For the 20th anniversary of the Smog album, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Bill Callahan began recording music under the name Smog in 1988 and releasing music on his own label, Disaster. After signing with Drag City early on, he released a series of albums in the 1990s and continued into the early 2000s. At this point, he was living in Chicago and wanted a change of scenery. After moving to Austin, Texas, he began writing songs for his 11th album. He decided to abandon the Smog name and start using his real name, but Drag City asked him to wait until the next record before making that change. After a two week tour with Jim White on drums and Connie Lovatt on bass, the three of them immediately went into Willie Nelson’s studio, Pedernales, to begin recording the album. A River Ain’t Too Much to Love was eventually released in 2005.

In this episode, Bill Callahan reflects on this period of his life when he was in his late thirties and felt like he wanted to settle down. By moving to Austin and buying a house with a yard, he found himself spending a lot more time in nature, which greatly impacted the songs he was writing. Despite having writer’s block initially, his songwriting opened up when he bought a nylon string guitar and taught himself fingerpicking for the first time. This new approach to guitar playing really shaped the song arrangements and how his vocal would come across. Callahan describes how this transitional time in his life inspired him to give up the Smog name and start using his own name to reflect his newfound approach to making music. From the leap of moving somewhere without knowing anyone, to recording as a power trio, to the importance of a good title or central image, to taking inspiration from Mickey Newbury and Johnny Cash, to key overdubs by Joanna Newsom and Thor Harris, to a recording malfunction that lead to barely audible bass, to the lacking nature of waltz time, to a clear sound like a river, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

For the 20th anniversary of the debut Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Alec Ounsworth began recording demos of the songs he was writing, he connected with musicians he met while attending Connecticut College. The band was officially formed in 2004 and included Ounsworth, Lee Sargent, Tyler Sargent, Sean Greenhalgh and Robbie Guertin. As the rest of the band relocated to New York, Ounsworth remained in his hometown of Philadelphia and commuted for rehearsals and shows. They started recording an EP that they were intending to shop around to labels. While continuing to work on new songs, the EP evolved into a full-length album that they recorded in spurts when they could get studio time. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Self-Titled) was eventually self-released in 2005.

In this episode, Ounsworth describes his songwriting process for the album and how his demos grew into the full band arrangements. He lays out his vision for the album and how he was hyper focused on adding overdubs, interludes and song segues to create a more impactful listening experience. By releasing and distributing the album themselves, he describes the value he put on being independent at that time. In addition, he talks about the discomfort he felt when the band started gaining a lot of attention, partially due to a Pitchfork review of the album. From being labeled “blog rock,” to developing his unconventional vocal style, to writing about romantic relationships and the prospect of success, to taking inspiration from artists like Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Wire, The Magnetic Fields and David Bowie, to the value of doing it yourself and remaining independent, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

For the 45th anniversary of The Feelies’ classic debut album, Crazy Rhythms, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After the band formed as The Outkids in Haledon, New Jersey in 1976, Glenn Mercer, Bill Million and Dave Weckerman started playing with brothers Keith Clayton and Vinnie DeNunzio. They changed their name to The Feelies as they started playing gigs around New York City. At an audition night at CBGBs, they connected with sound engineer Mark Abel, who introduced them to manager Terry Ork. They began to get booked regularly and receive some press just as DeNunzio decided to leave the band. After placing an ad for a new drummer, they brought in Anton Fier, who had just relocated to New York from Clevenland. Weckerman also left around this time so the band lineup was solidified as a four piece. Rough Trade offered to release their debut single, which came out in 1979. For their debut album, they wanted to find a label that would allow them to produce. After signing with Stiff Records, they began recording at Vanguard Studios with Mark Abel co-producing. Crazy Rhythms was eventually released in 1980.

