Arts

Talkhouse Podcast

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. Explore more illuminating shows on the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Latest Episodes:

Black Belt Eagle Scout with SASAMI Jul 02, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we share a deep-diving conversation about the idea of space for BIPOC folks in indie rock venues — a discussion with the explicit intent “to talk about brown voices, and to talk about how we can uplift them.”

Black Belt Eagle Scout — real name Katherine Paul — is a self-described “radical indigenous queer feminist” who grew up on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in Northwest Washington state. KP, as she’s known, is Swinomish and Iñupiaq (a Native community in Alaska). Here, she speaks with Sasami Ashworth, aka SASAMI, a Korean-American singer/songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles. Sasami made her name playing synth in Cherry Glazerr before going solo in 2018. Our special guest-host is Vagabon, or Lætitia Tamko, a Cameroonian-born singer/songwriter/producer.

This episode was inspired by the Twitter backlash after a conversation Black Belt Eagle Scout had with Ailsa Chang on the NPR show All Things Considered. With Chang, KP discussed feeling uncomfortable with so many white people at her shows, as her music is intended for BIPOC folks, and stated:

“It’s for people of color, for indigenous people, for queer people, and white men are so fragile when I say stuff like that. It’s because of white privilege and they don’t often get told that.”

KP was obviously not advocating for banning white men from her shows, but for there to be more room at each performance for her community. Still, of course, a number of fragile white men took to Twitter calling KP racist, and hating on the show for having her on. I saw Lætitia and Sasami tweeting support for KP, with Sasami doing full on UFC-style e-battle with some trolls! I reached out the next day to offer the platform of the Talkhouse Podcast for an extended convo on the topic, one without journalists or “fragile white men” involved. This talk was recorded back in March, just before Covid-19 slammed the States, and before the Black Lives Matter movement’s incredible recent strides.

Keep it locked to hear about issues of safety and space in DIY touring, the importance of land acknowledgments, and actionable things that bands and fans can do.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast; next week’s is Julien Baker with Katie Harkin.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

For this week’s episode, Sasami Ashworth was recorded by Eric Rennaker at bedrock.LA; Katherine Paul, Lætitia Tamko and I each recorded ourselves. Our producer extraordinaire is Mark Yoshizumi.

The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

McIntosh "for the love of music..." — Janet Furman Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

In this inaugural episode of the McIntosh "for the love of music..." podcast series presented by Talkhouse, Elia Einhorn caught up with former Grateful Dead electronics outfitter, and renowned music gear creator, Janet Furman. Janet grew up in New York City, graduating from Columbia University in the late 1960s with an engineering degree before moving to San Francisco and finding work with Alembic, the Grateful Dead’s preferred recording studio and sound crew. Janet recorded the Dead’s live sets on multiple tours, as well as engineering sessions for other rock stars like Steve Miller. She went on to found her own pro audio equipment manufacturing company, Furman, whose products are used in almost every studio and live venue around the world, and which we here at Talkhouse work with every day. Janet shared some amazing stories about working for Owsley Stanley, touring Europe with the Dead and recording some of their most famous work, and even commandeering a helicopter in order to save a massive rock festival… with McIntosh amplifiers.

Jehnny Beth with Jenny Hval Jun 18, 2020

Show notes

Sexuality, violence, gender, anger, technology, love. Singer/actress/writer Jehnny Beth (Savages) and Norwegian experimental pop musician and author Jenny Hval are both aesthetically very dark artists who brilliantly dissect these topics in their respective music and erotic novels. On this week's show, we introduce the mutual fans for the very first time; what follows is a powerful, deep dive conversation. Zola Jesus joins me as special guest host.

I recently woke up at 5:30AM to set up this conversation between Jehnny's home in Paris, and Jenny's in Oslo. A couple hours later, my almost-three-year-old daughter Conwy woke up just after the talk ended; I took her out of her crib and told her "Dada just listened to a fantastic conversation between two very strong and talented women!"

And it really is a fantastic conversation. With Jehnny Beth's debut solo LP To Live Is To Love out just last week, and her book of erotic fiction and photography, Crimes Against Love Memories dropping in early July, and Jenny's new single "Bonus Material" out now and second novel Girls Against God coming later this year, they had a lot to talk about. The two chop it up on their complex relationships with their countries of origin, and the powerful role of language in self-identity; their reasons for functioning primarily outside of the mainstream; and the artist's necessary freedom to express the darker sides of their humanity.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming shows featuring Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, Fusilier with Bartees Strange, and Julien Baker with Katie Harkin.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Jehnny Beth, Jenny Hval, Zola Jesus, and myself at our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast’s co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Research assistance was provided by Samantha Small.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers) with Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide) Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

