Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Kindergarten Heart" Well, the Canadian singer/songwriter Shaina Hayes finished university and did what most graduates do--she started a farm. Ambitious? Of course it was--but Hayes, who was actually raised on a farm, was more than up for the challenge and spent her twenties tilling the land for her vegetable farm which was also a local CSA. The art of farming gave way to another art form--music. Hayes put out her debut album To Coax A Waltz in 2022 and two years later comes the follow-up Kindergarten Heart. A stirring blend of aching melancholia and gentle indie folk, Kindergarten Heart is powered by percussive rhythms and poetic flourishes that weave through each composition with hopeful elegance. It's truly beautiful work. And this is a lovely, lovely chat. www.shainahayes.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com X: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Natural Magick" Formed in the mid '90s in London, Kula Shaker emerged as one of the most dynamic and engaging musical acts around. Mixing psychedelia with traditional Indian music and pop, Kula Shaker tore it up right out of the gate, with their debut album K hitting #1 and making them immediate superstars. Over the course of their career they played Glastonbury, T in the Park, the V Festival, and they supported Oasis at their legendary Knebworth shows. Singer Crispian Mills is the grandson of the Academy Award Winning actor Sir John Mills and the son of director Roy Boulting and actress Hayley Mills, who you might remember from the 1961 film The Parent Trap. Mills got into ancient Sanskrit texts as a young man and carried their wisdom into his adulthood. He also got into psych music as well as The Doors. He's played with X-Ray Spex and appeared on the Prodigy's The Fat Of The Land album and when Kula Shaker were on hiatus, he played in a band called The Jeevas. Also, he's a writer and director; he wrote and helmed the Simon Pegg film A Fantastic Fear Of Everything and has other projects in the works. With Kula Shaker he's put out six marvelous albums, including K, Pilgrim's Progress, 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Hugs and their brand new one, Natural Magick. A riveting return to form, Natural Magick finds the original Kula Shaker lineup reunited and the results are stunning--this album is an energetic blast of psych pop redolent with rich hooks, textured instrumentation and melodies galore. It's fabulous work. www.news.kulashaker.co.uk www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @embersditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"I Will Never Let You Down" Marcellus Hall has been doing so much, his resume it'll make you look at your resume and think What have I been doing? Let's back up: The Minnesota-born Marcellus Hall went to the Rhode Island school of design then moved to New York after graduating to form the band Railroad Jerk. Railroad Jerk put out four perfect albums for Matador, thought they recorded a fifth called Masterpiecemeal, that didn't come out but is available now on Bandcamp. After the band broke up, Hall formed White Hassle with Railroad Jerk's Dave Varenka, who were awesome and they put out a handful of brilliant albums like National Chain and Death of Song. After White Hassle called it a day in 2006, Hall put out phenomenal solo albums like The First Line, Afterglow and now his new one I Will Never Let You Down. But what about those ten years? You're probably still wondering. He's been illustrating. As an illustrator, Hall's work has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Fortune and he's done several New Yorker covers. He did the weekly comic strip Bill Dogbreath that appeared in The Onion and Baltimore City paper, among others, and he illustrated books--lots of them, like Sherry North's Because You Are My Baby, Lee Bennet Hopkins' City I Love and Karma Wilson's The Cow Loves cookies. Keep in mind, this is a partial list. Another partial list: books that Hall wrote and illustrated, like Kaleidoscope City, Everyone Sleeps, Virtual Reality, and Multiplicity. As for his new album, it's a stunner. A breezy blend melodic muscle and musical finesse, this is an instant classic. Hall plays with a kind of freewheeling precision, and his songs are the kinds of songs you will carry with you for the rest of your life. Trust me. Have I ever let you down? Okay, maybe once or twice, but Marcellus Hall will never let you down. www.marcellushall.bandcamp.com www.marcellushall.com (http://www.marcellushall.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Angles And Ordinary Men" Back in the late '90s Wendy Lands' debut album Angels and Ordinary Men landed on my desk in the form a package from Canada and I dove right in. Falling somewhere between Beth Orton's Trailer Park and Sade's Stronger Than Pride, the album was a revelation. It was soulful, it was atmospheric, it was melodic, it was rich, and it was filled with musical finesse and jazzy textures that made repeat listens more and more rewarding. So who is Wendy Lands and what in the devil has she been up to since her marvelous debut album? She's going to fill you in far better than I ever could, but let me give you some quick details: In the early '90s the Montreal-born, Toronto-raised Wendy Lands cut her musical teeth doing theatre adn playing in a pop band called Double Dare. Her debut album spawned two top 40 hits and landed her a Juno nomination