Meet Our Makers Meet OurMakers

In this chat, we get to meet Tracyanne Campbell, the frontwoman of celebrated Scottish indie rock icons Camera Obscura. Back with their first album in over a decade, Look To The East, Look To The West, Camera Obscura have a lot to say now that they're back on the scene, and effortlessly prove that their return was worth the wait. In this talk, lead singer & songwriter Tracyanne and I discuss the new album at lenght, including some of its themes, its musicality, its production, and what led to them reconvening in the first place (turns out it had a lot to do with Belle And Sebastian's cruise ship music festival back in 2019). We also touch on some of the factors that contributed to their long absence, including the unfortunate passing of longtime keyboardist Carey Lander, back in 2015. It was such a pleasure to speak with someone I've listened to and looked up to for so long as a sharp and potent voice in music, and I'm so happy the band is back. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Canadian singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist, folk music icon, Loreena Mckennitt. In this conversation, Loreena and I dsicuss her new live recording The Road Back Home, which is out now on her own Quinlan Road label , and how she distinguishes it as a “field recording” more than a proper live album. We discuss touring during COVID, and the trials and tribulations of that, as well as her love of world traveling and how those travels have impacted her work over the years. And moreover, we talk about how she came to love and be a part of the Celtic folk music world. We also touch on her expansive tour from this spring where she revisited her landmark album The Visit for its 30th anniversary — and be sure to check out her tour in Europe starting this summer to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Mask And The Mirror. So needless to say - Loreena has been making vital, beautiful music for several decades now, and so we had a LOT to talk about. It was an honor and pleasure. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Molly Drag. Molly Drag is the pseudonym of Montreal singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Michael Charles Hansford. In this talk, we dive deep into his brand new album, Mammoth, out now on I'm Into Life Records. But we also talk about...well, a lot of other things. Truthfully, this is quite a spontaneous and circuitous talk, because Michael and I have been following each other's work for a couple years now, and have chatted here and there before, making this conversation much more of a catching up & hanging out kind of episode. Which is great! We talk the new record of course, but also things like home recording, Kelly Reichardt films, the virtues of being a DIY artist, work-life balance, and more. It's an amiable talk with a super talented guy. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Iron & Wine - aka: singer/songwriter/guitarist, and general indie folk icon, Sam Beam. Sam has just recently put out a brand new Iron & Wine record entitled Light Verse, so we do spend a good amount of time discussing this album. We touch on its themes of loss and acceptance, the time it took to make, and the collaborators he had on it - including none other than the legendary Fiona Apple. We also look back on his seminal 2nd record, Our Endless Numbered Days, which turned 20 this year. We talk about creative ruts, file sharing and leaked music, and do some light myth-busting about his debut album. I also get personal and tell Sam just how much his music has meant to me, and how integral its been to my development especially as a musician myself, over the year. It's a lovely, jovial conversation, and one I will go cross off the bucket-list now. Thank you for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet claire rousay. claire is best known as an ambient composer, crafting soundscapes with keys, found sounds, drone, and other experimental elements. But in this chat, she and I talk quite a bit about her brand new album sentiment, which is out now on Thrill Jockey, which includes much more singer-songwriter style material. Now, it's still a claire rousay record, and we discuss how she tried to keep a hold on her experimental spirit despite having more lyric- and guitar-focused songs than ever before, including her choice to produce all the vocals on the album with a sort of robotic autotune effect. We also talk about inspirations, how emo and folk music impacted her as a music listener and creator, live performance, and more. It's a very candid, down to earth, and occasionally lovably self-deprecating chat with one of our most intriguing voices in current-day experiment pop music, and I think you'll enjoy. Thanks for listening.

In this chat, we get to meet Julia Holter. Julia is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and composer extraordinaire, who just put out a wondrous new record, Something in the Room She Moves. In this chat, Julia talk a lot about this new album, including the production, the songwriting, the stories, and the risks of these songs. We talk titles, the Beatles, performance, as well as her work in film scoring (such as her score for Never Rarely Sometimes Always), and more. It's a lovely chat with one of our best artists. Thanks for listening.