by Chance Solem-Pfeifer

At Gregory Alan Isakov’s house in Boulder, Colo., the songwriter is entirely insulated in his own words.

Post-it notes the size of small windows are de facto wallpaper. The lines, the rhymes and the ideas scrawled on the yellow/white slabs are free to jump off into his songs and stories. Or to be ordered back home to the wall if they don’t wear well.

Lost somewhere in the home, as well, are scraps of paper to which Isakov devoted spur-of-the-moment lines written on the previous month’s tour. He remembers they existed only after he’s unpacked his bags.

On one hand, Isakov’s interior decorating makes for a pretty thoughtful image of the singer/songwriter who released his fifth studio album, The Weatherman, to widespread acclaim on July 9. On the other, Isakov’s writing process — which he’s long maintained is a mystery to him — survives on the buffet of material adhered to his walls, as he describes his folk songwriting more like recalling a series lost dreams than mapping out stories. 

“It’s really tough. It’s really elusive,” Isakov says of cherry-picking definitive meanings from his songs. “It’s funny because people ask me all the time, ‘What’s that song about?’ And I’m always like, ‘I don’t... you should listen to it. Maybe you should tell me.’”

Isakov will tour The Weatherman — which he chose to write and record on the fly after walking away from an in-progress, planned album — through Omaha on Wednesday. Isakov and his folk band will play at The Waiting Room.

But first, Isakov spoke on the phone to Hear Nebraska from a gas station (and then a meadow) on the road to Chicago to discuss why he identifies more as a writer than a musician and what words he’s never allowed to use in songs again.

Gregory Alan Isakov | Full Interview

Jim Eno Salsa Dances in the Studio

Being Happy with the Record "Is Not Impossible"

"Top Shelf & Lost Tricks" by No Blood Orphan | On The Record

Interview with The Wind-Up | Hear Nebraska FM

"It's Been a Really Long Day" by The Wind-Up | Hear Nebraska FM

by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | photo by Clay Lomneth

Doug Van Sloun remembers the oddity of being on the phone with a potential client. 

The out-of-state artist was asking Van Sloun to master his next record. Only the musician had no idea that the Omaha-based mastering engineer was currently treating the album of the band with whom he was currently on tour. The bands were from different cities and neither was Omaha.

“There was no connection at all between the three groups of us,” Van Sloun says. “That sort of stuff happens more frequently than one might think.” 

Coincidence, maybe. But Van Sloun is working on those odds all the time. The clients page on his website details more than a hundred artists, and it’s not even an exhaustive list of all the people who have trusted Van Sloun’s expertise on their albums the last 10 years. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say you’ll find the words “mastered by Doug Van Sloun” in the liner notes of the majority of well-produced Nebraska albums. From the bulk of Saddle Creek releases to nationally recognized artists like Damien Jurado and She & Him to Hear Nebraska’s forthcoming compilation — Hear Nebraska: Vol. 2 — Van Sloun’s ears and his state-of-the-art listening room at Focus Mastering have grown to become a hotter and hotter commodity since he moved there in 2005.

You can hear Van Sloun’s work firsthand after the release of Hear Nebraska Vol. 2 at The Waiting Room on Dec. 27. Featured artists Simon Joyner, Conchance and Universe Contest will perform. Pre-order the record on vinyl, and RSVP here. 

For this the eighth installment of Sessions, I sat down with Doug Van Sloun in his west Omaha mastering studio to chat about his unique reputation among Nebraska musicians, what happens when a band asks him to move mountains and measuring perfection on a sliding scale. 

Hear Nebraska Sessions: Doug Van Sloun (Episode 8)

Live from Hear Nebraska FM, Thursdays at 6 p.m.

Root Marm Chicken Farm Jug Band on 89.3 KZUM | Hear Nebraska FM

Bennie and the Gents on David Bowie | Under the Influence

Dereck Higgins talks to Under the Influence host Dan Scheuerman about "The Cinema Show" by Genesis.

