Leila Bordreuil is a Brooklyn-based cellist, composer and sound-artist from France. She accesses concepts as diverse as noise, contemporary classical, free jazz, and experimental traditions, but adheres to none of them. Her music mixes deep melancholia with harsh noise-walls at ear-bleeding levels, and was described by the New York Times as “steadily scathing music, favoring long and corrosive atonalities”. 

Photo By Roe Ethridge

Stephanie LaCava is a New York writer. She began her career at American Vogue and her work has since appeared in The Believer, The New York Review of Books, Harper's Magazine, Texte zur Kunst, and The New Inquiry.

Stephanie's first book, An Extraordinary Theory of Objects, is a memoir which combines narrative nonfiction and illustration. Her 2020 novel, The Superrationals, is about female friendship, set at the intersection between counterculture and the art industry. Stephanie's second novel, I Fear My Pain Interests You was just published by Verso Books  this month. The novel centers on a protagonist named Margot, the daughter of two famous musicians, who cannot feel physical pain.

Alexander Hacke was born in Berlin. A musician from the start, he joined Einstürzende Neubauten in 1980 at the age of 14,  as well as playing in numerous influential underground-groups and writing, recording, releasing and performing music under the pseudonym Alexander von Borsig. Throughout the eighties and up to the present Alexander has collaborated with many artists and continues to produce records and score music for theater, feature and documentary movies.

Since 2001 Alexander has been collaborating with American artist Danielle de Picciotto who was a singer in the band Space Cowboys. In 2015 he put out his autobiography KRACH - Verzerrte Erinnerungen.

James Johnston is well known for his work as a musician, with his band Gallon Drunk, as a former member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, as well as for his work with  PJ Harvey. He is also a noted painter. James' paintings are bold and loose, marked by rich and striking use of color. His work has been used for book covers, album artwork, and featured in a variety of arts publications. James' Paintings are also in many collections including the collection of the University of Chicago Center in Paris.

Legendary British punk rock band Eater released their debut album, The Album in 1977.  At the time, most of the band members weren’t even old enough to drive a car. This is likely why the album ended up getting pummeled by the demands of their label, and the fickle trends of the British music business at the time. The band finally has had the chance to revisit the master tapes and reissue a restored version of their debut album, now titled Ant. Andy Blade joins Lydia and Tim to discuss the reissue, what it was like being one on the youngest punk bands at the time, meeting Lou Reed and John Lydon, as well as Eater's upcoming tour with Dinosaur Jr.

On a separate note Lydia and friend of the podcast Jasmine Hirst have been working on a documentary titled Anxiety Depression and Rage, which is a series of interviews with artists, writers and musicians about their struggles with mental health. Jasmine and Lydia are now looking to raise money to finish the documentary. Please checkout the Gofund page which can be found HERE

Artist Edwin Pouncey works under the nom de plume Savage Pencil. His art has mauled and entertained a generation with a stinking psychedelic cesspit of corpse cluttered comix. As a music journalist, Edwin's writings and Trip Or Squeek cartoon strip are featured regularly in The Wire. He has an insider’s knowledge of the many bands whose records and performances he has reviewed over several decades.

In 1980, Jerry Lang, Chris Tense, and Henry Bogdan formed Poison Idea, a Portland Oregon based punk band that gave voice to the disenfranchised  all over the world for over 30 years. Jerry and his bandmates also went all in on drugs and drinking, spiraling out of control and blowing both the band and their lives apart. Jerry wrote Black Heart Fades Blue a three part memoir in which he reckons very honestly with this past. 

Danielle de Picciotto is an American born, interdisciplinary artist, living in Berlin since 1987. She was the co-founder of the Berlin Love Parade and has performed and exhibited internationally since 1989 together with Crime &The City Solution, Gudrun Gut, The Space Cowboys and her husband Alexander Hacke, founding member of Einstürzende Neubauten. Danielle has released two books, writes regular essays for culture magazines and is known for her intricate spoken word interwoven into her music. She plays the violin, hurdy gurdy and autoharp but has also always been part of the electronic music scene. Her music combines both worlds in a dreamy, experimental and unique fashion. As the interdisciplinary artist that she is, her art, which she exhibits and installs internationally, also accompanies her music as fantastic, interwoven visuals morphing drawings into strange shapes and forms.

During the nearly 50 years of his career, English drummer/singer/composer Charles Hayward has developed idiosyncratic attitudes and insights into music and sound. Charles was a founding member of the experimental rock groups This Heat and Camberwell Now. He also played with the European improv group Mal Dean's Amazing Band and gigged and recorded with Phil Manzanera in Quiet Sun. Charles also did a short stint with Gong. Since the late 80's Charles has concentrated on solo projects and collaborations, including Massacre with Bill Laswell and Fred Frith, Monkey Puzzle Trio and Albert Newton.

Nate Young and John Olson of legendary Michigan noise outfit Wolf Eyes visit the podcast. Since 1998 the band has generated a tidal wave of releases adding up to over 500 titles; mostly limited from 2-100 copies. Released on American Tapes, Hanson, AA, Warzone, and countless other independent/homemade labels.