A Deeper Listen

Latest Episodes:

First to Last: John Vanderslice Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

John Vanderslice has transformed from indie rock analog purist to electronic experimentalist during his more than 20-year music career. He spoke with Jasmine Albertson about the making of his 2000 debut album, 'Mass Suicide Occult Figurines,' as well as his most recent album, 'CRYSTALS 3.0.' They spoke last year about the jarring differences between the two records, as well as the massive changes in the music industry landscape since the turn of the millennium.

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Best Of: Bam Bam’s Tina Bell, The Unsung Goddess of Grunge Mar 21, 2024

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Bam Bam was a Black woman-fronted grunge band in Seattle in the early '80s — before grunge was a defined genre. Larry Mizell Jr. tells the story of Bam Bam and the life of frontwoman Tina Bell. He also explores why we’ve never heard of this group before and why their story has been erased from Seattle music history.

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Best Of: Mastering Behind the Console Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

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.

In this episode we talk with two mastering engineers, who put the final touches on music before it’s released. It’s Seattle’s Rachel Field, who has worked with Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, and the Cairo-born, Brooklyn-based engineer Heba Kadry, who has worked with Björk, Lucy Dacus, Slowdive, The Mars Volta and more. They discuss the gender inequities they have seen both at home and abroad, the women who pioneered audio yet were largely left out of the narrative, and what makes them hopeful for positive change.

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Best Of: Behind the Console: From Prince to PhD Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

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/

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Totem Star Youth Recording Studio Mar 12, 2024

Show notes

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/

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Toussaint Morrison Reflects on MN Police Killings in Album Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

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/

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Brittany Davis Raises Her Voice on ‘Image Issues’ Mar 05, 2024

Show notes

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/

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Best Of: Ella Vos on Postpartum Depression Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

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.

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Charley Pride – The First Black Country Singer to Sign to a Major Label Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

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/

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Making An Album After A Near Death Experience Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

Mia Dyson is an Australia-raised, LA based musician who is an award winner of the Australia version of a Grammy—an ARIA award. She’s opened for Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mack and Bonnie Raitt. She’s releasing her 8th album on Feb 23rd, it’s called Tender Heart. Mia Dyson started writing this album shortly before an earthquake hit her home. Following the earthquake, she experienced an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia which caused her to stop breathing. She almost died. Emily Fox talks with Dyson about the themes on the album including forgiveness and mental health, but first she talked about what she can remember from her near death experience.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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