An all-time favorite artist sits for an all-time favorite interview! Bon Iver's Justin Vernon is my guest in this episode of the LSQ podcast — the final episode of 2025 and season 8 of the show. We recorded this at his home studio back in June, shortly after the release of Bon Iver’s brilliant latest album, SABLE, fABLE, which recently earned him another couple well-deserved Grammy nominations. I loved this conversation so much, and I’m so grateful to Justin for his openness in a talk that explores his entire history as a creative person and music maker. Justin and I go back a ways and have done shorter interviews over the years. But this gave us a chance to go super in-depth, and I loved hearing stories about his early life and definitive creative experiences — about listening to John Prine’s “Hello in There,” on his Discman in the back of his my parents’ minivan and realizing music was his calling, about discovering music he loved by Fugazi, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Dave Matthews Band, and Baaba Maal, about his dad driving him and his friends from Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Minneapolis to see Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden, about the deep camaraderie of his high school band with friends he still collaborates with today, and the vital growth that came from moving the band to Raleigh, North Carolina when he was in his twenties. Oh, and you’ve also gotta hear the story about Prince coming to a Gayngs show at First Avenue, and nearly joining the band onstage.

Indie rock legend Evan Dando joins me in episode 130 to talk about The Lemonheads’ excellent new album, Love Chant — their first LP of originals in twenty years. We also discuss the Townes Van Zandt covers album he’s currently working on, his recently released memoir, Rumors of My Demise, and we delve into important creative influences past and present: Sylvia Plath, the Replacements, Big Star, Love, the mentorship he received from Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, and more. Dando also answers a couple of fun guest questions submitted by our pals Adam Green (who co-wrote the song “Wild Thing” from the new album) and Ben Lee. 

It was awesome to finally get to interview Neko Case, whose music (both on her own and with New Pornographers) I've admired for ages. In late September she released an awesome new album called Midnight Grey, Neon Green, and in the interview she shares about the inspiration for the album, which she describes as a tribute to music and musicians, and "a tribute to joy, and the joy that music makes you feel." We also explore her creative evolution, early band experiences, learning how to embrace her talents rather than being self-deprecating about them and how she approaches writing nowadays. She also shares a bit about the writing of her beautiful best-selling memoir, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, as well as talking about the music she's been crafting for a long in-the-works Thelma & Louise musical. You can subscribe to Neko's Substack here and get tickets for her shows here.

For episode 128, I spoke with the brilliant Mdou Moctar, a Tuareg singer, guitarist and songwriter whose sound combines rock, blues and contemporary Saharan music into songs that range from shreddy and electrifying to beautiful and contemplative, and all the stops in between. I highly recommend digging into his catalog, which is now several albums deep. His latest releases with his band were a pair of interconnected albums: 2024’s Funeral For Justice, which is of the fiery rock & roll variety, and Tears of Injustice, which was released this year and features acoustic versions of the same songs — gorgeous renditions whose sound harkens back to the more sparse style Mdou employed on his early albums, before he had a full band supporting him. 

During the summer, I connected over Zoom with both Mdou and his bassist, Mikey Coltun, who also produces their albums, and that is the main interview in this episode. But I also had the pleasure of meeting up with the band in person, following our Zoom, to moderate an event they did at LA’s Grammy Museum. The Grammy Museum is an awesome non-profit that, in addition to preserving the history of the Grammy Awards and offering very cool interactive exhibits, also presents a series of live events where incredible artists like Mdou Moctar give talks and stripped-down performances for truly intimate audiences. Big thanks to Kimber Kristy over there for allowing me to use some of the audio from that conversation in this episode, because there were a couple of moments from it that I wanted to share. So we’ll listen to a bit of that, and then get into the longer interview. 

"I got the writing bug very early," says Suede's iconic frontman Brett Anderson. "I was fascinated by the simplicity of what was in front of me: You have six strings, and a limited number of notes, and 26 letters in the alphabet, and all of these things simultaneously mock you and inspire you. And it became a sort of an addiction for me quite early on, trying to search for that song, trying to reach for those chords, trying to write that album, and it still is. I still love it.”

In the lead up to Suede’s excellent new album, Antidepressants, which the Guardian has hailed as a “late career triumph,” I had the pleasure of connecting over Zoom with Anderson for a conversation about his creative evolution. One of my favorite things about our interview was hearing him describe his passion for the process of writing and the fact that, even though it can be torturous, it’s ultimately so satisfying. He said that he resonates with the famous Dorothy Parker quote, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” And so we talked about writing throughout Anderson’s life:  as a kid, when he first connected with his urge to put pen to paper and evoke notes from an instrument, the early days of Suede and moments when he first knew he had hit on something so powerful, and writing of the new album.

I remember back in the mid 90s when I first got into Elliott Smith’s music and discovered that he also had a band. That band was called Heatmiser, and they were putting out amazing music, as well. A particular favorite for me was their 1996 album Mic City Sons, an album I’ve listened to hundreds of times over the years. And they’ve just released out an expanded 30th anniversary edition via Jack White’s Third Man records that includes demos of tunes from the album, previously unreleased recordings from the sessions, and even a full band version of Elliott’s solo tune “Christian Brothers.” It was awesome getting to talk with Heatmiser singer and guitarist and co-songwriter Neil Gust about the making of Mic City Sons — what went right and what went wrong; by the time it came out they had all but broken up — and also about the making of Heatmiser which was Neil and Elliott and bassist Sam Coomes (also of Quasi), and drummer Tony Lash. We delve into how Neil and Elliott first met as college classmates, initially playing in a band together called Swimming Jesus before as graduation approached they came up with the idea for Heatmiser, and of course we also talk about Neil’s own personal history as a guitarist and songwriter. Over the years, he has recorded under the moniker No. 2. You can get a vinyl copy of the Mic City Sons 30th anniversary edition here. 

