On A Deeper Listen, host Emily Fox and other storytellers from KEXP talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.
This is the final episode of A Deeper Listen. After seven years on air as the Sound & Vision radio show and more than 500 episodes in this podcast feed, Emily Fox and contributors share their favorite moments from a story or interview they’ve done for this show. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Electronic artist SHIMA fuses dance beats with Japanese sounds on her debut album, Welcome to SHIMAJIMA. She talks with Emily Fox about how the history of Kamikaze pilots, and how a dancing hallucinogenic mushroom trip centuries ago inspired some tracks on her record. She also talks about creating an album for the culturally homeless and shares her journey from being a J-pop star, to a computer engineer to an indie DJ/producer. Photo credit: Maxine Bowen Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/so...
For decades, Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music went virtually unnoticed. Beginning in 1970, he released records that crossed folk, R&B, electronic music, and other genres, always seeking new territory. That changed in 2017, when his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies was rediscovered, ushering in renewed interest in his work. Since then, Glenn—who came out as a trans man in 2002—has toured and released new music for a growing, devoted audience. In 2024, however, he was diagnosed with dementia. While...
Toronto-based artist Kadhja Bonet recently released a short but powerful EP called Battlewear. Written just after Trump's re-election, it's a politically charged project that takes aim at tech giants, corporate greed, and streaming culture. Isabel Khalili speaks with Bonet about the rage and urgency behind the release, why she chose to leave Spotify and part ways with her label, her thoughts on social media, AI, and motherhood, and how stripping back her sound helped sharpen her message. “They r...
Australian act, SELVE is the first Aboriginal-led band to record at Abbey Road Studios in London. The band recently released their second record, Breaking Into Heaven. KEXP Contributor, Celine Teo-Blockey spoke to frontman Loki Liddle about the strong Indigenous themes on the album and how returning to Country and speaking to his elders helped shape the writing process for this expansive pop-rock album. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is a 12-part podcast honoring the life and legacy of the inventor of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti. The show spotlights stories and perspectives from people highly influenced by Fela Kuti’s art and politics, including David Byrne, Brian Eno, Santigold, Questlove, Paul McCartney, and so many others. KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke with the host of the podcast — someone with a very distinct flavor of storytelling — Jad Abumrad. He’s best known as the founder and original host of the public...
KEXP DJ and Sounds of Survivance co-host Kevin Sur gives a history lesson on the Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who influenced the genres of jazz, blues and rock. photo by Carlos Cruz Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Emily Fox and KEXP DJs Larry Mizell Jr. and Evie Stokes share their personal favorite albums of the year and break down KEXP’s top played albums of 2025. KEXP’s top played albums were: Tunde Adebimpe - Thee Black Boltz Wet Leg- moisturizer Deep Sea Diver- Billboard Heart Say She She- Cut & Rewind Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Gina Birch is a founding member of the legendary UK punk band, the Raincoats. Martin Douglas spoke with Birch about the themes behind the songs on her solo album, Trouble , her career, longtime connection to the Pacific Northwest, and more. photo by Dean Chalkey Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Australian group Cut Copy released their first album in five years in September — it’s called Moments . KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke with frontman Dan Whitford about Cut Copy’s ongoing journey to blend synthesizers with indie guitars — all in the spirit of creating something danceable. photo by Carlos Cruz Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
The Seattle band Smokey Brights released a new album called Dashboard Heat this fall. The band is playing The Crocodile in Seattle on December 11. Emily Fox caught up with the band to hear about how the songs on the new album reflect the loss of a parent to cancer, the overturning of Roe v Wade and an ode to Seattle’s Northgate Way. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Say She She’s album, Cut & Rewind is one of the most played albums on KEXP in 2025. Emily Fox speaks with the trio about how they met sharing a wall in a New York apartment building, their reflections on women’s rights in their song She Who Dares and about the racist history of Chicago’s 1979 Disco Demolition Night that shows up in their song, Disco Life. “Let's take what happened at Comiskey Park where people were really just finding an excuse to burn black records, black musicians' records...
