Meet Our Makers

In this chat, we get to meet Amy Millan. Amy is best known as co-bandleader of the Canadian band Stars, as well as her side gig as a member of Broken Social Scene. But now, she has a brand new solo record out - her third, in fact, and first since 2009 - called I Went to Find You. In this conversation, we talk a lot about this new record, from its thematic inspirations to its initiation, from the close collaboration she found with co-songwriter and co-producer Jay McCarrol to what it means for her to back in a solo capacity after all these years. We do, of course, talk about Stars, especially their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire, whose 20th birthday the band is still celebrating. We touch on what that album means to her now, to us the listeners now, some band lore, and more. It's been many years in the making, this conversation, and I'm thrilled it finally happened. Thank you for listening.

In this chat we get to meet Swedish Italo-disco duo, Sally Shapiro. Made up of producer Johan Ageborn and singer Sally Shapiro (which is a pseudonym for the anonymous woman behind the mic, as well as the band name), the elusive duo just put out a new album, Ready to Live a Lie, and has been operating mostly in anonymity since their beginning back in the 2000s, with the release of the big first single "I'll Be By Your Side". While Johan is certainly the more public persona, Sally herself has retained her near-totally obsucred identity, a la Burial, since the start. In this chat, we talk about the brand new record - including the production, writing, and inspirations behind it - as well as some band history, including why they chose to go the anonymous route in the first place, and how they hold onto that in the ever-increasingly digital era. They barely do any interviews (especially Sally), so I was very grateful they came on. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Lido Pimienta. Lido is a singer, songwriter, producer, who just put out her newest record, La Belleza, via ANTI-. We talk a lot about the album, with special focus on the genre of it — which, for Lido, is something new: classical music. Where her previous work was sort of an avant-garde electronic pop kind of thing, La Belleza is steeped in classical music tradition, composition, and structure. We talk about what led Lido to try her hand at this style, which she had previously felt was sort of blocked off from her, and how she feels like she got in there and made a space for herself to belong. We talk about the writing of the record, genre pigeon holing, shirking societal expectations, working with coproducer Owen Pallett, and more. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. Garbus started Tune-Yards as a solo project, but quickly transformed into a duo with musical and life partner Nate Brenner, and they have now released their brand new LP, Better Dreaming, on 4AD. In this chat, Merrill and I go deep on the personal, global, emotional, and sociopolitical themes and inspirations behind the new record, as well as the production, writing, and composition process. We also touch a bit on Tune-Yards early years, and end up diving deep into the significance of art (both making it and having it in our lives), and of simply being alive, in this moment, now - and how radical that can be. Thank you for listening.

In this episode, we get to meet Uwade. Uwade a Cailfornia-by-way-of-North Carolina singer-songwriter, who has just released her new debut album, Florilegium. You may have - like I did - first encountered her, though, as the first voice on the opening track of the last Fleet Foxes record Shore, called "Wading in the Waist-High Water". In this chat, she and I discuss the writing and process of creating this first solo LP, what it means for her to be going out on her own, the musical touchstones of her childhood that found their ways into these songs, and more. We do also touch on her work with Robin Pecknold & co. and the subsequent tours she shared with Fleet Foxes, and what she learned from that. Finally, we touch on her academic life, as she is currently working toward a PhD. Thank you for listening.