for Best New Solo artist in 1997. She toured with Jann Arden, grabbed two Canadian Radio Music Award nominations and as a side hustle, she recorded a series of commercial voice overs. Remember that last bit...She moved to LA to be a songwriter, writing numbers with Paul Williams and Melissa Manchester, then moved back to Canada where she released two more fabulous albums Mumble and Altitude. This is a partial list, Wendy is going to fill in the blanks, but her main gig now is being a widely respected voice actor. Is there new music simmering? Of course there is, but I'll defer to her on that one, too. Look, Wendy Lands is wonderful. Her voice is smooth and stunning, her vocal poise is otherworldly and aside from her gifts behind the mic, she's one of the nicest people ever. www.wendylands.com (http://www.wendylands.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alegreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Boom Boom Boom Bingo" Scruffy The Cat dominated the College Rock scene of the late '80s with a run of fabulous albums like Tiny Days and Moons of Jupiter, plus two stellar EPs High Octane Revival and Boom Boom Boom Bingo. If you don't have these four releases-get them. They're the most perfect blasts of rootsy indie pop you'll ever hear. The six member Boston outfit, which formed in '83 lasted just under a decade, breaking up in 1990. Over the course of their career they went Top 5 on the CMJ College Radio Charts, were played on MTV's 120 minutes, were critically lauded by pretty much everyone, including the Village Voice and The Chicago Tribune, cracked the Billboard Top 200 and toured with Los Lobos, The Replacements and Yo La Tengo. The six member Scruffy personnel consisted of Charlie Chesterman, Stephen Fredette, MacPaul Stanfield, Randall Lee Gibson IV, Stona Fitch and Burns Stanfield. Omnivore put out two great anthologies that celebrate the band's legacy and as far as alums go, Scruffy is down two men with the deaths of Chesterman and Gibson, but the music remains and it sounds as fresh as ever. As for Stephen Fredette, he's a marvelous and accomplished artist who did all the Scruffy covers, and he just had his first gallery show in the Boston area. And he's been working on some songs.... www.scruffythecat.com (http://www.scruffythecat.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Chaos And Wonder" Donnette Thayer went west for college and when the Colorado-born Thayer arrived at UC Davis with veterinary aspirations she found a thriving arts community that she fell right into. She'd played classical music growing up, but suddenly found herself fronting alternative bands like X-Men, The Veil and No Matter What. She guested on Game Theory's Blaze of Glory and then joined the band full-time in 1986. She was in the band for the Lolita Nation and Two Steps From The Middle Ages albums before she left in 1988. That same year she formed Hex with Steve Kilbey of The Church and put out two marvelous albums--the self-titled debut and the swooning follow up Vast Halos. Thayer put out a solo album called Chaos and Wonder and then what? Well, I'll have her fill in the gaps and bring you up to date. But let me say this about Donnette--her voice is a breathtaking blend of beauty and finesse and it swirls through the compositions with a beguiling and airy command. She's a marvelous musician and an absolutely lovely person. www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.embersarts.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"A Family Album" The California-born and Washington-raised Holly Palmer has had quite a career. Signed to Reprise in the mid-nineties, Palmer garnered well-deserved critical-acclaim and toured with the likes of Paula Cole, k.d. Lang and Shawn Colvin. David Bowie asked her to sing background vocals on his Hours album and then he asked her to join his 1999 world tour as a singer/percussionist. Some career highlights: she joined Gnarls Barkley on their World Tour, recorded a duet with Michael Buble', sang background and played acoustic guitar on Idina Menzel's I Stand Tour, wrote the theme to the television show Mob City, and formed the musical duo Bubbles and Cheesecake with Ailee Willis who wrote September and Boogie Wonderland with Earth, Wind & Fire. She's worked with Jellyfish's Roger Manning Jr, Dr. Dre, Don Was and Dave Navarro--how's that for range? She can do anything. Holly Palmer has put out five perfect solo albums including her 1996 self-titled debut, 2007's Songs For Tuesday and 2017's A Family Album. A graduate of the Berkelee College Of Music Palmer has since gone on to explore the nuances of voice and music composition. Her phrasing, her timing and her beautiful timbre make her one of the greats. She's a mom, a wife, an artist and a student all at once and she just keeps crushing it.  www.hollypalmerlife.