On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, former REM frontman Michael Stipe talks with veteran indie director Jim McKay about the production company they’ve run together since the late 1980s, C-Hundred Film Corp, and the amazing work that has come out of it. In a fascinating conversation, the two best friends not only walk us through the history of the company – its humble beginnings in Athens, GA, to creating PSAs with KRS-One and Natalie Merchant, and Michael making the *original* Orange is the New Black at the Sundance Film Festival back in the ’90s – but also touch on their latest projects (McKay’s new film, and the photography book which Stipe just published) and how the pandemic has affected them, both creatively and personally. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Michael Stipe with Jim McKay

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a roundtable of old friends who are also, as it happens, all New York City legends: Cynthia Sley and Pat Place of Bush Tetras with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and director Jim Jarmusch.

Cynthia and Pat — vocalist and guitarist, respectively — started the “groove-centric” post-punk band Bush Tetras in 1979 with Laura Kennedy on bass and Dee Pop on drums. They broke up just a few years later, but over the decades they’ve reunited periodically, and are back in action now — though, sadly, without Kennedy, who died in 2011, and Dee Pop, who passed away last month after the recording of this conversation. But as Cynthia told the New York Times, “Bush Tetras is a force that cannot be stopped.” Their pioneering work lives on, archived in a new box set called Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras, which came out on Wharf Cat last week and includes three LPs and a booklet featuring essays by Moore, Jarmusch, members of The Clash and Gang of Four, and many others.

Thurston Moore was a founding member of Sonic Youth. Now based in London, he performs and records solo — his latest album is last year's By The Fire. Jim Jarmusch is the director of films like Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law, Coffee and Cigarettes, and so many more. He’s also a musician, and currently performs with the avant-rock band SQÜRL.

As Cynthia says at the beginning of their conversation, they have about 40 years of friendship between the four them, but this is the first time all four of them have gotten to talk together. Their decades-in-the-making conversation covers a lot, including Pat’s influence on Thurston as a guitarist, Tier 3 and Mudd Club memories, and an era of New York when there were still chicken slaughterhouses on Prince Street. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Bush Tetras, Thurston Moore, and Jim Jarmusch for chatting. This episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

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Bush Tetras with Thurston Moore and Jim Jarmusch

Hey Talkhouse friends, this week we’re re-surfacing an episode that originally ran in May of 2020. Unlike most Talkhouse Podcast episodes, which feature two or more creative folks in conversation, this one is mostly just one guy talking: Joe Talbot of the band IDLES. It was recorded in front of a live audience in Glasgow, just before the pandemic hit, and it’s a fascinating look at an incredible artist—Talbot is a guy who’s unafraid to put it all out there, in both interviews and in his music. Speaking of music, part of the reason we’re re-promoting this episode this week is that Idles just released another incredible album: Crawler is the British band’s fourth, and it’s unsurprisingly being met with pretty ecstatic reviews. Check out this fascinating chat with Joe and a live audience, and have a great Thanksgiving.
—Josh Modell

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This week's show is a bit different from usual Talkhouse Podcast episodes. While it's nominally hosted by the legendary Alan McGee of Creation Records — the man who signed The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and a lil ol' band called Oasis — it's not at all a two-person conversation. Instead, this episode features Joe Talbot, frontman of the incredible post-punk group IDLES, in one of the funniest, most viscerally honest live audience Q&A's I've ever witnessed.

Both Joe and the attendees are willing to go to deep and often uncomfortable areas: Buckle up for a discussion of toxic masculinity, the role of violence in IDLES' music, and the difficult process of developing one’s own artistic language. We also hear about Joe collabing with Mike Skinner of The Streets, turning Sleaford Mods’ taunts into a song, putting human ashes into vinyl records, and... we even get an unexpected lesson on mindfulness.

This Q&A was recorded at the wonderful Barras Art & Design in Glasgow.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Helado Negro with Buscabulla, Julien Baker and Katie Harkin (Harkin, Sleater-Kinney), Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, and Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers) with Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide).
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s show was recorded in Glasgow by Nadar Shahzad of Blue Audio (thx Nadar!). Our co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Thanks so much to Matt Sadowski of Alt Waves Records and to Barras Art & Design for allowing us to share this event.
The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Talkhouse Podcast

Revisited: Joe Talbot (IDLES)

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a lively conversation between some people whose relationship got off to kind of a rocky start, but who’ve since become friends: Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and all three members of Mountain Man: Amelia Meath, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Molly Sarle.

Now the occasion for this conversation is the recent reissue of the first Mountain Man record, 2010’s Made the Harbor, which features new liner notes written by Tweedy. This gorgeous, strange record was made back when these three women were just getting to know each other as college students in Vermont. Somehow, as if by magic—you’ll hear about that in this chat—their voices perfectly intertwined, and some of the very first songs that any of them wrote ended up becoming these timeless little gems. And then they went their separate ways for quite a long time: Meath ended up as half of Sylvan Esso, most notably. They’ve since regrouped for shows and more excellent music, most recently a live album called Look at Me, Don’t Look at Me.

