Music Therapy with Jessica Risker Jessica Risker

In this episode of Music Therapy, I talk with Dustin Currier of Lightleak! 

Dustin talks about

quitting his job to work on music,
how his studio space setup helps him be more creative,
the limits and strengths of binary thinking,
making an album remotely,
and his most recent album "Tender Fits" 

Songs featured on the podcast: "No Icon" and "Sympathetic Vibration" by Dustin Currier

Visit musictherapypodcast.com for show notes, past episodes, and upcoming events!

Music Therapy Podcast Credits: 

Music Therapy is hosted by Jessica Risker, produced by Sullivan Davis of Local Universe, and engineered by Joshua Wentz in Chicago. 

Opening and closing music composed by Joshua Wentz.

 

 

 

On this episode of Music Therapy I talk with Daniel Wyche of American Dreams Records!  

Daniel talks about:

His newest album “Earthwork” via American Dreams Records!
Curating the wildly successful Quarantine Concerts via Experimental Sound Studio
balancing teaching and making music
mental health
the Chicago music scene
getting older
and lots more!

Songs featured: ”Earthwork” (excerpt) and ”The Elephant -Whale II” by Daniel Wyche from the album Earthwork




Visit musictherapypodcast.com for show notes, past episodes, and upcoming events!

Music Therapy Podcast Credits: 

Music Therapy is hosted by Jessica Risker, produced by Sullivan Davis of Local Universe, and engineered by Joshua Wentz in Chicago. 

Opening and closing music composed by Joshua Wentz.

Group Session featuring FRIKO!  Chicago indie-pop trio Friko takes the couch at Cafe Mustache for a live taping of Music Therapy.  Features an in-depth interview with the band, comedy, and a special live performance by Friko.  

Friko shares what it’s like to live together, how they approach songwriting, answer audience questions and lots more on this special Group Session episode of Music Therapy!

Visit musictherapypodcast.com for show notes, past episodes, and upcoming events!

Songs featured: 

Music Therapy Podcast Credits: 

Music Therapy is hosted by Jessica Risker, produced by Sullivan Davis of Local Universe, and engineered by Joshua Wentz in Chicago. 

Opening and closing music composed by Joshua Wentz.

In this episode of Music Therapy I talk with Jason Balla of Dehd and Accessory. We talk about Dehd’s new album ”Blue Skies” out now on Fat Possum, embracing mistakes in songwriting and recording, how to work past your inner critic, giving up control in collaborating, advice for touring and recording, and lots more!

Songs featured:

Chop Shop High School by Jessica Risker

Eyes for Berlin by Accessory

Bad Love by Dehd

Charles Joseph Smith is an absolute fixture of the Chicago DIY scene.  He is also a musical genius, a prolific pianist with over 600 compositions and arrangements under his belt. 

In this episode of Music Therapy, Charles shares his story of growing up with autism, how he discovered and nurtured his talent for music, the differences between the classical and DIY music scenes, his top 5 favorite DIY spaces ever, and lots more. 

Visit musictherapypodcast.com for show notes, past episodes, and upcoming events!

Music Therapy Podcast Credits: 

Music Therapy is hosted by Jessica Risker, produced by Sullivan Davis of Local Universe, and engineered by Joshua Wentz in Chicago. 

Opening and closing music composed by Joshua Wentz.

 

Angela James is a Chicago singer-songwriter who just released a beautiful new album, co-produced with David Vandervelde (Father John Misty) called ”Now That I Have You”. ​

”I’m making what I feel like is the best work in my career. I had a lot of opportunities early in my career, and that was great, but I was so new and I had just started writing songs and just started playing music, and I didn’t have the confidence, and now it’s like, I’m making better work. I have more confidence.” - Angela James

I loved talking with Angela.  As a musician who is also a mom, I’m always excited to speak with other musician moms to see how they balance their lives and art.  

Angela speaks in a calm, thoughtful way about a range of pretty wild topics, including using psychedelics, postpartum depression and psychosis, death, grief, and working in hospice.  We also talk about her creative process, her new album, and how her relationship to her music career has changed over time.  Finally, we share our love for the Chicago music scene, and how unbelievably talented, accessible, and supportive it is.  

We cover:

How do you make music when you become a parent?

How does your relationship to art change when you hit middle age?

What does music success look like?

Can psychedelics help spiritual growth?

Should you wait to have kids if you’re trying to be a musician?

Visit musictherapypodcast.com for show notes, past episodes, and upcoming events!

Songs featured: ”Portrait of the Artist by a Middle-Aged Mother” and ”The Caregiver” by Angela James

Music Therapy Podcast Credits: 

Music Therapy is hosted by Jessica Risker, produced by Sullivan Davis of Local Universe, and engineered by Joshua Wentz in Chicago. 

Opening and closing music composed by Joshua Wentz.