. But the fact that it’s tough to name is part of what makes UMO’s music so appealing. Check out a little their song “The Garden,” which opens the latest UMO album, V. These guys have a fantastic conversation that spans everything from the history of New Zealand and their shared Maori heritage to an in-depth examination of the Jagstang, a guitar designed by Kurt Cobain and favored by Nielson. They talk about bombing on stage—and getting bombed before getting on stage—and they share stories about coming up in a shared place. Also, you’ll hear the phrase “sad funky ghost,” perhaps for the first and last time in your life. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Jemaine Clement and Ruban Nielson for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and be sure to check out all the goodies at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of guys who worked on an incredible record together, which just came out last week: Will Westerman and James Krivchenia. Krivchenia is best known as the drummer of Big Thief, the Brooklyn indie band that has blown up pretty big over the past few years, up to and including last year’s fantastic album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. When he’s not busy with Big Thief, Krivchenia also plays in Mega Bog, among other bands, and he even played some drums on Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of her Red album. He’s also made some really interesting music as a solo artist, including last year’s Blood Karaoke, which samples dozens of YouTube videos that had zero views and synthesizes them into an intense collage that will either get your toes tapping or your brain frying. Check out “Null States” right here. Will Westerman, who releases music under his last name, happened to meet Krivchenia in the UK a few years back, and for the second Westerman album, the two worked together. An Inbuilt Fault is a more textured beast than the first Westerman record, gaining space and a bit of groove courtesy of both Krivchenia and some other ace players, like Luke Temple. Recording the album was a weird experience that involved a lonely apartment and a couple of guys with Covid, and lyrically it deals with a pretty dark time. Check out the song “Take” here, which they talk about in this chat. In addition to their own recording experience, Krivchenia and Westerman talk about an incredible guitar that James’ uncle built, figuring out how you’re going to play studio-built compositions on the road, and a bunch of upcoming projects, including another Westerman record and a mythology-heavy, “metal as fuck” children’s album. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Will Westerman and James Krivchenia for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all of the other great podcasts in our network via Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of songwriters who come from different scenes but whose convergence sparked a longtime friendship and even some collaboration: David Wax and Will Oldham. David Wax is half the core of the band that bears his name, David Wax Museum—the other half is his wife and longtime musical partner Suz Slezak. The duo has been making records and touring the world for the past 15 years or so, largely independently and definitely marching to the beat of their own drummer. Their blend of Mexican-flavored folk and other traditional-sounding influences has been called “Mexo-Americana,” but that’s really just a starting place. It’s charming, engaging, and always searching. David Wax Museum’s latest album is called You Must Change Your Life, and it was inspired by both a health scare that Wax had recently and by their choice of producer, Dan Molad, who’s a member of Lucius, among other major accomplishments. Check out the title track from You Must Change Your Life right here. Perhaps you can hear how Wax might get along with today’s other guest, Will Oldham. Oldham is of course known as the songwriting genius behind Palace Music and Bonnie Prince Billy, and he’s been making timeless music since the early 1990s; his latest album is a collaboration with Bill Callahan called Blind Date Party. Oldham is also an actor, which is touched on in this conversation; you may have seen him in one of Kelly Reichardt’s movies, or in A Ghost Story which, if you haven’t seen it, please do, it’s amazing. In this conversation, Wax and Oldham talk about how they were able to connect at a folk festival. They talk about how Oldham exists sort of outside the machinery of the music business, and how that’s helped and occasionally hurt (but mostly helped). They touch on the rare songs that Oldham has licensed for film and TV, and David asks Will to come to he and Suz’s barn to play for a blindfolded audience. It’ll make sense when you hear it. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to David Wax and Will Oldham for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written pieces we’ve got on Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pairing that’s a little bit outside our normal wheelhouse, but that touches on topics that we love to hit: Qveen Herby and Bunny Michael. Usually it’s easy to classify our guests by the main thing they do: musician, filmmaker, author. But both Qveen Herby and Bunny Michael do more than I can even reasonably tell you about in this intro: Each hosts a podcast, each has earned huge followings on social media, and each makes music. Herby started her career as part of the duo Karmin, as you’ll hear: Instant YouTube fame greeted their fun cover songs, and they ended up on Ellen and Saturday Night Live—and in what turned out to be a not-that-fun major-label deal. But Herby reinvented herself as a very 21st-century content creator, offering life advice on Instagram and via the House of Herby podcast, selling jewelry, and making funny, pointed hip-hop-indebted pop. Check out “Just Found Out” from Qveen Herby’s latest EP, The Muse. As you’ll hear, Qveen Herby and today’s other guest, Bunny Michael, didn’t know each other personally before this conversation, but their paths have been incredibly similar. Michael found their biggest boost of fame via earnest self-help memes as well as a popular podcast called XO Higher Self. They’re also a visual artist and activist, and they’ve got a book coming out next year via Little Brown called Hello Higher Self. And yes, Bunny Michael is also a musician. Check out the song “Oracle” right here. Like I said, these two didn’t know each other before this chat, but you can tell they’re going to be friends, as the old song goes. They talk about how to maintain boundaries with your own creativity, they talk about how your biggest song might be the one you’re most embarrassed by, and they talk about—horror—trying to put down your phone for a whole day. I don’t know if I could do it. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Qveen Herby and Bunny Michael for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the sweet goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got the songwriters behind some of the most tuneful tunes in indie-rock, one with a couple of decades under his belt, the other two relatively newer to the game: A.C. Newman along with Liz Stokes and Jonathan Pearce. Stokes and Pearce are the core of the New Zealand band The Beths; she sings and plays guitar, he plays guitar and engineers their fabulous records. Their third and latest, Expert in a Dying Field, was one of 2022’s best—and you don’t have to take my word for it, it made tons of those best-of-the-year lists. Stokes is a fabulous lyricist and expressive singer; she’s one of those people whose semi-deadpan actually says quite a lot. The songs are melancholy and spunky, and sort of in the tradition of some great late-90s/early aughts indie-rock, like Superchunk or Rilo Kiley. Maybe it’s no surprise that some big bands that broke out in that era, like Death Cab for Cutie and The National, have taken the Beths out on tour. Check out the title track from Expert in a Dying Field right here, and catch the Beths on tour all over the world this summer. Another Beths admirer who got his start in the early aughts is A.C. Newman, who’s best known as the singer and chief songwriter for the New Pornographers. That Canadian band started out as a sort of supergroup consisting of Newman and Neko Case alongside Dan Bejar and John Collins of Destroyer, but over the years it has really become a vehicle for Newman’s incredibly melodic songs. The band is on tour now behind their ninth album, the slightly mellower though no less engaging Continue As A Guest, and yes, both the current live lineup and the record still feature Neko Case—in the past she’s had to split time with her vibrant solo career. Check out “Really Really Light,” from Continue as a Guest. In this conversation, Newman, Stokes, and Pearce—who were only admirers beforehand, not yet acquaintances—talk about the early days of these things called websites, blowing your life savings to go on tour, government arts grants that help bands do bigger things, and when doing it yourself just becomes too tough. Also, Newman gives some solid life and career advice: “Just do what you think is cool.” Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to A.C. Newman, Liz Stokes, and Jonathan Pearce for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and don’t forget to check out the other podcasts in our network, including Craig Finn’s That’s How I Remember It, How Long Gone, and Bjork’s Sonic Symbolism. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s episode we’ve got two guests who might know each other better than any two prior guests of this podcast ever have: brothers Ben Nichols and Jeff Nichols. Ben Nichols is the singer, guitarist, and chief lyricist for the long-running Memphis band Lucero, and when I say long-running, I mean it: Assuming you’re listening to this podcast the day we release it, the band played its first show exactly 25 years ago today, on April 13 of 1998. In that time, they’ve released an even dozen albums, making the journey from punk-influenced country—or maybe that’s country-influenced punk—to soul to straight-up rock and roll. I’ve always felt like Lucero was the Southern version of The Hold Steady, purveyors of great story-songs and always an incredibly good time live. The newest Lucero album came out in February, and it’s a very intentional back-to-basics rock record called Should’ve Learned By Now. Check out “Macon If We Make It” from that record. Ben’s younger brother Jeff followed a similar independently creative path, but down a different road: He’s a successful—and incredible—film director whose credits include Mud starring Matthew McConaughey, a drama about the real life battle over interracial marriage called Loving, and my personal favorite, Take Shelter, in which Nichols’ frequent collaborator Michael Shannon plays a family man who may or may not be coming unglued. Each is very different from the next, and each is excellent. Jeff Nichols next film is called The Bikeriders, and it will star Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodi Comer, among others. It’s very loosely based on a book of the same name that Jeff was introduced to by Ben. As you’ll hear in this conversation, it’s not the only time the two have influenced each other. They talk about how Lucero songs have found their way into Jeff’s movies, about how the brothers came upon the same exact story in different ways, and about Jeff’s potential future as the man who may attempt the impossible: adapting some of Cormac McCarthy’s more complicated books, including Blood Meridian, for the big screen. