“Bundy” Ken Brown , Glenn Kotche , and Jim O’Rourke discuss Tim Barnes , who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in recent years , Barnes’ work as an utterly original drummer and percussionist (O’Rourke, Silver Jews, Faust, Royal Trux) and cultural curator, the June 27 release of Lost Words and Noumena by Barnes featuring contributions by Chicago Underground Duo, Deerhoof, Gastr del Sol, Helado Negro, Minutemen, Slint, Tortoise, and Wilco among others, other future plans, and much more. E...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 45 min
Meg Remy from U.S. Girls makes her sixth appearance on this show to discuss Scratch It , her twin boys’ interest in sports, the influence that John Carey’s book Eyewitness To History had on her latest songs, remembering her late friend Riley Gale of the band Power Trip and reflecting upon death, celebrating and working with the great Toronto songwriter Alex Lukashevsky, the xenophobic trap that Donald Trump has set and avoiding the shaming that nationalism inspires, not meeting Patti Smith at a ...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 18 min
Gaz Liddiard from Tropical Fuck Storm is here to discuss Fairyland Codex , running into kangaroos and routinely having one of the world’s most poisonous snakes show up in your house, the Gutenberg printing press, the internet, and extremist ideologies, Kurt Cobain and cultural conformity vs. galvanization and shared experiences, his musical trajectory from Australia to London, a long tour including a Calgary stop for Sled Island , writing new music, other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER...
Jun 17, 2025•39 min
Grammy Award-winning producer, engineer, and musician John Congleton is here to discuss his Animal Rites recording studio, the aftermath of the California wildfires and its air quality impact, American empathy and cruelty, why evil always loses, his dad’s inspiring musical pursuits and parental expectations, finishing his friend Steve Albini’s final recording session, starting a new all-star band, other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Steve Sladkowski discusses PUP and Who Will Look After the Dogs? , sports and loud, boastful sportscasting's Canadian connection, Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster , The Beatles’ Get Back , and dysfunctional band communication, working closely with producer John Congleton, Steve’s background in jazz and improvised guitar, PUP’s ambitious, sentimental six-date Mega-City Madness Tour of Toronto, conjuring Marc Ribot and Joel Plaskett for a new song, future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE...
Jun 10, 2025•31 min
Asher Case and Isaac Lowenstein from Lifeguard are here to discuss Ripped and Torn , doing a podcast on the very day you graduate from high school in Chicago or while you’re stuck in New York City, side projects and hectic schedules, fine arts and electrical engineering, Electrical Audio , Tortoise, and other inspiring Chicago things, who Asher’s dad is and why he was once a guest on this show, the story of Lifeguard and their interest in song structures, abstract lyrics, and sheets of noise, wr...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Bells Larsen is here to discuss Blurring Time , performing duets with his old alto voice and his new baritone, cancelling an American tour in the wake of government policies that persecute and harass people with non-conforming gender identities, the widespread attention his statement on the matter received, addressing transphobia in public and his general interest in discourse, dichotomies and multiplicity, Montreal’s bagels and Liverpool’s Beatles, the male voices of Elliott Smith and Sufjan St...
Jun 03, 2025•32 min
Jake Xerxes Fussell discusses When I’m Called and Arthur Russell’s “ Close My Eyes ,” misperceptions about his relationship to folk music history, his late mentor Art Rosenbaum, why he couldn’t rebel against rebellious parents, Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music , the work of Vic Chesnutt, his own evolution as an interpreter of songs, perspectives on the merits of writing original lyrics to sing songs for a living, working on a soundtrack, tour, other future plans, and much more. EVE...
May 31, 2025•1 hr 22 min
Scott McCaughey discusses Oar On, Penelope! by the Minus 5 , the vast collection of records in his Dungeon of Horror, the recently departed folk artist Michael Hurley, how suffering a stroke in 2017 has impacted him as a musician and songwriter with a penchant for music production perfectionism, songs about the sky, Neko Case’s memoir and Peter Ames Carlin’s recent book about R.E.M. and Scott’s thoughts about resurgent interest in his old band and the odds of them reconvening, new songs and tour...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 34 min
Alan Sparhawk discusses his stunning new album, With Trampled by Turtles , being home between tours, collaborating with Circuit des Yeux, how the internet affects the risks that audiences and musicians take, his daughter Hollis’ band Willem Dafoe Fanclub, mourning his late wife and musical collaborator Mimi Parker and ways friends can help you grieve, Trampled by Turtles and the gift of normalcy, working with them on this album, dealing with changes, how musicians have to hustle, the Low audio a...
