This week we're sharing an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, One Song . You'll hear hosts Diallo Riddle and Luxxury tackling “Cherub Rock” by The Smashing Pumpkins. The guys go deep on the early 90’s indie rock scene, band frontman Billy Corgan’s quest for musical family, and the Pumpkins’ complicated relationship with the indie rock community. On each episode of One Song friends Diallo Riddle (Emmy-nominated star and creator of HBO Max’s South Side and IFC’s Sherman’s Showcase) and Bla...
Sep 10, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz-inspired singer songwriter who got her start singing in street bands in Paris as a teenager. In 1996, Atlantic Records released Madeline’s debut album where she covered tunes from the ‘30s and ‘40s by artists like Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday—and then later she recorded songs by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. This year Madeleine Peyroux released Let’s Walk , her first album of all-original songs co-written with her long-time touring guitar player, Jon Herington. On t...
Sep 03, 2024•54 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast Singer, songwriter Remi Wolf burst out of the pandemic like a ray of light, spreading joy with her infectious production, capricious outlook and jaunty hooks. She appeared to come to us fully formed. But Remi’s been working hard on her craft for the last decade. She started performing with local bands around the Bay Area during high school and she eventually wound up studying music in LA at USC where she met many of the people she still collaborates with. On today’s Broken Record, Remi Wolf talk...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast Captain Kirk Douglas is the longtime guitarist for The Roots. Over the past 21 years he’s seen the group evolve from a touring act, to the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , to having their own successful music festival in Philly. All the while continuing to record albums for themselves and others. Between The Roots' many commitments, Kirk has also found time to record a solo project under the name Hundred Watt Heart. His most recent offering “New Unknown” was recorded in th...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast While Paul Banks is technically the lead singer of Interpol, he sees himself more as a member of a gang of musicians. Interpol formed in 1997 after lead guitarist Daniel Kessler invited Paul—who was a student at NYU at the time—to watch the band rehearse. In 2002 Interpol released their era defining album, Turn On The Bright Lights, to widespread critical acclaim. At the time they were lumped together with New York City’s emerging “indie sleaze” movement with bands like The Strokes, and the Yeah...
Aug 15, 2024•56 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast Tinashe’s changing what success in pop music can look like. Back in 2014 her song "2 On" featuring Schoolboy Q hit big on Billboard. With major success looming, Tinashe released projects that missed the charts but gained her a strong, loyal fanbase. In 2019 she left her major label to go independent. And judging from her massive online following today, her fans have stuck behind her. In April, she dropped the highly meme-able track "Nasty" that many are calling the song of the summer. “Nasty” co...
Aug 13, 2024•50 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast True to her Texas roots, Edie Brickell can seemingly find a song anywhere—including out of thin air. Here It Comes is the new album from Edie and her collaborators, CJ Camerieri and Trever Hagen who are known as Heavy MakeUp. Heavy MakeUp is, of course, only the latest musical iteration for Edie who’s found herself ever evolving over her career. From her first hit with the New Bohemians, co-writing their massive 1988 single “What I Am,” she’s never stopped looking for songs. She even spent the b...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Shannon & The Clams were long time regulars in the Bay Area music scene. The band’s two main songwriters—Shannon Shaw and Cody Blanchard met in college in Oakland, California. They remained there for about a decade until a number of events set them adrift physically and spiritually. The band’s new album, The Moon Is In the Wrong Place, is taken from a phrase Shannon’s fiancé, Joe Haener uttered shortly before his passing. Much of the album is anchored around Shannon’s grief. On today's episo...
Jul 23, 2024•49 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Randy Bachman is the Canadian guitarist and songwriter behind a slew of hits with the bands The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive. Although he was based far from the '60s powerhouse music scenes of Laurel Canyon and Swinging London, Bachman first made a name for himself performing across the Great White North. On today’s episode Bruce Headlam talks to Randy who dissects his hits including “American Woman” and “These Eyes.” He also explains how he became one of the great guitarists of his ge...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Serj Tankian made his first foray into public life as the idiosyncratic lead singer of the late ‘90s metal band System Of A Down. After releasing five platinum-selling albums with the band, and establishing himself as one of modern-day music’s most outspoken human-rights activists, in 2007, Serj left System to pursue his own artistic pursuits. Since then he’s released solo albums, composed symphonies, scored documentaries, and most recently started producing a line of Armenian coffee. In May, Se...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Camila Cabello is in the midst of a creative revival. Her brand new album, C,XOXO was recently dubbed “hyper-pop” by Rolling Stone in the wake of the frenetic first single, “I Luv It,” featuring Playboi Carti. The track is an entirely new direction for Camila who first rose to fame in 2012 as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. On her new album Camila is racing into uncharted territory with her sound. She enlisted producers Jasper Harris and El Guincho, who’s known for his work with Rosali...
