My Favourite Elliott Smith Song

Our guest for episode 24 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is Lindsey Jordan. 2018 has been a great year for Lindsey and her band Snail Mail. They released their debut album, Lush, in June and they’ve been touring pretty much non-stop ever since. So we were really lucky to catch her during some rare time off at her home near Baltimore, Maryland (USA) to talk through her favourite song pick, as well as how she finds rare Elliott tracks and why she connects so much with musicians who made their names during the 90s. Hope you enjoy it.   Extra things to look at / listen to:  Dancing on the Highway by Elliott Smith (this song has never been officially released so we have to link to YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xawASIzzJRQ In the Lost and Found by Elliott Smith: https://open.spotify.com/track/2xVikBZt3KxyUR7o8NGYDU?si=g37K4qzaSh25ycCc57c6Ug Stereogum’s albums of 2018 – with Snail Mail at #2: https://www.stereogum.com/featured/the-best-albums-of-2018/ My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 23 is Aaron Embry.  Aaron is a musician who played in Elliott Smith's band during the Figure 8 tour in 2000. They played many shows together across Europe and the US, with Aaron on keys and long-time Elliott collaborators Sam Coomes (from Quasi) and Scott McPherson on bass and drums respectively.  In this interview with Elizabeth Withstandley, Aaron talks through his personal connection to his favourite song pick and shares some stories of life on the road with Elliott.  Hope you enjoy it.  Extra things to look at / listen to:  Strung Out Again by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Bd2DmHtJrqfG507TQ1WSM?si=iexcX_zbSpuZMuMpRVql0w From a Basement on the Hill by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/66UbcdMK6oC2XFPLeESamq?si=jVxMcYfJRwGvvP0kKmq5pA Struck Down Again (original version of Strung Out Again) recorded live in Stockholm, Sweden - Aaron is playing keys on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVSH2ztpvcs My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 22 is the musician Mary Lou Lord. Mary Lou was great friends with Elliott. The two of them met at a gig in Seattle arranged by Slim Moon, the founder of the record label Kill Rock Stars. She was already on the label and, of course, Elliott would soon follow.  In this interview we talk through Mary Lou's favourite song choice, hear more about the time she saw Elliott for the first time and how they started touring.  Extra things to look at / listen to: I Figured You Out by Elliott Smith on Either/Or (2017 issue): https://open.spotify.com/track/5NlQ8We8fhLVGDjO2LfB5i?si=XhNQ71E0SJyC9hBw6pEAng I Figured You Out by Mary Lou Lord: https://open.spotify.com/track/7FZGxzuLt649qwmTqUtYYP?si=xkdAXCqcRQCplYvGQkj3jg Mary Lou covering Half Right by Elliott Smith/Heatmiser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25BdmZGG1s0 Mary Lou interviewing Elliott for Spin magazine in 1998: https://www.spin.com/2018/10/elliott-smith-interview-1998-mary-lou-lord/ My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Huge thanks to Greg Cortez and New Monkey Studio for their help mixing and mastering our podcast. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 21 is the film director Steve Hanft. Steve made his name making music videos for artists such as Beck, which led him to eventually directing the 1998 Elliott Smith documentary Strange Parallel (although calling it a documentary is perhaps doing it a disservice). It's part music performance, part interview but mostly a surreal dream involving Elliott - if you haven't seen the film, there's a link lower down. In this episode, we cover how that film came about, how it ended up like it did - with Elliott being implored to buy a robot hand to improve his guitar playing - and what he thought of the documentary after it came out. We do find time to discuss Steve's favourite song too! A special thank you to Ross Harris for making this interview possible. Extra things to look at / listen to: Strange Parallel (full length film on Vimeo): https://vimeo.com/74984466 Condor Ave on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4Tz0TCqxlpMDDMQWMycyEF?si=YgNXrK6CTNylUBMsEgUrJg Roman Candle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0vgbFgcYqm2B0csVXvo8d5?si=o_y9Q5g6T0y7tVlKynq8EA My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 20 is the musician Jade Bird. Jade is a hotly tipped artist from the UK - in the last year or so she has been on the BBC's Sound of 2018 list and Rolling Stone have called her a country artist to watch out for. She's also a massive Elliott Smith fan, albeit one who has discovered his music relatively recently. She can, of course, be forgiven for this though, as she just turned 21 the other week. Hope you enjoy this episode - Jade has an interesting take on Elliott and his work, particularly on how his approach can help newer artists like herself. Extra things to look at / listen to: Colorbars on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5HaOloWn9b5PJtxvE6Vtke?si=K0KXbLlVTGSdcRyoJP64Ug Figure 8 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7DC0pE943VR5tAKIvQXHts?si=B5wrTqs9StKwNvfFvVXptQ Who is Bruno S?: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/22/bruno-schleinstein-obituary My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 19 is the musician Pete Krebs. Pete is somewhat of a legend on the Portland scene. His band Hazel broke through in the early '90s at a similar time to Heatmiser. As well as playing numerous shows with Elliott Smith, Pete was also good friends with him - the pair drank in the same bars and worked the same construction jobs to fund their music careers. They even released a split seven inch record together in 1994, with Pete's Shytown as the A-Side and Elliott's No Confidence man on the other side. We were delighted when Pete agreed to be on the podcast. Not only does he talk through his favourite song pick for us, when we told him that Rhys Buchanan, a British journalist, was visiting Portland, he took him round a few of the old places he and Elliott used to play in and drink at. So, in this episode, we begin by Pete sharing his thoughts on his favourite song before cutting to Pete's car driving through the streets of Portland, where he points out some of the famous venues they used to frequent. Extra things to look at/listen to: Say Yes by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7zVfEu1dEvRw4EkWoqrBkx?si=rNX93AzBTv2opoC3W4dXSA Either/Or by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5hryhrT7wEdLnZCbJX9F6L?si=GvA4gXkoSo6O607_H7bmVw Shytown/No Confidence Man by Pete Krebs and Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://www.discogs.com/Elliott-Smith-And-Pete-Krebs-Shytown-No-Confidence-Man/release/1014717 Nice profile piece on Pete from PDX Monthly: https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2015/11/23/one-legendary-musician-unites-decades-of-portland-music My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Episode 18 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is with Andy Hull.  Andy is a musician probably best known for his work with the band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a couple of other side projects too and one of those is called Bad Books, which is a collaboration with Kevin Devine - a former guest on this show.  And Andy was recording with Kevin when we called him up for this chat. It was a lovely conversation, where Andy spoke very thoughtfully about his song pick, about what he calls 'the bible' of albums, and also what Elliott Smith meant to him growing up in a small town in Georgia.  Hope you enjoy it.  Other things to look at/listen to: I Didn't Understand on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3IQApXKUun0iHHtpsvI7xL?si=li7LZsifS4aRCnjwWxf6tA XO on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1zOxlHQGGV6EH7n4OIFTyh?si=g-W9cFetS7mwGkIExM4EGw I Didn't Understand (alternate version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrRoKTFtls I Didn't Understand (piano version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jivTIbXNGjQ My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley.  You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 17 is Marissa Nadler. Marissa is a singer-songwriter based in Boston, Massachusetts. She regularly cites Elliott Smith as a big influence on her and also took part in the same Elliott tribute show as our guest for episode 16, Yoni Wolf. In this interview, Marissa talks about covering Elliott for that show, how his music has helped her as a shy person and her selection for her favourite song. It was lovely speaking to Marissa for the podcast. Her answers both on the song, and about Elliott's music in general, are very thoughtful, so hope you enjoy it. Extra things to look at / listen to: Marissa covering Pitseleh by Elliott Smith: https://youtu.be/-owQSCA_Jmw Pitseleh by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1Q0sk7b7PAGjgC3R5zyuWt?si=wAfuU2u9T0WvXofj4Dpicg XO by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1zOxlHQGGV6EH7n4OIFTyh?si=AXyLG0oQTeSma6m_uBY8hw My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com

