Today’s Talkhouse podcast started with a little bit of serendipity in the form of album release dates: Both of our guests, Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast and producer/musician/former Vampire Weekend guy Rostam, have excellent records coming out on June 4. They’re also fans of each other’s work, so we figured it made plenty of sense to put them together. Zauner’s album, her third under the Japanese Breakfast name, is called Jubilee, and as you’ll hear in this conversation, it took a delibe...
Jun 03, 2021•52 min
Chris Gethard is a comedian whose stories are often so serious and touching that they make people cry, and Jeff Rosenstock writes and sings heartfelt songs that are also witty and funny enough to make you laugh. So it’s no wonder that these two are friends and comrades in arms: From practically the moment they met, they could tell they were on the same page. Gethard has had a boundary-defying career that I’ll try and fail to quickly encapsulate here. He’s been a stand-up comedian, but perhaps mo...
May 27, 2021•48 min
Blake Mills has the kind of resume that might make the average person feel really lazy. Not only is he an active musician, but also a Grammy-winning producer (for Alabama Shakes’ 2015 album Sound and Color), a collaborator to the stars—including the likes of Fiona Apple and Bob Dylan—and most recently, one of the guys in charge of the legendary Sound City studio in L.A. Mills’ newest musical project is a collaboration with legendary bassist Pino Palladino called Notes With Attachments. Just prio...
May 20, 2021•42 min
This week, we revisit a chat from last year, featuring Mac DeMarco and Dayglow's Sloan Struble. The second Dayglow album, Harmony House, comes out May 21. Check it out! ------------------- On this week’s show, a young gun picks a veteran’s brain. A youngish veteran, admittedly — Mac DeMarco’s only 30, but compared to 21 year old Spotify-wunderkind Sloan Struble, aka Dayglow, he’s already spent a lifetime in the music industry trenches. The two take in a lot in this conversation. We hear Mac’s or...
May 13, 2021•39 min
The way that Mary Lattimore and Sarah Neufeld met is kind of a rock and roll dream. Lattimore went to see Neufeld’s band, Arcade Fire, before they were huge stars, and they got to talking. When Lattimore mentioned that she’d be moving to Philadelphia soon, Neufeld and her bandmates asked her to perform with them—so her first time playing on stage outside a more classical setting was in front of a huge Arcade Fire crowd, and it gave her the performing bug. Both Neufeld and Lattimore have released...
May 06, 2021•33 min
It’s no secret that Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard deeply admires Norman Blake’s band, Teenage Fanclub. In fact, he’s called 1991’s masterpiece Bandwagonesque his favorite album of all time; he loves it so much that just a few years ago, he recorded and released a cover of the entire thing. With that album turning 30 this year, and with a fantastic new Teenage Fanclub album, Endless Arcade, out this week it seemed the perfect time to get the two together. For this conversation, the two old fr...
Apr 29, 2021•42 min
Merrill Garbus and Jenn Wasner released monumental records just a week apart this year: Tune-Yards fifth album—sixth if you count their score to Boots Riley’s film Sorry to Bother You—is called Sketchy, and it’s as puzzling and progressive as you’ve hopefully come to expect. Garbus and bassist Nate Brenner are never content to rest on their past glories: They’re always searching for new modes of thought and expression, and Garbus’ lyrics meld the personal and political into one fiery concoction....
Apr 22, 2021•39 min
On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we have two artists who recently became writer-directors after finding success in other creative fields: singer-songwriter Bonnie McKee and actor Carlson Young. McKee, a Grammy-nominated hit songwriter best known for her collaborations with Katy Perry, is now on the festival circuit with her powerful and very personal short April Kills the Vibe, while her friend Young, who broke through on the small-screen version of Scream in 2015, just made her f...
Apr 15, 2021•39 min
It might feel like a lifetime ago, but it was just over a year ago in February of 2020 when we got new albums from both Tame Impala and Caribou. For Kevin Parker, The Slow Rush was his fourth full-length record following an extended break after Currents. Caribou fans had a slightly longer wait for Dan Snaith's tenth record, Suddenly. Now both artists have rereleases in 2021. Kevin Parker and company recently celebrated ten years since their debut record, Innerspeaker. There's a new behind-the-sc...
Apr 08, 2021•54 min
Sharon van Etten and Jamie Stewart met a few years ago, when producer John Congleton recommended the Xiu Xiu frontman as a contributor to the singer-songwriter's 2019 album, Remind Me Tomorrow. Though their music isn't super similar sounding, each traffics in a kind of emotional honesty that's difficult to pull off but incredibly rewarding. Van Etten contributed vocals to the song "Sad Mezcalita" on Xiu Xiu's new all-duets album, OH NO, and the two chat about that collaboration here, along with ...
