Jason Narducy is quite a busy fellow . He graciously made the time to talk about his musical work and his new book, Mostly the Van, a wonderfully entertaining collection of stories woven from his fascinating life.

A man of many projects, Jason is currently spending time touring with Chicago actor Michael Shannon on their highly acclaimed live project playing the music of R.E.M. Jason has been a member of Bob Mould’s band for several decades, plays bass on tour with the indie band Superchunk, and recently toured playing guitar and singing backup vocals for the emo band Sunny Day Real Estate. His solo project, Split Single has released three albums featuring contributions from the likes of Spoon’s Britt Daniel, John Stirratt of Wilco, and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills.

We discuss how nice it is to live in our shared hometown of Evanston, how Jason wrote the songs for a staged musical based on his ten year old self’s punk band Verboten, playing a show (and sleeping) in Bill Berry’s childhood home, and Michael Shannon’s podcast hosting skills.

You can order a copy of Mostly the Van at Porchlight Books, free shipping available; it’s a fun and compelling read and a “Tell You What!” book club featured selection.