474 episodes

The Sound & Vision podcast from KEXP features interviews, panels, reporting and commentary that digs into the stories behind the music, with in-depth discussion of the most important issues facing music and arts communities. New episodes are published on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with bonus features throughout the week. Sound & Vision is hosted by Emily Fox and Larry Mizell, Jr.

Sound & Vision KEXP

    • Music
    • 4.9 • 137 Ratings

The Sound & Vision podcast from KEXP features interviews, panels, reporting and commentary that digs into the stories behind the music, with in-depth discussion of the most important issues facing music and arts communities. New episodes are published on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with bonus features throughout the week. Sound & Vision is hosted by Emily Fox and Larry Mizell, Jr.

    Best Of: Behind the Console: From Prince to PhD

    Best Of: Behind the Console: From Prince to PhD

    For Women’s History Month, we are revisiting Sound & Vision's 2021 miniseries, Behind the Console, which highlights the stories of women and nonbinary audio engineers who are navigating what is still a very male-dominated field.

    Today we meet Susan Rogers, who engineered for Prince for four years, working on albums like 'Purple Rain' and 'Sign o' the Times.' She also has credits with David Byrne, Tricky, and the Barenaked Ladies. She talks about what it was like keeping up with Prince's tireless creativity, and how it could be both exhausting and exhilarating. She also discusses eventually leaving engineering in her 40s to get her PhD in Music Cognition and Psychoacoustics, and how that has influenced her work in unexpected ways.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 20 min
    Totem Star Youth Recording Studio

    Totem Star Youth Recording Studio

    Totem Star is a recording studio for Seattle area youth ages 14 to 25. The organization recently moved to a new 2,000 square foot space on the second floor of Seattle’s King Street Station in Pioneer Square. That’s where Totem Star will live rent free for the next 60 years, thanks to a lease from the city.

    KEXP’s Emily Fox talks with Totem Star co-founder Daniel Pak about the impact of Totem star since it launched as a mobile recording studio that could fit in a suitcase 14 years ago. Pak shares how Totem Star was inspired after a mixtape project he did with youth who had just been released from juvenile detention.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 10 min
    Toussaint Morrison Reflects on MN Police Killings in Album

    Toussaint Morrison Reflects on MN Police Killings in Album

    Toussaint Morrison is a New Orleans-born, Minneapolis-raised artist. He released an album earlier this year called 'The Very Best of Ricky and Jane.' Ricky and Jane are his parents.

    Morrison talks with KEXP’s Emily Fox about the activism his parents were involved in and how decades later, he quit his job at a PBS station when he became involved in the protests following the killing of George Floyd. He also shares how the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the death of Daunte Wright in a north Minneapolis suburb are reflected in this latest album.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 14 min
    Brittany Davis Raises Her Voice on ‘Image Issues’

    Brittany Davis Raises Her Voice on ‘Image Issues’

    Seattle’s Brittany Davis has released her debut album, 'Image Issues,' which she calls an "audio movie." It’s a sonic journey that weaves in many musical genres and spoken word vignettes backed by soundscapes. Davis is blind and audio is a heightened sense for her. She also has synesthesia and hears music from smells.

    Davis talks with Emily Fox about raising her voice in the face of adversity in this album.

    “Being an overweight Black blind female from the wrong side of the tracks that has no physical capital, no cultural capital, but I do have a message and I had to make a choice to raise my voice despite all of the things that I didn’t have. I had to use the one thing I did have,” Davis says. 

    Davis also talks about finding a strong musical community in Seattle and shares the stories behind three important tracks on her album.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 27 min
    Best Of: Ella Vos on Postpartum Depression

    Best Of: Ella Vos on Postpartum Depression

    Feb 29 is Music Heals: Mental Health at KEXP, where all day the station reads stories and plays listener requests of the songs that helped them through their mental health struggles. In honor of Music Heals: Mental Health, we revisit a conversation from 2021 that was originally part of the mini-series, Apparently, focusing on the intersections of parenting and art.

    On this episode, Ella Vos talks with Rachel Stevens about how getting pregnant inspired her to become a solo artist and how her popular song, "White Noise," was about her struggles with postpartum depression and the loneliness of being a new mom.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 15 min
    Charley Pride – The First Black Country Singer to Sign to a Major Label

    Charley Pride – The First Black Country Singer to Sign to a Major Label

    Charley Pride was the first Black country music singer to sign to a major record label (RCA) back in 1965. He went on to have 30 number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country chart and sold more than 70 million records.

    Emily Fox talks with Nashville Historian David Ewing about Charley Pride. They discuss Charley Pride’s baseball career, how he landed a demo and record deal after giving up on baseball, his struggles with mental health and racism, and his legacy in country music.
    Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 26 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
137 Ratings

137 Ratings

thetrombonist ,

Thoughtful, beautiful and fortifying

Thank you so much for producing this incredible show! I was really moved by the different interviews and all the historical context you shared, especially about song codes, which have been utilized by oppressed communities across the globe. Would love to see KEXP make even more Palestinian art-focused content!

lor.run ,

Bringing Communities Together

Thank you for such a thoughtful, touching, and inclusive dive into the current struggle for Palestinian rights and human rights around the world. Our communities need more narratives that bring people together around shared humanity, trauma, and collective action. This mini series struck the perfect chord, and is a piece that I would share with friends and family across the political spectrum as an informative and educational tool. This is exactly the kind of message that I count on KEXP to articulate and amplify.

BikingInSeattle ,

Mind-expanding Music Industry Discovery

I can’t recommend this podcast highly enough. The range of stories, the variety of reporters and interview styles, the bits of laughter and joy - all wrapped in actual learning about music - is amazing. Well- and thoughtfully produced. Even if you don’t think of yourself as loving music enough to listen to such a podcast, S&V will change your mind.

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