Yoni Wolf joins us from his holiday in North Carolina for episode 16 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song. Yoni is a musician and producer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is probably best known for his work with his band, Why? Although his work is musically quite different, Yoni became interested in Elliott Smith because the sentiment of his music resonated with him. He talks about this during the episode, as well as his favourite song pick and what it was like playing at a Smith tribute show a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it. Extra things to look at / listen to: Yoni Wolf covers Say Yes at Elliott Smith tribute show: https://vimeo.com/77886136 Yoni discusses Elliott in this interview for Stereogum: https://www.stereogum.com/1528172/musicians-pay-tribute-to-elliott-smith-who-died-10-years-ago-today/franchises/sounding-board/ Angeles by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Ziohm1Ku8E2yUDYoclfhO?si=iM3YYk6oSgyT7MLERkRuwg Either/Or by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5hryhrT7wEdLnZCbJX9F6L?si=Bu9S7LcvSAG7rd1WoRT8Ig My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

A few years before he passed, Elliott Smith bought a recording studio in Van Nuys, California. He poured his heart and soul into the place - buying vintage analogue equipment and staying in there for weeks at a time to try and fix it. He called the studio New Monkey because, it is said, this big new commitment was like a monkey on his back.  In this special episode, we speak to the three guys who now run New Monkey Studio. Robert Cappadonna and Joel Graves - who bought the studio from Elliott's family in 2004 - and Greg Cortez, who has been working with the pair since 2009.  We begin with, what else, a discussion of Greg's favourite Elliott Smith song, before discussing some of the studio's history, the guests who've visited and how it's doing now with Robert and Joel.  They are doing a great job building on Elliott's legacy, so it was such a privilege to be able to speak to them. They were also kind enough to master this episode on Elliott's old console. Things to look at/listen to: New Monkey Studio website: http://newmonkeystudio.com Everything Reminds Me of Her on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3nkdVXnH4xC6f3YZS0C8pC?si=26QKiCxpQCaUC0vSvuuF3g New Monkey (the song) from New Moon: https://open.spotify.com/track/257KKUjp1uISAGG3000M8W?si=tRi7a_8vSsecfzXStDTZIA A nice interview with Robert and Joel from 2006: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/01/entertainment/et-monkey1 My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com