Did you catch the first of our two podcasts this week? It featured Yrsa Daley-Ward reading her powerful new poem "Making The End," and Helado Negro in convo with Buscabulla. Check it out on talkhouse.com

Today's show sees The Avett Brothers' Scott Avett chop it up with Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide. The friends and collaborators cover a lot, including: the role of faith in their music; being true to their art even when it hurts; and some amazing stories about Jason Molina and David Berman.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming shows featuring Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, Jehnny Beth with Jenny Hval, and Julien Baker with Katie Harkin.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Scott, Eef, Talkhouse’s Executive Editor Josh Modell, and myself at our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast’s co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Research assistance was provided by Samantha Small.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Helado Negro with Buscabulla Jun 09, 2020

Show notes

Today's show opens with poet Yrsa Daley-Ward reading her new work "Making The End."

Helado Negro and Buscabulla kicked off the Talkhouse Podcast Live on Insta series last month with this warm, thoughtful conversation. The old friends and regular collaborators each have wonderful new music out: Helado Negro recently dropped the single "I Fell In Love" featuring Xenia Rubinos, while Puerto Rican art-poppers Buscabulla just released their hotly tipped debut LP Regressa.

As flags from across Latin America and beyond were posted in the comments, they chopped it up on a lot: The experience of releasing music during quarantine; the tight community of “everybody in New York that makes weird music in Spanish”; why Nick Hakim is really Neo from The Matrix; and lots more.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Buscabulla in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Helado Negro in Marfa, Texas, Talkhouse’s Executive Editor Josh Modell in Chicago, and myself in Philadelphia. The Talkhouse Podcast's co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Research assistance was provided by Samantha Small.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Joe Talbot (IDLES) May 28, 2020

Show notes

This week's show is a bit different from usual Talkhouse Podcast episodes. While it's nominally hosted by the legendary Alan McGee of Creation Records — the man who signed The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and a lil ol' band called Oasis — it's not at all a two-person conversation. Instead, this episode features Joe Talbot, frontman of the incredible post-punk group Idles, in one of the funniest, most viscerally honest live audience Q&A's I've ever witnessed.

Both Joe and the attendees are willing to go to deep and often uncomfortable areas: Buckle up for a discussion of toxic masculinity, the role of violence in Idles' music, and the difficult process of developing one’s own artistic language. We also hear about Joe collabing with Mike Skinner of The Streets, turning Sleaford Mods’ taunts into a song, putting human ashes into vinyl records, and... we even get an unexpected lesson on mindfulness.

This Q&A was recorded at the wonderful Barras Art & Design in Glasgow.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Helado Negro with Buscabulla, Julien Baker and Katie Harkin (Harkin, Sleater-Kinney), Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, and Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers) with Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide).

— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s show was recorded in Glasgow by Nadar Shahzad of Blue Audio (thx Nadar!), and in Philadelphia and Chicago by Elia Einhorn and Josh Modell. Our co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Thanks so much to Matt Sadowski of Alt Waves Records and to Barras Art & Design for allowing us to share this event.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Research assistance was provided by Samantha Small.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Revisited: Fred Armisen and Mary Lynn Rajskub with Lindsey Jordan (Snail Mail) May 14, 2020

Show notes

We here at the Talkhouse Podcast have been nominated by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for a Webby Award! Woo hoo! It’s in the "Best Live Podcast Recording” category, and we got the nod for our musical episode with Snail Mail, Fred Armisen, and Mary Lynn Rajskub. The show took place last summer at FORM Fest in Arcosanti, Arizona, and the three of them play, sing, and talk… at the same time. In case you missed it the first time around, or are in the mood to crack up again, check it out!

BREAKING NEWS! Indie rock it-band Snail Mail has an all-new lineup! Don't worry, Lindsey Jordan is still there — only now, so is Fred Armisen and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).

On our second Talkhouse Podcast episode recorded backstage at the wonderful FORM Fest, the three form a group on the spot, then, with instruments in hand, improvise songs about: How they’re actually the new Snail Mail lineup; Chef Boyardee; Neil Young; "lemon squares that Mommy made"; Jesus’ selective saving tendencies (that one's titled called “Here Comes The Son”), and loads more.

We also witness spoofs of Queen and Beyonce; hear thoughts on fergiepeepants.jpg; learn about foot fetishists and Wikifeet; take in some sarcastic breakdancing; consider gentle piss modulators; and find out why Mary Lynn is convinced Lindsey needs to get pregnant immediately.

