Talkhouse Podcast

Stephin Merritt is one of the most brilliant songwriters of our time. Through his projects The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes, and The 6ths, he’s deconstructed and reimagined the art of the song. Stephin’s lyrics are wonderfully dark and witty, often gender-bending, sometimes intellectual, occasionally utterly heartbreaking. His melodies are addictive enough to be illegal under drug-dealing laws. Stephin is able to make listeners laugh, cry, and think, all in the same song. This year marks the 20th anniversary of 69 Love Songs, widely considered the crown jewel of Stephin Merritt's vast catalog. A three CD (now also a six 10” vinyl) box set, the album is a meta conceit: a record not only full of love songs, but also about love songs themselves. Running 172 minutes and 35 seconds, the songs stylistically jump between indie rock, synth-pop, country, faux punk and jazz, Sondheim-esque showtunes, folk, a capella, '70s singer-songwriter, world music and much more. For today’s show, Stephin sat down with Daniel Handler — aka, A Series Of Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket — who played accordion on 69 Love Songs as well as interviewed Stephin for the liner notes. The old friends and collaborators chop it up on the triumphs and occasional difficulties of 69 Love Songs’ improbable existence — the arduous recording, uncharted release campaign, surprising live shows, initial reaction and beloved legacy. Their deep dive talk also takes in: Daniel’s theory that 69 LS has become a children’s album; “tweecore” beefs with Belle and Sebastian and Stereolab; the record release show that found Stephin trapped above the stage; the best music to get busy to; whispering hecklers; and why 69 Love Songs should’ve been sold in sex shops. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn. The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

This week on the Talkhouse Podcast, we’re celebrating artists who take music in unexpected and brilliant new directions. Tuesday’s show saw Tierra Whack and Nnamdi Ogbonnaya in conversation; today, we bring you a fantastic deep dive between Avey Tare of Animal Collective and Ishmael “Ish” Butler, aka Palaceer Lazaro in Shabazz Palaces, fka Butterfly of Digable Planets. Ish and Avey are massive fans of each other’s work — Animal Collective and Shabazz Palaces have even remixed tracks for each other. This convo takes in a lot: how seeing Animal Collective play live got Ish back into making his own records when he thought he was done with music; what artists they’re both vibing on rn; Ish’s goal to "elasticize minds" with his live shows; and the “secret sauce” that goes into writing Animal Collective and Shabazz Palaces songs. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. Ish was recorded by Dan Arnes at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Avey was recorded by Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, NC. The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Duuudes! Those of you who follow us on Insta may know that Mark The Producer and I just got back from our first festival of 2019. As we glamped and recorded some of the best musicians in the world in convo for upcoming Talkhouse episodes, it occurred to me that full-on festival season is almost upon us. That means, of course, that this summer, Talkhouse will be returning to Pitchfork Music Festival for our fifth straight year of recording backstage talks with many of the brilliant artists rocking Union Park. We're so psyched for this year's lineup; get your tix now to catch Belle and Sebastian (playing Sinister in it's entirety!), Pusha T, Haim, Robyn, Earl Sweatshirt, Khruangbin and more. In anticipation, we wanted to share with you a special bonus episode this week. So, here's a fantastic conversation that happened spontaneously at last year's fest; it was too short to be released as a regular episode, but was too good not to share. Tierra Whack and Nnamdi Ogbonnaya both have sounds and visual aesthetics all their own. When the two met in our trailer studio, they connected immediately, cracking us all the f up in the process. Their hilarious and insightful chat takes in quite a bit in its brief runtime: their production techniques and studio vibes; fave bands and movies of all time (some very surprising answers here); wtf happened to those balloons from the Whackworld video; and some pretty great impressions of Oprah and Leonardo DiCaprio. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Big thx to the fantastic Pitchfork Music Festival for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast. PMF 2019 takes place in Chicago from July 19-21st, 2019. SEE YOU IN THE PIT, er PARK!

For today’s episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we sat down backstage at Desert Daze with Grasshopper of Mercury Rev and A Place To Bury Strangers’s Lia Braswell. The two are big fans of each others’ live sets, and were psyched to meet and chop it up. Their conversation takes in a lot: artistic community, DIY culture, the years of work it takes to succeed, and the restorative power of seeing live music. Oh, and we learn how Lia learned to appreciate the feedback. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. You can also now follow us on Spotify! —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded at by Keenan Kush at Desert Daze, and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark The Producer. Additional recording by Josh Modell. The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Big thx for the fantastic Desert Daze for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast. Desert Daze 2019 takes place at Moreno Beach from October 10-13, 2019. The first two announced artists are Animal Collective and Stereolab. Find tix and info at https://desertdaze.org/

This week, we here at Talkhouse celebrate two monumental things: first off, this is the Talkhouse Podcast's 250th episode (holy shit, how did that happen?!?!? Thank you, listeners!) The second thing we're celebrating officially this week, and unofficially every other day of the year: mothers and maternal figures! For today’s show, we took a deep dive through the past five years of the podcast to share some of our favorite clips of artists discussing the myriad experiences that comprise motherhood. So buckle up for:— Christina Choe and Andrew Ahn on Christina's mom's star turn as an actress. — Tori Amos and Shirley Manson (Garbage) on the sacrifices and uncertainties of motherhood, and the continuing inspiration Tori receives from her own mother. — Fred Armisen and Alix Lambert on the crazy, sad true story of Fred’s stepmother's time in East Berlin. — Ben Lee and Jon Cryer on how Ben's mum helped him make a really important career decision when he was a teenager. — Tracy Droz Tragos and Martha Shane on how Tracy's maternal instincts guided her experiences on and off screen while making Rich Hill. — Julia Pott’s mum reviewing Get Out — on Julia's answering machine. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