Apr 01, 2021•36 min
In this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we hear from old friends Dan Deacon and the members of Future Islands. Both came up in the super fertile Baltimore scene, and both released new albums in 2020. Future Islands asked Deacon to remix their recent track "For Sure," and he took it to epic new heights, which they discuss on this chat—along with the reality of staying home during the pandemic, what their writing/road-testing/recording processes are like, and a brand new genre that they hope to create w...
Mar 25, 2021•44 min
Two very funny people have a very funny conversation on this week's Talkhouse Podcast: Michael Ian Black and Jen Spyra. Black you probably know as part of the sketch-comedy troupe The State, or from his many podcasts—the latest is Obscure—or maybe one of his books, including last year's more serious A Better Man. Jen Spyra just released her first book, a collection of darkly hilarious short stories called Big Time. The two were fans of each other's work before their chat, but you can hear them g...
Mar 18, 2021•43 min
Andrew Bird and Jimbo Mathus have known each other for decades, going back to the beginning of Bird's solo career and Mathus' earliest days with Squirrel Nut Zippers. Most of their work together has been assistive—Bird would add his fiddle to the Zippers' records, and Mathus would return the favor with some horns. But a couple of years back, the old friends decided to write some songs together, and the result is These 13, a truly collaborative album featuring just their voices, guitar, and fiddl...
Mar 11, 2021•38 min
Todd Rundgren is a legendary musician and producer whose list of credits is impressive as the man himself is down to earth. He had his own string of pop hits—including the novelty song “Bang on the Drum All Day”—and experimental albums, both as a solo artist and with the Nazz. He produced Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, as well as New York Dolls’ self-titled debut, one of the most influential. This month, he’s been on the “Clearly Human” tour, which—du...
Mar 04, 2021•47 min
Mike Ness and Ben Nichols both front bands that blur the already-blurry genre lines between punk, Americana, country, and more—so it's no surprise that the two get along. Nichols' band, Lucero, opened for Ness' band, Social Distortion, on a tour about a decade ago, and the two hit it off. Since then, Lucero returned the favor by taking out Jade Jackson's band—which features Ness' son Julian on guitar. The occasion for this Talkhouse conversation is the release of Lucero's newest album, When You ...
Feb 25, 2021•41 min
Tamara Lindeman and Julia Jacklin are spending the pandemic thousands of miles away from each other, but you’d never know if from the closeness of this Talkhouse chat. Lindeman, who’s based in Canada, just released her fifth album as The Weather Station—and Ignorance is already making waves. It got the coveted Best New Music designation from Pitchfork, as well as a five-star review in The Guardian, both well deserved. Jacklin, who’s from Australia, finished touring her last album, Crushing, not ...
Feb 18, 2021•51 min
In the third episode of McIntosh's "for the love of music..." podcast series presented by Talkhouse, Elia Einhorn spoke with one of the most recognizable names in popular jazz and soul: Gregory Porter. Gregory has been using his powerful baritone on both Broadway and concert stages for decades. His smooth take on classic American pop forms has earned him critical accolades, and fans the world over. The multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has long had an intense touring schedule, and while ...
Feb 11, 2021•24 min
Jenny Lewis—she of Rilo Kiley, The Postal Service, and numerous excellent solo albums—met Chicago rapper Serengeti when they were both performers at the PEOPLE Festival in Berlin, back in 2018. They struck up a fast friendship that led to Serengeti asking Lewis to provide some music—a very specific amount of music—for him to rhyme over. They’ve since released two excellent songs together via Lewis’ Love’s Way label, “Unblu” and “Vroom Vroom,” and there are more on the way, as you’ll hear in thei...
Feb 11, 2021•49 min
On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, the iconic actor Viggo Mortensen sits down with his longtime friend and fellow filmmaker Alix Lambert. The occasion for their talk is the release of Falling, Mortensen’s debut as writer-director, an intense family drama starring Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney and Mortensen himself. In a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation, Mortensen and Lambert discuss not only Falling and the pandemic, but also Viggo’s musical collaborations with the guitarist B...
Feb 04, 2021•45 min
Sometimes Talkhouse Podcast participants have never met, sometimes they’re acquainted, and on rare occasions, they know each other really well. For this week’s chat, it became clear pretty quickly that Sasha Spielberg—a.k.a. Buzzy Lee—and Alana Haim already spoke the same language. As it turns out, and you’ll hear this in the conversation, they’re close enough to share a Hulu account. The occasion for this conversation is the debut full-length from Buzzy Lee, the excellent Spoiled Love, which is...
