Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“Teenage Wasted American Kids” So, Modern Love Child’s Jonny Shane was on our show in October of 2019 just as his band’s debut album MLC hit shelves. And then a few months later, the pandemic hit and everything ground to a standstill. But the east coast-born Shane was undeterred by the tumult of 2020—the guy is everywhere. He was in L.A., he was in Costa Rica and now he’s in Florida. With his winning personality Shane is one of those guys who fits in wherever he is. And his music should fit in just fine on any of your playlists. Modern Love Child’s music is a perfect blend of catchy new wave and soaring pop—and Shane is not only a great songwriter, he’s a great writer, too. His lyrics are observational and vulnerable and clever, but his real gift is throwing in unexpected phrases and lines that you’ll never see coming. This guy’s got it all: Pop smarts, lyrical smarts and melodic smarts punctuate every Modern Love Child track and as a far as I’m concerned, Shane is one of the most refreshingly innovative and engaging lyricists we have. In this conversation we talk about surfing, backgammon, Ben Kweller, his new single “Teenage Wasted American Kids" and bringing on the future.

"La, La, La, La" Yes, he was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, but there’s always been a California feel to Alex Bleeker. The bassist for the beloved indie rock outfit Real Estate, Bleeker has also fronted Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, an outfit that plays a countryfied mash up of roots rock and psychedelia. That California feel I’m talking about can be traced to Bleeker’s love of the Grateful Dead. We talk about that in this interview, so I’ll let him explain, but Bleeker’s music has a timeless quality that makes it hard to place chronologically. This is a good problem to have, because one can never be pigeonholed or stuck in an era--they can float freely out of time. Speaking of floating freely, Bleeker’s first solo album does just that. A stirring and blissful collection of gentle jangles, catchy, '60s-tinged pop and ethereal melodies, Heaven On The Faultline is one of the most beautifully crafted albums you’ll hear all year. Or any year. In this chat we talk about The Dead, being jittery around germs and admitting there are classic albums we haven't heard yet

“Pop The Placebo” The Greenwich Village-born Elizabeth Ziman started playing the piano at a young age. How young? Well, she penned her first song at age 6, so she got going pretty fast. A start like that makes her scholarship to study classical composition at the Berklee College of Music and her nabbing an ASCAP Leiber and Stoller scholarship not a very big surprise. So her scholastic plan was hatched and she was ready to go, But like they always say, the best plans are born from the plans that don’t happen. And you can’t plan for that. You just go with it. And Ziman did just that—her plan to focus on scoring films was upended by Patti Austin tapping her for an Ella Fitzgerald tour that found Ziman on the road for almost two years. She got back to Berkelee and as her collegiate career was ending, she put together Elizabeth and the Catapult. From there, things stated to move fast. The band put out an EP in 2006, signed with Verve in 2008 and put out their first record Taller Children in 2009. In the past 15 years, the Brooklyn band has put out five albums, collaborated with Ben Folds, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, opened for Sara Bareilles at Madison Square Garden and nabbed an Independent Music Award. That fifth album is Sincerely, E, a nimble and poetic effort written and recorded during the past year under quarantine and if you found yourself making series of pandemic pivots since March of 2020, Sincerely E is the soundtrack of those pivots. A heartbreaking, soulful and comforting effort, it finds Ziman playing with poise, finesse, wisdom and grace. From the spry pop of “Thirsty" to the thoughtful and aching "Pop The Placebo," it’s stark, dark, and ultimately thrilling. In this chat, Elizabeth and Alex talk about rabbits, Michael Keaton, technical dependence, binge watching, reading weird reviews and getting better at saying No….. Order Sincerely, E: https://store.compassrecords.com/products/sincerely-e

“The Comfort Of Discomfort” You’re about to learn a great deal about Chad Lawson in our conversation, so before we begin, I’ll give you a few essentials. The classically trained pianist first had the inclination he wanted to be behind the keys after watching Sha Na Na on TV when he was 5. Lawson went to Berklee College of Music where he declared himself a jazz performance major, but while there he became an in-demand studio musician so he dropped out, not seeing much point in staying in school. He later formed the Chad Lawson trio, toured as part of Julio Iglesias' band, hit number one on the Billboard Classical albums chart, composed for the podcasts Lore, Unobscured and Cabinet of Curiosities, signed a deal with Decca Records, and launched his own podcast called Calm It Down. Inspired by everyone from Keith Jarret to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench, Lawson plays with fluidity, finesse and grace. He’s a dextrous and thoughtful player who’s innovative, creative and intuitive. And he never does the same thing twice. You probably think that’s the kind of thing a podcast host says, but it’s not. I mean it is, but it’s not in this case. Consider this: Lawson put out a jazz reinterpretation of the Wizard of Oz, released an album of covers including tracks by Soundgarden and the Police, reinterpreted Chopin with a violinist and a cellist and his newest track is a take on a number by Billie Eilish. You can’t pin this guy down.And given his marital arts background, I’m guessing you REALLY can’t pin him down. This is a revealing chat and one I think you’re going to find has some pretty amazing life lessons. Yeah, I know—another podcast host thing to say but trust me: it’s true.

