Meet Our Makers

In this chat, we get to meet My Brightest Diamond - aka: Shara Nova. I got to speak with Shara surrounding the release of her newest MBD record, called Fight the Real Terror. In this discussion, she and I go deep into this album - its themes, its stark minimalism, and its conception, which was borne largely by the loss of the great Sinead O'Connor. Shara had a deep affinity for Sinead's work both musically and politically, and I speak with her about how Sinead's voice (and I mean that in all shadings of the word) has inspired her own work and her own life, as an artist, a human, and an activist. It's a great talk with a great artist (and someone who I've been listening to for virtually my whole music-listening life). Thank you for listening.

In this episode, we get to meet Icelandic singer-songwriter, Emilíana Torrini. Torrini has been releasing music for quite some time, debuting in the 90s, but has just released a totally bewitching new album this past June called Miss Flower. The story of this record is so rich and layered and surprising, it makes sense that she and I mostly use this chat as an excuse to take a deep dive into its world. Miss Flower, the character of this album (because it is, indeed, a story album), was based on a real person, and the tale of how Torrini found out more and more about this woman's twisting-and-turning life (which includes love letters, crushes, espionage, and various countries) feels like some old classic noir film brought to musical life. (And for that matter - the album has also been turned into a full-on film as well, which we also touch on.) It's a great talk, and will hopefully make you want to delve into Miss Flower again and again, looking for clues, connecting dots, and getting lost. Thanks for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Phosphorescent - aka: singer, songwriter, guitarist Matthew Houck. Matthew's been at the game for a while now, and we caught up to chat about his newest Phosphorescent record, Revelator, which came out back in the spring. Truthfully, this chat was done around then, too, but kept getting pushed and delayed in posting. So here we are! Huzzah! It's a lovely chat, well worth the wait, as we dive into all things Revelator, including its themes, production, songwriting, history, etc. Matthew is such a lovely, warm guy; an open book down to chat about anything. It's a very laid back but engaging conversation, and I think you'll enjoy. Thank you for listening.

In this episode, we meet pop auteur/singer-songwriter Kate Nash. Kate Nash has just released her brand new record - her first in a little bit - on Kill Rock Stars, entitled 9 Sad Symphonies. In this chat, Kate and I discuss her new record at length, especially what went into creating it and some of the underlying themes across its songs, such as mental health and wellness, depression, and love. We touch on her early material, such as her hit debut record Made of Bricks (which spawned successful singles like "Mouthwash" and "Foundations") and how her relationship to these songs has changed over time. We also talk the early MySpace days that helped give rise to her career, and why she has such a fondness for that era of the music business. And of course we talk about GLOW, the great Netflix series she starred in alongside Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, and more. We talk about what that show meant (and means) to her, and how sad we both are that it got unceremoniously canceled after three seasons. Thanks for listening!

In this chat, we get to meet Tracyanne Campbell, the frontwoman of celebrated Scottish indie rock icons Camera Obscura. Back with their first album in over a decade, Look To The East, Look To The West, Camera Obscura have a lot to say now that they're back on the scene, and effortlessly prove that their return was worth the wait. In this talk, lead singer & songwriter Tracyanne and I discuss the new album at lenght, including some of its themes, its musicality, its production, and what led to them reconvening in the first place (turns out it had a lot to do with Belle And Sebastian's cruise ship music festival back in 2019). We also touch on some of the factors that contributed to their long absence, including the unfortunate passing of longtime keyboardist Carey Lander, back in 2015. It was such a pleasure to speak with someone I've listened to and looked up to for so long as a sharp and potent voice in music, and I'm so happy the band is back. Thank you for listening.