Jan 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min
On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we bring together a pair of singer-songwriters who share a love of intimate, thoughtful compositions and recordings. Robin Pecknold has been the chief creative mind behind Fleet Foxes since the band’s beginnings back in 2005; the latest Fleet Foxes album was surprise-released in September of 2020, and Shore was met with lots of well-deserved love. Elijah Wolf is just starting out on his career. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter was raised in upstate New York,...
Jan 21, 2021•33 min
On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, actress Robin Tunney chats with multihyphenate extraordinaire Alexi Pappas, the filmmaker and Olympic athlete whose excellent new memoir, Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain and Other Big Ideas, is out now through Random House. Tunney, most recently seen in ABC’s The Fix and best known for her roles in Empire Records, The Craft and TV’s The Mentalist, is not only one of Pappas’ mentors, but she’s also her cousin by marriage, and their familial...
Jan 14, 2021•48 min
On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we bring together a pair of legends from different generations: Bootsy Collins and Mix Master Mike. Collins is of course best known for his long stints with Parliament-Funkadelic and James Brown's band, and Mike for his unstoppable contributions to the Beastie Boys. But each musician has spread his wings much farther than those Hall Of Fame acts, up to an including powerful new music. For Bootsy, it's The Power of the One, and for Mix Master Mike, it's Beat Odys...
Jan 07, 2021•39 min
This week’s show is presented in collaboration with The Hideout and Seminary Co-op Bookstore. Big thanks and love to both of those Chicago institutions! To celebrate the release of his new book How To Write One Song: Loving The Things We Create and How They Love Us Back, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) caught up with his friend and collaborator, comedian Nick Offerman. Their funny and illuminating conversation is followed by an audience Q&A, and an exclusive solo performance by Jeff. Check it out, and subsc...
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 2 min
This week's show is presented in collaboration with Murmrr and Community Bookstore. We give big thanks and love to those two Brooklyn institutions! To celebrate the release of his new book How To Write One Song: Loving The Things We Create and How They Love Us Back, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) sat down with his friend and collaborator Norah Jones for a deep dive into the creative process. Their warm and insightful conversation is followed by an audience Q&A, and an exclusive solo performance by Jeff. Ch...
Dec 10, 2020•1 hr 1 min
On this week's episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we share a deep-diving conversation about the idea of space for BIPOC folks in indie rock venues — a discussion with the explicit intent "to talk about brown voices, and to talk about how we can uplift them." Black Belt Eagle Scout — real name Katherine Paul — is a self-described “radical indigenous queer feminist” who grew up on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in Northwest Washington state. KP, as she's known, is Swinomish and Iñupiaq (a Native ...
Dec 03, 2020•57 min
On this week's show, we pair in conversation the artists behind two of 2020's best albums: soul and blues legend Bettye LaVette and indie wunderkind Phoebe Bridgers. Though separated by five decades in age, when the two met backstage at a Tibet House US benefit at Carnegie Hall earlier this year, they immediately developed a mutual friend crush. Now that we've gotten them reconnected here, it appears something very dope is on the horizon... but more on that in the talk! Their warm, freewheeling ...
Nov 24, 2020•47 min
On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, three of the creative talents behind the new movie The Nest – writer-director Sean Durkin, actor Jude Law and composer Richard Reed Parry – sit down for a deep-dive conversation about their work together and their respective artistic processes. Over the course of their talk, the trio discuss how their deeply collaborative creative approaches aligned in creating a collective vision for The Nest, how Sean and Richard met and became friends and collab...
Nov 19, 2020•49 min
For this week's show, we pair two truly virtuosic musicians — legendary fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke and Phish bassist-extraordinaire Mike Gordon. Their wonderful new collaborative album Noon just came out on CD and vinyl, so we knew we had to get these brilliant musical minds together for a deep-diving Talkhouse convo. Tune in to hear the guys share their superhero origin stories; what The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir taught Mike about rock & roll; Leo’s tricks to never playing predictably; the...
Nov 12, 2020•51 min
It turns out that Tegan and Sara, Talkhouse Podcast producer extraordinaire Mark, and lil ol' me all share a favorite new band: Dehd. Hailing from Chicago, the jangle-tastic indie-rocking three-piece recently released their second LP Flower of Devotion, a tour de fookin' force of boy/girl vocals, Sarah Records-worthy guitar, and lyrics that make you wonder if the tears in your eyes are from loneliness or laughter. When we saw Sara tweeting her, um, devotion to the band, we knew a Talkhouse convo...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr