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Movement" There’s nothing about Peter Hook that I can tell you you don’t already know, so let’s just do a refresher run through his musical CV. In the late '70s Hook formed Joy Division with childhood pal Bernard Sumner after the two friends saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester. The band only put out two albums and one of those albums, the legendary Closer was put out two months after the band had ceased to b,e due to the suicide of singer Ian Curtis on the eve of Joy Division’s debut US/Canada tour. Rechristened New Order and consisting of the remaining members of Joy Division plus keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, New Order blended jittery post-punk rhythms with dance music. The result? Well, you know the result. They were one of the biggest bands of the '80s, spawning hits like True Faith, The Perfect Kiss, Subculture and Blue Monday, which was the biggest selling 12-inch of all time. It might still be. New Order dominated the '80s, but the '90s weren’t too shabby—they had a #1 UK hit with World In Motion in 1990 and they had their biggest US hit with “Regret” in 1993. They kept crushing it, putting out Get Ready in 2001 and collaborating with Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. They were given the Godlike Genius award at the 2005 NME awards and got nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for Guilt Is a Useless Emotion. Then things got a bit sour, with Hook leaving the band in 2007 and forming his own outfit Peter Hook and the Light, a band that featured his son Jack and much to his fans delight, revisited the Joy Division and New Order songbooks. Over the course of his career Hook has worked with The Stone Roses, and Perry Farrell, he toured with the Durutti Column, put out albums with Revenge and Monaco and wrote one of the best music books ever: Substance; Inside New Order. This is a partial list, btw. Almost a partial partial list because when it comes to Peter Hook, there’s a lot of ground to cover. But these are the basics. Do a deeper dive after you hear the show—the guy is a titan. As for his split with New Order and his boyhood pal Bernard, we don’t have time to go over the legal end of that dissolution, so let’s just say this. If you’re hoping for a reunion you’re wasting your good hope energy. Not going to happen. As a bassist, he plays with an authoritative blend of prowl and sting and not only is he one of the all time greats, he also happens to be a nice guy. This chat covers his fractured friendship with Sumner, why the New Order/Joy Division songbooks appeal to fans across generations and what Hooky has learned from his old material. www.peterhookandthelight.live www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Forwards” For more than 40 years the Welsh band the Alarm have been one of the most consistent acts on the planet, playing songs with conviction, heart and belief. With almost 20 studio albums under their belts, along with a discography that includes live albums, box sets and EPs, The Alarm are one of those bands where you pretty much want everything they put out. From albums like Declaration to Strength to their brand new one Forwards, The Alarm are a completist’s band. Speaking of Forwards, it’s a remarkable record—singer/songwriter Mike Peters has never sounded better, his voice alive with muscle and belief. The Welsh band have had a remarkable career that’s filled with endless highlights-- they toured with U2 and Bob Dylan, played at Queen’s Live at Wembley concert in 1986, been on IRS’s the Cutting Edge and American Bandstand, had hit singles all over the world even cracking the Billboard Top 50 here in the States, and wrote a song that became the official Welsh anthem for Euro 2020. This is a band that’s all about community, support and they remain as vital as ever. www.thealarm.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com www.embersarts.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Everything On Memory" The Fresno-born, Modesto-raised Jim Fairchild got his start on guitar as a teenager and in the mid-nineties became the lead guitar player for the indie rock outfit Grandaddy. That would be enough to make a resume’ shimmer, but Fairchild was just getting started. He was the touring guitar player for Giant Sand, he worked with everyone from Hawaii to Dappled Cities and he took over for Johnny Marr in Modest Mouse in 2009 and played lead guitar for them until 2021. Fairchild fronted the band All Smiles, he was selected to lead a project at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2010 and started a new project called Grace Meridian in 2020. But that’s not all—Fairchild currently is the Director of A&R for Dangerbird Records and he’s scoring films like the documentary Common Ground and Bee The Change, which is narrated by Ellie Goulding. And we haven’t even talked about Small Isles yet. Their new EP Everything On Memory has been described by Fairchild as, "written as the imagined score to a Christopher Nolan-directed movie I dreamt about in which Donald and Steven Glover wrote a script in response to Modest Mouse's "Third Planet”. To my ears, Small Isles’ new release is a moody blend of spellbinding cinemascapes, arching crescendos, soaring distant melodies and futuristic percussion, all of which adds up to one of the most spellbinding releases of the year. Fairchild recently scored the documentary film Common Ground (Donald Glover, Laura Dern, Woody Harrelson, Rosario Dawson, Ian Somerhalder) which won the Tribeca Film Festival “Human/Nature” award. He is currently working on the follow up, Bee The Change narrated by Ellie Goulding, which will premiere at COP 28 (United Nations Climate Change Conference). Small Isles on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallislespicturemusic Bandcamp: https://smallislesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-valley-the-mountains-the-sea www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.bombshellradio.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com