The members of Mountain Man first met Jeff Tweedy when they played Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival—and apparently snubbed Tweedy when he introduced himself. No offense was taken and a friendship was eventually formed, though as you’ll hear, Tweedy still finds himself a little intimidated in their presence. Tweedy’s latest entry in an incredibly prolific career is a deluxe edition of Love is the King, the album he recorded and released during the first part of the pandemic. It’s now getting a bonus disc called Live is the King, which as you may have guessed, features live renditions of these excellent songs. Tweedy and Mountain Man will meet again in person in January during Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky festival in Mexico. Presumably they will recognize him this time.

In this funny, winding conversation, they begin by talking about seasonal depression, pivot quickly to a discussion of candy, and then move on to the serious business of creating music—and what that means to them. So we’ve got everything from Mountain Man’s magical discovery of their own voices—like a unicorn in the woods—to Jeff’s story about the time he thought he could lose weight by eating only Snickers. One minute, Amelia Meath is talking about sexy lumberjacks on TikTok, the next Jeff Tweedy is pining for an honorary Bachelor’s Degree. Won’t somebody give him one? We’re looking at you, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Jeff Tweedy and Mountain Man for chatting. If you liked what you heard, follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform and all relevant social channels. This episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time.

Jeff Tweedy with Mountain Man

This week’s Talkhouse episode features a pair of legends from the alt-country or country or No Depression or Americana worlds—you pick. It’s Jay Farrar of Son Volt along with singer-songwriter (and many other things) Steve Earle.

Jay Farrar started his career as part of the seminal band Uncle Tupelo alongside another noted songwriter (and frequent Talkhouse guest) Jeff Tweedy. After their split, Tweedy went on to Wilco while Farrar formed the band Son Volt, which has since released an impressive catalog—their tenth and latest album was recorded during pandemic downtime, and you can hear it in the deliberateness of the songs. It’s called Electro Melodier.

Steve Earle is one of those guys who makes you feel lazy. He’s not only an incredibly accomplished singer and songwriter with literally dozens of albums to his credit, he’s also a producer, an actor—most notably on The Wire—a novelist, a Sirius XM DJ, and as you’ll hear here, an aspiring TV show creator. His 2020 album Ghosts of West Virginia was spun off from an off-Broadway show he worked on, while this year’s J.T. is a tribute to his talented son, Justin Townes Earle, who passed away just last year. As you’ll hear, he’s got even more projects in the works, including a tribute to singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker.

As you’ll hear, Steve Earle loves to chat, while Jay Farrar is a bit more subdued—a fact that these friends acknowledge right off the bat. But they get into a great conversation about their favorite subject: music—what they listened to growing up, the great shows that Earle saw as a kid, and even selling some weed to Leslie West of Mountain. Steve talks about missing the whole genesis of alt-country for good reason—he was in jail—but catching up with it, and with Son Volt in particular. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Jay Farrar and Steve Earle for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on all your favorite podcasting services and social media channels. This week’s episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Steve Earle with Jay Farrar

We’ve hosted some incredible Talkhouse conversations in 2021, and for our final brand-new episode of the year, we’ve got two people responsible for some of the best records of this year: Julien Baker and Aaron Dessner.

Baker released her third album, Little Oblivions, back in February, and it’s a doozy. Expanding her sonic palette massively, Baker delivered her powerful, vulnerable songs with much bigger sounds. That might have felt like a gamble, but it paid off massively—she produced it herself and pushed herself into new spaces.

Dessner is of course a founding member of the National, with whom he’s played for the past 20+ years. While his main band slowed down over the past couple of years, Dessner has been operating at hyperspeed. He was one of the main co-writers and producers on Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore albums. He won an Album of the Year Grammy for the former, and was nominated for five more Grammys for the latter. He somehow also found time to release a new album with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon under the name Big Red Machine called How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? In addition to loads of guest singers, that record features Dessner on occasional lead vocals.

These two have a fantastic conversation about creativity and, specifically, production: Aaron has done a lot of producing for other artists, and Julien is just getting into it. Julien talks about what it’s like to have a full live band backing her, rather than being a quote-unquote masochist and playing alone. They talk about what it was like to be deprived of live audiences for so long, and Aaron gets into how his studio setup has changed over the years. Also, they both know what it’s like when music can make you cry—that’s the kind of thing we love here at Talkhouse. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Julien Baker and Aaron Dessner for having such a wonderful chat. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting service and social media channels--we’re everywhere. This episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan and Keenan Kush, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Aaron Dessner with Julien Baker

This week we’re resurfacing a delightful episode that originally ran in April of 2020, and which features two of our favorite songwriters/performers: Matt Berninger of The National and Aimee Mann. Their chat was inspired by the release of an excellent documentary about Other Music, the revered New York record store that closed in 2016. The conversation veers into many other areas as well, including creativity during the pandemic. The challenges of the past couple of years were no match for these two: Berninger released a solo album called Serpentine Prison last year, and Mann just released Queens of the Summer Hotel, a set of new songs inspired by the book Girl, Interrupted. Enjoy, and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week.

—Josh Modell

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This week on the show, we celebrate the wonderful Other Music documentary with two Grammy-winning artists: singer-songwriter Aimee Mann and the National's Matt Berninger. The two discuss the iconic record store and the creative importance of having physical spaces dedicated to musical community, plus we hear how they're managing to work during the pandemic, and Matt reveals that he's both writing a musical and launching a label imprint.

The Other Music doc features many wonderful artists that have appeared on our show — TV on the Radio, the Magnetic Fields, Superchunk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jason Schwartzman, Animal Collective, William Basinski, Frankie Cosmos and more — this is truly a #talkhousecore film!