In this episode, Glenn Mercer and Bill Million recall connecting as teenagers in suburban New Jersey over a shared love of the Stooges. Mercer describes arranging their songs around the drums and percussion parts, while bringing a nervous energy and quirkiness to his vocals and lyrics. Million talks about how their early experiences with recording helped them realize the necessity of producing themselves and how they waited for the right record deal that would give them a proper recording budget. They describe their joy of discovery in the studio and their process for coming up with spontaneous parts as they were eager to treat the studio as an instrument. From finding the right clean guitar sound to standing out in the New York punk scene to embracing the suburbs to the 1950s-inspired look of the band to taking inspiration from contemporaries like Jonathan Richman, Brian Eno, Mo Tucker, and Steve Reich to percussion played with random objects to making music on their own terms for nearly 50 years, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

For the 15th anniversary of the second Titus Andronicus album, The Monitor, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Patrick Stickles founded Titus Andronicus in Glen Rock, New Jersey in 2005, he worked with a rotating group of musicians, many of whom he had known in high school. By the time they were ready to record their first album, the lineup had coalesced around Stickles, Liam Betson, Dan Tews, Ian Graetzer and Ian Dykstra. The New Jersey label, Troubleman Unlimited, agreed to put out their debut album and pay for studio time with producer Kevin McMahon, who they had worked with on their early recordings. The Airing of Grievances was released in 2008 and was an unexpected success. XL Recordings became interested in signing the band and agreed to rerelease their debut album in 2009. Around this time, Eric Harm took over on drums, while Stickles moved to Somerville, Massachusetts and began writing the songs that would make up their second album. Using their advance from XL, they booked a month in Kevin McMahon’s studio and began recording the album. The Monitor was eventually released in 2010.

In this episode, Patrick Stickles describes his grand vision of a concept album framed around the American Civil War. He describes his routine at the time where he would stay up late, smoke pot and watch Ken Burns’s Civil War documentary. Stickles talks about how gobsmacked he was by the film and how the words of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman inspired him to include their words as a framing device on this record. He also describes this time in his life when he was graduating college and applying to graduate school but deciding to abandon his plans as the band started to become successful. Partially inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Stickles talks about how he felt like he needed to take advantage of a potentially fleeting moment, where he had a deal with a new label, the attention of the music press, and a growing audience around the world. The result was the big swing of The Monitor, where the band had no qualms about attempting to create a generational touchstone. From the indie rock boom years to casting his friends in reenactment roles to ambitious song suites to incorporating the music of the Civil War to exploring the eternal us vs. them conflict to the continuing saga of mental health to the importance of conviction and raising the stakes, we’ll hear the stories around how the record came together.

Intro/Outro Music:

“The Anniversaries” by The Tisburys, from the album, A Still Life Revisited

Episode produced, edited and mixed by Dan Nordheim

Additional mixing and mastering by Jeremy Whitwam

For the 20th anniversary of Stars’ breakthrough third album, Set Yourself on Fire, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman grew up together in Toronto, they formed Stars when they were living in New York City. Their first album, Nightsongs, was made with the help of their friends in Metric and several guest singers, including Amy Millan. Deciding to relocate to Montreal, they added Amy Millan and Evan Cranley as full-time members. Their second album, Heart, was released in 2003 by Paper Bag Records and the new label Arts & Crafts, which was co-founded by their friend Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. For their ambitious third record, they brought in drummer Pat McGee and producer Tom McFall. Set Yourself on Fire was eventually released in 2004.

In this episode, Torquil Campbell discusses the early days of the band as an outlier in the New York City rock scene and how they found their people when they moved to Montreal. He describes his vision of having both male and female vocalists and how when Amy Millan joined, they could start telling stories from two different sides. Amy Millan discusses her initial reluctance to join the band, but how she was able to cement her place as co-lead singer and develop her songwriting voice. She also describes the alchemy of the relationships in Stars and how despite some romantic turmoil within the band around the time of this album, they’ve remained deeply connected to one another decades later. Evan Cranley talks about his musical partnership with Chris Seligman and how the two of them were able to collaborate to develop song structures in an orchestral pop style. Chris Seligman describes how his background in classical music, his love of string arrangements and his perfectionist tendencies impacted the music they made together. From the vibrant Montreal music scene of the early 2000s to an encounter with a stranger in a bar that led to a house where the songs were written to connecting with Tom McFall in London to a big fight in North Hatley to a mad dash to finish string arrangements at that last minute to personal lyrics about love, death and the band itself, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

For the 20th anniversary of the sixth Bright Eyes album, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Conor Oberst began Bright Eyes in 1995 in Omaha, Nebraska as an outlet for his solo material that he had been writing as a teenager. He formed a partnership with Saddle Creek Records, a label founded by his brother Justin Oberst and Mike Mogis and began releasing his albums in 1998, starting with A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995–1997. Later that year, he released Letting Off the Happiness, which marked his first collaboration with Mike Mogis. Fevers and Mirrors was released in 2000 and Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground followed in 2002. At this point, Conor moved to New York City and began writing the songs that would make up his next two albums. I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn were eventually released on the same day in 2005.