May 27, 2025•32 min
During my recent conversation with Andy Shauf about the new Foxwarren album, 2 , he mentioned that one of his primary production influences for this record was Liquid Swords by GZA . And so now, I present the first interview I ever conducted with GZA. This phoner took place on Monday, October 6, 2008, just before midnight, and was focused on his solo album Pro Tools , and we covered other things too, including whether Wu-Tang Clan might reconcile after their album 8 Diagrams created bad blood in...
May 24, 2025•11 min
Chris A. Cummings , Thom Gill , and Joseph Shabason discuss Way Through by Cici Arthur , Toronto life and the city’s best pizza, making music without drums, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Gregg Turkington, and Frank Sinatra’s Watertown , Chris’ child acting gig on SCTV , what Dorothea Paas and Owen Pallett brought to this record, songs about working, playing shows, other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. Thi...
May 22, 2025•1 hr 20 min
Andy Shauf returns to discuss Foxwarren ’s excellent album 2 , making his recording studio as efficient as his father’s accounting practice, Foxwarren’s origins, trying to make a live-off-the-floor record together, whether people like Paul McCartney are annoying when trying to keep recording sessions on track, not drinking and feeling healthier, the album Liquid Swords and obtaining a sampler to make a folk-rock record, Phil Donahue and the Grateful Dead, dancing, communication, and body languag...
May 20, 2025•31 min
Teeny Lieberson returns to discuss Lou Tides and Autostatic! , living in America as a Canadian, why she chose a person’s name other than her own for her solo work, making “beautiful and scary” music, how celebrating antiheroes in pop culture is working out for all of us, employing different voices as a singer when dealing with difficult lyrical themes, sobriety, shame, and psychedelia, working with Sharon Van Etten and Sleater-Kinney, ghostly visual imagery, writing and touring, other future pla...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 5 min
David Longstreth is here to discuss David Longstreth’s Song of the Earth , Performed by Dirty Projectors and s t a r g a z e , life in Los Angeles in a tumultuous ecological era, working with s t a r g a z e and the influence of Gustav Mahler, the revenge of the Earth, orcas, and using gardens as a metaphor, despair and the Beatles, why Phil Elverum from Mount Eerie might be the poet laureate of nature, working with Steve Lacy, loving Stephen Malkmus and Pavement, production ideas, other future ...
May 13, 2025•37 min
During my recent conversation with Niko Stratis about her new book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman , she described her affection for Jason Lytle ’s band Grandaddy , and I mentioned I’d interviewed Jason before. Well, this got me looking for that talk and here it is! This phoner between Jason and I took place on Tuesday December 4, 2012 at 11 AM ET and was focused on his solo album Dept. of Disappearance , and we covered other things too, including whether or not Grandaddy might ever make musi...
May 10, 2025•10 min
John Dieterich, Satomi Matsuzaki, Ed Rodríguez, and Greg Saunier from Deerhoof discuss Noble and Godlike in Ruin , the band’s history and recurring lyrical themes about animals and magic, seeing Dokken and Krokus, the evolution of DIY music culture, the state of immigration, dehumanization, and capitalism, the Anishinaabe concept of “all of our relations,” working with Saul Williams, celebrating 31 years of Deerhoof on tour , other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTR...
May 08, 2025•1 hr 42 min
Niko Stratis discusses her wonderful new memoir-in-essays, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman , moving to Toronto by driving across Canada with a cat, Bruce Springsteen and fluid masculinity in rock, the ingenious, inspiring writings of Hanif Abdurraqib, living up to what we think our parents’ expectations of us are and honing a work ethic, love and addiction, Jon-Rae Fletcher and Kurt Cobain, physical torment and transness, Courtney Barnett and the Burning Hell, Richard Laviolette and the Commun...
May 06, 2025•1 hr 18 min
Comedian Nikki Glaser and I spoke on the phone at 3:30 PM ET on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, not long before she was set to appear at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. At the time, the prospects of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States of America seemed slim, but we discussed that, the political climate and how it influenced her incisive TV show Not Safe with Nikki Glaser , why comedians are often called upon to discuss socio-political issues, some people’s bizarre worldviews,...
May 04, 2025•11 min
Nina Nastasia, Clinton St. John, Jeff MacLeod, and Morgan Greenwood from Jolie Laide discuss their new album, Creatures , Nina’s championship Kuriky skills and remembering Steve Albini, a spooky synthesizer part that was written by either Morgan or Clinton’s cat, the Edmonton/Calgary rivalry, the characters that populate the post-apocalyptic landscape of their latest songs, fifth member/producer Colin Stewart and a unique vocals approach, touring across Canada, writing again, other future plans,...
