Eva Walker is the singer and guitarist for the Seattle band The Black Tones. In this episode Eva shares her experiences with the weird practices of a bizzarro sound guy on a recent week long West Coast tour .

The Black Tones

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Joseph Shabason is a songwriter, a film and TV composer and a multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto, Ontario. He has recorded and collaborated with The War On Drugs, The Operators, Destroyer, DIANA and has released several solo records.  His newest record, Welcome To Hell is a concept record directly inspired by the influential 1996 Toy Machine skate video of the same name. This re-imagined soundtrack is a spacious and spacey freeish jazz odyssey that is grounded in ECM sonic textures, late 60’s Miles Davis reverberations and the very now vibes of experimental hip hop.  Joseph tells us how Welcome To Hell differs from his previous records and how growing up in a rural Canada played a role in the concept.  He shares the negative feedback he’s received about the record and how he’s spun it into a positive and a new perspective on art in general. We get proof that Ed Templeton is truly a wonderfully rad dude and Joseph tells us the story of Chad Muska at Welcome To Hell video premier. Joe cures Joseph of Covid and we hear a few tunes.

Joseph Shabason

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Mary Timony is a singer, songwriter, and guitar wizard from Washington DC. For the past 30 years she has fronted, founded, toured, and recorded with such celebrated and influential bands as Autoclave, Helium, Ex Hex and Wild Flag. Her fifth solo release, Untame The Tiger (out February 23 via Merge) is a beautifully elaborate guitar pop, riff driven record that touches on familial loss, emotional freedom and psychic shift.   In this episode Mary tells us how an onslaught of simultaneous dramatic experiences changed her perspective personally and artistically and how music brought her closer to her ailing father. She shares her experience of recording with the great Dave Mattacks, mixing with Dave Fridmann and gives some in-sight into the process of co-producing with longtime friend, Joe Wong.   We also hear about her first punk show, how she avoids “rote playing” and shares the funny and harsh experience that led her to quitting the viola.  We hear a few tunes and Mary tells us not one, but three hilarious tour stories.

Mary Timony

Wild Flag

EX Hex

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Joe speaks with John Familglietti, bass player, founding member and songwriter from the band HEALTH.  Following two widely collaborative records, HEALTH’S newest record, Rat Wars (out 12.7 via Loma Vista), is proving to be the bands most inner focused, vulnerable, and sonically generous output yet. In this episode Joe and John discuss the San Diego scene where John grew up, how John was introduced to punk music and the show that changed his life. John tells us why he thinks Rat Wars is this best HEATLH record so far, how it came from a position of strength and he shares how the band’s recording process has evolved over the years. We learn the origin of HEALTH’S uniform/branded album artwork, how The Door’s influenced the decision the call the new album Rat Wars and we hear a couple new songs.

HEALTH

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This episode is special because it's the first tour story Joe captured. His pal Kyle Crane, drummer, songwriter, and producer from Los Angeles, tells us how his band experienced a vegetable oil spill, an overheat, a poison ivy infection, and a pedestrian hit and run all in the span of 48 hours. We also hear a few tunes from Kyle's record "Crane Like The Bird" (featuring James Mercer).

Kyle Crane

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Matt Pryor a singer, songwriter, podcaster and author form Lawrence, Kansas. He is a founding member of the Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdam’s and host’s the podcast Nothing To Write Home About and 25 Years On The Street. His debut memoir, Red Letter Days (out 1.23.24 Washed Up Book) is taken from journal entries between 1990-2000 and is made up of short vignettes that follows his life as a musician growing up, pursing the dream of success and his earliest experiences touring. He also shares his early childhood growing up in Lawrence and his struggle with childhood diabetes. In this episode, Matt shares how writer Frank Turner encouraged him to write his memoir, why the book helped him hit a welcomed rock bottom and why finishing the book put into a depression. He explains how a simple writing exercise evolved into Red Letter Days, why the editing process was foreign to him and how songwriting and story writing are similar in his process. Joe and Matt discuss the beauty and positivity of “the pit” and they discover they were born in the same hospital along with their mutual pal Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.

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Vera Sola is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and poet based in Los Angeles, CA. Her newest album, Peacemaker (out February 2 via City Slang) is a sprawling and lyrically ferocious follow up her first record Shades and will take the listener on a joyfully painful sonic journey through the cinematic west. In this episode Vera tells us how cinematic framing shaped the new record, why anger may be the driving energy and why she was "psychotic" about the final mix. Vera shares how a plant ceremony inspired her to make her first record, why David Beeman’s patience was crucial to her finishing the record and how Peacemaker's process was different. Joe and Vera talk retirement in the New York City, and we hear a couple tunes.

Vera Sola

City Slang

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Brett Netson is a guitarist, singer and song-writer from Boise, Idaho. He has toured and recorded extensively with Built To Spill, Mark Lanegan, Earth and is a founding member of Caustic Resin. His most recent contribution is a re-imagined version of Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine by Earth, and is out now on special "low frequency" re-release of the classic Earth 2 record on Sub Pop Records. In this episode, the longtime friends and forever ago bandmates discuss the state of "work", why Brett quit playing music for a short period of time, and what brought him back. Brett shares his thoughts on the healthy benefits of Drone music, how it enhances his life and why singular thought is beneficial. We learn what is the glue that binds Brett and Dylan Carlson's musical relationship, why Brett found himself having to choose between not ONE but TWO deals with the devil and he explains the process of tearing apart and rebuilding an Earth song on his own. Brett and Joe make fun of themselves and we hear a few magnificent tunes.

Brett Netson

Earth

Sub Pop

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Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards are the drummer and guitarist respectively for the Los Angeles based band, Deap Vally. Since 2011 they have recorded and released four LP's three EP's and have consistently toured the world. On February 1st , they will release Sistrionix 2.0, a newly recorded version of their 2011 LP Sistrionix. In this episode, we hear what motivated the two to form a band, how early childhood experiences influenced their interest in performance and why a knitting shop brought them together. Lindsey and Julie share their un-healthy and stressful stint on a major label, why they re-recorded their record and the magic ingredient on the new recording. They discuss the compatibility of both being in a band and a mom, what it's like touring with kids and what the future for Deap Vally holds.

Deap Vally

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Shilpa Ray is a singer, songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist based in Queens, NY. She has been recording, releasing and touring on records in various incarnations from 2006 to the present. Her most recent release, Portrait Of A Lady (via Northern Spy Records) is her most personal, direct record to date, and delivers a jarring honesty that keeps the listener engrossed in the wide batch of sonic and lyrical intensity. In this episode Shilpa tells us why her first instrument was a harmonium, how The Side Walk Cafe's nurturing environment help her get her start in live performance and why drums and time keeping are so important to her. She tells us how the combination of a sound check with Andrew Bird and an image of Nan Golden re-illuminated the importance of art in her life and inspired her to write a record focused on her own personal experiences. We learn who the bootlickers are in the song Bootlickers Of The Patriarchy, she tells us a wild tour story thank involves Rick James's gravestone and we hear a couple tunes.

Shilpa Ray

Northern Spy Records

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