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. 

“There was always a way that music could speak to me,” says Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers. “I was really shy as a kid and I had a lot on my mind that I didn’t know how to get out. And music felt like one of those cheat codes where I felt like what I could say through one song was a lifetime worth of what was in my brain that I couldn’t say any other way.” 

I was instantly captivated by Youth Lagoon’s music when I first heard it more than a decade ago: Trevor Powers’ plaintive, childlike voice, the dreaminess and heady sonic textures of his music, the candor in his storytelling. In the years since the Boise, Idaho artist’s 2011 debut album, he has continually deepened his ability to make music that soothes and haunts at the same time. His latest album, Rarely Do I Dream, is his best yet, and one of my favorite LPs of 2025 so far. 

In the conversation in episode 121, Trevor talks about how discovering a trove of old home movies helped inspire the new album, and remind him of the importance of finding the true feeling at the center of a memory. He also discusses growing up hearing artists like Elvis and The Beach Boys and John Denver while being homeschooled, before finally being exposed to bands like Korn and the Offspring and Blink-182 when he eventually attended high school, and later discovering artists like My Bloody Valentine and Oingo Boingo thanks to his uncle introducing him to more cutting edge music.

“There’s always something that’s coming in that’s changing not only my thought process, but there’s something internally that’s awakening my spirit in these new ways and pushing me in all these different directions,” he says. “There could be an endless amount of lifetimes and I can’t get it all out, what’s up here.”

Trevor also shares why he decided to "kill off" the Youth Lagoon Project several years ago, and to instead record under his own name for awhile, and why he chose to resurrect the moniker back in 2022.

Youth Lagoon is on tour in the U.S. until mid-May. Get more info here.

When I learned that house and dance music legend Crystal Waters has been finishing her first new album since 1997 and was getting ready to share singles and do interviews and therefore might be up for talking with me, I was so geeked.  I’ve been a fan since the early 90s when huge hits like "Gypsy Woman" and "100% Pure Love" were all over the radio, and it was an honor to get to connect with her for episode 120 and a conversation about her songwriting process, how she got her start in music, and why this current creative phase is one of the most exciting in her thirty-plus year career.  Crystal recently shared a great new single called "You & Me" -- a collaboration with the Swedish duo ManyFew -- and she was also recently honored during Miami Music Week at the inaugural Femmy Awards with awards for The Voice of House and the Female Icon Award. And there will be a lot more new music coming from Crystal in the remainder of this year, and live shows, too!