Jun 25, 2024•55 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast John Leventhal is a bit of a secret weapon in music. Though he started out as a session musician in the '80s, he quickly found writing and producing music for other artists was his true calling. That gift has led to six Grammy Award wins and songs like “Sunny Came Home” by Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn’s “Walk Through the World” and “Crossing to Jerusalem” by his wife Rosanne Cash. John and Rosanne have been married for almost 30 years and over the course of their union have become great collaborators...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast "Genesis" the new work from RAYE discussed in this episode is out now: https://raye.orcd.co/genesis RAYE is an English pop singer/songwriter whose debut album, My 21st Century Blues , snagged Album Of the Year at this year’s Brit Awards. One of a historic six wins that evening. For a 26 year old artist who's already survived a tumultuous ride through the music industry, the ceremony was a coup. On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks to RAYE about how a quote from Nina Simone gave her the coura...
Jun 11, 2024•50 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast Michael McDonald’s husky baritone is one of the most instantly recognizable voices from the ‘70s and ‘80s. As a member of The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and a hitmaking solo artist, Michael McDonald’s career is one for the books. Enter Paul Reiser—the comedic actor and writer behind New York Times best-selling books, popular movies and TV shows. Before the start of the pandemic, Paul met Mike McDonald at a party and the two became fast friends. Listening to Michael’s incredible stories, Paul f...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast Sarah Jarosz is a singer/songwriter who also happens to be a killer banjo, guitar, and mandolin player. The Wimberly, Texas-native's latest album, Polaroid Lovers, was produced by former Broken Record guest Daniel Tashian. It’s her seventh album and so far the best at highlighting the power of Sarah’s songwriting over her virtuosity. In this episode you’ll hear Sarah Jarosz tell Bruce Headlam about the Friday night bluegrass jams that shaped her playing, and why she’s turned down co-writing song...
May 28, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast DJ Premier is one of the most celebrated producers in hip-hop history. Known as the architect of hip-hop’s venerated boom-bap sound, Preemo first caught people’s attention with Guru in Gang Starr in the late ‘80s. Guru’s lyrical precision over Premier's jazzy, sample-based beats made Gang Starr one of the most influential rap duos of the next decade. Outside of Gang Starr, DJ Premier has produced classic records for a long list of hip-hop luminaries including New York’s big three—Biggie, Jay-Z, ...
May 21, 2024•57 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Corinne Bailey Rae independently released one of our favorite albums of 2023: Black Rainbows . Justin Richmond spoke to Corinne over Zoom at the end of the year about the place that inspired the album, the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago. And then when she came to Los Angeles around Grammy time they decided to meet up to discuss Reflections / Refractions At the Stony Island Arts Bank , a beautiful new book Corinne put together to catalogue the items that inspired her new music and creative awa...
May 14, 2024•58 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Ann Wilson is the powerhouse lead singer of the band Heart, whose celebrated classic debut album, Dreamboat Annie, came out nearly 50 years ago. Last week we featured an interview with her sister and longtime bandmate Nancy Wilson, so make sure to check that out if you haven’t already. Today we’ll hear from Ann, who’s responsible for belting out and co-writing some of Heart’s most iconic early hits, like “Magic Man,” “Barracuda,” and “Crazy On You.” Four years older than Nancy, Ann was the first...
May 07, 2024•52 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Guitarist and songwriter Nancy Wilson is one half of the rock band Heart, along with her older sister Ann Wilson. Nancy and Ann have been the face of the band since the mid-70s. Heart’s first album, Dreamboat Annie, was released in 1976 right as the band was making traction opening for big acts like Rod Stewart and The Bee Gees. Soon their songs, like “Magic Man” and “Crazy On You,” started to take off in the States, and Heart quickly became a headlining act. Nearly 50 years since their debut al...