The Montreal based and Anishinaabe-led band, Ribbon Skirt talks about their album, Bite Down and new EP, PENSACOLA. Frontwoman Tashiina Buswa talks with Emily Fox about how indigeneity comes up in her music, especially the song “Off Rez” and shares stories about her life and family, including how her mother was saved from the mass adoption of indigenous children known as the “Sixties Scoop.” “You’re never really free, even if you're told you're free as an Indigenous person,” Buswa says. “It's wh...
Portugal. The Man is out with a new album called SHISH. Emily Fox caught up with the band’s singer, songwriter and founder, John Gourley at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo to hear how his off-the-grid childhood in Alaska as well as his daughter’s genetic conduction influenced the album. “My mom and dad both became Iditarod mushers and finishers, and it took us off grid. We didn’t have power until I was 16, 17,” Gourley said. photo by Nathan Perkel Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ See omnystu...
Seattle’s Brandi Carlile recently released her eighth studio album — it’s called “Returning to Myself.” Carlile stopped by KEXP recently to speak with DJ Kevin Cole about the themes of togetherness, confronting middle age, and watching her daughters slowly grow up and become more independent. She tells the story about how writing a poem in a barn started the album writing process, and how she managed to become very close friends with Joni Mitchell. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/ S...
Neko Case is out with a new album called Neon Grey Midnight Green . In conversation with Emily Fox, Case breaks down what spiderwebs can teach us about self-importance, what female and non-binary folks in the music industry have taught her about confidence and not caring about the male gaze and rock n’ roll’s mythology of “you’re lucky to be here.” “The mythology of you're lucky to be here of rock n’ roll… is very harmful and it's often leveraged to make people think that that theater wasn't bui...
The Seattle-based jazz musician Kassa Overall released CREAM in September 2025, an album that showcases new, original takes on some of the most classic tracks in 90s rap — from Wu Tang to Biggie and beyond. Overall spoke with KEXP’s Dusty Henry about his work. "As we're recording these songs, I'm realizing this is actually a response record to my other records," Overall says in the interview. "This is actually a commentary on the whole jazz hip-hop conversation. This is a commentary on my own ca...
Jay Som is the moniker of Melina Duterte, a songwriter and producer originally based out of the Bay Area now living in Los Angeles. After producing music for other artists for so many years, she’s back with her fourth studio album, Belong , named for her quest to figure out her place in the indie music scene. While her tracks take you across various genre explorations from straight-up pop to downright experimental, she masterfully curates a cohesive experience. KEXP’s Dusty Henry spoke with Dute...
In 2024, the Scottish-Danish artist Clarissa Connelly put out an album called World of Work. It doesn’t exactly deal with “work” the way that you might imagine in a 21st-century context. On the contrary, Connelly’s opus dives deep into philosophical concepts regarding our relationship with our mortal world, bodily movement, and what’s known as “religious ecstasy.” KEXP contributor Isabel Khalili spoke with Connelly about the themes she taps into, which are as timeless as the sound of the music i...
Izzy Glaudini, Halle Saxon, and Lola Dompé make up the Los Angeles post-punk trio Automatic. They released their third album Is It Now? last month on Stones Throw Records. KEXP’s Martin Douglas spoke with all three members of the band about the new album, how touring influenced their new sound, and finding joy in a polarized political climate. “The worse things become politically, it becomes even more important to have a vision of what you want the world to be like,” Glaudini says in the intervi...
KEXP’s Fall Fundraising Drive is happening right now. Our goal this week is to raise $1.1 million to help make up for the loss of funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This podcast — as well as all our programming on the air, online, and in our communities — relies primarily on financial contributions from individuals. Our amplifiers give money to the station on a monthly basis, and we couldn’t do what we do without you. Between the loss of CPB funding and the questions raised by s...