Dereck Higgins | Under the Influence

Album review podcast by Jacob Zlomke and Chance Solem-Pfeifer.

Photo by Molly Misek

Buy the album here:
http://www.bothsucks.com/

BOTH's Self-Title Debut Album | On The Record

Photo by Bridget McQuillan.
"Shattered Reflections" was originally released as a B-side for the Digital Leather single "Power Surge" on FDH Records.

http://fdhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/power-surge

"Shattered Reflections" by Digital Leather

"Pueblo" by Foreign Body

"Left Behind" by Fallible

Super Ghost - Sun Bear - HN FM

Feed The Vibe - A Ferocious Jungle Cat

Andrew Stellmon and Chance Solem-Pfeifer discuss and compare two recent instrumental releases from Nebraska — the droning mysticism of Bus Gas and the synth carnival of John Freidel. Buy both albums with the links below.

johnfreidel.bandcamp.com
bbuussggaass.bandcamp.com

"Live On Leave Us" by Bus Gas + "A Rose In Glass" by John Freidel | On The Record

Andrew Stellmon and Chance Solem-Pfeifer review the third solo album from Tim Kasher (Curisve, The Good Life). "No Resolution" offers some of the most ambitious orchestration and narrative focus of Kasher's career. 

Buy the album here: 
https://15passenger.bandcamp.com/

"No Resolution" by Tim Kasher | On The Record

Hear Nebraska's album review podcasters, Andrew Stellmon and Chance Solem-Pfeifer, dig into "Salutations" — the latest from renowned singer-songwriter Conor Oberst. They discuss The Felice Brothers' impact on the album, examine Oberst's big swings at choruses, and hold it up to October's "Ruminations," which contains 10 original versions of this album's 17 tracks.

Buy "Salutations" here:
conoroberst.inktankmerch.com/item/517/conor-oberst-salutations

"Salutations" by Conor Oberst | On The Record

Long a talented drummer for many a Nebraska band, David Ozinga takes the architectural reins for his rollicking, lo-fi debut solo record. Listen as our podcast reviewers explore its various nooks and crannies in the latest episode of On The Record.

Buy the album here: https://quietverse.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-verse

"Quiet Verse" by David Ozinga | On The Record

On this double episode of On The Record, Hear Nebraska's Andrew Stellmon and Chance Solem-Pfeifer review two new albums out via Saddle Creek Records. 

First, it's the washed-out guitar album from the newly rejuvenated Land Of Talk. Then, at 13 minutes, your hosts turn toward "Capacity" and discuss how Big Thief's sophomore record is humble and shifting on its way to brilliance. 

Purchase both albums at saddle-creek.com.

"Life After Youth" by Land of Talk + "Capacity" by Big Thief | On The Record

See Through Dresses’ latest album ‘Horse of the Other World’ marks a directional shift for the Omaha indie rock band, blending a multitude of synth into its dreamy shoegaze. Listen as our On The Record podcast team — Andrew Stellmon, Chance Solem-Pfeifer and newcomer Sam Crisler — reviews the band’s sophomore record, out July 14 on Tiny Engines.

"Horse of the Other World" by See Through Dresses | On The Record

Twinsmith's latest effort 'Stay Cool' strips the band's instrumentation back to the bare essentials, resulting in pop that harkens back to the '80s but feels entirely modern. Listen as our On The Record podcast team — Andrew Stellmon and Chance Solem-Pfeifer — reviews 'Stay Cool,' out July 14 on Saddle Creek Records.

“Stay Cool” by Twinsmith | On The Record Podcast

With new record ‘Negative Boogie' (July 14, Ba Da Bing Records), Omaha songwriter and bandleader David Nance carries on all the rage and euphoria of last year’s success while making the most of his recent ascendance as a local and touring artist. Hear Nebraska's album review podcasters discuss Nance’s newfound sense of production, the humor hiding in his vocal flourishes and why ‘Negative Boogie’ is a mid-way frontrunner for On The Record’s top album of the year.