Other Music is currently being screened via a "virtual theatrical release," with more than 200 independent record shops and movie theaters offering it to rent, and splitting the profits 50/50. This is a wonderful chance to support your local purveyor of brilliant art, and catch one of the must-see music films of the year. Click here to find your local favorite store or theater that's screening it! (Our producer Mark Yoshizumi rented it from his alma mater Reckless Records in Chicago; Talkhouse Film's Editor-in-Chief Nick Dawson supported Permanent Records in L.A., and I went with Record Grouch in Brooklyn, where I've spent many and many a happy hour amongst the hallowed racks.)

Enjoy today's show, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) with the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, and Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Aimee Mann, Matt Berninger, Nick Dawson, and myself in our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast's co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Revisited: Matt Berninger with Aimee Mann

For the first new Talkhouse Podcast episode of the new year, we’ve got an unlikely pairing—which is one of our favorite kinds of pairings. But it wasn’t exactly our idea to connect Michael Vincent Waller and Lex Luger, it was theirs. The contemporary classical composer and the extremely prolific hip-hop producer made a really cool record together that came out in 2021, called Classic$.

Waller is not your typical classical composer, he’s a real musical searcher. His compositions range from avant-garde to minimalist to slightly more classic-sounding classical music. But over his career he hasn’t stayed in one place musically for very long. He made a record back in 2019 with electronic producer JLin, which you may have read about in an interview with the pair right on this very website. So maybe it’s no surprise at all that Waller didn’t let genre get in the way of his love for hip-hop when he reached out to Luger for an assist on Classic$—which I should note is credited to MVW, rather than Waller’s full name, in case you have trouble finding it on your favorite streaming service. The two collaborated on the music, as you’ll hear, and they brought in a bunch of voices to help flesh things out. 

Luger has had an incredible career in hip-hop. For the last decade-plus, he’s been a go-to producer for some huge names, starting with Waka Flocka Flame—who he connected with via MySpace—and Rick Ross, but running through tracks by Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Snoop Dogg, among many, many others. He famously used to make hundreds of beats at a stretch: If you didn’t like one of his spooky trap sounds, he had a dozen others ready for you. I guess the place that Luger and Waller might intersect is that Luger’s beats often feature symphonic elements: They can sound, at times, like horror-movie scores.

In this conversation, Luger and Waller talk about how working together affected them: It was more than just another job for Luger, who feels like he learned something valuable from Waller’s acoustic-first approach. They also talk about what music actually means to them, which is a very Talkhouse-friendly subject. They clearly want to work with one another again, which says something about the deep connection they made on Classic$. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Lex Luger and Michael Vincent Waller for chatting. Be sure to follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting services and social media outlets. This episode was produced by Melissa Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range.

Lex Luger with Michael Vincent Waller

This week’s Talkhouse conversation features a pair of indie musicians—one of whom is known a bit better for another career—who recently collaborated on a song, and who have lots to say about creativity and the current state of the music biz: Hrishikesh Hirway and Melina Duterte, aka. Jay Som.

If you recognize Hirway’s name, chances are good it’s from one of his popular podcasts: The best known is probably Song Exploder, on which Hirway and a guest break down a single song, spending time to get at its component parts and to explore the creative process. (Perhaps it goes without saying that it shares some DNA with the Talkhouse Podcast.) Guests over the years have included Bjork, Spoon, St. Vincent—the list goes on and on. Song Exploder became a Netflix series in 2020, with Hirway acting host on the TV version as well. In addition to that, he’s behind some other great podcasts, including the fun pandemic-era food chat show Home Cooking, which he co-hosts with Samin Nusrat.

With all of that on his plate, it’s easy to overlook that Hirway spent many years making gentle, melancholy indie music under the name The One AM Radio. That part of his life took a backseat to his other pursuits, but music called him back, and he spent some time over the pandemic recording some songs that he’s slowly releasing under his own name. The first was a collaboration with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and just this week came the second: a collaboration with today’s other guest, Melina Duterte, who’s better known by her project’s name, Jay Som.

The two met because Duterte was a guest on Song Exploder, where she spoke about her song “Tenderness.” Though he didn’t actually host that episode, Hirway loved what he heard, and the two struck up a friendship that led to Duterte guesting on the touching song “Home.”

If you like what you hear, the Jay Som catalog is thoroughly fantastic. Her last album under the name was 2019’s Anak Ko, but she’s spent time producing and collaborating with other folks over the past couple of years, including production duties for the latest album by Julia Shapiro of Chastity Belt—a recent guest on this very podcast. Jay Som’s music is often called “bedroom pop,” but after people hear this conversation, they may have to start calling it “attic pop,” since Duterte recently relocated to a private top floor of her own. Elsewhere in this conversation, she and Hirway talk about the hot mess that is the music industry, the software they sometimes use, and the alt-rock band that Duterte obsessed over as a pre-teen. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Hrishikesh Hirway and Melina Duterte for chatting. Check out their collaborative song, “Home,” and be sure to follow them both—and Talkhouse!—on your favorite social media channels. See you next time!