May 01, 2025•1 hr 35 min
Haley Fohr returns to discuss Halo on the Inside by Circuit des Yeux , stylish, warm hats and accessories, the end of a long-term relationship and how women and men are treated differently when they create "diaristic" art, exploring new music technology and song ideas in the middle of the night, her four-octave voice, existentialism and cathexis, honesty and artifice, Diamanda Galás and having a sense of humour, her exciting live show, improvisation and Bill Nace, other future plans, and much mo...
Apr 29, 2025•22 min
Toronto’s METZ were recently asked to reunite for a performance on Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney , and so I dug into my archives for my first conversation with the band’s Alex Edkins. My digging led me to our second conversation as well, so I’ve combined them here for you and other METZ fans. Alex and I had met a number of times at METZ shows before our first interview, which was a phoner that took place on Tuesday December 14, 2010, at 2:00 PM ET. Our next interview, again via telephone, t...
Apr 26, 2025•12 min
Ian Blurton and Rob Taylor discuss the return of Change of Heart and In the Wreckage , their first album since 1997, Rob’s 1992 departure and its impact on Ian who carried on, the savvy lawyer who oversaw Change of Heart’s major label deal and helped them retain their masters, whether we might see reissues of Tummysuckle and Steelteeth , why they made a new album, Toronto themes and socio-political tones within their respective and collaborative songwriting, remembering Mike Armstrong and Al Mil...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 27 min
William Tyler returns to discuss his alluring new album, Time Indefinite , moving home to Nashville from Los Angeles during a pandemic, our perspectives on a paradigm shift and political contentions about a nebulous status quo, utilizing lo-fi media sources out of necessity to write songs and make films, the state of documentation and cultural erasure, exploring family histories, trusting artistic phases, touring , other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE ...
Apr 22, 2025•34 min
On the afternoon of Thursday, September 17, 2009, I interviewed Nick Cave in (what I recall was) the Park Hyatt's restaurant located in the Yorkville area of Toronto, Ontario. The occasion was to discuss his then new novel, The Death of Bunny Munro , and we also covered his work with Warren Ellis and the filmmaker John Hillcoat to score the film, The Road , why his new novel’s depiction of sexuality was revealing for both men and women, the marvels of emerging app technology and Apple's fledglin...
Apr 19, 2025•12 min
Yves Jarvis returns to discuss his astounding new album, All Cylinders , artistic growth and personal maturity, musical colours and poetic symbolism, dynamic inspirations like Paul McCartney, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and King Crimson, employing multi-instrumentalism, the admirable autonomy of stand-up comedians, expressing every single thing, tour, other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. This one is f...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Erik Denno and brothers James Wall and John Wall discuss their work together in Kerosene 454 and the Solid Brass reissue of their second album, Came By To Kill Me , the band’s history, the roads that brought them from Arizona to D.C. to California, getting into punk rock, touring with Hoover and filming some of their sets, the connection between their album art and the film The Crow , how they relate to the music and lyrics they created decades ago, whether they might play together again, other ...
Apr 15, 2025•28 min
I recently shared a new conversation with the band Regulator Watts, so it now seems fitting to share an older talk I had with their distant cousin, Reggie Watts , the gifted comedian, musician, and actor. Reggie and I first spoke on Wednesday May 9, 2012, at 3 PM ET, ostensibly about his then new special, A Live at Central Park , but we also covered his comedic and musical influences, his interest in Canadian television, opening for Conan O’Brien on his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Tel...
Apr 12, 2025•11 min
Melanie St. Pierre-Bednis, Neil Bednis, and Fraser McClean from Casper Skulls discuss their new album Kit-Cat , the TV show character Frasier Crane, the significance of alt-rock radio and MuchMusic on young minds, Robert Frost poems and being goth, the Bunnies in Berlin record made at the Romano brothers’ studio in Welland, moving from stark post-punk to heartfelt indie-rock, loving bands like Sonic Youth and Silver Jews, inspirations like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, a Richard Hell biography, and There...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 20 min
Alex Dunham and Areif Sless-Kitain from Regulator Watts discuss The Mercury LP , Alex building a new house in Minnesota, Areif’s stint drumming in Bluetip and his love of Hoover, why Hoover broke up and how Regulator Watts began, the cinematic nature of the band’s sound, Regulator Watts reconvening recently and recording new songs at Electrical Audio, whether this means the band might play shows again, other future plans, and much more! EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCES...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 28 min