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Ben Nichols and Jeff Nichols for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written stuff we’ve got at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve put together what might seem like two vastly different musicians, but they’re connected by a deep respect and by a truly rebellious spirit that’s reflected in their names: Steve Ignorant and Sunny War. Sunny War has been releasing bluesy, folky, virtuosic albums for years, but recently hooked up with the notable Americana label New West for the album Anarchist Gospel, which features not only some of her best songs yet, but also a bunch of notable guest performers, like singer-songwriter David Rawlings and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. You might not guess it from just a surface listen, but War cut her teeth not just on classic songwriters and fingerpickers, but on plenty of harder, more left-of-center music as well. On Anarchist Gospel she covers a Ween song and paraphrases a lyric by the legendary anarcho-punk band Crass—which is the genesis of today’s conversation. Check out Sunny War’s “Whole” right here, in which she namechecks Crass. The other half of today’s chat is Steve Ignorant, a founding member of Crass and still the band’s flag bearer more than 40 years later. Now Crass is often overlooked by punk historians who don’t run deeper than the Sex Pistols or the Clash, but they were in many ways just as important. Crass were unapologetically political, making anti-corporate, anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-bullshit statements in both their music and out in the streets—back when that could be a much more dangerous thing to do than it is now. Though Crass split in the early 1980s, Ignorant has performed under various guises over the years, and still plays gigs that cover his vast musical history, including new material as Steve Ignorant’s Slice of Life. At 65, he’s still got plenty of the anarchist’s spirit in him, as you’ll hear. In this chat, War and Ignorant—that sounds funny together, doesn’t it?—talk about growing up as true outsiders—he in post-war England, her in drug-friendly Los Angeles. They chat about War’s devotion to Crass, including a misspelled tattoo she got way too young. And they get into their problems with how young people are educated, and offer a pretty smart, simple solution. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Steve Ignorant and Sunny War for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the good stuff we’ve got at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Hey Talkhouse listeners, we're off this week, so we're bringing you something special. To honor The Hold Steady's new record, The Price of Progress (out March 31st), we invited Craig Finn to highlight his favorite episode of his podcast, That's How I Remember It. Craig chose this conversation with The Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle. Be sure to catch The Hold Steady and The Mountain Goats on tour together this summer, details at: theholdsteady.net. See you next week! ~~~ John Darnielle is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It. John has been making brilliant music as The Mountain Goats since 1991. Originally a solo lo-fi bedroom project, TMG has grown into a lush rock & roll juggernaut. John has also written four great novels, the most recent being Devil House, which we talked about here. We also talked about activated charcoal, local crime obsession, consciousness of sin, and whether the amazing new Mountain Goats record Bleed Out is their Age of Quarrel. Huge thanks to John for bringing a great conversation here. Listen, subscribe, and stay tuned for more awesome guests on That’s How I Remember It.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a musician at the start of her career talking with a songwriter whose 35-year-old song she recently covered—after just discovering it. It’s Dan Littleton and Helen Ballentine, aka. Skullcrusher. Don’t let that name fool you. Skullcrusher’s music taps into elements of ambient electronic and traditional folk to create a mesmerizing stew: In other words, if it crushes your skull, it will do so gently. On her debut album under the name, last year’s Quiet the Room, Ballentine deftly explores some complicated emotions via gorgeous songs and words; the two artists she’s been most frequently compared to are Phoebe Bridgers and Grouper, and I think if you smush those together, it makes some sense. The other half of today’s conversation is Dan Littleton, whose indie-folk outfit Ida made some incredible records in the ‘90s and the aughts. But the focus of this conversation is actually Littleton’s hardcore band from the 1980s, the Hated. The Hated was part of what emo scholars—does such a thing exist?—consider the genre’s first wave, which was led most notably by Rites of Spring. They were adjacent to the so-called “Revolution Summer” in 1985, though the Hated faded into history more quickly than some of their counterparts. But the scholars at the venerated Numero Group label recently launched a reissue series that takes a deep dive into the Hated’s discography, starting with a compilation called Best Piece of Shit Vol. 4. Now what does an ‘80s hardcore band have to do with an ambient folk artist currently bubbling? Well, the Numero folks had the brilliant idea of asking Skullcrusher to cover a Hated song, and once she heard “Words Come Back,” she was all in. Check out the original below; the cover is available on your favorite streaming service starting today. In this conversation, Ballentine and Littleton—who are chatting for the first time—talk about how this unusual cover version actually makes complete sense, and how sometimes radically different sounds can actually come from very similar places. Dan describes the emotional teenage years that inspired the original, and Helen talks about how she layered the unusual sounds on her version. It’s an inspiring lovefest of sincerity and creativity, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Helen Ballentine and Dan Littleton for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all we’ve got to offer on Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Artist-on-artist conversations about life, the creative process, and more. Subscribe today.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of songwriters separated by thousands of miles who came together recently for a killer single: Remi Wolf and Benny Sings. Wolf has been writing songs since her early teens, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that her neon pop jams starting getting some social media attention. A major label came calling, and Wolf spent a good chunk of the early pandemic making her full-length debut album Juno, which she named after her recently adopted dog. It’s one of those deceptively sunny records that hides some bigger emotions inside huge hooks, and it led to a bunch of amazing singles like “Anthony Kiedis”—that’s the name of the song— and tours: Wolf will play Coachella next month. As you’ll hear in this chat, Wolf met Dutch singer-songwriter Benny Sings when both were playing a Spanish festival that had some kind of Medieval theme. Wolf was already a fan of Benny’s work, both as a performer and a producer: Not only has he released a ton of great music on his own, but he also co-wrote a hit with Rex Orange County and has worked with the likes of Mac Demarco. Benny’s music has a sort of classic soft-pop vibe; he playfully mixes in hip-hop and island vibes on occasion, too, making the sort of breezy songs that easily get stuck in your head. When it came time to record his brand new album Young Hearts, which comes out next week, he reached out to Remi for some vocal assistance. The result is a delightful little nugget called “Pyjamas.” Check out that song right here. In this chat, Remi and Benny talk about collaborating on the video for “Pyjamas”—she directed it, adding some of the visual flair she’s known for. They also chat about songwriting in general—whether it’s craft or divination, and they get into whether technology is good or evil—and whether these two would survive a tech-pocalypse. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Remi Wolf and Benny Sings for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of fantastic musicians who’ve been intimately involved with each other’s lives and work for the past decade and a half: Cate Le Bon and Huw Evans. Le Bon and Evans each have their own incredible discographies that wouldn’t have been the same without the other: They’re not in a band together, but each has been a key component of the other’s work over the years, starting when they were young and romantically involved. Though they’re no longer in a relationship, they’re still a huge part of each other’s lives. And as you’ll hear in this conversation, they like to give each other shit—to the point where while recording I wasn’t sure if there was some real hostility happening. (There wasn't.) Evans records under the name H. Hawkline, and this week he’ll release his fifth album, Milk For Flowers. It’s his most personal and intense yet, though strong emotions remain shrouded in what he once called “strange pop.” Hawkline first found a bit of fame in his and Le Bon’s native Wales as a TV presenter, but found his musical voice with a unique blend of classic-sounding songwriting flecked with psychedelic and folk influences. He’s worked with Tim Presley of White Fence a bunch; as you’ll hear, Presley even played a pivotal non-musical role in the creation of Milk For Flowers. Le Bon produced it, helping to shepherd some intense feelings onto tape. Here’s the title track. Evans was there right at the start of Le Bon’s career, as you’ll hear in this chat: They were living together, and he convinced her to start playing her otherworldly songs outside of their house. He even had to come up with her stage name in order to create a flyer: What may or may not have been a reference to Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon stuck. The two eventually moved to Los Angeles together and continued making music: Le Bon has amassed an unforgettable discography—you know immediately when you hear her music. (Jeff Tweedy once said he could always tell when it was Le Bon playing guitar, which sounds like a compliment to me.) Le Bon’s latest album is last year’s Pompeii, a grand, height-of-the-pandemic record that feels like an amazing high-wire act, with saxophone, clarinet, and synthesizers all complementing her voice, guitar, and bass. And it’s a matter of some debate, as you’ll hear, whether Evans contributed any bass as well. Check out “Remembering Me” from Pompeii. In addition to giving each other grief about song titles and bass parts, the two talk about their history together, about how Le Bon narrowly avoided recording a song that sounded like Jane’s Addiction, their different writing styles, and about how the story of Le Bon’s first gig was like “a shit indie film.” Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Huw Evans and Cate Le Bon for letting us in on their chat. If you liked what you heard, please followTalkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and be sure to check out all the other podcasts in our network, including Jokermen, Craig Finn’s That’s How I Remember It, and more. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse episode, we’ve got a couple of old friends who’ve made some great music both together and separately, and who record under interesting names: Chaz Bear and Hannah van Loon. Those aren’t even the interesting names I was talking about. Chaz Bear is better known as Toro Y Moi, a pioneer in the chillwave genre who started releasing records about a dozen years ago. But that microgenre never quite captured what Toro Y Moi is all about, because nothing really can. Chaz Bear loves to jump around sonically, dipping his toes into indie rock, hip-hop, and even some jazzy influences. He’s got enough excess energy that Toro Y Moi isn’t even his only musical outlet, and he also moonlights as a graphic designer. This spring and summer he’ll open shows for Caroline Polachek, and he’s also part of the new ReSet touring festival that’s hitting bit cities this year. Oh, and he’s still got time to collaborate with today’s other guest. Hannah van Loon has been making music as Tanukichan since 2016 or so, and Chaz Bear has been involved in quite a lot of it. In addition to releasing it via his own imprint, Company, Bear has produced quite a bit of van Loon’s music and collaborated with her on it, including the brand new Gizmo, which is out March 3. It’s a slightly more uplifting experience than her lovely but kinda dark debut, 2018’s Sundays. Her publicist describes one song on the new record, “Don’t Give Up,” as nu-metal meets Cocteau Twins, which is sort of simultaneously wrong and exactly right. Check out a different song, ”Take Care,” right here. Van Loon and Bear are both a little bit introverted, as you’ll hear, but they chat a bit about her woodworking, his studio, and… TikTok. They talk a bunch about TikTok—whether it’s a force for good or evil, what kinds of weird corners you can find on it, and how it’s actually a really great tool for learning about new music. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Chaz Bear and Hannah van Loon for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written content we’ve got at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of women who came up together during one of the most exciting musical eras ever, and who’ve got the stories to prove it: Gina Birch and Vivien Goldman. Birch started the Raincoats with friends from a London art college in 1977, stepping right into the burgeoning punk scene with records that were notoriously challenging in a scene not known for being particularly welcoming to women to begin with. The Raincoats were never poppy enough to flirt with the mainstream, but thanks to Kurt Cobain, the band had a bit of a resurrection in the mid-1990s. At Cobain’s behest, Nirvana’s American label re-released the Raincoats catalog, complete with liner notes by Cobain, and the band subsequently made its first album in over a decade. They were even set to tour with Nirvana in Europe, but Cobain’s death scuppered that plan. But Birch didn’t slow down; she set out on a filmmaking career while still pursuing music; she even made music videos for the likes of New Order and The Libertines. Later this year, Birch’s paintings will accompany a hardbound volume of Sharon Van Etten’s lyrics. Just recently, Jack White’s Third Man Records came calling, and it reignited Birch’s musical endeavors: This week marks the release of her first proper solo album, called I Play My Bass Loud. Check out the title track right here. Vivien Goldman is known more as a writer than as a musician, but she’s done both of those things and much, much more. She worked in PR for Bob Marley and the Wailers way back when—and she lives part of the time in Jamaica nowadays, which is where she Zoomed in from. At the height of the punk boom, she released an influential single called “Launderette” before transitioning more into writer and journalist mode: She was the editor of influential UK music paper Sounds and co-wrote the Massive Attack song “Sly.” She was also roommates with Chrissie Hynde and, more important to this conversation, Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records, which is how she got to know Gina Birch. These days, Goldman has been teaching about the history of punk at NYU, and she dove back into music last year, releasing an album called Next is Now. I’ve only scratched the surface, too: Check out viviengoldman.com for a more complete picture. In this conversation, Birch and Goldman chat about the old days and the newer days, how roles and respect for women have changed over the decades, and about the famous musician and producer, Youth, who encouraged them both—and produced both of their new records. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Gina Birch and Vivien Goldman for this fantastic chat. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all we’ve got on offer at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of pioneering musical searchers who came together for a Grammy-nominated record last year: Angélique Kidjo and Ibrahim Maalouf. Now, trying to encapsulate Kidjo’s career into the little space I have here is an even more daunting task than usual—and we’ve had some really accomplished people on this podcast. Born in West Africa, Kidjo has ably explored various musics over the past 40 years or so, winning fans with an incredible range of styles and interests. She’s played on Lilith Fair, won Grammys, been a muse for Philip Glass, started a foundation to empower girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa, collaborated with everyone from Carlos Santana to Ezra Koenig to Dr. John to Josh Groban to Kronos Quartet—and that list goes on and on. The only real constant in her career—besides a sort of deep, inexplicable beauty—is a restlessness. Kidjo is always looking for the next thing to spark her interest, which led to a recent Grammy-nominated collaboration with today’s other guest, Ibrahim Maalouf. Maalouf is a French-Lebanese trumpeter who shares a musical outlook with Kidjo—both care deeply about always pushing the boundaries of what they do, and never repeating themselves. To that end, they collaborated on last year’s Queen of Sheba, which takes the oft-told Biblical story to new places. KIdjo wrote the lyrics in the Yoruba language, and Maalouf’s music builds a bridge between the sounds of the Middle East and Africa. Since that record came out, Maalouf has already released another, Capacity to Love, on which he examines American sounds—specifically hip-hop—gathering guests like Eric the Architect from Flatbush Zombies and Pos from De La Soul. Also, strangely, Sharon Stone. In this lovely and enlightening conversation, Kidjo and Maalouf trade stories about their inspiration behind making music, and each shares some really profound advice they got as children. Kidjo speaks about the recent loss of her mother, and what that’s meant to her spiritually—and how it might affect her next album, which sounds like it will be deeply personal. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Angélique Kidjo and Ibrahim Maalouf for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff we’ve got going at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a couple of old friends who’ve both been trying new things lately: Hannibal Buress and Kristian Mercado. Hannibal Buress just celebrated his 40th birthday, which means he’s spent more than half his life making people laugh for a living. He started out doing stand-up in his hometown of Chicago, winning audiences small and then eventually very large by telling pointed jokes with a sort of super laid-back style. He briefly wrote for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, and you’ve almost certainly seen him on The Eric Andre Show or Broad City, or maybe one of his many stand-up specials. In the past few years, though, Buress has turned his attention to music, releasing a bunch of hip-hop tracks under the name Eshu Tune. Though rumors of his retirement from comedy seem to be exaggerated—he talks about that here—he is taking music seriously. Or maybe seriously isn’t exactly the right word, but it’s his focus. Check out the Eshu Tune song “Knee Brace” right here. The other side of this chat, Kristian Mercado, is best known as a filmmaker; he’s made music videos and directed stand-up specials for Michael Che, Taylor Tomlinson, and Ilana Glazer—and of course Hannibal Buress, with whom he worked on the weird and wonderful Miami Nights. Mercado is about to take the biggest jump a director can: He just directed his first feature film, called If You Were The Last, which will have its world premiere at this year’s South By Southwest festival in Austin. I haven’t seen it, but it stars Anthony Mackie and it’s a sci-fi love story, so I’m in. Mercado has also started dabbling in stand-up comedy, inspired by the many comics he’s worked with over the years, including, of course Hannibal. These two chat about how they work, and Buress drops the news that he’s working on a feature-length script of his own—Mercado can’t wait to see it. Buress also quizzes Mercado on the most important people on a film set, and Mercado talks about the joys of experiencing the Sundance Film Festival under the influence of psychedelics. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Hannibal Buress and Kris Mercado for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff we’ve got going at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve put together the drummers from two of the UK’s biggest bands in recent memory: Dave Rowntree and Philip Selway. Rowntree came to fame with Blur, one of the original Britpop bands of the early 1990s. I probably don’t need to give you much biography on Blur, but in the band’s couple of long hiatuses, Rowntree has lived about a dozen lives. He’s been an amateur pilot, a professional lawyer, an elected politician, and a social activist. On the music front, he found yet another career creating soundtracks for TV and film, starting with the Bros documentary After the Screaming Stops. Blur is back together for some massive shows in 2023, but during the pandemic Rowntree got together—virtually, of course—with producer Leo Abrahams to make his proper solo album. Freed from the constraints of both his bandmates and showrunners, Rowntree did his own thing, and the result is Radio Songs, a delightful 10-song album that flirts with Britpop here and there, but flirts with other interesting sounds as well. Here’s “London Bridge.” Philip Selway is best known as the drummer for another huge British band, Radiohead, with whom he’s been making music since 1985. Though he always had the itch to write his own songs, it wasn’t until 2010 that Selway actually took the leap and released his first solo album, the gentle Familial. In between Radiohead duties, he’s found the time to release another one—the more sonically expansive Weatherhouse in 2014—and work on some soundtracks as well. Selway is now gearing up for the release of his third and most ambitious album yet: Strange Dance comes out toward the end of February, and it features a bunch of Selway’s musical friends on a very cinematic-yet-personal-sounding set songs. You can preorder various formats here; in the meantime, check out “Check for Signs of Life." In this conversation, these two drummers sound immediately chummy, though they were only passing acquaintances beforehand. They talk about stepping away from bigger bands to do your own thing, including the process of finding your own voice. “What if it’s rubbish?” laughs Rowntree at the top of the chat, proving that even the biggest stars can have doubts. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Dave Rowntree and Philip Selway for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all we’ve got to offer at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of multi-hyphenates who have recently joined music-world forces: Justin Tranter and Jake Wesley Rogers. Tranter first found music-biz fame with the band Semi-Precious Weapons, which had a decade-long run starting in 2004, and whose biggest claim to fame—besides their music itself—was opening for Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour. But Tranter pivoted after Semi-Precious Weapons split up, and started writing songs for and with other artists—but not just any artists. Tranter has written for and/or with Justin Bieber, Imagine Dragons, Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani, and many, many more—chances are good you’ve heard a Justin Tranter composition on the radio, even if you didn’t know it. Tranter has also written a bunch of songs for the upcoming Grease prequel series, Rise of the Pink Ladies, and seven songs on the brand-new album by the massive Italian band Måneskin. Tranter has also been an incredible activist in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond, and their next move is becoming, as you’ll hear in this chat, a mogul. That’s where the other half of today’s Talkhouse Podcast comes into the picture: Jake Wesley Rogers recently signed on with Tranter’s new record label, Facet, and the two have plans to conquer the world together—I wouldn’t bet against them. Rogers is from a younger generation, having grown up with the instant gratification of social media. He even appeared on America’s Got Talent at 15, and started writing songs even earlier than that. But Rogers really finds his voice with a couple of recent EPs, Pluto and Love. Tranter and Rogers also recently co-wrote a song called “Hindsight,” which plays over the end credits of Bros, the first gay rom-com ever released by a major studio—they talk about that here a bit as well. Check out that song below. In this conversation, Tranter and Rogers talk about their daily processes, including The Artists' Way, they talk about great pop songs, great middle school teachers, destroying the patriarchy, and the dangers and joys of social media. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Justin Tranter and Jake Wesley Rogers for chatting. If you like what you heard, please check out all the goodness on Talkhouse.com and subscribe to our weekly e-mail newsletter. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, our guests begin as strangers and end their conversation as family: It’s Pamela Adlon chatting with Tegan and Sara Quin. Adlon has had an incredible career over the past 40 or so years; no matter what your pop culture diet, she has probably sneaked into your consciousness one way or another. Maybe you have vague memories of her character on The Facts of Life from the early ‘80s, or perhaps her roles on Californication and Louie in more recent years. Adlon has also had an incredible shadow career doing voices in animated shows, where she’s best known as Bobby Hill on King of the Hill. But perhaps the culmination of all that fantastic work is Better Things, the show that Adlon created, executive-produced, starred in, and let’s face it, gave birth to. Better Things just concluded its fifth and final season, and it stuck the landing so well. It’s one of those shows that hits that rare mixture of funny and true—and it definitely struck a nerve with the other half of today’s Talkhouse talk: Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara started making music as teenagers, and given that they’re twin sisters, it’s no wonder that they were immediately in sync with each other. The duo were sort of flung into the big time immediately, being signed to Neil Young’s record label and opening for him when they were basically still kids. But some sage advice that you’ll hear about in this chat helped Tegan and Sara navigate what’s become a fruitful and varied career: They’ve made a ton of great music, stuck their heads into the mainstream here and there, and kept their vision intact. They’ve also written a memoir called High School, which was recently adapted into an Amazon TV show. They’re unabashed with their love and respect for Better Things, which may have seeped into their own show. Their latest album is called Crybaby, the memoir and TV show are both called High School, and they’ve got a new graphic memoir called Junior High coming out later this year. Check out “Yellow” from Crybaby. In this delightful conversation, Tegan and Sara gush a little bit about Better Things and Adlon in general, and in turn Adlon offers to join their family. They talk about their various creative endeavors, the niceness of Neil Young, Sara’s recent parenthood, the “hairy edge” that Better Things walked, and lots more. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Pamela Adlon, Tegan Quin, and Sara Quin for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff on our website and our podcast network. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

For our first brand new Talkhouse episode of 2023, we’ve got a short but great chat with three guys from the rollicking Australian rock scene: Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Jack “Cool Breeze” Crowther, and Elliot “Dr. Love Wisdom” O’Reilly. Yes, they have excellent names, and so do their bands. Kenny-Smith is part of the super-prolific King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, which since coming together in Melbourne in 2010 has released an incredible 23 albums—three of those in October of 2022 alone. The band has built up a manic following along the way, building up a whole universe—people call it the Gizzverse—of characters and sounds that range from extended rock jams to jazz to microtonal exploration. If you’re not already familiar, there’s no perfect place to start, though last year’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava is accessible in its own way. In addition to non-stop touring and recording with King Gizz, Kenny-Smith also leads another band, The Murlocs, which put out their sixth album, Rapscallion, just last year as well. To borrow a funny line from Pitchfork, being a King Gizzard fan can feel like a full-time job, but seems like a fun one to me. Check out “Iron Lung” from that album I mentioned above with the really long name. The other two gents in this conversation, Jack Crowther and Elliot O’Reilly, are part of Babe Rainbow, another hardworking Australian band. Though not quite as busy as King Gizzard, Babe Rainbow has managed to release five full lengths in just the last five or so years as well—including one produced by a member of King Gizzard. Theirs is a slightly more focused take on psychedelic rock—no less spacey but a bit more structured. Here’s “Inner Space” from their latest album, The Organic Band. In this conversation, these three friendly guys talk about recent flooding in Australia that involved some cat rescuing, as well as fashion, having babies, surfing, and lots more. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Jack Crowther, and Elliot O’Reilly for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out Talkhouse.com for tons of great written pieces and other podcasts in our network. This episode was recorded and produced by Keenan Kush, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time! This episode was recorded live at Desert Daze 2022. Special thanks to Desert Daze and to Dad Grass for making this episode possible.

Happy Holidays. While we're on break, we'd love to share with you a recent addition to the Talkhouse Podcast Network, Noble Champions with Santigold. This episode originally aired on Nov. 7, 2022, and is titled "Questlove, Angela Yee and Tunde Adebimpe." Subscribe to Noble Champions with Santigold. In this episode, Santi rallies her longtime friends Questlove, Angela Yee, and Tunde Adebimpe, who are fellow artists, industry insiders, and cultural critics, to try to tackle the question, 'What exactly is Black Music?'. They discuss complex issues like what happens when you step out of the genre box - specifically when Black artists are making music that’s left outside the 'Black Music' box, who built the box, and what’s the bigger impact of caging in or boxing out music and the artists that make it? All this while geeking out about some of their favorite seminal recording artists like Bad Brains, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, The Last Poets and more.

Happy Holidays. While we're on break, we'd love to share a preview of another podcast on the Talkhouse Podcast Network, Craig Finn's That's How I Remember It. This episode originally aired on Sept. 1, 2022, and is titled "Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)." Subscribe to That's How I Remember It. Adam Duritz is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It and I am quite psyched about it. Adam is obviously the singer and songwriter of platinum selling band Counting Crows, and has been making thoughtful and great music for decades now. I met Adam when Counting Crows took THS on tour in Europe/UK in 2009 and was so excited he agreed to do this. We talked about how the details matter so much in songs, each of our first trips to Asbury Park, loving Christmas music, that dog., last year's fantastic Counting Crows EP, bootlegs, and the way that light attaches to a girl. That’s a wrap on season one of That’s How I Remember It; we’ll be back with season two before long. Listen, subscribe, and keep your eye on this space for tour updates, etc. Stay Positive!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of guys who don’t know each other well, but who’ve crossed paths a few times over the years—most recently at the Desert Daze festival, Nick Allbrook and Josh Conway. Allbrook is the frontman of the Australian psychedelic rock band Pond, which is sort of inextricably linked with another Australian band, Tame Impala. Allbrook was actually a member of Tame for years while also playing with Pond—which includes some current members of Tame Impala. But Pond, which has been around about as long, has built a sound of its own, much more hard charging than that other band, and released a whopping nine albums of frenetic, fun, fuzzy rock. If you’ve never heard the band, their album titles give a hint as to what they’re all about, from Corridors of Blissterday to Man It Feels Like Space Again. Pond’s latest album has a much simpler title, it’s called 9, and among its fantastic tracks is this one, “Lights of Leeming.” Josh Conway is a huge fan of Pond, though his own band, The Marias, approaches music with a much gentler soul. Conway started the group with his significant other, the band’s namesake Maria Zardoya. Their beginnings are kind of funny: They tried to write songs for film and TV placements, none of which—as you’ll hear in this chat—were ever picked up. But, happy with what they’d written, Conway and Zardoya ended up releasing them anyway, and the Marias was born. Their alt-pop is miles from our other guest’s on today’s episode, with elements of jazz and even reggaeton sprinkled throughout a great debut album called Cinema. Check out “Hush” from that album right here. In this conversation, Allbrook and Conway talk about the work hours of Australians versus Catalonians, about how even a deliberate attempt to sell out can result in great creative work, and how taking a walk under the influence of molly and Outkast changed Conway’s outlook. Also, they declare, cheekily, that God is dead, and art is too. Enjoy. Thanks for checking out the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Nick Allbrook and Josh Conway for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcast platform. This episode was produced by Keenan Kush, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve paired the frontmen for two gruff-sounding, kinda scary noise-rock bands, but who as it turns out are a couple of sweethearts: David Yow and Andrew Falkous. David Yow began his music life in the Texas band Scratch Acid, which built its own legend before burning out in the mid-1980s, and then took his maniacal presence to The Jesus Lizard. That band built a following in the next dozen years both for its confrontational music and for Yow’s intensity in their live shows. You’d often find him drunk and half-naked, howling into the faces of stunned crowds. First you were scared, and then you loved it. The Jesus Lizard benefited from the grunge explosion in the mid-1990s, but they were always too weird and scary for the mainstream—even when they got an inexplicable major-label deal with Capitol. (You know, home of the Beatles.) The Jesus Lizard split in 1999, but have reunited a few times since then, with demand for Yow’s insanity peaking every few years. There hasn’t been a Jesus Lizard show in a few years, though—or a “reenactment” as he calls their reunion shows—but Yow has been out recently singing for the early noise-punk band Flipper. You may also have seen him in bit parts in a few movies; the guy has led a varied, full life so far. Andrew Falkous unfortunately just had to postpone his own US tour-slash-reenactment with his band Mclusky, which was originally active from the mid-90s until 2006. An illness has affected his Falkous’ ability to sing, but he’s planning to reschedule very soon. In the years after Mclusky, Falkous made similarly brutish-but-incredible records both as the frontman of a band called Future of the Left and as a sort-of-solo artist under the name Christian Fitness. But as the legend of Mclusky snowballed and the 20th anniversary of their absolute classic of a second album Mclusky Do Dallas approached, he was coaxed to relaunch the name and to play those old songs again. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery and new dates soon. Here’s a little taste of what was certainly Mclusky’s biggest song, the charmingly titled “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues.” In this spirited conversation, Yow and Falkous start by talking about Falkous’ recent battles with his own voice. They get into the nervousness of playing your first-ever show as a singer: Yow dealt with the jitters by handing out tabs of acid to the crowd, while Falkous wore a yellow T-shirt. They talk about beer and whether Australian children should be forced to live in wells. Yow casually slaughters some sacred cows of the alterna-rock world. And lest you think they’re too tough for their own good, you should know that I edited out 15 minutes where they talked about how much they love their cats. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Andrew Falkous and David Yow for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting service and check out all the goodness at this very site. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a lively conversation between two guys from different generations and geographical backgrounds, but some similar stories and experiences: Titus and Angelo Moore. Angelo Moore is the legendary frontman of the legendary punk-funk-ska-soul-etc. band Fishbone, which has been a frequently mutating unit since 1979. Fishbone were peers and friends with a who’s-who of that era’s Los Angeles scene, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, and plenty of others, and they’ve been a huge influence on innumerable bands over the years. It hasn’t been the straightest journey, and there’s a pretty great documentary about the band that came out about 10 years ago called Everyday Sunshine. In addition to fronting the band, which still plays shows worldwide, Moore has embarked on tons of other projects over the years, releasing music as both Dr. Madd Vibe and with a group he calls the Brand New Step. Beyond that, he’s been touring as a vocalist with a David Bowie tribute tour that’s led by Todd Rundgren and Adrian Belew. Titus, aka Randolph Newman, was a fan of Fishbone’s—no surprise for a guy who loves to blend genres, and who’s a person of color in a scene that isn’t known for a ton of diversity. Though they’re from different generations, they share some life experience, having grown up Black in largely white areas—and having ended up playing Warped Tour, though years apart. Titus’ music is less a stew than Fishbone’s: His two most prominent ingredients are pop-punk and hip-hop, with nods to titans of those genres like Taking Back Sunday and Lil’ Wayne. His latest release is an EP called Damned if I Do, and he also recently released a cover of Kate Bush’s Stranger Things-bolstered track “Running Up That Hill,” which is covered in this chat. Check out “Saddest Song” from Damned If I Do right here. Moore and Titus talk about their experiences on Warped Tour, their experiences growing up as outsiders, and drugs. Titus talks about the recent loss of his mother, which has understandably had a profound impact on him, and Moore talks about his days trying to kick some ass in the mosh pit. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Angelo Moore and Titus for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform and check out all we’ve got on offer at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, the creator-star of Hulu’s Ramy, comedian Ramy Youssef, talks with Dina Amer, whose debut feature as writer-director, You Resemble Me, is in theaters now. The film is a lightly fictionalized, emotionally resonant portrait of Hasna Aït Boulahcen, a radicalized Muslim who Amer covered as a journalist in 2015 when Boulahcen was implicated in the Paris terrorist attacks. In an engaging, wide-ranging conversation, Youssef and Amer – fellow Egyptian-Americans who have been friends for years – talk about the personal nature of You Resemble Me, the major deal Dina turned down, Spike Lee’s take on her doing the film her way, casting a “hot” actor as a terrorist, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got the Scottish singer and songwriter behind some of the catchiest songs of the past two decades along with the super producer who helped bring those songs into the world: Fran Healy and Nigel Godrich. Healy is the singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter of the band Travis, which really broke big with 1999’s The Man Who, scoring mainstream hits with songs like “Why Does it Always Rain on Me” and “Turn.” They’ve since created a deep catalog that numbers nine albums. But for today’s purposes we’re going to concentrate on 2001’s The Invisible Band, which Travis is giving a belated 20th birthday celebration for at the moment, including a US tour that starts this week. It can be difficult to follow up a massive success like The Man Who, and Travis turned once again to Godrich to help them chart the proper course. It wasn’t the beginning, but rather the continuation of a long and fruitful relationship. Check out “Sing” from The Invisible Band. Godrich, by the time Invisible Band came around, had found massive success as the producer of Radiohead’s OK Computer, and of course he would go on to be the sort of unofficial sixth member of that band—recording all of their albums and even playing music with Thom Yorke in Atoms for Peace. As you’ll hear in this conversation, Godrich had some solid advice for Healy heading into The Invisible Band, though it’s not necessarily advice he would give anymore. Beyond his work with Radiohead and Travis, Godrich has also produced classics by Beck—including Mutations and Sea Change—and Air and Arcade Fire and Roger Waters. The list goes on. In this conversation, the two old friends talk about their state of mind and state of life back when they commenced recording The Invisible Band in Los Angeles. They talk about Godrich’s recent revelatory experience seeing the Pavement reunion tour—he also produced that band’s swan song, Terror Twilight. There’s even a story about a baby goat peeing in a very expensive guitar case. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Fran Healy and Nigel Godrich for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting and social media platforms. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of singer-songwriters who don’t sound much alike, but who’ve traveled similar paths and have similar outlooks on life—oh, and who did a duet earlier this year—Frank Turner and KT Tunstall. Turner is a sort of folk-punk troubadour who’s built an incredible catalog and following over the past couple of decades from his home base in England. Like his hero Tim Barry of Avail or even Billy Bragg before him, Turner infuses truly catchy songs with a punk spirit, and he’s made a career buoyed by the fact that he never stops moving: He’s always on tour—including a recent “50 States in 50 Days” run—and always making new music. Not even the pandemic could stop him, though obviously it slowed down the live performance. During lockdown, Turner recorded his ninth album, a sort of back-to-basics affair called FTHC, which of course stands for Frank Turner Hardcore. Check out “A Wave Across a Bay” from that album, which was written as a tribute to Turner’s late friend, Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. Also on that album is a song called “Little Life,” which Turner decided after the fact that he’d like to invite someone else to sing on. Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall perhaps wasn’t the most obvious choice, but then again, neither of these folks ever seems to make the obvious choice—and that’s definitely to their credit. Tunstall’s career, which stretches back to indie bands in the early 2000s, definitely started with a more mainstream-leaning trajectory, with BRIT awards and a Grammy nomination, even. But like Turner, Tunstall has a restless spirit, and some big life events not too long ago led her to sell everything she owns, move to Los Angeles, and dive into the world of musicals—where she has also, unsurprisingly, found success. And just last month, she released the final chapter in a trilogy of albums that were meant to convey the themes of “soul, body, and mind.” This one, called Nut—that’d be your mind—is great. Check out “Private Eyes” from that album right here. Turner and Tunstall have a really fun chat here, covering everything from The Clash and Bruce Springsteen to the weirdness of recording a song before you’ve ever played it live. The talk about the touring life a lot, and how that tribe of people have plenty in common, even when it seems like they don’t. They come up with a slogan for Tunstall’s career, and get into the reality of using a tour bus bathroom. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to KT Tunstall and Frank Turner for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow us on your favorite platform, and don’t forget to check out all the other great podcasts in our network and written pieces on this very website. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a musician and an actor who also both happen to host their own podcasts—do they let just anybody do that now?—Rhett Miller and Busy Philipps. Miller is best known as frontman and primary songwriter for the Old 97’s, a band that’s celebrating its 30th year together in 2022 and which is at least partly responsible for the phrase “alt-country” coming into existence. But don’t hold Miller responsible for lazy genre tags: He has written literally hundreds of incredible songs that transcend any pigeonhole you might want to shove him in. In addition to a dozen Old 97’s records, he’s also put out eight solo albums, and he tours regularly both on his own and with the 97’s. All that and, like I said, he’s got a podcast: Wheels Off features Miller in conversation with other creative folks, talking about creativity—kinda like the chat you’re about to hear! Before that, check out “Go Through You,” from Rhett Miller’s new solo album The Misfit. You can see why Miller has won some diehard fans, among them actor Busy Philipps, who was introduced to the world via the cult classic TV show Freaks And Geeks back in 1999. (You’ve seen Freaks and Geeks, right? If not, please remedy that immediately.) Philipps went on to a ton of other TV and film roles, everything from ER to Cougar Town to her own chat show to her current gig on the very funny Girls5Eva on Peacock. She’s also built a passionate following by just being herself on the podcast Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best. If you’ve never heard it, you’ll get a little taste of what it’s like in this conversation with her friend Rhett. The two are amazingly all over the place in this chat, talking about everything from why the Target stores in New Jersey are better than those in the big city, about how Philipps is dealing with her pandemic divorce—very well, as it turns out—bad advice received from a genius, Jon Brion, and how much fun it is to read ads for your podcast. I can relate. They also go deep in discussing the genius of Taylor Swift, which results in what may be a Talkhouse Podcast first: real tears captured during an episode. It’s a really great chat between two really charming people. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Busy Philipps and Rhett Miller for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse—and Wheels Off, and Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best—on your favorite podcasting platform. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

This episode originally aired on December 16, 2021. We’ve hosted some incredible Talkhouse Podcast conversations in 2021, and for our final brand-new episode of the year, we’ve got two people responsible for some of the best records of this year: Julien Baker and Aaron Dessner. Baker released her third album, Little Oblivions, back in February, and it’s a doozy. Expanding her sonic palette massively, Baker delivered her powerful, vulnerable songs with much bigger sounds. That might have felt like a gamble, but it paid off massively—she produced it herself and pushed herself into new spaces. Dessner is of course a founding member of the National, with whom he’s played for the past 20+ years. While his main band slowed down over the past couple of years, Dessner has been operating at hyperspeed. He was one of the main co-writers and producers on Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore albums. He won an Album of the Year Grammy for the former, and was nominated for five more Grammys for the latter. He somehow also found time to release a new album with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon under the name Big Red Machine called How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? In addition to loads of guest singers, that record features Dessner on occasional lead vocals. These two have a fantastic conversation about creativity and, specifically, production: Aaron has done a lot of producing for other artists, and Julien is just getting into it. Julien talks about what it’s like to have a full live band backing her, rather than being a quote-unquote masochist and playing alone. They talk about what it was like to be deprived of live audiences for so long, and Aaron gets into how his studio setup has changed over the years. Also, they both know what it’s like when music can make you cry—that’s the kind of thing we love here at Talkhouse. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Julien Baker and Aaron Dessner for having such a wonderful chat. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting service and social media channels--we’re everywhere. This episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan and Keenan Kush, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of singer-songwriters who’ve taken interesting names for what are essentially solo ventures: Kevin Sullivan, aka. Field Medic, and Kristian Matsson, better known as the Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson has been making music as the Tallest Man since about 2006, winning fans both with his largely spare, Bob Dylan-like songs and his incredibly forceful live shows. Though he’s from Sweden, Matsson is definitely influenced by the American folk tradition, especially on his early records, like the classic 2008 debut Shallow Grave. He’s since released a handful of excellent albums, and in this conversation with Kevin Sullivan, he drops some hints about a new one that he’s really excited about to be released in 2023. In the meantime, the Tallest Man on Earth just released his first all-covers album, and though he downplays it a little bit, it’s pretty amazing. It’s called Too Late for Edelweiss, and on it he covers songs written by everyone from Hank Williams to Bon Iver to the National. Kevin Patrick Sullivan, who records under the name Field Medic, has long been known for a pretty Spartan approach to recording: Most of his songs have been made super simply, in the folk tradition but with decidedly modern subject matter. For his upcoming fifth album, which has the deliciously long title grow your hair long if you’re wanting to see something that you can change, Sullivan decided to grow his sonic palette and bring in a producer. His confessional, put–it-all-out-there lyrics are still fully intact, of course. Field Medic will take these songs out for a headlining tour that features a full band this fall—a first for Sullivan. Check out the latest single from the new album, called “I Think About You All The Time.” This is a fun conversation given that these guys don’t know each other, but they’re quick to connect. Tallest Man was clearly an influence on Field Medic’s sound, and we get to hear about a long-ago fan interaction between the two that did not, I repeat did not, involve marijuana. They also chat about finding inspiration when it’s gone missing, about the wonder of the Milli Vanilli story, and about which of them wanted to be Bob Dylan in high school, and which wanted to be Lou Reed. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Kevin Sullivan and Kristian Matsson for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform and social media channel. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a hardcore legend and a fierce Ukrainian bandleader who recently worked on a record together: Walter Schreifels and Eugene Hutz. Hutz is the founder, chief songwriter, and energetic frontman of Gogol Bordello, which has combined elements of punk, folk, Eastern European, Latin, and myriad other types of music for the past 20+ years. It’s a remarkable career that’s taken Hutz from his birthplace, Ukraine, to places as far flung as Vermont, Brazil, and New York’s Lower East Side. He’s also had forays into the film world, collaborated with everybody from Madonna to Primus, and gotten crowds jumping at pretty much every festival you can think of. The war in Ukraine has naturally been on Hutz’s mind, and he’s organized benefits and spoken up loudly about it this past year. At least one song on the brand new Gogol Bordello album addresses it directly. Speaking of that record, Solidartine, and Hutz’s penchant for collaboration, it was produced by Walter Schreifels. Check out “Fire on Ice Floe.” Schreifels isn’t just a producer; in fact, that job is probably like the tenth thing on his impressive resume. He was a pioneer of the New York hardcore scene as a member of both Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits, and from there he went on to sing and play guitar in Quicksand. A restless writer and performer, Schreifels formed half a dozen short-lived projects over the past couple of decades, in addition to reuniting sporadically with his various bands. Quicksand has released two great albums since getting back together in 2012; they’re heading out on a package tour soon with Clutch and Helmet. There’s also a reissue of a great record by another of Schreifels’ short-lived projects, Rival Schools, coming later this year. It’s hard to keep track of everything he does, but well worth the effort. These two NYC pals talk here about the city’s importance and vibe, as well as getting into deeper conversation about the war in Ukraine, how running can help prepare you for being in a punk band, and about how the pandemic might have led people back to hardcore music. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Eugene Hutz and Walter Schreifels for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all we have to offer on this very website. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve gathered three guys for a very focused discussion about one of the year’s most exciting horror movies: Ti West, Tyler Bates, and Tim Williams. Ti West is a director who’s made his name with a string of what I guess you’d call indie-horror movies—though I’m not sure that does justice to the kind of auteurist vision he has. With films like The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, he revealed a truly singular style. He tried his hand at a Western with the wild and wooly In A Valley of Violence in 2016, but returned to his horror roots this year with a pair of movies filmed back to back: X, which came out in March, and its prequel, Pearl, which is just hitting theaters now. For these two movies, which both star Mia Goth, West hooked up with indie powerhouse A24, which as you’ll hear in this chat, made a big bet on these two films—and since this chat took place, have now committed to a third in the franchise. If you like creepy, stylish horror, definitely check them out. A big part of what makes both X and Pearl work is the music, and that’s where the two other guys on this chat come in. Tyler Bates is a composer who’s worked on music for an incredible array of films, from 300 to John Wick to Guardians of the Galaxy. But he knows horror, too, having worked on Rob Zombie’s string of early flicks as well. Bates is also a music producer, having recently done the new Starcrawler album, and he was, briefly, a member of Marilyn Manson. For the more old-fashioned orchestral score for Pearl, he recruited his friend and neighbor Tim Williams, who’s contributed to a ton of great film and TV scores over the past decade as well. This chat among these three gets wonderfully granular about the world of film sound. Pearl is a prequel that takes place in 1918, so West wanted Bates to come up with something very old-school. That meant real orchestrations and the kinds of instruments and musical cues you don’t really hear anymore—and it works remarkably well. As you’ll hear in this conversation, West really thinks like an auteur: He’s concerned with every aspect of his movies, right down to whether the sound of crickets is going to interfere every so slightly with the score. All of that care definitely shows on screen, and you can hear when these guys talk how much they care about getting things just right. