Worst Show Ever

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65 Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers) @ Postal Recording in Indianapolis, IN (12-8-18) Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

Last winter, a bunch of us musicians who release albums on Joyful Noise met up for their holiday party in Indianapolis, and this also included us all recording a bunch of music for a holiday compilation, which ended up being more fun and more interesting musically than I had ever thought it could be. Adam Harding had a song with Thor Harris, which I ended up playing on, and there was a general love of cross-pollination all around. I clicked with Adam right away, and appreciated him taking a bit of time to tell some stories about awful shows. We were talking in the kitchen of the recording studio while Kid Millions recorded a song in the next room, which accounts for both its brevity and the sound in the background.

64 Matthew Shelton @ his apartment in Chicago, IL (9/23/18) Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

It was a true delight to sit down with Matthew and hear about the show in which this full bill of fantastic Cincinnati local bands was commandeered by a certain celebrity-focused television network. It was also funny to hear us talk so much about my own life, particularly with respect to permatour. I'm releasing this episode on my first day living in an apartment after almost 12 years of nothing but living in vehicles. The episode is from over a year prior, and so I'm still talking from the perspective of staying on the road for the foreseeable future. Still, Matthew's perspectives on music, ambition, fame, and hustle resonated deeply with me. And so I can't help but wonder if this conversation was one that tipped me toward finally taking a break from touring to focus on other things for a spell.

63 Nilan Perera @ his apartment in York, ON (10/4/18) Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

Nilan Perera has been playing what he calls "adventurous music" in the Toronto scene for 35 years. We get deep into the ethics of improvised music and how it can go wrong.

Catherine Debard (YlangYlang) @ her apartment in Montreal, QC (10/9/18) Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

A staple in the Montreal experimental music scene, my dear friend Catherine Debard recounts an adventure in the US that had huge ups and downs, and how she managed to keep her calm through it all.

61 Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) at Alternative Library in Bellingham, WA (5/24/19) Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart tells the story of their worst tour ever. But his approach to this common theme is unique in how, on the one hand, he labels himself an asshole and takes full responsibility for how terribly he treated his tour-mates (Tune-Yards). On the other hand, he makes a compelling case for having the moral high ground in this dispute, despite acknowledging how shitty he treated them. I was absolutely fascinated by what I could only call Jamie's political insight into appropriative music, and equally pleased by his unabashed dickish behavior, as it was clearly coming from a place of conscience. I can't think of the last time I've so appreciated someone attacking music and musicians I love and have loved.

60 Mariah Parker (Linqua Franqa) @ The Owyhee (Treefort Music Fest) in Boise, ID (3/24/19) Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

I was very fortunate to run into one of my favorite current rappers, Mariah Parker (aka Linqua Franqa), at Treefort Music Festival earlier this year. And somehow I managed to keep my fanboying to a minimum for long enough to talk to her about her worst show ever. We were using the festival's press room, which was in fact reserved for someone more official, so the convo was kept short. But Mariah manages to pack in a lot in 22 minutes. Because we were rushed, I failed to give her the introduction I would have liked, so I'll just say here that I first became aware of her right after the 2018 election. I was passing through Athens, Georgia, having a burger with a friend and talking about the amazing slate of women of color who had recently been elected to congress. I think I had said something about the delight I'd felt seeing the old white Christian dudes cringe as some of the women who would later be known as "The Squad" were sworn into office on a Koran rather than a Bible, and my buddy Adam brought up the recent Athen election in which a county commissioner was sworn in on a copy of Malcom X's autobiography. He then added that this woman was also a local rapper. I had to hear the music of this person, and it wasn't long before I was a huge fan of her music and her politics. Big thanks to Mariah and her partner Deidre for the great hangs and conversations.

59 Emmett Kelly (Cairo Gang) & Alex Dupree @ Emmett's home in Los Angeles, CA (8/6/18) Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

Emmett Kelly has toured in a variety of roles from front man of Cairo Gang to sideman in Bonnie "Prince" Billy, from band leader for someone else's band to hired gun holding it down. Here he tells a story about one of the shows that made him question whether all of those roles are actually for him. Alex Dupree has also toured in many different ways, and here he recalls maybe the worst trip between shows.

58 Casey Chisolm @ some random parking lot in Sonora, CA (7/19/18) Sep 18, 2019

Show notes

Casey Chisholm is an old friend with whom I've shared many a stage. One of the first times we played together, he asked to interview me, standing on the street outside Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland. It seemed fitting that I would eventually get to interview him, also standing on a street, though a much calmer one in the tiny mountain town of Sonora, California. It also seemed fitting that we'd meet up to talk about Casey's roughest show experiences on a night that I happened to have one of my own.

57 Victoria Shen (Evicshen) @ Harvard Science Center in Cambridge, MA (10/18/18) Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

Victoria Shen plays experimental music, pushing the edges of performance and noise. She might be the first on this podcast to share a story of a show that went really well, as far as she knew, but resulted in some truly brutal and vitriolic hate mail.

56 Sam Humans (Modernstate) @ his apartment in Portland, OR (5/26/18) Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

Sam Humans and I meet up after a show in Portland to discuss some crazy and awful occurrences while on tour. Highlights include van breakdowns and the shenanigans that ensue.

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