“The Journey Isn’t Finished Yet" Steve Hackett is indeed one of the true musical masters. The London born guitarist got his start in two short lived bands—Canterbury Glass and Quiet World, but his tenure in Genesis is what catapulted him into the spotlight. Hackett played on six of the legendary bands’ albums, including Nursery Cryme and Selling England By The Pound. He left Genesis in 1977 and from there, Hackett put out a series of adventurous, innovative and dazzling solo albums, including Spectral Mornings and Bay Of Kings. Hackett’s influence is vast and just to give you an idea of who his playing inspired—Queen’s Brian May Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Eddie Van Halen have all name-checked Hackett as a massive influence. As for his playing, getting into the technical brilliance of his revelatory use of two handed tapping and sweep picking might be the subject of its own podcast. The fact is, Steve Hackett plays with dexterity, depth and finesse--his precision is almost supernatural and his command of his instrument is peerless. He’s a big fan of Bach and would probably think we're overdoing it by saying he’s like Bach, but he is. He’s a master, he’s an innovator and he’s one of the great composers not only of our time, but of any time. Bach-like, for sure. His new album Under a Mediterranean sky is an all acoustic affair and it’s a straight up stunner— elegant, lush and utterly riveting. In this conversation Hackett talks to Alex about the brilliance of Jimi Hendrix, his admiration of Mark Knopfler and how working with Peter Gabriel affected his playing. He also talks about what area he feels least comfortable in as a guitar player, how rehearsal and performance differ and why it’s important to take chances.

"Somewhere Between Joe Gould And Lee Mavers" “The supreme question about a work of art,” James Joyce once wrote, "is out of how deep a life does it spring.” If you tried to plumb the fathoms for a measurable reading of the life of Cathal Coughlan—well, the depth finder would crack right in half. Coughaln’s life has been a rich and textured affair and his talent is vast and incomprehensibly majestic. With his band Microdisney, The Cork -born musician put out several of the most affecting albums ever made. Efforts like The Clock Comes Down the Stairs in 1985 or the following year’s Crooked Mile, are front to back classics. After he and his bandmate Sean O-Hagan dissolved Microdisney and O-Hagan went on to form the High Llamas, Coughlan fired up the Fatima Mansions—an aggressive, fiery and angular outfit, that played synth-laced alternative rock that churned away with grinding and brutal beauty. Viva Dead Ponies and Lost In The Former West are two personal favorites, but the fact is, I love every album in their discography. Over the course of his career Coughlan put out a series of brilliant solo albums, collaborated with the likes of comic Sean Hughes and British singer/songwriter Luke Haines, scored movies like The Last Bus Home and The Mapmaker, toured with U2, appeared onstage in a contemporary opera, and reformed Microdisney for a brief series of triumphant shows. His new album Song of Co-Aklan is a work of startling beauty and precision. Imbued with poetic invention and finesse, haunting melodies, riveting ballads and an unmistakable wisdom and pop grace, Coughlan has never sounded better. This is a deep and focused conversation that can’t be encapsulated in a sentence or two—you just have to listen. But we do touch on Lee Mavers, friendship, Sting, the legend of Joe Gould, the vulnerability of solo shows and staying prolific during lockdown. Digital pre-order https://orcd.co/songofcoaklan CD / Vinyl pre-order (USA) https://amzn.to/3jcx8CM CD / Vinyl pre-order (UK) https://ffm.to/songofcoaklanalbum