Hrishikesh Hirway with Jay Som

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, highly acclaimed actor Harry Melling and writer-director Amanda Kramer chat over Zoom from their respective homes in London and Los Angeles. The two recently collaborated as star and filmmaker on Kramer’s latest feature, Please Baby Please, which also stars Andrea Riseborough and Demi Moore and is the opening film at 2022 International Film Festival Rotterdam. In a wide-ranging conversation, Kramer and Melling touched on many subjects, from making Please Baby Please during COVID in Montana, to Harry’s love of dancing, why Amanda almost had a breakdown on set, actors’ misplaced obsession with playing real people, how Amanda expanded Harry’s love and knowledge of English cinema, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Harry Melling with Amanda Kramer

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got the guitarist-singer of a great young-ish band from Minneapolis in conversation with a hotshot guitarist who’s just starting to make a name for herself: Nathan Stocker of Hippo Campus and Yasmin Williams.

Hippo Campus formed just under a decade ago, while Stocker and his bandmates were still in high school. They came out of the gate just as you might expect: eager and excited, releasing a series of EPs followed by a bang-bang pair of excellent albums and inspiring crowds at pretty much every festival you could think of. After touring behind 2018’s Bambi, Hippo Campus took some time to stretch their legs, with each member heading off into side projects of various sounds and sizes. But the band reconvened with fresh motivation and a clearer-eyed outlook last year, and they came up with a powerhouse of an album with the simple title of LP3. It’s slightly more mature in the best ways, but still incredibly catchy and true to their sound. There’s a lot of inward looking existential lyrics, but wrapped in fantastic hooks.

It was Stocker’s idea to chat with guitarist Yasmin Williams, who he had recently come across via NPR’s long-running, always reliable Tiny Desk concert series. That performance was particularly captivating, because you’re not just hearing what Williams can do with an acoustic guitar, but you’re seeing it as well. She takes the foundation built by fingerstyle masters like John Fahey and Michael Hedges but brings a modern sensibility to it: In this conversation, she talks a lot about her love of metal and math-rock, bits of which you can almost hear in her beautiful playing. Williams has released two albums so far, and as you’ll also hear in this chat, she’s working on a third. The latest is Urban Driftwood.

Williams and Stocker didn’t know each other at all prior to this chat, but it turned out that she’s a Hippo Campus fan. The two talk about gear nerd stuff, YouTube videos by Andy McKee, being in competition with yourself, and of course the inspiration for Williams’ interest in music to begin with: a little game called Guitar Hero 2. Enjoy.

This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range.

Nathan Stocker (Hippo Campus) with Yasmin Williams

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got an unlikely pairing of two performers who share a home state, but it would seem at first glance not too much else—though that’s just first glance: Britt Daniel of Spoon and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

Now the genesis of this conversation was actually a comment that Britt Daniel made around the time the band announced its new album, Lucifer on the Sofa. About the song “The Hardest Cut,” he simply said that he’d been listening to a lot of ZZ Top in the years leading up to the album’s recording. And while the song is certainly no tribute to ZZ Top, you can hear the snarl and bite coming through in its tones and lyrics as well as on a few other place on this collection.

It’s album number 10 for Spoon, who have had an incredibly strong run over the past almost three decades. Lucifer on the Sofa is out this week, and it stands among their best—catchy, considered, and a bit more raw than recent records. Maybe that’s because they recorded it back in Britt’s home state, which of course is where the legendary ZZ Top was born as well.

Billy Gibbons formed the band with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard way back in 1969, and the original trio rocked consistently for five decades until Hill’s death in 2021. The blues-inspired rock band gained traction in the ‘70s with songs like “La Grange” and “Tush,” then took off in the ‘80s as they became superstars of the early MTV era with “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” They were shoo-ins for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, of course, and not even Hill’s death could stop them: His guitar tech and friend Elwood Francis stepped in, and ZZ Top will play shows with Cheap Trick this April—all the dates, naturally, are at ZZTop.com.

Daniel and Gibbons talk a lot about what they have in common, which is the state of Texas and specifically its myriad Mexican restaurants. Daniel asks about the legendary photo inside ZZ Top’s classic 1973 album Tres Hombres, and Gibbons gets a chance to talk about some of his contemporaries and friends, including Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators and Bo Diddley, with whom he collaborated on a guitar design, among other things. Enjoy.

If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platforms and social media channels. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range.

Britt Daniel (Spoon) with Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)

Big-time Gang of Four fan Annie Clark (St. Vincent) talks with the band’s guitarist Andy Gill about distortion pedals, soccer tricks and the Grateful Dead.

Annie Clark (St. Vincent) with Andy Gill (Gang of Four)

You're In It

Brain Damage

Erika Wennerstrom sings and plays guitar and keyboards with the great Heartless Bastards, whose new album Restless Ones came out June 15th. Her band has threads of garage rock, blues and country — and the music of the great Texan singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard shares some of those same sounds. Wennerstrom and Hubbard are also fans of each other’s music, so we put them together for a Talkhouse Music Podcast and they dug deep into their songwriting process and had some laughs… and maybe a cry too.

Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards) with Ray Wylie Hubbard

In this episode of the Talkhouse Music Podcast, Philip Selway (Radiohead drummer and outstanding solo artist) has a really lovely conversation with one of his favorite new musicians, Ghostpoet, who weds vivid poetry with flowing grooves.  (Offstage, he's Obaro Ejimiwe, and he happens to be a big Radiohead fan.)
    The two had never met before, but you can hear them hit it off, as they get deep into their processes in a really candid and insightful way, and get to places that only two musicians can get.
    Selway has some really great reminiscences about the dawning days of Radiohead, and Ejimiwe has some really great reminiscences about the dawning days of Ghostpoet, and they talk about music theory vs. intuition, collaboration, self-doubt, the dangers and benefits of reading your own press, and much more. Although they make very different kinds of music, by the end, Selway declares, "We've got similarly wired brains."

