Hi there. It’s the eighteenth of April, the perfect day to drop the first episode of Starcracker's first ever podcast, Day Is Night Diaries. Be warned, this is a longish note, one that’s launching the podcast. We promise to keep the ones that follow succinct.

But first, introductions. Starcracker is an intercontinental indie music duo comprised of and , friends since 1997 and collaborators since 2019, based in Columbus, Ohio (US), and Chennai, Tamilnadu (India), respectively. On March 1, 2024, we released our first ever full-length record called Day is Night. It’s an eclectic mix of genres — indie pop, rock, folk, singer-songwriter — with lyrics that reflect a literary bent; vocal melodies subtly inflected with the Carnatic classical tradition of southern India (among many other things); and organic, driving instrumentation layered with modern pop production.

In Episode One, we talk about our inspiration for "Question," the first track on Day is Night. We revisit how we built the song (Doug's favourite on the record), taking it from an initial idea to the production finish line. Feel free to check out the mixed and mastered audio track above and/or lyric video below, either before or after you listen to the podcast episode.

We think maybe our back-and-forth about the song -- every "um," "uh," "ah," "you know," "kinda," "sorta," and "feel like" intact! -- could be useful to others who work collaboratively, on music and otherwise. But we're doing this just as much for ourselves, to learn, as for anyone who's remotely interested. 

Seriously, though. Why a podcast? We’re two odd birds who’ve lived and breathed music pretty much all our lives, trying ourselves to understand how on earth we dreamed up Day is Night, an entire ten-song album, across time zones, without ever meeting, and with such relentless focus in the space of roughly a year and a half. With more songs in the pipeline, our musical obsession/partnership feels like it’s here to stay.

The podcast format seems ideal for us to recall and break down our creative process. We’d like to figure out what to keep, what to discard, what to build on, and how we can do better as songwriters, performers, and producers. Plus, since we’re each genuinely curious about the other’s journey with every song, recording ourselves discussing them doesn’t have to feel awkward or forced. We can be our usual goofy selves, talking — and occasionally bickering — like always. As of now, we're planning on one episode every month, featuring different songs from the record. So stay tuned.

Oh, and happy birthday, Doug! We’re keeping up what has quickly become a tradition of starting a new music-related adventure on each of our birthdays. Today is Doug’s, and we couldn’t be happier launching Day Is Night Diaries to celebrate. Now we're talking (get it?).

We’d love to hear from you. If you're a fellow creativity/process geek, performer/writer, or long-suffering friend/family member related to either of us, and willing to give DIN Diaries (had to do it) a try, do check out Episode One and tell us what you think.

Comments? Questions? Talk to us. We’re excited to join conversations, and to share ideas across genres and idioms, through this podcast and other channels.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit starcracker.substack.com