The Self Portrait Gospel :: Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Season 8 Ep. #1 - Dean Wareham (Season Premiere) Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

From his homeland in New Zealand to the Big Apple, to Boston, where he formed one of the most influential bands, Galaxie 500, to the sophisticated sounds of Luna with his now wife Britta Phillips, Dean Wareham has accomplished so much in his forty-plus-year career. Settling in New York in the mid to late 1970s, the veteran musician caught some of the most anarchic acts of the decade, such as The Ramones, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids, before relocating to the city's sister scene in Boston to attend HU, where he met his future friends, and bandmates Naomi Yang, and Damon Krukowski, and the rest is, well you get the idea.

With one foot forward, a swift wind of whispering words left in his wake, Wareham doesn't look back. His poetic prolificacy is pure, passionate, and personal, and nothing is more liberating than keeping the tonal truck running. For this season premiere of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we're honored to have Wareham on to tell his sonic story, while simultaneously exploring the past, present, and future of music and melodic memory. We touch on our shared obsession with Dylan, his new album "That's The Price Of Loving Me," returning to his home in LA, and certain events that have taken place, the legacy of Galaxie 500/Luna, and much more.

Season 7 Ep. #20 (Season Finale) - Will Oldham of Bonnie "Prince" Billy May 02, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we wrap up the 7th season of the show with the wonderful oppurtunity to finally sit down with one of our harmonic heroes, the great Will Oldham of Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Someone who needs no introduction, Oldham has been on our hearts, and minds for many years as we spin a youthful yarn of memories and reflection on some of the world's greatest artists who are no longer with us, such as David Berman and Michael Hurley. Oldham breaks down his latest masterpiece "The Purple Bird," which was released earlier this year on No Quarter, as well as the back-to-back "High and High and Mighty," and the brilliant "Hear The Children Sing The Evidence" with fellow friends and musicians Nathan Salsburg and Tyler Trotter.

We prasie our mutual friend, and incredible inspiration Ryan Davis, Bill Callahan, and cover Willie Nelson's abstract approach to guitar playing at this stage in his career. Oldham remains one of the most intense and softly sophisticated songwriters of his generation, with a career that has challenged the mind, body, and soul in ways that still stir the evidence of something extraterrestrial. We couldn't be more honored to occupy the same frame in history as him, and so many others out there doing brilliant work.

Season 7 Ep. #19 - James Elkington May 01, 2025

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In this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we speak with British-born, Chicago-based musician, producer, and all-around man of the times, James Elkington, a household name in Chicago's rich and complex music history. From his early days with the math rock outfit Elevate back in the UK to joining Thrill Jockey's long-running supergroup Brokeback, led by the legendary Douglas McCombs of Tortoise, Elkington has navigated a challenging landscape of hard work, unwavering dedication, and a keen eagerness to learn and explore the endless possibilities found in music's melodic memory bank.

With a solo career steeped in radical descents into the poetic psyche, Elkington's atmospheric ability to evoke both the past and present is showcased in release such as "Ever-Roving Eye," "Me Either," and 2025's "Pastel De Nada." Reflecting critical changes in today's music, art, and culture, Elkington discusses the contrast between writing and recording his music versus producing others, generational gestures from one person to another, the Golden Era of 1980s culture, future works, and much more..

Season 7 Ep. #18 - Evan Laffer (Jokermen Podcast) Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

"GWW, "A Life Of Scare," The New Man, and much more"

Just like our little operation, Evan Laffer and Ian Grant first launched their podcast, Jokermen, during the paralyzing pandemic to not only shed lyrical light and spin an endless yarn on the liberating legends that stand as their subjects but to find perfect peace and creature comfort in their harmonious heroes during one of the most horrendous times in contemporary history. Revealing the melodic meditation and stunning zeitgeist of some of the greatest minds in music, art, and cosmic culture, from The Beach Boys to Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Randy Newman and, or course, our subliminal soothsayet and sonic savior, Bob Dylan, Laffer, and Grant have provoked the ultimate unity by focusing on these legends in a way that is both tasteful and wildly addicting.

Laffer, who is also a poet, first found soalce in Dylan's work some years back and has since dedicated a great deal of his life, time, and radical research to the complex chameleon and his ever-changing landscape of lyrical liberation and esoteric energy. While this episode acts as a meeting of the minds of two people who are indefinitely obsessed with the "Great White Wonder," it will also mostly likely provoke a series of creative conversations and "Dylanistic" digestion into the daring depths of society's subconscious without a lifeguard in sight. Join us as we begin to peel back these lysergic layers of history by introducing a more abstract approach to a world that hass been scoured by scholars, where a "Simple Twist Of A Fate" will take you much further in this life of tremendous twilight that you ever could have imagined.

