Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing believes that discipline is a necessary part of the songwriting process. “I believe in discipline and the idea of working every day. I like to look back at the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment.”
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The circle is complete. I’ve had recent interviews with Anais Mitchell (together with Charlotte Cornfield) and with Eric D. Johnson, but now that we’ve added Josh Kaufman, this is a full-on Bonny Light Horseman episode. Listening to them talk for even a few seconds makes one thing immediately clear: the songwriting is great because the chemistry among them is so powerful.
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Eric Earley from Blitzen Trapper is a voracious reader who just finished his self-proclaimed "Time of the Tomes," in which he read nothing but, well, tomes. (The longer, the better. Infinite Jest? Please. Kid's stuff).
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Deerlady is Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, and their debut album Greatest Hits is my favorite album of the year, and this is also one of my favorite interviews because we had so much fun.
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Aaron Lee Tasjan has a pretty simple writing process: he gets up around 8am, has a glass of water, and pets his cat. Then he writes. But not every day. "I only write when my body tells me to, when I can go off yesterday's fumes.”
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Jane Penny (co-founder of TOPS) stops by the podcast to talk about how Barry White has influenced her songwriting; why she has to write her lyrics in cursive; and why when you see her in the audience at a show and she's looking at her phone, she's actually deeply engaged in the creative process. She promises!
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Grace Cummings talks about why her phone has been such a drain on her creativity and why she's making a conscious effort to stay away from it. But sometimes that phone can be pretty useful. For one, it allows Cummings to create her alter ego Cheryl. And it also allows her to create a fantastic filing system for her song ideas with labels like "excellent" and "very excellent" that we both agreed are pretty good mini pep-talks.
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Will Taylor and Charlie Martin of Hovvdy take a deep dive into their songwriting processes on the podcast. We delve into, among other things, the nuts and bolts of the revision process and whether distance is important when writing about an event. Hovvdy's new (double!) album Hovvdy is out April 26 on Arts & Crafts Records.
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On this episode, Future Islands earns the title of Most Well-Read Band I've Ever Interviewed: just listen to the dizzying number of favorite authors and literary influences they all have. That discussion alone could've been an entire episode.
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Had such a good time interviewing Martin Courtney of Real Estate in 2022 that we did it again for the release of the band's fantastic new album Daniel, out now on Domino Records. I present to you: Martin Courtney, The Sequel.
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Johnny Marr (The Smiths, The Cribs, Modest Mouse, The The, so many more) is arguably one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of the last 50 years. So don't waste any time reading this intro. Just listen to the podcast. It's one of my favorites. Lots of talk about our favorite authors and some great stories too!
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Untame the Tiger (Merge Records) is Mary Timony's first solo album in 15 years, and it is absolutely fantastic. To get to this stage of excellence, Timony writes a whole lot of absolute garbage.
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You get two for one in this episode with Eliza McLamb and Sarah Tudzin! Both are songwriters: McLamb's debut album Going Through It is out now, and Tudzin is the founder and frontperson for Illuminati Hotties.
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"Writing is a form of contemplation," says Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney. But when it comes time for Brownstein to actually put pen to paper (literally). nothing beats a good old cheap couch she found on Craigslist. As you'll hear, it's the cheapness that makes the couch such an important part of her ritual.
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"When I write songs, I put on a miner's light and try to make it around the next corner." Josh Radnor found fame playing Ted Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother," but he's also a terrific songwriter (and stage actor) with a new album Eulogy: Volume 1.
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“When I’m blocked as a writer, it’s because I’m also blocked in my personal growth,” Jaime Wyatt says. To combat that block, Wyatt reads as many as five books at a time.
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"The times when I'm writing the most are when I'm reading a lot," Carl "Buffalo" Nichols says on the podcast. And wow is this true: you cannot be a writer of any stripe unless you read.
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Duff McKagan's latest solo album Lighthouse is dedicated to Cormac McCarthy, which is no surprise given the importance McKagan places on reading.
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