"Despondent Transponder Sacramento Shoegaze Blues" The Fleeting Joys’ 2006 debut Despondent Transponder slipped on the shoegaze radar with little fanfare, but fifteen years later, the album is considered a front to back classic. Awash in soaring melodies, fuzzed up guitars and hypnotic arrangements, the album sounds like a heavenly blend of lifting fog, exploding comets and outer space bliss. A bit of My Bloody Valentine, a bit of Sonic Youth and a touch of Ride--sure, all of that--but the Fleeting Joys have their own brand of magic that made subsequent releases like Speeding Away To Someday and Occult Radiance instant sonic treasures. The Sacramento band, which is fronted by the married team of John and Rorika Loring, know when to soar and when to punch and when to skyrocket into the stratosphere—not only that, they know when it’s safe to land. There’s new music on the way, there’s a vinyl reissue of Despondent Transponder, there might be some live shows and there’s a reason why the Fleeting Joys don’t think it’s important to do things in order. In this chat, John and Rorika talk about their musical roots, their love of Sonic Youth and how the creative process works when your creative partner lives in the same house….

“Modern Yesterdays” Over the course of her career, the Georgia-born, NYU-educated Kaki King has put out nine spellbinding albums, including her 2003 debut Everybody Loves You, the staggering 2006 effort Until We Felt Red and her brand new one Modern Yesterdays. Kaki King is a force. But she’s the kind of force that you can’t really define. She plays guitar like nobody else—and whether she’s incorporating jazz or flamenco or post rock, whatever she does sounds like something nobody’s ever done. Her percussive style and her fret tappings and her open tunings are beyond us to explain in a technical sense so let's just say this: Kaki King plays the guitar with an otherworldly flair. But even that falls short. Kaki King is a Jedi. And what we mean by that is what she does is so special, so rare and so staggering, when you listen to her play you can feel the force at work. And you can’t put words to it—you only know that what she’s doing is one of the great mysteries of the universe. And though that mystery is mysterious to us civilians, Kaki is in complete control of her gift and she’s fluid, she’s powerful and she’s got the kind of percussive finesse that’s about as mystical as it gets. If you know her music you know what we’re talking about. And if you know her music you know that there’s not way to talk about it. In this conversation Kaki talks to Alex about life during quarantine with two small children, how normal it will actually feel when things go to normal and her love of Spoon...

“Anxiety and Art” The New York born Gracie Martin’s music is nothing short of revelatory. A dreamy mix of indie folk and hypnotic pop, she brings to mind everyone from Kate Nash to Kate Bush. Martin starting writing songs at 11, started styling classical voice at 13 and started playing guitar at 15. She got her BFA in acting from the University of the Arts and was involved extensively in the theatre community of Philadelphia Her 2017 debut EP Unconscious revealed an out of the box talent who wrote about the rickety world around us with a hypnotic and poetic steadiness. The songs were riveting, arresting and captivating. From there she put out a string of fabulous singles, did the soundtrack for the Wilma Theaters production of Romeo and Juliet and now she’s back with Dreams Die, which you just heard. An album is in the works, live shows could happen depending on the health of the world out there and there’s more to come from Gracie Martin. The fact is, she’s so talented, she could do anything. And she will. Now, it’s true that most artists have a familiar relationship with anxiety. And that anxiousness can be about anything—life, love, money, the actual creative process itself. It can get pretty tense. In this chat, Gracie talks about her own experience with anxiety and the workarounds that it forced her to come up with to deal with it. Look, she’s not alone—we all have it in one form or another and this conversation is about Gracie, but it’s also about the rest of us. We also chat about the rigors of college, cultivating a persona and voice as an artist and becoming desensitized to the quarantine….

"Renewal, Regeneration, Revival" Clocking in at just under two minutes, "Stays With You” from Blesson Roy's debut album Think Like Spring perfectly exemplifies what the band does best—craft great pop songs that take no time at all to lift off. The band’s braintrust is the L.A.-raised Terry Borden, who grew up in the '80s loving punk rock but also loving all that great stuff from the UK that could be found on 4AD or Creation or Rough Trade. He played in Pete Yorn’s band and he was a member of the legendary slow core outfit Idaho. His debut album as Blesson Roy has the perfect title in Think Like Spring—after all, the record is about renewal, regeneration and revival. A dreamy blast of layered melodies, textured choruses and mesmerizing soundscapes, Think Like Spring is emotional, thoughtful and vulnerable and it soars mightily away with the kind of muscle and grace that brings to mind everything from the Cocteau Twins to Ride. The songs and the creation of the recordings, Borden says, “Felt like a warm place in a cold and dangerous world.” In this engaging conversation Borden talks to Alex about growing up in Los Angeles, his love of Echo and the Bunnymen, his relationship with the past and the difficulty of making friends as we get older.