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Philip Selway with Ghostpoet pt. 1

In this episode of the Talkhouse Music Podcast, Philip Selway (Radiohead drummer and outstanding solo artist) has a really lovely conversation with one of his favorite new musicians, Ghostpoet, who weds vivid poetry with flowing grooves. (Offstage, he's Obaro Ejimiwe, and he happens to be a big Radiohead fan.)
The two had never met before, but you can hear them hit it off, as they get deep into their processes in a really candid and insightful way, and get to places that only two musicians can get.
Selway has some really great reminiscences about the dawning days of Radiohead, and Ejimiwe has some really great reminiscences about the dawning days of Ghostpoet, and they talk about music theory vs. intuition, collaboration, self-doubt, the dangers and benefits of reading your own press, and much more. Although they make very different kinds of music, by the end, Selway declares, "We've got similarly wired brains."

Download

Philip Selway with Ghostpoet - Part 2

In this episode of The Talkhouse Music Podcast, two great rock songwriters, Courtney Barnett and Kim Deal — of iconic alt-rockers the Breeders — get together, have a few laughs and talk about hearing the sound of your own voice, obsessing in the studio, the relationship between drugs and creativity, touring and seeing the world, what it's like to be 27, and playing guitar upside down.  Don't miss Kim's imitations of English people speaking French. And she just may have come up with the title of Courtney's next album.

Kim Deal (the Breeders, Pixies) with Courtney Barnett

Chvrches was playing a great set at the 2015 Pitchfork Music Festival when we noticed all three members of Haim rocking out by the side of the stage.  Clearly, they're big Chvrches fans.  When our producer bumped into Este Haim in the VIP area, he asked if she'd like to do a podcast with Lauren Mayberry, Chvrches' lead singer (and a regular Talkhouse writer).  She absolutely did.  Then Danielle Haim wanted in.  And then Alana Haim wanted in too.  So we wound up with Lauren chatting with all three Haim sisters in a noisy trailer right there on the festival grounds.

Topics covered: how to deal with getting hit in the face with a beachball in front of thousands of people, mesmerizing Afros, panic-vomiting, forgetting lyrics on stage and, most importantly, how to pronounce GIF.

Lauren Mayberry (Chvrches) with Haim

“Transsexuals are the stormtroopers of the future.” So says Genesis P-Orridge, the iconic, visionary musician who has fronted influential bands like Psychic TV and Throbbing Gristle. While P-Orridge isn’t transgender — they* call themselves a pandrogyne — their partner in this Talkhouse Music Podcast, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace, came out as transgender in 2012. Still, as P-Orridge points out, both musicians have done something very brave: they’ve transitioned, in one way or another, in front of their audience. And it was P-Orridge who paved the way. As Grace says here, “Someone like yourself is so important to me.”

P-Orridge and Grace might hail from different generations, countries and musical communities, but they found plenty to talk about: what it was like to transition in public, the mind-body duality, paranormal phenomena, the perennial bathroom problem, the perennnial airport screening problem, courage, death, Caitlyn Jenner, a hilarious exchange about what to wear on stage, dealing with photographers who want you to show your boobs, and what P-Orridge calls “a gradual shift in the way that gender and sexuality are perceived in our species.”

This is one of the more fascinating and potentially visionary exchanges we’ve ever had on the Talkhouse Podcast. It’s also one of the more risqué, so if you’re easily offended, maybe you’ll want to check out one of our other podcasts.

* A word about pronouns: P-Orridge call themselves “we” because they feel at one with their late wife Lady Jaye. Much more about that in the podcast.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle) Talks with Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!)

This edition of the Talkhouse Music Podcast features Fred Thomas, longtime mainstay of the beloved, idiosyncratic lo-fi indie-pop band Saturday Looks Good to Me, with musician, motivational speaker, producer, nightclub impresario, advice columnist, and TV and radio host Andrew W.K.

It's a little-known fact that Mr. Thomas and Mr. W.K. go back a long way — 20 years, to when they were teenagers in the very weird and wild Ann Arbor, Michigan underground music scene. They're still good friends, and WK even guested on a song on Thomas' debut solo album All Are Saved, which came out this spring.

These are two very thoughtful, well spoken and very experienced musicians, and conversation is filled with really great insights about what it's like to be a musician — any kind of musician. This is the kind of thing you won't get in an ordinary interview, so listen closely for an explanation of why your audience is your enemy, a great discussion about the value of criticism, a realistic definition of artistic success, musings on the intersection of life and art, and an attempt to pin down the mysterious miracle of artistic inspiration.

Andrew W.K. with Fred Thomas

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Film podcast, two of contemporary cinema's most controversial, boundary-pushing directors are in conversation. From New York City,  Gaspar Noé – whose new film, the pornographic 3D romance Love,  is now out in theaters – chats with Abel Ferrara, a fellow scourge of the censors, who is currently living in Rome. Over the course of their highly entertaining talk, the pair discusses such topics as censorship, having their movies banned, what's sexy in Saudi Arabia, the connections between Love and Ferrara's first film, Nine Lives of a Wet Pussy, porn's rightful place on the big screen, and their mutual hero, Pier Paolo Pasolini. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at thetalkhouse.com/film.

