LSQ

Some bands, you love them almost instantly, and that was the deal for me with Vampire Weekend, who I was fortunate to be tipped off to early on, through some mutual friends in NYC. My love for them has only grown with each new album, as VW continue to explore new sonic terrain, including on their brilliant latest LP, Only God Was Above Us, which is out now. In this interview, VW frontman Ezra Koenig — one of my mega-favorite songwriters, and also one of my favorite dudes — talks about his mega favorites. And, somewhat unsurprisingly, we have at least a few in common — The Kinks and Belle and Sebastian, among the ones he talks about here. Ezra also shares how his music tastes were shaped by the 50s and 60s pop hits he loved listening to as a kid, on his local oldies station, and how that shifted into discovering Scott Walker and Neil Young and 90s hip-hop and early aughts Radiohead and a whole eclectic swath of other music, including 21st century faves like M.I.A. and Lana Del Rey. We also discuss the evolution of Vampire Weekend, and how his view of what the band can be continues to expand. 

There is no other artist quite like Beth Ditto, the brilliant singer, songwriter, actor, clothing and cosmetics designer, and frontwoman for the legendary indie band Gossip. Her voice is singular and her energy is magical. In episode 104, Ditto talks about the making of Gossip's exciting new album, Real Power, as well as her early experiences with music -- worshiping Cyndi Lauper and singing along with Skid Row during her childhood in Searcy, Arkansas, finding community in Olympia, Washington's riot grrrl scene in the late 90s and receiving crucial guidance from Sleater-Kinney back when Gossip was first starting, among other key moments. Find out more about the new Gossip album and their upcoming tour here.

Last fall, singer-songwriter and film score composer Dhani Harrison released a dynamic new solo album called Innerstanding, which gave me the perfect opportunity to finally interview him in depth. "To innerstand is to comprehend from a place of love and detachment, where you’re not forcing yourself or being forced," he explains. "If you come at things from a place of love, then you’ll always end up on the right side of history."  I’ve known Dhani for nearly twenty years, and I was so glad to have him as a guest on the LSQ podcast, and to ask him about his personal musical evolution. We connected over Zoom late last year, and he shared memories of how he first discovered and explored his musical talents, with encouragement from his dad, George Harrison, how skateboarding with his cousin in LA as a kid sparked his obsession with the Wu-Tang Clan, why, in spite of his abiding love for Jimi Hendrix, he never wanted to be a shredder, why he was so geeked to have Blur's Graham Coxon play (both guitar and saxophone) on Innerstanding, how he started writing film scores back in 2013 with the music for Beautiful Creatures, why he returned to living in the forest in recent years, leading up to the new album, and more. Innerstanding is available on vinyl here.

Joe Talbot, frontman for the ferocious U.K. band Idles, explores his artistic roots -- how his sculptor dad taught him the value of a creative purpose, how his love for hip-hop evolved as he became more politically aware, the inspiration he drew from Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, how the early oughts breakthrough by the Strokes influenced him, what it was like for Idles to find their sound in Bristol's fertile music scene, and how they learned to try new things, with help from producers Nigel Godrich and Kenny Beats, on their excellent new album Tangk.

On the eve of her incredible sophomore solo album, What Now (out February 9th), hear Brittany Howard share the story of her creative journey as a singer, songwriter and performer, explaining how she first discovered her voice and where she still hopes to go with it, how bonding with her friends over music like Black Sabbath and Kings of Leon led into starting her own band, the Alabama Shakes, with some of those same friends, how seeing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings in concert several years ago infused her with a whole new perspective on her career, and more, in episode 101.

Welcome to a super special episode -- not just because it’s the 100th episode, though I've gotta say I’m pretty proud of that, and so grateful to all of the artists who’ve given their time and been open to this conversation, but also because this episode features one of my favorite interviews from the podcast so far. I have been a deep admirer of Future Islands' music, and Samuel T. Herring’s soulfulness and poeticism as a singer and writer, since the band's early albums, and I loved hearing him share so many meaningful facets of his creative journey in this conversation. We talked about the excellent new Future Islands album, People Who Aren't There Anymore, as well as Sam's recent work on his own - the music he’s been releasing as Hemlock Ernst and his recent acting role in the Apple TV series The Changeling, and much more.

Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney join Jenny for episode 99, to talk about their new album, Little Rope, growing up in the burgeoning Northwest indie scene of the late Eighties and arriving at Olympia, Washington's Evergreen College just in time for the birth of riot grrrl in the early Nineties. They discuss their early days together, how they found their songwriting method, and how it has grown and evolved over the course of three decades and eleven albums. Get a copy of Little Rope here.

Proof of Life, the excellent fourth studio album by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun, has been one of my favorite LPs of 2023, and it's been awesome to see Joy's star rise in recent months. It was a true joy - if you'll pardon the pun - to meet Joy over Zoom and get to know more about their creative journey, growing up in Casa Grande, Arizona, as a child of Nigerian immigrants, coming to terms with their queerness against the backdrop of their religious upbringing. Joy talks about discovering artists such as Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley and King Sunny Adé as formative moments, as well as getting their first guitar at age 10 and discovering their ability to bring comfort to themself and others through their songs. Joy is currently finishing a US tour. You can get tickets here.

After years of admiring Jason Isbell's gifts as a songwriter and storyteller, I finally got to ask the alt-country artist about his earliest sparks of creativity, and it was fascinating to hear his memories of sitting on the front porch, singing with members of his extended family during weekly Sunday evening gatherings, and of listening to his Pentecostal preacher grandfather playing guitar, and introducing him to gospel and mountain songs and bluegrass and the blues. "Music was something that was presented to me as something that was directly tied with family," he says. "The way creative pursuits were presented to me, it was something people did because it made them feel better, and because they could control the machines. And they had grown up very poor and didn't have control over much else. I think that combination of lack of options and just a genuine love for the way the arts were presented to me from the beginning culminated in my identifying with it so closely. And then something sort of made me a fool. Something in there somewhere told me to actually pursue this to the ends of the earth if I had to. That's the part I don't exactly understand." Isbell also talks about his love for Hendrix and Pearl Jam, about the lessons he learned from teaching guitar in his early twenties, how his songwriting process has evolved, and more. Jason and his band the 400 Unit are playing shows at Nashville's legendary Ryman Auditorium this week and have additional US dates early next year. Following the awesome new Isbell & The 400 Unit album Weathervanes earlier this year, he recently put out a deluxe, 10th anniversary reissue of 2013's Southeastern. You can get a copy, and tickets for the upcoming date, here. Isbell can also be seen in the new Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon.

Alvvays have made some of my favorite indie music of the past decade, and although I’ve interviewed them briefly in the past, I loved going long with Molly Rankin from the band for episode 96. We talked about Alvvays’s awesome latest album, Blue Rev, the origins of “Archie, Marry Me,” which had it's 10th anniversary this year, about how Molly started writing songs as a teenager, inspired by learning the chords to her favorite Oasis tunes, what it was like growing up in a famous musical family (her father was among the members of The Rankins, the acclaimed Celtic folk group), how her songwriting practice began and how it has evolved, about her love of gardening and my love of Columbo, and more.