Apr 30, 2024•50 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament are two of the Seattle scene’s most foundational musicians from the 80’s and 90’s. Stone and Jeff started playing together in 1984 as members of Green River, which eventually dissolved, leading singer Mark Arm to form Mudhoney. Later, Jeff played bass and Stone played guitar in Mother Love Bone until their lead singer Andrew Wood died of an overdose just days before their major label debut in March of 1990. Reeling from Andy’s death, Jeff and Stone started recording ...
Apr 23, 2024•58 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast 16 years have passed since The Black Crowes released an album of new material. The world has changed a lot since then—and so have the Robinson brothers. Chris and Rich Robinson are, of course, the backbone of the band. They started playing together back in Georgia in 1984 as Mr. Crowe’s Garden before moving to NYC, signing to Def American, and changing their name to The Black Crowes. The band’s debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, set them up as the torchbearers of Southern rock for the '90s and...
Apr 16, 2024•42 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Famed drummer for the Police and composer Stewart Copeland has one of the more fascinating bios in modern music. His father was a founding member of the CIA and his mom worked in British Intelligence. After playing in the successful UK prog rock band Curved Air in the mid 70s, Stewart started a new band called the Police with bassist and lead singer, Sting—and eventually guitarist Andy Summers. Over the next decade the Police would go on to become one of the top-selling rock bands of all time, s...
Apr 09, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Justin Timberlake is one of the most high achieving pop phenomenons of the past three decades. In 1993 he helped relaunch the Mickey Mouse Club where he sang and danced alongside Rylan Gosling and other now luminaries. Then he broke records and sold over 70 million albums worldwide with *NSYNC. And if that weren’t enough, he launched an incredibly successful solo career in the early aughts where he found a musical soulmate in Timbaland who Justin's worked with in some capacity over the course of...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Brandi Carlile’s knack for uplifting the musicians she loves is exemplary. After her own hard-earned ascent to fame over the course of seven studio albums, Brandi started to turn her sights to producing albums for artists she deeply admires, including Tanya Tucker who she’s been on Broken Record with in the past but also Brandy Clark. Then there’s Joni Mitchell—who, thanks to Brandi’s encouragement—has recently made a glorious return to performing live. Brandi’s passion for the projects she work...
Mar 26, 2024•56 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Natalia Lafourcade is a force. As you’ll hear when she sings during our conversation today she has a gorgeous voice. But she’s also a deft songwriter who’s able to weave together traditions that feel both modern and old at once. And she’s also a beautiful interpreter of song—take for instance the phenomenon that was the song “Remember Me” from Pixar’s film Coco . Or take the many instances where she’s recorded some of the classic songs from across Latin America—performing on songs by greats like...
Mar 19, 2024•52 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast In recognition of this month's World Happiness Day, we are presenting one of our favorite episodes from last year with Janelle Monàe and her longtime collaborator, Nate Wonder. Janelle's latest album, The Age Of Pleasure, was created in part as a celebration of black love and community. And as Nate Wonder shares in this interview with Justin Richmond, one of his guiding principles when making the album was to make Janelle smile. As part of Pushkin Industries' network-wide celebration of World Ha...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast At 70 years-old, Kim Gordon—the former bassist and founding member of Sonic Youth—is just now making the most abrasive music of her career. She just dropped her second solo album, The Collective, with producer Justin Raisen, who’s previously worked with artists like Drake, Lil Yachty, and Charli XCX. Kim’s spoken-word-like vocals on The Collective are the perfect accompaniment to Justin’s distorted trap-style beats. On today’s episode Leah Rose talks to Kim Gordon about her latest solo album, as...
Mar 12, 2024•44 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast To kick off our month-long celebration of Women's History Month, today we're featuring an interview with Polly Jean Harvey, a.k.a. PJ Harvey, who is without question one of the most gifted songwriters of our time. Her debut album, Dry, came out in 1992 and was what the LA Times called a near “instant classic.” The same with her sophomore release, Rid of Me—which became an inspiration for Nirvana’s last album: In Utero. Ten albums later and Polly continues to be not only a remarkable songwriter o...
Mar 05, 2024•46 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast For the last installment of our Thursday Black History Month drops, how could we not revisit our episode with the incomparable Sonny Rollins? Listening to Sonny is like history coming right off the page. He’s living, breathing black history and one of the greatest tenor players of all time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 02, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast