Nate Brenner has been playing music in front of people since he was four, and it shows. He and his musical/life partner Merrill Garbus have carved out a unique place in the indie-pop cosmos: funky, joyful, noisy and heartfelt. Between tours supporting Tune-Yards’ just-released sixth album, “Better Dreaming,” Nate spends some time with us to unspool his unique approach to the instrument, touching on his musical upbringing, the group’s warts-and-all aesthetic, and their compelling ability to carry out live performances of their complex songs as a duo. This is a portrait of artists figuring things out in real time, whether live on stage or in the copious scores they’ve composed for Boots Riley’s various projects. 

Tune-Yards on Bandcamp (https://tune-yards.bandcamp.com)

Tune-Yards live dates (https://tune-yards.com/tour/)

Naytronix on Bandcamp (https://naytronix.bandcamp.com/)

Nate’s Dad Craig Brenner’s latest album “Passages,” (featuring Merrill Garbus) (https://www.craigbrenner.com/music)

A partial list of cool musicians who went to Oberlin (https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/10/bands_and_musicians_you_didnt.html)

An Archive of Merrill Garbus’s songwriting workshop at School of Song (https://schoolofsong.org/products/songwriting-workshop-with-merrill-garbus-of-tune-yards-copy)

Today, we’re launching a month-long contest to win a “like new” (seriously, I played it once) IdiotBox Effects Blower Box Deluxe pedal (video review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt6URsuLhD4). This is an amazing, bass-specific distortion pedal, with clean signal blend and a low-pass filter - so it will stick out nicely in live settings. It will arrive in its original box with 3M Dual Lock strips on the back, so it's ready for your pedal board. 

To enter the contest, please send a screenshot of you recommending one episode of this podcast - your favorite interview - in a publicly viewable place - it can be Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or any social media outlet. Send screenshots to: [email protected], and we’ll pick one winner at random on 7/31/25. Please note that previous winners of one of our contests are not eligible for this one.