In this episode, Conor Oberst describes how moving to a New York as a midwestern transplant gave him a fresh perspective and brought a sense of romanticism to the songs he was writing. He also talks about a political awakening that he experienced after George W. Bush was elected and 9/11 happened. Connecting with musicians in New York inspired him musically as he began incorporating jazz elements and decided to embrace a minimal 70s folk sound for this record. Longtime Bright Eyes producer and band member Mike Mogis describes how they ended up making the record back in Nebraska but invited some new people to the sessions, including musicians from New York like Jesse Harris and Tim Luntzel. He also talks about the stripped down approach they used for this record and how he felt insecure about not relying on the studio tricks they had used for past records. By recording live with a small group of people and making the record in a very short amount of time, he discusses how this change suited the material Conor was writing. From a turbulent plane ride on the way to make the record to a creative burst in Conor’s songwriting to working on two very different records simultaneously to sparse arrangements and musical jokes to the shot in the dark of asking Emmylou Harris to sing backup, we’ll hear the stories of how the album came together.

For the 15th anniversary of Manchester Orchestra’s second album, Mean Everything to Nothing, we take a detailed look at how it was made. The band started in 2004 as an outlet for Andy Hull’s songwriting that he was doing as a teenager growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. Hull connected with bassist Jonathan Corley and drummer Jeremiah Edmond and self-released their first EP in 2005. Keyboardist Chris Freeman joined the band and their debut album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child was released in 2006 on their own label. They got the attention of Canvasback Recordings, who signed them to a deal and re-released the album one year later. Guitarist Robert McDowell ended up joining the band and they began working on their second album, with Joe Chiccarelli producing. Mean Everything to Nothing was eventually released in 2009.

In this episode, Andy Hull reflects on the pressure he felt suddenly being on a major label and working with a big name producer. Expectations for the band were high and he describes his ambition to rise above the sophomore slump and deliver a great record. Inspired by Weezer’s Pinkerton, he talks about wanting to make an emotionally raw sounding record that reflected his turbulent personal life at this time as he was getting married and wrestling with his faith and his Christian upbringing. The resulting album made for a cathartic experience that provided a deep and long lasting connection with their audience. From shredded vocal chords to writing autobiographically and not overthinking lyrics to panic attacks on tour to reinterpreting the hymn “Come Thou Fount” to a meltdown after losing a hundred dollar bill, we’ll hear the stories around how the record came together.

For the 25th anniversary of American Football (Self-Titled), we take a detailed look at how it was made. The origins of American Football began with Mike Kinsella’s band Cap’n Jazz, who were hugely influential in the punk scene in the Chicago suburbs. Steve Holmes went to high school with Kinsella and was inspired to learn guitar after watching Cap’n Jazz perform. Kinsella and Holmes became close friends and ended up going to college together and were roommates at the University of Illinois in Champaign. During college, Kinsella briefly joined a band with Steve Lamos called The One Up Downstairs. When that band broke up, Holmes and Lamos began jamming together and when Kinsella heard their practice tapes, he asked if he could join. The three of them ended up forming American Football in 1997. Their friends, Matt Lunsford and Darcie Knight were just getting their label Polyvinyl going in nearby Danville and they offered to release a three song EP in 1998. By the time they were graduating, they had enough songs for a full-length album, but the band was breaking up as Holmes and Kinsella were moving back to Chicago. Polyvinyl offered to release an album anyway so they booked time at Private Studios with local engineer, Brendan Gamble. The American Football (Self-Titled) album was eventually released in 1999.

In this episode, Steve Holmes describes the guitar style he developed with Kinsella that was based on alternate tunings and shifting time signatures, inspired by music they were listening to at the time like Steve Reich, Nick Drake, The Sea and Cake and Red House Painters. Mike Kinsella talks about switching from drums to guitar and writing lyrics inspired by the few romantic relationships he had up to that point. His lyrics came from a diary and were heavily influenced by the melodramatic lyricism of bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode and The Sundays. Steve Lamos discusses his musical upbringing and deep love of jazz, which found its way into the American Football sound with his trumpet playing and compositional approach to the drums. The three of them describe the unique sound they found together and the unlikely story about how even though the band broke up early on, the album still managed to reach people years after it was a released. From recording the week after graduation to constantly having to borrow guitars, amps and tuners to embracing repetitive patterns and avoiding traditional verse chorus structures to singing through paper towel rolls during recording to lyrics about relationships ending and the transition into adulthood to the album cover of the now iconic American Football house, we’ll hear the stories around how the record came together.