This Talkhouse Podcast and video was recorded in the Conservatory backstage at FORM Fest in Arcosanti, Arizona. Pulp Arts and Patreon teamed up to co-present The Conservatory, a rad backstage visual arts installation and recording studio. Talkhouse recorded six episodes there throughout the weekend, so subscribe to make sure to catch upcoming shows, including:

Kelsey Lu & Yrsa Daley-Ward

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore

American Football & Pelican

L’Rain & Melanie Faye

You can also check out the just-released first episode from the fest, featuring jazz and hip hop legend Robert Glasper with a giant of African music, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, plus an appearance by Lonnie Holley.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. It was recorded at FORM Festival in Arcosanti, Arizona, and at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn by Mark Yoshizumi, Danny Clifton and Ian Jones.

Research assistance was provided by Madalyn Feltus.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Jarvis Cocker with Stephin Merritt (the Magnetic Fields) May 07, 2020

Show notes

On this week's show, we pair two of the greatest living songwriters, artists who've reimagined what the form can look like, and what it can accomplish.

The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt and ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker each have great new music in the world; when I heard the latter was coming to NYC, I instantly knew I had to try to get these two together in person for a Talkhouse Podcast convo. Thankfully, when presented with the idea, both were psyched!

Over cups of tea at Hook and Fade Studios in Brooklyn (before the pandemic), the guys sat down for a delightfully freewheeling conversation about songwriting — and how they both love to subvert its norms in different ways — as well as the vastly different approaches they took to making their new LPs. But of course with these two, there's so much more here, including (but not limited to!): a moving discussion of reunions with their showbiz fathers who had abandoned them; the bad omen that nearly caused Jarvis to quit music in the year 2000; why Stephin’s new sexual fetish might be a “one time only” experience; and their shared love of that "hippy writer" Richard Brautigan.

This episode is dedicated to all you "mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits" — enjoy!

Pick up The Magnetic Fields' Quickies here, and Jarvis's Beyond The Pale here. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Helado Negro with Buscabulla, Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami, and comedian Chris D'Elia with filmmaker Amanda Kramer. Make sure to revisit Stephin Merritt and Daniel Handler (aka the author Lemony Snicket)'s 2019 look back on 69 Love Songs on its 20th anniversary.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by the Talkhouse Podcast's producer Mark Yoshizumi. Josh Modell and I recorded ourselves in our respective #stayhome studios.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

Matt Berninger with Aimee Mann Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

This week on the show, we celebrate the wonderful Other Music documentary with two Grammy-winning artists: singer-songwriter Aimee Mann and the National's Matt Berninger. The two discuss the iconic record store and the creative importance of having physical spaces dedicated to musical community, plus we hear how they're managing to work during the pandemic, and Matt reveals that he's both writing a musical and launching a label imprint.

The Other Music doc features many wonderful artists that have appeared on our show — TV on the Radio, the Magnetic Fields, Superchunk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jason Schwartzman, Animal Collective, William Basinski, Frankie Cosmos and more — this is truly a #talkhousecore film!

Other Music is currently being screened via a "virtual theatrical release," with more than 200 independent record shops and movie theaters offering it to rent, and splitting the profits 50/50. This is a wonderful chance to support your local purveyor of brilliant art, and catch one of the must-see music films of the year. Click here to find your local favorite store or theater that's screening it! (Our producer Mark Yoshizumi rented it from his alma mater Reckless Records in Chicago; Talkhouse Film's Editor-in-Chief Nick Dawson supported Permanent Records in L.A., and I went with Record Grouch in Brooklyn, where I've spent many and many a happy hour amongst the hallowed racks.)

Enjoy today's show, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming talks like Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) with the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, and Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s show was recorded by Aimee Mann, Matt Berninger, Nick Dawson, and myself in our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast's co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

David Bazan (Pedro The Lion) with Joe Pera Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Comedian Joe Pera (Joe Pera Talks With You) and singer-songwriter David Bazan (Pedro The Lion) have elevated self-aware open-heartedness and detailed observation of humanity into, well, art. When David discovered Joe's show, he fell for it hard, and reached out to Talkhouse to see if we could arrange a convo. We loved the idea, and think you'll really enjoy the result.

Joe and David discuss a lot, including: their granular writing techniques; appreciating the gentle joys of life, like wearing green hats on St. Patrick’s day; how some performers only achieve their maximum authenticity onstage; and why live performers must be doms.

Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including upcoming shows featuring Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) with the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, and Black Belt Eagle Scout with Sasami.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week's show was recorded by Joe Pera, David Bazan, Talkhouse's Executive Editor Josh Modell, and myself in our respective #stayhome studios. The Talkhouse Podcast's co-producer is Mark Yoshizumi.

Our theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

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