Podcasters: Chance Solem-Pfeifer, Andrew Stellmon
Edit: Chance Solem-Pfeifer

"Negative Boogie" by David Nance | On The Record

Lincoln post-punk band Better Friend makes a leap forward with its gripping debut LP ‘Just Turn Green.’ Vocalist Meghan Munyon sat down with our managing editor to talk about the record’s central figures, telling hard truths to family and friends and the catharsis of the quintet’s live show.

Recorded Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 at KZUM.
Interview & Editing by Andrew Stellmon

Andrew Stellmon's Album

Interview: Meghan Munyon | Aug. 12, 2017

Hear Nebraska's On The Record podcast team breaks down 'Get Cot Livin,' the full-length record from Lincoln prog rock band Universe Contest out Oct. 31, 2017.

Podcast by Andrew Stellmon, Chance Solem-Pfeifer
Edit by Chance Solem-Pfeifer

"Get Cot Livin'" by Universe Contest | On The Record

Death Cow joined Hear Nebraska FM live in the KZUM studio May 7, 2018 for a live session and interview. Hear the Lincoln garage punk quartet perform songs from its debut album 'Slow Drown', talk about the demos that spawned it and dish on hosting house shows.

"Slow Drown" By Death Cow | HN FM 5.7.18

"Wet Socks" By Death Cow | HN FM 5.7.18

"Get Your Friends Together (To Commit Arson)(The Arson Song)" By Death Cow | HN FM 5.7.18

"Come Around" By Death Cow | HN FM 5.7.18

Watch the video: http://www.hearnebraska.org/content/somebody-jukebox-ghost-love-drunk-video.

Read the story: http://www.hearnebraska.org/content/somebody-jukebox-ghost-music-exam-qa.

Out June 12, 2012, on the album "Safe Travels": http://jukeboxtheghost.com/.

"Somebody" by Jukebox the Ghost

Universe Contest brought songs from its complex, riff-rocking new record 'Get Cot Livin' (and its smoke-and-light show)into the KZUM studio on Monday, May 14, 2018. Listen to the Lincoln quintet perform live for Hear Nebraska FM and hear them chat about its speed studio session, keeping things interesting and touring to Colorado to see Ween.

Interview With Universe Contest | HN FM 5.14.18

"Fancy Hot Dogs" By Universe Contest | HN FM 5.14.18

"Jacket" By Universe Contest | HN FM 5.14.18

"Cuntry" By Universe Contest | HN FM 5.14.18

"Club Kids" By Universe Contest | HN FM 5.14.18

Interview conducted for a feature on http://hearnebraska.org.

Peace to dead family
Death was met soul’s spirit set sailing
Whole check to forget
Forty-four vets, fully loaded with hoes with techs
What side of the city you come from
Take it back when slaves were sold to build cities for rum
Back when a city die for what thy divy to none
Conny with the business under his tongue
Yes, witness the jury deliver peace in ones
Piss on complainants nay sayer say nater murk decks for fun
I say his merkings, worth learning the records, one unearth pun
Hun, smile her name the vision she birth a verb the fuck forgiveness
Def.’s beauty murfed the blunt
Like put that shit out. relearning earth to son
Be afraid of the bird chirp, that chipped to fund
Bum ass business
Like his chop teach cop geeks, to read run
Count on movement to feature the bookie’s jux put to pose
Nookies tasted say, end product nuts on nose
This is no domino effect 
Mathematics made men make sense
Mad men take lefts 
Old men play bets
Whole family know why
Why my business pay rent

Are there other recent scars on Omaha you can think of?

interview by Michael Todd on Dec. 7, 2012

"I never thought that I would work in a retail store again until I found out that Urban Outfitters had this weird art thing that happens."

"Kiss Your Elbow Goodbye" by The Monroes

Meet Hailey Stessman and Olli Jenkins, the co-hosts of Rabble Ramble. Get to know them as they answer questions sent in by readers of Rabble Magazine, and get to know your fellow listeners through a couple anonymous Dear Diary submissions.

Popular tracks by Rabble Media