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Ti West, Tyler Bates, and Tim Williams for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written pieces on this very site. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we have a pair of French electronic music pioneers who recently teamed up alongside a DJ who’s been responsible for some of the most exciting production of the past 20+ years: Braxe and Falcon with A-Trak. Alan Braxe and his cousin Stephane Quem—aka DJ Falcon—are legends of French house music going back decades: Braxe was one-third of the trio Stardust alongside Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter. They famously released just one song in 1998 before splitting up, but “Music Sounds Better With You” is a classic of the genre. Falcon’s biggest claim to fame might also be Daft Punk adjacent: He co-wrote and co-produced their song “Contact,” from 2013’s Random Access Memories. And though they’ve obviously been acquainted forever, Braxe and Falcon only recently came together for a project, and it’s pretty amazing. Their debut EP, Step By Step, includes a killer title track with an appearance by Panda Bear. Braxe and Falcon will make their live debut in November with two U.S. shows, one in New York and another in L.A. Check out “Step by Step” right here. That EP also features a remix by Braxe and Falcon’s old friend DJ A-Trak, a superstar of the electronic world whose resume makes me feel very lazy. As a young guy, he was a championship-level turntablist in his native Canada, which led to a years-long role on stage with Kanye West. His career continued as a headlining DJ and producer in his own right: He’s known both for creating his own sounds and remixing big names. He also runs the vaunted Fool’s Gold label and collaborates with lots of other folks, including Armand Van Helden in Duck Sauce. A-Track’s latest project is a collaborative album with elusive hip-hop icon Cam’ron called U Wasn’t There, which comes out September 23. Check out “All I Really Wanted” from that upcoming record. In this chat, Braxe, Falcon, and A-Trak talk about the sonic intersections of house music and old-school hip-hop, they discuss the ups and downs of the forced Covid break, and there’s a lot of gear talk—which is a whole different thing when you’re talking about samplers and keyboards instead of guitars and pedals. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Braxe, Falcon, and A-Trak for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out Talkhouse.com for all kinds of great written features. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a conversation between two young performers who are just this week starting a huge tour together: Marcus King and Neal Francis. King is a blues-rock prodigy who, at 26, already has a lifetime of music under his belt—both as leader of the Marcus King Band and, more recently, as a solo artist. Though he wasn’t alive for the 1970s, King clearly has an affinity for that decade, with nods in his music to players like Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. He’s earned a huge following over the years, which makes sense since he’s been gigging since his teens. King’s first solo disc, 2020’s El Dorado, earned him a Grammy nomination, and for the brand new Youngblood he once again hooked up with producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. It’s a scorcher. Check out a little bit of “Hard Working Man” from Youngblood, from a recent performance on Jimmy Fallon's show. Neal Francis is similarly enamored of 1970s sounds, though he leans more toward the funk and soul sides of things. Francis was in a band in his hometown of Chicago called The Heard, but graduated to more sophisticated sounds as a solo artist: Think Sly Stone and Elton John and you’re on the right track. His latest album for ATO Records is called In Plain Sight, and it was partly inspired by Francis’ time living in a haunted church in Chicago. Check out “Problems” from In Plain Sight right here. What both Marcus and Neal’s records share is a little more seriousness than you might immediately hear in what sounds like party-friendly music. Both have had their bouts with substance issues and messy breakups, and those things make it into their songs. They’re both also really interested in ghosts, as you’ll hear: King isn’t sure whether alcohol made him see a demon, but he’s definitely seen it. They also talk about growing up bluesy, how David Lynch might translate into music, and the time-honored tradition of drawing dicks on dressing room walls. Enjoy. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a couple of fantastic songwriters from the indie-rock world: Kenny Becker and Doug Martsch. Martsch I’m guessing our listeners will know as the chief songwriter and sole consistent member of Built to Spill, the band that made Boise, Idaho famous. Built to Spill has been an ongoing concern since the early 1990s, releasing a ton of great albums at a fairly leisurely pace, including stone classics like There’s Nothing Wrong With Love and Keep it Like a Secret. The Built to Spill lineup has mutated a bunch of times over the years, and that’s never been more true than for the genesis of their latest album, When the Wind Forgets Your Name. Writing and recording the album was done with members of the Brazilian band Orua, but the latest live lineup features Martsch alongside a pair of incredibly talented young women from up-and-coming bands: Prism Bitch’s Teresa Esguerra and Blood Lemon’s Melanie Radford. They bring a new energy to this storied band. Check out the hilarious video for “Fool’s Gold” from When the Wind Forgets Your Name. Goon has a much shorter history than Built to Spill, having really started as Kenny Becker’s solo project around 2015. Along with some college friends, Becker recorded Goon’s dreamy debut album Heaven is Humming. But that lineup was slowly lost to attrition and now, like Martsch, Becker has an entirely new set of players alongside a brand new album, Hour of Green Evening. This new one was recorded in a more bandlike setting, as you’ll hear in this chat, and Becker even had some help from Alex Fischel of Spoon. Check out the sweet and tender “Emily Says” from that new record. In this chat, Becker and Martsch talk about recording in a studio versus recording at home; they talk about finding those eureka moments in the studio, Built to Spill’s recent cover of a Cate Le Bon song, and getting musical ideas from TikTok. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Doug Martsch and Kenny Becker for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all of the other Talkhouse network shows and written pieces at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

New from Talkhouse: Join Björk in conversations with collaborators about her sound experiences. In the podcast you’ll learn about the moods, timbers, and tempos that vibrate through each album. Subscribe at: https://pod.link/bjork

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve paired a couple of friends who recently worked together on an incredible project: Ethan Hawke and Hamilton Leithauser. Ethan Hawke you surely know as the Academy Award-nominated actor in a million great films, from Reality Bites to Training Day to Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy to 2018’s First Reformed. Hawke is also a writer and director, and the impetus for today’s conversation is his six-part HBO Max documentary The Last Movie Stars. The series tells the story of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, both their personal lives as a married couple and their professional lives as two monumental actors of their generation. Far from a typical documentary, The Last Movie Stars uses archival footage alongside dramatizations of interviews featuring current movie stars. It even gets a bit meta, with Hawke revealing some of his process during the series via Zoom calls with contemporaries. It’s a fascinating way to tell this incredible story. Another way that Hawke brought this story into the present was with music from his old friend Hamilton Leithauser, who’s best known as the singer of the Walkmen, and who’s had a fruitful solo career since that band went on hiatus a while back. As you’ll hear in this chat, Hawke had the idea that Leithauser would be great at soundtrack work ages ago, so when he started working on The Last Movie Stars, Leithauser immediately came to mind. There’s a lot of Leithauser in the doc, and one song that they cover in this chat quite a bit is called “1959,” from an album that Leithauser made with Vampire Weekend co-founder Rostam. Elsewhere in the chat, Hawke and Leithauser talk about their processes for this project: Hawke originally envisioned a two-hour feature, but quickly realized that he needed much more time to tell this huge story. They talk about Bob Dylan’s influence—musical good, acting not so much—and the greatest soundtracks of all time. That, and much more. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Ethan Hawke and Hamilton Leithauser for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform—and check out The Last Movie Stars on HBO Max. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of old friends with a ton of records and history between them: Kelley Stoltz and Spiral Stairs. Spiral Stairs—aka. Scott Kannberg—is a founding member of indie-rock kingpins Pavement, a band he formed in Stockton, California with his high school friend Stephen Malkmus. What started as a noisy, ramshackle outfit bloomed into one of the most important and influential bands of the 1990s. Their albums have only grown in stature over the years, getting the sort of deluxe reissue treatment that was once reserved only for the gods of classic rock. And though Pavement split up in 1999, they’ve reunited twice—and are about to launch a pretty hefty tour of the US and Europe. Outside of Pavement, Kannberg has kept plenty busy releasing music under both his Spiral Stairs moniker and, for a while, as Preston School of Industry. He’s had an incredibly prolific last few years, too, releasing three albums since 2017—the latest is the fantastic Medley Attack!!! It was a record born of some hardship, including Covid, worldwide relocations, and most unfortunately, the sudden death of Kannberg’s bassist Matt Harris. But those events resulted in what’s probably his best solo outing yet. Check out a little bit of the song “Pressure Drop (End of the Hurricane)” right here. Kannberg enlisted the help of several friends in making that record, including the other half of today’s conversation, singer-songwriter Kelley Stoltz. Stoltz is one of those guys who just has a knack for writing incredibly tuneful pop songs. If they were recorded with more slickness, you might mistake them for radio hits of the ‘60s and ‘70s—I mean that as a high compliment. Stoltz recently released his seventeenth studio album, The Stylist, and it’s a great place to start in a catalog that includes plenty of stone classics. Check out “Your Name Escapes Me.” As you’ll hear in this conversation—though not necessarily in either of those songs—Stoltz and Kannberg first bonded over a mutual love of Echo & The Bunnymen. Stoltz actually recorded a full album cover of that band’s Crocodiles album, and Kannberg joined him on some live shows to perform it. Weirdly, that led to Stoltz, who as a teen worshiped Ian McCulloch, to a brief stint as rhythm guitarist for the British band. Talk about Echo leads to talk about copycat haircuts of their youth, formative years working in record stores, and lots more. And you’ll even get to hear two songs in very early stages—one that Kannberg (maybe) wants to bring to his Pavement bandmates, and one that Stoltz has started writing for his infant daughter. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Kelley Stoltz and Scott Kannberg for chatting. If you liked what you heard, check out both of their new albums, and of course follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range. See you next time!