Season 7 Ep. #17 - Rahill Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

From the intimacy of Iranian culture and its historical heritage, New York-based musician and artist Rahill Jamalifard grew up in Michigan in a family who vauled music with great admiration. Having placed herself in the creative core of her community's music scene, Rahill fell in love with the land of Lou Reed on a simple trip to "The City Of Dreams" before deciding to move there indefinitely over a decade ago.

Influenced by her surroundings and their anciet teachings, Rahill pulled from the great Brion Gysin and his Dream Machine while effortlessly embodying the city's atmosphere and befriending its poetic population. While occupying a gig in the fashion industry, she began fronting bands such as Habibi and Roya before embarking on a wonderful solo career that has shapped her into a fierce force of soulful sound and a destination for melodic meditation. While a huge Spring tour supporting La Luz is on the horizon, Rahill has established an electrifying entry in music that will age gracefully as time progresses.

Season 7 Ep. #16 - The Space Lady Feb 21, 2025

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We're back after having lain dormant since our last episode back in December, and we're thrilled to announce our return to the streaming stratosphere with Susan Dietrich, known to many within the Outer Rim as The Space Lady. A colleague among the brave cosmos, Dietrich has lived many lives since first immersing herself in the disillusioned depths of creative culture in the 1960s. While busking under the sun and moon with poetic perserverance to evade the cruel draft of the Vietnam War alongside her partner, Dietrich's story is uniquely universal, filled with a wealth of inspiration, hardships, and melodic reflections that have carried her singing spirit to hell and back. Now in her early 70s, The Space Lady's legend has come full circle as she performs worldwide, driven by planetary performance and sonic storytelling.

Season 7 Ep. #15 - Dent May Jan 31, 2025

Show notes

Mays says, "The craft of songwriting is 100% what I'm about. That's what keeps me going. My goal is to just live a long life and write a ton of good songs." And while the essence of his outstanding career, which dates back to this 2009 debut "The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele" on Paw Tracks, is something built entirely on melodic magic and sonic sweat, the multi-faceted musician has only expanded his harmonious horizons over the years into a brilliant catalog of pure odyssey and imagination.

On this episode of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast, we explore May's youth growing up Mississippi, writing songs as young as seven years old, our mutual fascination and connection to the nostalgic narrative of the past, present, and future, the influential zeitgeist of Creed, May's most recent album entitled "What's For Breakfast," and much much more. Enjoy!

Season 7 Ep. #14 - Bob Nastanovich :: The Silver Jews / Pavement (Part One) Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

Bob Nastanovich is a household name in contemporary music, having participated in two of the most influential bands of all time, The Silver Jews and Pavement, Nastanovich inhabited both the iconic and irresistible imagination of the zesty zeitgeist of independent music, while standing directly in the middle of his generation's epic nerve center to eagerly report his fabulous findings among his poetic peers. Part One of a multi-series episode, we lay the boisterous blueprints of a journey rich in sound and sonically charged conversation in this exciting installment of The Self Portrait Gospel Podcast.

Season 7 Ep. #13 - Rogê Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

After a much-needed break, the longest since first starting the podcast back in 2021, we've returned to continue finishing out season 7 with the wonderfully wholesome and sonically smooth Brazilian legend, Roge. A staple and serenader to all surrounding sunsets, the iconic musician has been occupying his rhythmic renaissance since the release of-2023's "Curyman", part one of an on going trilogy on self reflection, cultural captivation, autiobiographical alchemy and the ultimate freedom in music. We speak about his family's epic relocation from Brazil to LA, the courage and commitment of being a musician, no matter your genre or various strategies, his highly anticipated follow-up, "Curyman II" and much much more. Enjoy!

Season 7 Ep. #12 - Sam Blasucci :: Mapache Oct 04, 2024

Show notes

LA-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Blasucci was first introduced to music by his father, who was a prominent musician during Blasucci's childhood. Eventually learning to play himself and some influential relocating over the years, he soon connected with local friends and together formed Mapace, while he was still attending high school. With a number of incredible releases from the band that explore various themes on culture, cosmic community, elements of vibration, Blasucci makes an epic return with his highly anticipated follow-up to "Off My Stars" entitled "Real Life Thing", which is set for release in early November.

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