The photographer Bootsy Holler is releasing a book next month called “Making It: an intimate documentary on the Seattle indie rock and punk scene, 1992 to 2008.” Those were the years when Bootsy was living in the city. She captures behind-the-scenes moments with artists who have defined Seattle’s reputation, from Nirvana to Fleet Foxes. In addition to revealing moments with lesser-known artists, Bootsy also shares pieces of own life as a photographer trying to “make it” in this creative business...
Algernon Cadwallader is a midwest emo band originally from Pennsylvania. They took a hiatus back in 2012, and now they’re officially back with their first full-length album in more than a decade, Trying Not to Have a Thought . KEXP’s Meerah Powell spoke with some of the members about the band’s revival, their newfound connections to the Pacific Northwest, and how their lyrics leave little room for ambiguity. “I think we’re at a point where there needs to be a little more ‘get pissed’ in everythi...
Two composers walk into a room (actually, they walk into different rooms) and record an album focused on the serendipity of live performance. Fittingly, it’s titled Different Rooms . The composers in question are Jeremiah Chiu, who plays the synth, and Marta Sofia Honer, a violist. KEXP contributor Isabel Khalili spoke with them about how this latest album is an experimental dance between acoustic and electric, in some ways paying tribute to experimental composers from more than 50 years ago. “S...
Before this year, Ivy last released new music in 2011 with the album All Hours . Now, 14 years later, Ivy has reassembled to share Traces of You, which came out September 5 on Bar/None Records. What makes this album extra special is that it includes parts from one of the late members, Adam Schlessinger, who died from complications of COVID-19 in 2020. The other surviving members — Andy Chase, Dominique Durand, and Bruce Driscoll — wrote 10 brand-new songs that all incorporate parts from Schlesin...
Jesse Beaman, an ambient composer based in Mexico City, joins a growing number of artists who are no longer making their music available on Spotify. He cites the platform’s requirement for musicians to have 1,000 yearly streams to receive royalties, as well as CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in Helsing, a company that makes AI-powered defense weaponry. While his platform may not be as big as other Spotify protestors like Deerhoof, Beaman’s career is marked with tours across four continents, video pr...
Will Toledo, vocalist for Seattle-based Car Seat Headrest, wanted the band’s latest release to be a concept album in the tradition of a rock opera. The Scholars delivers just that: strong storytelling within each of its nine tracks, inventing characters in a “fictional America,” attesting to the human search for meaning inside and outside of ourselves. Toledo stopped by KEXP earlier this year to speak with Midday Host Cheryl Waters. He opens up about going back on tour after suffering from the e...
Seiji Oda pays respect to his Oakland roots in his 2025 album HUMAN + NATURE . He not only samples Bay Area titans like Mac Dre and Trunk Boiz — the record also features numerous collaborations with local artists making waves in the scene today, like the producer ClayDough. KEXP’s Dusty Henry spoke with Oda about his signature “lofi hyphy” sound, blending raw nature sounds with party-ready beats. “Starting with the natural environment first, I’m like, ‘Okay, what fits there?’” Oda says of his cr...
Open Mike Eagle’s tenth studio album, Neighborhood Gods Unlimited , continues the rap legacy that he started in the late 2000s when he cofounded the trio Thirsty Fish. From there, he made a bigger name for himself as a solo artist, starting with his 2010 debut, Unapologetic Art Rap . Along the way, he even appeared in the cartoon Adventure Time as a rapping gingerbread cookie. On top of his music career, Open Mike Eagle has also started multiple multimedia endeavors, like the artist collective H...
When Kay Redden moved to Seattle from Garland, Texas, she made it her mission to connect with her newly adopted home through music. So, in searching for meaning after mother’s death in April 2015, she launched Den Tapes, spending countless hours hand-dubbing cassettes. It wasn’t long before local bands gravitated toward her down-to-earth, community-oriented approach to music distribution. This year, she’s marking the label’s tenth birthday with a compilation titled What Else is Sacred? A Compila...