To celebrate the release of the new Deftones album Ohms, we paired frontman Chino Moreno with his old friend and tourmate — and long-time Deftones fan! — comedian/musician Reggie Watts for a Talkhouse Podcast conversation. The guys were very psyched to catch up, and their freewheeling talk took in the making of the new Deftones LP; the ups and downs of long-term collaborations; their very different writing and recording approaches; and… bikes. Turns out they're both waaay into bikes. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer For this week’s episode, everyone you hear recorded themselves. Our producer is Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

In Listening, a new series from Talkhouse and Mailchimp Presents, we invite some of the world’s most beloved and inventive musicians to create new compositions that allow us to intimately experience a time and a place in their lives. We’ll join each artist to hear about the creation of their piece, how deeper listening informs their process and how that practice can enrich all of our lives. Subscribe today!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got two old friends whose bands started around the same time, and who’ve had very different albums hit the 20-year-mark recently: Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and Davey von Bohlen of the Promise Ring. I had the idea to pair these guys after seeing a bunch of “best of emo” lists floating around the internet ether lately, and it reminded me of the heady days of the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and how many fond memories I have of those times. I saw the Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World plenty of times back then; full disclosure: I was then and am now friends with the guys in the Promise Ring. It occurred to me that while the two bands had been on similar trajectories back then, that they diverged right around 20 years ago in a really interesting way. I figured it’d be fun to reconnect them and see what they had to say about it. The Promise Ring were at the top of the emo heap in the late 1990s, though everybody hated that word with a passion back then. They were early fans of Jimmy Eat World’s music, and the bands toured together a few times over the years. By the end of the century, The Promise Ring had hit a weird rough patch: Von Bohlen had surgery for a brain tumor, and the band was naturally forced to slow down considerably. When they returned with their much anticipated fourth album, Wood/Water, it represented what felt at the time like a pretty intense left turn: The songs were slower and more melodic—not necessarily what fans were expecting, though the album has gotten a rightful reappraisal in the 20 years since its release. The Promise Ring split up soon after its release, and Davey went on to form the band Maritime with Promise Ring drummer Dan Didier, and they released a string of great records. Jimmy Eat World also found themselves at a crossroads 20 years ago; having parted company with a major label, they self-funded a new album. That album, 2001’s Bleed American, spawned a leftfield hit for the band, a song called “The Middle.” It launched Jimmy Eat World into the mainstream before they knew what hit them, and it’s one of those songs that to this day you might hear on the radio. It was a blip, of course, in a consistently fantastic career: Jimmy Eat World kept making records and touring—their latest is 2019’s Surviving. So it was an interesting point in time for both of these guys, who as you’ll hear remain fast friends after all these years. Playing music isn’t a huge part of von Bohlen’s life anymore, though he does point out that Maritime is technically still a band. These two chat about their 20-ish-year-old records, fatherhood, drinking, touring in the ‘90s, and lots more. Davey tells a great story I hadn’t heard before about the Promise Ring’s insane pact with each other in their earliest days. Sadly, Jim and Davey never get around to talking about Davey’s guest vocals on Bleed American, but maybe we’ll just have to have them chat again sometime. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Davey von Bohlen and Jim Adkins for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written pieces elsewhere on this very site. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a comedian and a musician who recently joined forces to make a music video: Joe Pera and Dan Wriggins. Joe Pera is a stand-up comedian who’s best known as the star and creator of Joe Pera Talks With You, the Adult Swim TV show about the beautifully modest existence of a middle-school choir instructor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s a show unlike anything else on TV, past or present, and it’s a direct reflection of Pera’s unassuming comedic persona: In other words, it’s hard to tell where Joe Pera the character ends and Joe Pera the guy begins. It’s also insightful, weird, and decidedly sweet. And while the show just finished its three-season run recently, it won’t be the last the world sees of Pera. In fact, he’s in the midst of a stand-up tour right now, and you can find dates at joepera.com. Oh, and he also just landed the role of James Bond, which you can hear all about on his recent Seth Meyers appearance. Seems like kind of a big deal. Yet Pera still has time to help out indie bands like Friendship, whose singer and songwriter Dan Wriggins is the other participant in today’s chat. Friendship is made up of old friends—no surprise there—though the band is actually named after a town in Maine near where they grew up. They’re currently based in Philadelphia, though Wriggins Zoomed in for this chat from Little Cranberry Island, Maine, where he also spent time as a kid. That island is also where Friendship and Joe Pera shot the video for “Hank,” from the band’s brand new album, Love The Stranger. It’s the band’s fourth full-length and first for the always reliable Merge Records. It’s a beautiful record full of straightforward but nuanced observations about life and love. Check out the video for "Hank" right here, which comes up in this chat quite a bit. As I said earlier, that “Hank” video comes up in this conversation, and it leads to Joe and Dan talking about craftsmanship, lobster fishing, and lots more. They talk about touring as a comedy act versus touring as a band, and about how each of them works hard to make their respective art look easy. Oh, and at the end of the chat, Joe finally reveals who his celebrity spouse is, so stay tuned for the whole thing! Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Joe Pera and Dan Wriggins for chatting. If you liked what you heard, they’re both on tour—separately—right now. Please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great written features we’ve got on Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got what might seem at first to be an unusual pairing, but that has its genesis in some serious fandom: Taylor Bennett and Matt Johnson. Taylor Bennett is a musician, entrepreneur, and community activist who has helped guide the career of his older brother Chance the Rapper while also busting genres on his own records. Bennett is a restless musician, rarely content to make the same moves twice. He raps and sings, and has proudly been sample-free on his last few records. A few years back, he released Be Yourself, a manifesto of sorts that championed inclusivity and positivity—he also told the world around the same time that he’s proudly bisexual. For this year’s Coming of Age, Bennett once again found inspiration in all different kinds of music, even bringing in some guests from various areas on the musical spectrum. One guest he was particularly excited to work with was Matt Johnson of Matt and Kim, the New York indie duo behind some of the past two decades’ most invigorating songs. Johnson contributed vocals to “Kick Back,” from Coming of Age—check out that song right here. As I said, Matt Johnson is half of Matt and Kim—you can probably guess which half—the life-affirming duo behind one really big hit, “Daylight,” a breakthrough music video that you’ll hear about in this chat, the end-credits song in a Lego movie, and perhaps most importantly, the sort of we-did-it-our-way career that should be the envy of their peers. Matt and Kim have released six albums in their two decades together, and they’ve built a relationship with their audience through undeniably joyous live shows and a sense of gratitude you don’t always see in bands. Their energy is, to use a true rock cliche, infectious, and it’s a big part of their appeal—along with damn catchy songs, of course. The inability to get out in front of his fans has made Matt a little itchy over the past couple of years, which you’ll hear about in this chat. Johnson and Bennett also talk about giant dildos in this podcast, so prepare yourself for that. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, the two also talk about trying to separate the art from the artist, about the real reason to remain independent, and about what it’s like to get completely naked in Times Square in the dead of winter for a video shoot. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Taylor Bennett and Matt Johnson for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out our great written pieces and vast podcasting network on this very site. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!