Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, the dynamic duo behind the indie pop sensation Sylvan Esso, share their musical journey from their serendipitous meeting to defining the vibrant Durham scene. They reflect on blending their styles after years of touring, likening songwriting to fishing—an exploration filled with surprises. The creation of their breakout hit 'Hey Mami' reveals the unexpected paths of their collaboration. With insights into their artistic identity and ongoing growth, this conversation captures the essence of their innovative sound.

It can be hard to be in a band, or really, in any kind of group where there’s creative collaboration, and you’re supposed to act like it's a democracy. Because what do you do with an idea that you love, if nobody else believes in it? That question is a big part of this episode with Local Natives. Local Natives is a band from Southern California. Their first album came out in 2009, but the three vocalists and songwriters in the band, Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, and Ryan Hahn – they’ve been playing together since they were in high school. The lineup also includes Matthew Frazier on drums and Nik Ewing on bass. They’ve put out five albums, including their most recent, Time Will Wait For No One, which came out in July 2023. But for this episode, I talked to Taylor, Kelcey, and Ryan about an older song of theirs: “Dark Days,” which came out in 2016. It’s their biggest song to date; it has over 100 million streams, and it's been certified gold.  It’s a duet with Swedish singer Nina Persson, from The Cardigans. In  2020, they put out a new version of the song, featuring Amelia Meath from the band Sylvan Esso. I talked to the guys here in the studio, and to Amelia Meath remotely. And together, they told me the seven-year story of how “Dark Days,” was first made and then eventually remade. For more, visit songexploder.net/local-natives.

Amelia Meath discusses challenges in the music industry, David Gray's grassroots success with 'Babylon', independent musician strategies, Sandy's innovative tour setup, defying genre expectations, and the importance of self-care post-touring.

Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn and Amelia Meath have been making music together since 2013, when Amelia asked Nick, a music producer and bassist, to remix her band Mountain Man’s hit single “Play It Right.” He did, and the rest is history. Sylvan Esso has always had a very sleek, electro-pop feel to their production. Amelia’s powerful voice is front and center, surrounded by harmonies and samples of her own voice. Nick’s genre-destroying bass creates intricate, pulsing grooves for Amelia’s voice to inhabit. Now, the married couple and electronic duo have released their fourth studio album, No Rules Sandy. It’s a follow-up to the band’s Grammy-nominated 2020 album, Free Love. The new album is a mix of improvisation and experimentation. On today’s episode, Bruce Headlam speaks with Amelia and Nick about their creative process and how No Rules Sandy came to be. They also play two songs off their new album live. You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Sylvan Esso songs HERE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sylvan Esso has two members, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, who met while they were both working on other projects. Amelia asked Nick to do a remix of a song by the band she was in at the time, and when that remix was done, they both loved how it turned out. They emailed song ideas back and forth for a while, until they found a time to be in the same place. It was at that point that they first started working on the song, "Coffee." In this episode, Nick and Amelia talk about the origins of the sounds and lyrics within the song, from a Little Tikes xylophone to "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James and the Shondells.