In celebration of the new Deluxe Edtion of Long After Dark, the fifth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Tom Petty connected with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench to form Mudcrutch in Gainesville, Florida in 1970, they ended up relocating to Los Angeles. There they were able to sign a deal with Shelter Records, but Mudcrutch broke up soon after, leaving Petty under contract as a solo artist. Campbell and Tench began playing in a band with fellow Floridians, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch and they reconnected with Petty to form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1976 with You’re Gonna Get It following in 1978, and they built up a following in the UK especially. For their third album, they teamed up with producer Jimmy Iovine and spent many months recording what became Damn the Torpedoes. The album ended up being a breakthrough for the band, giving them mainstream success for the first time. They continued working with Iovine for their fourth album, Hard Promises. At this point, Ron Blair left the band so they brought in Howie Epstein on bass. They began working on their fifth album, which was produced by Iovine again. Long After Dark was eventually released in 1982.

In this episode, drummer Stan Lynch describes where the band was at in this period when they had achieved their dream of success and were trying to figure out where to go next musically. Lead guitarist Mike Campbell explains his collaboration process with Petty for several songs where he would present a fleshed out demo for Petty to write lyrics to. Adria Petty describes being 8 years old when this record came out and shares her memories of this time when her father was writing from darker and more personal place than before. Producer and archivist Ryan Ulyate talks about the country leaning outtakes from these sessions and how Petty left high quality material off the record as he focused on structuring a cohesive album. With Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition), we get a chance to hear an alternative direction for the album that presages the more acoustic songs that Petty would embrace in his later career. From a dark and edgy sound to the record to Petty viewing songwriting as a job to experimenting musically with drum loops and synthesizers to engineer Shelly Yakus being an unsung hero to the band coming to the end of their work with Jimmy Iovine to welcoming the new format of MTV with the “You Got Lucky” video, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

Intro/Outro Music:

“When Love Knocks You Down” by The Tisburys

Episode produced, edited and mixed by Dan Nordheim

Additional mixing and mastering by Jeremy Whitwam

For the 30th anniversary of The Cranberries’ second album, NO NEED TO ARGUE, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After forming in Limerick, Ireland in 1989, with a different lead singer named Niall Quinn, the band initially took on the name The Cranberry Saw Us. When Quinn decided to leave the band, he recommended Dolores O’Riordan as a potential replacement. O’Riordan wrote lyrics and added vocals to their demo tape and when the band heard what she brought to the songs, they immediately hired her. On the strength of their demo, they signed a contract with Island Records and began working on their debut album. At first, they started recording with a local engineer in Limerick, but couldn’t capture the sound they were looking for. They had the idea of contacting one of their favorite producers, Stephen Street, who agreed to record their debut album. EVERYBODY ELSE ID DOING IT, SO WHY CAN'T WE? was released in 1993 and failed to make waves at first, but luckily took off when MTV started playing the video for “Linger.” When the album became a hit, the band toured relentlessly and worked on new material during soundchecks. They reunited with Stephen Street to begin recording songs for their second album. NO NEED TO ARGUE was eventually released in the fall of 1994.

In this episode, Cranberries drummer Fergal Lawler describes how the band managed to get tighter as a unit during this period, while O’Riordan was gaining confidence as the frontwoman. Producer, Stephen Street, shares his memories of first working with them when they were nervous teenagers from a small town but how they were suddenly transformed by the attention the band had gotten worldwide. Street and Lawler describe the magic they were able to find working together in the studio and how Street managed to capture the band at their best. With O’Riordan’s tragic passing in 2018, Lawler and Street reflect on her incredible talent and the legacy she left behind. From the delayed success of the first album to a shared love of The Smiths to a ski accident in the middle of recording to lyrics inspired by a turning point in Dolores’s personal life to a dispute over production credits to embracing a grunge sound for “Zombie,” we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.