“All night, I been drinking all night, I been drinking all night, I been drinking, ay ay” sang Knox Fortune on the hook of Chance The Rapper’s mega-hit single "All Night." For this podcast, Knox and his old buddy comedian Brandon Wardell (Yeah But Still) switched it up and did a little day drinking. The guys sat down late last year to chop it up on the Talkhouse Podcast backstage at Life Is Beautiful Music and Art Festival in Las Vegas, where they’d both performed. Their truly freewheeling convo takes in a lot: which pop stars have the best and worst fans; thoughts on Trippie Redd and Juice WRLD; Banksy’s true identity; the drug that fueled both Home Alone and Aladdin; The Beatles vs. Emo Rap; and loads more. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. You can also now follow us on Spotify! —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded at National Southwestern Recording in Las Vegas and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark The Producer. Additional recording by Josh Modell. The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Thanks to Life Is Beautiful and Ronald Corso at National Southwestern Recording. This year’s Life Is Beautiful happens Sept 20-22, and the lineup is, as usual, incredible, featuring Chance The Rapper, Billie Eilish, The Black Keys, Desus and Mero, Pod Save America, and so many more. Tix can be purchased here.

Hot on the heels of Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)'s incredible new LP Lux Prima and Sam Spiegel (N.A.S.A.)'s new single "Perfect," the two old friends and collaborators sat down for a deep dive on the Talkhouse Podcast.  Buckle up for stories of working with everyone from Ol' Dirty Bastard to David Byrne to Danger Mouse; collab-ing with your literal family — Sam's brother is Spike Jonze — and your figurative one, as Karen does in the YYYs; and the rad audio-visual experiences that Sam and Karen created for each of their new projects. Check it out and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Stay up to date on live Talkhouse events with our Events tab. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded in at Sam's house in Los Angeles by Ali Nikou, and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark Yoshizumi. Additional engineering by Josh Modell. 

The brilliant composer and two-time Talkhouse Podcast guest William Basinski recently dropped me an intriguing email. He wrote of a “very talented young friend, a fine guitarist from Amarillo” who has “a great story.” If Billy recommends an artist, I look into them; the more I learned about this guitarist from Amarillo, TX — Hayden Pedigo — the more fascinated I became. A born and raised Amarilloan, Hayden is an ambient acoustic guitarist and soundscape composer who's written music dedicated to the landscape and beauty of his hometown. Changing artistic lanes late last year, Hayden undertook a satirical project inspired by Harmony Korine that was composed of a series of bizarre, Tim and Eric-esque fake campaign videos. When the vids went viral, he decided to run for City Council in Amarillo in earnest, and is now a leading contender with a real shot at being elected. With his gonzo comedic approach and dual life in music, we thought that a convo between Hayden and Tim Heidecker — who's fresh off the release of Us — would make for a quite a show. Talkhouse pals Nick Dawson (EIC, Film) and Josh Modell (Executive Editor, Music) join me to introduce this politically-minded conversation between two great weirdos. Check it out and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Stay up to date on live Talkhouse events with our Events tab. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded in Los Angeles by Tim Heidecker, and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark Yoshizumi.

Both Kate Nash and Cherry Glazerr’s Clem Creevy have talent, smarts, and attitude to burn; they've each also got incredible, recently-released music. To celebrate their new bops, the two friends sat down to chop it up at Clem’s home in LA. We hear about the truly unique story behind Kate’s new single "Trash" and the Maharaja musical she’s been writing; the curious empowerment Clem finds in singing from the perspective of a misogynist; and their takes on religion, rebellion, and life in Los Angeles. Check it out and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Stay up to date on live Talkhouse events with our Events tab. And if you’re in the New York area, come hang April 13 at our Record Store Day event! —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded in Los Angeles by Ali Nikou, and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark Yoshizumi.

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we feature a conversation between two of the most distinctive and original voices in American cinema: Harmony Korine and Caveh Zahedi. The two got together in New York City in advance of the release of Korine’s new movie, The Beach Bum, a wild Florida-set fantasia about cosmic poet Moondog, starring Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg, Jonah Hill, Martin Lawrence, Zac Efron and Jimmy Buffett. Korine and Zahedi, who used to be phone buddies years back, discuss seemingly everything under the sun, from The Beach Bum as an autobiographical portrait, to the art of parenting, to Korine’s recipe for joy – plus, Rimbaud vs. Rambo, the awesome thing about Bob Dylan playing minor league baseball grounds, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Hemingway’s six-toed cats, how Zahedi’s web series The Show about the Show kinda led to his divorce, and much, much more. For more filmmakers musicians in conversation, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Episode recorded by Elia Einhorn, and recorded and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi at Hook & Fade Studios in Brooklyn. The Talkhouse podcast producer is Elia Einhorn.