Abel Ferrara with Gaspar Noé

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Film podcast, filmmaker, prolific screenwriter Max Landis — whose first film as director, Me Him Her, is out now — talks with one of his favorite filmmakers, Joe Dante. In a wide-ranging, rapid-fire conversation, Landis and the Gremlins director discuss Max's corny '80s movie-style altruism, the ultimate screenwriter tattoo, fake film announcements, the death of big movies with personality, and much more, including Landis' awesome pitch for a reboot of Gremlins. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at thetalkhouse.com/film.

Joe Dante with Max Landis

On a very special new episode of the Talkhouse Film podcast, to coincide with the release of Pee-wee's Big Holiday, hip-hop star, actor and longtime Pee-wee Herman fan Kid Cudi is in conversation with Pee-wee himself, Paul Reubens. The topics they talk about include how they first met, Reubens' journey to bring Pee-wee Herman back to the big screen, Cudi's strong dislike of skunks (and recent encounter with a mountain lion), plus a discussion by both of planned creative projects that they've never talked about before. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at thetalkhouse.com/film.

Kid Cudi with Paul Reubens

Matt Berninger (the National) and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos) are two of rock’s heaviest-hitting lyricists. Turns out, they’re also huge fans of each other’s songs.

The guys recently sat down to discuss all things songwriting (lyrics, finding melody, influences, “dick references," embarrassment and so much more) for the Talkhouse Music Podcast. They break down songs from across their catalogues, such as the National’s "All the Wine," "Fake Empire" and "Lemonworld," and Conor’s "Lua," "You Are Your Mother’s Child" and "Artifact #1." They also discuss their favorite songwriters, giving a lot of love to Leonard Cohen. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future Talkhouse Podcasts.
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast producer and engineer

Matt Berninger with Conor Oberst

For the first time ever on the Talkhouse Film podcast, we have two brothers in conversation as Jason Schwartzman chats with his brother Robert Schwartzman (best known as the frontman of indie band Rooney), whose first film as a writer-director, Dreamland, is out now. In between bouts of fraternal bickering, the two talk about making the jump from music to movies, working with actors, MIDI files and player pianos (cue a serious geek-out from Jason), how Gene Wilder found his way into playing Willy Wonka, crazy real-life experiences with agents and A&R guys, Robert's aptitude with money (at least in comparison to Jason), and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at thetalkhouse.com/film.

Jason Schwartzman with Robert Schwartzman

Analog synthesizer music pioneers Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure) and Jean-Michel Jarre sat down for the Talkhouse Music Podcast and went deep on all things synth, gear, their music...and the one question Jean’s always wanted to ask Vince about Depeche Mode. Gavin Russom of LCD Soundsystem begins the episode with a synthesizer tutorial. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future Talkhouse Podcasts.
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Music Podcast host and producer

Vince Clarke with Jean-Michel Jarre

Today’s guests are indie-rock veterans: Stephen Malkmus (Pavement, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks) and Emil Amos (drummer for Om and Grails and main man at Holy Sons). During the conversation, Amos draws out Malkmus’ story: from his early music fandom in Stockton, California, to college in Virginia to the ups and downs of being a '90s indie guitar god in Pavement and beyond.

Their chat also takes in venturing out of their DIY comfort zones to work with big name producers, Elliot Smith’s love of fine recording gear (and his studio size miscalculation), Silver Jews’ David Berman's the Cure obsession, and their thoughts on indie rock's '90s revival. Check it out. Grails LP Chalice Hymnal is out on February 17. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future Talkhouse Podcasts.
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast producer and engineer

Stephen Malkmus with Emil Amos

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Film Podcast, comedian Tim Heidecker sits down with Adam Curtis, the BBC filmmaker whose sprawling, epic political documentaries about have in recent years made him a cult figure. In a highly engaged conversation, the two discuss Curtis' past making films about “talented animals,” tropes in current pop music (and how dull music in docs is), Donald Trump, how John Oliver and Jon Stewart contributed to Trump's success, the power of storytelling in politics, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film.

Tim Heidecker with Adam Curtis

Mastodon’s Troy Sanders and Bill Kelliher got together with their old pal Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage to talk metal for our podcast. Except, that didn’t really happen. Instead, the guys had an impromptu riff session, including hilarious off-the-cuff stories about how Mastodon’s Brent Hinds taught Jesse to save his tour per diems for drugs, Phil Anselmo of Pantera’s bathroom antics, Bill’s high school breakdance troupe, Troy’s recommendation for the perfect place to dump a body, and so much more. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future Talkhouse podcasts. 
— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Music Podcast host and producer

Troy Sanders and Bill Kelliher (Mastodon) with Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage)

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail sits down to talk with one of his heroes, Mark Frost, the man who created Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return with David Lynch – and is also a huge fan of Mr. Robot. The two talk about the unique circumstances under which Twin Peaks: The Return was conceived and made, the story behind Episode 8 (one of the great hours of TV in recent memory), the polarizing second season of Mr. Robot, pushing the boundaries of what TV can be, and much more – including insights into projects that Frost and Lynch worked on that sadly never came to fruition. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop about future Talkhouse Podcasts.

Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) with Mark Frost (Twin Peaks)

To celebrate Mexican Summer’s ten year anniversary, we paired two of the fantastic record label’s most fascinating artists: Ariel Pink and Cate Le Bon.

Backstage at A Decade Deeper: Mexican Summer’s 10 Year Anniversary party at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works arts space, Cate and Ariel—fans of each other’s work who'd never met irl—sat down for a talk before their sets. The two really hit it off, and their wide-ranging conversation takes in a lot: the deep flaws they see in the way music press works; Ariel not always working well with others; and the difficult genesis of Cate’s upcoming LP. Ariel also talks about his favorite site on the internet, and Cate divulges the, um, very weird act she was asked to perform for a shoot. Check it out.

Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

Big thanks to Justin Frye and Pioneer Works for hosting this taping.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Ariel Pink with Cate Le Bon

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we feature a conversation between two of the most distinctive and original voices in American cinema: Harmony Korine and Caveh Zahedi. The two got together in New York City in advance of the release of Korine’s new movie, The Beach Bum, a wild Florida-set fantasia about cosmic poet Moondog, starring Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg, Jonah Hill, Martin Lawrence, Zac Efron and Jimmy Buffett. Korine and Zahedi, who used to be phone buddies years back, discuss seemingly everything under the sun, from The Beach Bum as an autobiographical portrait, to the art of parenting, to Korine’s recipe for joy – plus, Rimbaud vs. Rambo, the awesome thing about Bob Dylan playing minor league baseball grounds, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Hemingway’s six-toed cats, how Zahedi’s web series The Show about the Show kinda led to his divorce, and much, much more. For more filmmakers musicians in conversation, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Episode recorded by Elia Einhorn, and recorded and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi at Hook & Fade Studios in Brooklyn. The Talkhouse podcast producer is Elia Einhorn.

Harmony Korine (The Beach Bum) with Caveh Zahedi

On this week's show, we share a talk that took place as a fans-only live taping at Rough Trade NYC last year. Curated by Talkhouse intern Lauren McGrath, the episode sees Shannon Shaw of Shannon And The Clams and Hunx and his Punx chop it up with Happy Fits' singer/cellist Calvin Langman.

Their revealing backstage convo takes in the time Shannon met Andre 3000; Calvin’s experience having his very first single blow up on Spotify; recording with The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach; and even Shannon's job working at a mental institution for the criminally insane.

Check it out, and catch Shannon and The Clams on tour with the Black Keys through November: all dates @ http://shannonandtheclams.com/

This episode was recorded and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Big thanks to Jill Wheeler and Rough Trade NYC for hosting us!

Shannon Shaw (Shannon and The Clams) with Calvin Langman (The Happy Fits)

Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange, had an incredible 2019. He dropped the mixtape Angel's Pulse; scored the critically acclaimed film Queen and Slim; released a classical album with Third Coast Percussion; directed a music video for Beck; and, as a fan, finally saw the brilliant composer/vocalist Beverly Glenn-Copeland live. Glenn-Copeland (as he prefers to go by in his day-to-day life) had his own amazing year: At the age of 74, he had his first international tour, released the new LP Primal Prayer, and saw his previously obscure, decade-spanning seven album catalog finally embraced in music communities around the world. And he met Dev, whose music he adores.

We introduced Dev and Glenn right here on the Talkhouse Podcast, and the ensuing convo was warm, vulnerable, funny, and potent. The two sat on a sofa at Hook and Fade Studio in Brooklyn, and instantly formed a world all their own; they stared into each other's eyes, and spoke so softly that it was difficult to hear them from even a few feet away. In their wide-ranging conversation, Glenn and Dev discuss discovering parts of themselves by traveling out of their home countries; the way they each approach their songwriting; and the story behind Glenn’s seminal 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies. We also learn the importance of nature and its role in their music; how recently Dev began to honor music as the foundation of all his creativity; and the trick Glenn’s mother used to make him a musician while still in utero.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.
—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer @eliaeinhorn

Today's show was engineered and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. Additional editing by Katie Lau. Research by Reese Higgins.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com

Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) with Beverly Glenn-Copeland

This week on the show, we revisit a fan-favorite episode: legendary producer and musician Steve Albini, and the game-changing Devo's Jerry Casale. Enjoy!

The Talkhouse Podcast recently headed out to the fantastic Desert Daze festival at Moreno Beach at Lake Perris in Southern California. When we weren't catching sets by Tame Impala, King Gizzard, and My Bloody Valentine, we recorded a trio of great talks; this week, we present the first.

When I saw that both Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale were going to be at Desert Daze giving talks, I knew we had to pair these two icons of alternative music. They're big fans of each other's work, and halfway through their conversation, Steve said, “This is the sort of stuff no one ever talks about. These are the questions I’ve had for 30 years.”

Their fascinating talk takes in the beginning years of Devo’s existence; their complex relationship with Neil Young; Brian Eno’s proclivity for ménage à trois; the differences between poker and making records; and how the name Devo became a category alongside jocks, squares and nerds.

Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Feel free to DM me to let me know which artist(s) you’d love to see appear on a future episode.
—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This episode was recorded by Keenan Kush at Desert Daze, and by Mark Yoshizumi at Hook & Fade Studios in Brooklyn. It was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Big thanks to Desert Daze for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com

Revisited: Steve Albini with Jerry Casale (Devo)

On this week's show, we pair two of the greatest living songwriters, artists who've reimagined what the form can look like, and what it can accomplish.

The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt and ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker each have great new music in the world; when I heard the latter was coming to NYC, I instantly knew I had to try to get these two together in person for a Talkhouse Podcast convo. Thankfully, when presented with the idea, both were psyched!

Over cups of tea at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn (before the pandemic), the guys sat down for a delightfully freewheeling conversation about songwriting — and how they both love to subvert its norms in different ways — as well as the vastly different approaches they took to making their new LPs. But of course with these two, there's so much more here, including (but not limited to!): a moving discussion of reunions with their showbiz fathers who had abandoned them; the bad omen that nearly caused Jarvis to quit music in the year 2000; why Stephin’s new sexual fetish might be a “one time only” experience; and their shared love of that "hippy writer" Richard Brautigan.

This episode is dedicated to all you "mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits" — enjoy!

Pick up The Magnetic Fields' Quickies here, and Jarvis's Beyond The Pale here. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Helado Negro with Buscabulla, Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, and comedian Chris D'Elia with filmmaker Amanda Kramer. Make sure to revisit Stephin Merritt and Daniel Handler (aka the author Lemony Snicket)'s 2019 look back on 69 Love Songs on its 20th anniversary.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer 

This week’s show was recorded by the Talkhouse Podcast's producer Mark Yoshizumi. Josh Modell and I recorded ourselves in our respective #stayhome studios.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Jarvis Cocker with Stephin Merritt (the Magnetic Fields)

Sexuality, violence, gender, anger, technology, love. Singer/actress/writer Jehnny Beth (Savages) and Norwegian experimental pop musician and author Jenny Hval are both aesthetically very dark artists who brilliantly dissect these topics in their respective music and erotic novels. On this week's show, we introduce the mutual fans for the very first time; what follows is a powerful, deep dive conversation. Zola Jesus joins me as special guest host.

I recently woke up at 5:30AM to set up this conversation between Jehnny's home in Paris, and Jenny's in Oslo. A couple hours later, my almost-three-year-old daughter Conwy woke up just after the talk ended; I took her out of her crib and told her "Dada just listened to a fantastic conversation between two very strong and talented women!"

And it really is a fantastic conversation. With Jehnny Beth's debut solo LP To Live Is To Love out just last week, and her book of erotic fiction and photography, Crimes Against Love Memories dropping in early July, and Jenny's new single "Bonus Material" out now and second novel Girls Against God coming later this year, they had a lot to talk about. The two chop it up on their complex relationships with their countries of origin, and the powerful role of language in self-identity; their reasons for functioning primarily outside of the mainstream; and the artist's necessary freedom to express the darker sides of their humanity.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming shows featuring Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, Fusilier with Bartees Strange, and Julien Baker with Katie Harkin.
—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Jehnny Beth, Jenny Hval, Zola Jesus, and myself at our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast’s co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Research assistance was provided by Samantha Small.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Jehnny Beth with Jenny Hval

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we reunite two filmmaking greats who first talked on the show back in 2017: Alejandro Jodorowsky and Darren Aronofsky. The iconic directors this time spoke on the occasion of the release of Jodorowsky’s new documentary about the therapy he created, Psychomagic: A Healing Art (now available on Alamo on Demand), with the 91-year-old maestro Skyping from his home in Paris and Aronofsky from New York. The two discussed a variety of subjects including, of course, psychomagic, but also touched upon the “idiot moment” of the current pandemic, how Jodorowsky maintains his physical and spiritual health, his desire to live many hundreds of years, how he would script the end of 2020, and much, much more. For more filmmakers talking film, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Alejandro Jodorowsky with Darren Aronofsky

TAME IMPALA AND CARIBOU ARE ON THE SHOW THIS WEEK!!!

Sorry, I tried to write a more "professional" first line, but this is just SO DOPE! Tame Impala's Kevin Parker and Caribou's Dan Snaith are two of the most fascinating artists working today, and when the Talkhouse Podcast discovered they're also huge fans of each other's work, we knew we had to get them together to chop it up.

In this warm and open conversation, the guys get into their very different creative processes; the pluses and minuses of having confidence in your artistic output; the clutch piece of gear Kevin uses to help get that sweet sweet Tame Impala sound; and much more.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including Tegan and Sara with Dehd, Deftones‘ Chino Moreno with comedian Reggie Watts, and Phish's Mike Gordon with Leo Kottke. And be sure to check our Soundcloud archives for recent shows featuring Mac DeMarco with Dayglow, Carly Rae Jepsen with mxmtoon, Diplo with Charlie Crockett, and loads more.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

For this week’s episode, everyone you hear recorded themselves. Our producers are Mark Yoshizumi and Elia Einhorn.

The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) with Dan Snaith (Caribou)

Writing and conversations about music and film, from the people who make them.

Talkhouse is a media company and outlet for musicians, actors, filmmakers, and others in their respective fields. Artists write essays and criticism from firsthand perspectives, speak one-on-one with their peers via the Talkhouse Podcast and Talkhouse Live events, and offer readers and listeners unique insight into creative work of all genres and generations. In short— Talkhouse is writing and conversations about music and film, from the people who make them.

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