LSQ

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.

On the eve of Blonde Redhead’s first new album in nine years, their excellent Sit Down For Dinner, the band’s Kazu Makino joins the LSQ podcast for episode 95. She talks about how the experience of making her own solo album a few years ago inspired a new confidence going into this Blonde Redhead album; the influence she took from growing up in a household where classical music was playing at a soft volume at all times; the evolution of her songwriting within the band; how a good performance feels like a trance; and more. Blonde Redhead’s North American tour begins in mid-October. Get tickets here.

Singer, songwriter, producer Andrew Wyatt discusses his collaborations with artists like Dua Lipa, Charlie XCX, and Lorde, his upcoming solo album, songwriting process, and the challenges of early music career in NYC.

Fresh off releasing "Two Songs I Wrote in 1993 & Recorded Last Week," legendary Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee joins me for episode 93 (pure numerological coincidence!) to reflect on key moments of musical discovery -- seeing Nirvana play at Big Day Out, starring in a school musical called Uncle Moishe and his Mitzvah Men, recording fucked-up sounding songs on his Tascam 244, hoping to emulate Appetite for Destruction but coming up with something even cooler, figuring out how to get his demo to a record label, and more recent insights about longevity and staying true to your unique vision. He also discusses his songwriting practice today, prioritizing playfulness, supporting young artists, and more. Ben and his wife, Ione Skye, host an awesome weekly podcast called Weirder Together, and their Weirder Together podcast network presents shows hosted by J. Mascis, Lou Barlow and Jello Biafra, among others. Ben will be on tour in September. Get tickets here.

"I always said, I felt like, when the five of us are together, the universe does something different," says Albert Hammond Jr, guitarist for The Strokes, of his band's cosmic connection. "From the moment I met them, even before we did anything, all of a sudden the world felt different. I can only explain it like in the Matrix when he sees the numbers, so then it didn't feel that weird when stuff would happen. I didn't know what was gonna happen, but it felt like something was gonna happen." I had a blast interviewing Albert for episode 92 of the LSQ podcast. I am a massive fan of The Strokes (like, Top 5 all-time favorite bands kind of thing), and feel lucky to have a long history with them. Albert and I have known each other since the band's early days, when I got to write about them a bunch for Rolling Stone, and it's been awesome to watch his solo career develop alongside his band's. His new solo LP, Melodies On Hiatus, is one of his best -- 19 tracks that explore new facets of his musical personality while still brandishing his signature sound. In this interview, we talk about his childhood influences, an era when he was a rollerskating champion, the beginning of The Strokes, his songwriting process, and hopes for the future such as this one: "I'd love to create with [The Strokes], as I'm older. Because I feel like we're so interesting at different times with each other. So even at 60, I wonder what we would create? What would the band sound like? What would we do? Would our strengths and weaknesses change and how would that make our sound change? It still feels so exciting."

The incomparable Jenny Lewis joins me for LSQ #91 and, let me tell you, THIS is one of my all-time favorite episodes. Not only is Lewis an artist whose music I've admired since her days in Rilo Kiley, but over the course of our ~15 years of friendship, I've learned what a hilarious, generous, soulful and inspiring person she is, as well. The release of her excellent new album Joy'All gave us a chance to get together at her place in Los Angeles and dig in on some topics we've never really talked about before, including her parents' old band, Love's Way, her years as a kid actor and how those experiences shaped her approach to her music career, how her love for hip-hop inspired her to start by writing raps, before she wrote melodic songs. We also talk about how her evolution through the Rilo Kiley years, and why it was important to her to forge her own path. Get tickets for her upcoming tour here.

On the occasion of their new 26th studio album, The Girl is Crying In Her Latté, the legendary Los Angeles art-pop duo Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) join the LSQ podcast to talk about the evolution of their sound; their work with producers such as Giorgio Moroder and Todd Rundgren, and why they value being able to produce their own music nowadays; growing up in LA seeing concerts by British Invasion bands they loved including The Kinks and The Who; getting to witness one of Jimi Hendrix’s first LA concerts; what they’re looking forward to playing during their 2023 tours, and more! 

When she started playing guitar at age seven, Sunny War saw herself as the next Slash or Angus Young, a future shredder, certain to be a rock star, and definitely NOT a folk singer. And yet, here we are, it's 2023 and thanks to her excellent latest album, Anarchist Gospel, and a Triple A-radio hit single, "No Reason," she is finally getting well-deserved recognition as one of the most exciting folk singers of her generation. In episode 89 of the LSQ podcast, get to know Sunny's story, and how she went from playing in a punk band called Anus Kings and busking on the Venice Beach boardwalk to performing her ecstatic folk anthem "No Reason" on late night television and embarking on her biggest tour, to date. Get tickets for Sunny War's current tour here.