I can still remember being in high school in the early 90s and having my mind blown by seeing the video for Fishbone’s "Sunless Saturday" on MTV’s 120 Minutes and going to my local record store (R.I.P., Twisted Disque on Jamaica Ave) to get their album The Reality of My Surroundings, and then walking around Queens with it blasting in my headphones, mesmerized by the way they melded genres like ska, funk, punk, metal and more. Fishbone is one of the bands that showed me what was possible, as far as breaking down both genre and racial barriers in music. SO! When I learned that Fishbone were getting ready to release their first full-length album in almost 20 years, their awesome new LP Stockholm Syndrome and that they would be doing interviews, I knew I had to make it happen.

It was a blast connecting with Angelo Moore, who is the only permanent member of Fishbone — the only one who has been in the band for its entire 40 year history, while others have left or joined or left and re-joined — for the conversation in episode 125. We talked about his earliest experiences with creativity — he started out pop-locking and street dancing in Hollywood before he started playing music. He wanted to get a keyboard but his dad insisted on saxophone, and thus the seeds for Fishbone were planted. Angelo talks about meeting his bandmates in eighth grade and schlepping on the bus more than two hours each way from where he lived in the Valley to band practice in South Central LA, working up to their first show at Madame Wong’s and eventually scoring a major label deal that turned out to be a mixed blessing. We also delve into the ups and downs of their career, what he remembers about early encounters with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys, and what inspired Fishbone’s new album, which is a true return to form — the sound of a band that has never been afraid to be completely themselves, in all of their bright, brash, political, genre-melding glory. (You might start by listening to the Stockholm Syndrome single "Racist Piece of Shit" to get a sense of the album as a whole.) 

One caveat: You’ll notice that the audio sounds a little rough. The band had just begun a run of dates on Less Than Jake’s Summer Circus tour, and when Angelo joined our Zoom, he was on the road. Literally. He called while driving himself to soundcheck for a show in Florida. So it was a little more chaotic than the usual interview, with him attempting to navigate while answering my questions. You’ll also hear him stop for a pee break, mid-interview, which was hilarious.

Fishbone are on the road through late August and you can get tickets here.

Following the recent release of her excellent sophomore album, If You Asked For A Picture, Blondshell’s Sabrina Teitelbaum joins the LSQ podcast to talk about important musical discoveries along her creative path: Falling in love with the Rolling Stones after her parents took her to see them in concert at Madison Square Garden when she was only seven years old, delving into songwriting a few years later, as a way of coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, going to as many concerts as she could in NYC as a teenager and seeing bands like the Black Keys, Haim and The Kooks, finding inspiration in the lyrical prowess of Fiona Apple and Frank Ocean, and more. Blondshell is on tour now, and through most of the rest of this year. Get tickets here. 

Ben Kweller’s music first stole my heart back in the early oughts when he released his wonderful debut album Sha Sha, and I have been a huge admirer of his work ever since. I’ve also had the good fortune of his friendship for more than twenty years, so it was amazing to finally get together with him for the LSQ podcast. Episode 123 features a deep and poignant conversation with BK about his entire creative history, including his excellent latest album, Cover The Mirrors, which was written in the wake of the tragic death of his teenage son Dorian. 

In addition to sharing how that tremendous loss ended up inspiring him to reconnect with making music in the innocent way he’d done as a kid, he details what those early creative years were like for him — writing Beatles-inspired love songs on the piano as a little kid, starting his band Radish after hearing Nirvana, hustling to get Radish their first shows at Chauncey’s Place, a local billiards hall in Greenville, Texas, eventually getting rides from his parents to Dallas to play shows there, recording Radish’s demos and the ensuing bidding war to sign them, and more. I was also fascinated to hear about his family connection to legendary guitarist Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band and Neil Young’s Crazy Horse (as well as being a brilliant artist in his own right), and how Lofgren provided key support at multiple points during Ben’s early days. 

And then we get into his moves toward stepping out on his own as an artist, including how support from the Lemonheads’ Evan Dando helped catalyze his solo career. Ben also reminisces about the heyday of the New York City indie scene he was part of in the oughts, and how allyship with bands like the Strokes and Moldy Peaches and Kings of Leon (although not from NYC, the Kings regular touring companions of Ben’s and honorary NYC scenesters) created a vital support system. On more recent topics, Ben reveals that Radish’s lost sophomore album, Discount Fireworks, which includes early versions of songs like “Wasted & Ready” and “Harriet’s Got A Song,” will finally be coming out via his own label, The Noise Company. He also talks about the work he’s been doing recently to collaborate with Jason Schwartzman (who is among the guests on Cover The Mirrors) to record new music for Schwartzman’s long-dormant band Coconut Records. 

For episode 122 of the LSQ podcast, I had the pleasure of connecting with the up-and-coming singer-songwriter Uwade, whose beautiful debut studio album, Florilegium, arrived this spring following, truly, YEARS of anticipation from those of us who were first captivated by her voice when we heard her sing on Fleet Foxes’ 2020 album Shore. As you’ll hear, Uwade’s musical influences since childhood span an array of genres including R&B, gospel, choir music, pop, hip-hop, indie rock and more, so it’s no wonder that her own songs are so refreshingly genre agnostic. Uwade is also currently studying for her PhD in Classics, and I was fascinated to hear her talk about how her academic and musical pursuits feed each other.