Songwriters on Process

Does the mind of Eric Earley from Blitzen Trapper ever rest? I think not.  After all, he told me that he liked to solve math problems in college while he was making breakfast. Earley is a voracious r…

Deerlady is Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, and their debut album Greatest Hits  is my favorite album of the year, and this is also one of my favorite interviews because we had so much fun. 

I fi…

Aaron Lee Tasjan has a pretty simple writing process: he gets up around 8am, has a glass of water, and pets his cat. Then he writes. But not every day. "I only write when my body tells me to, when I …

Jane Penny, co-founder of  TOPS,  makes her solo debut with her fantastic EP Surfacing, out now on Luminelle Recordings.  Penny stops by the podcast to talk about how Barry White has influenced her s…

On this episode of the podcast, Grace Cummings talks about why her phone has been such a drain on her creativity and why she's making a conscious effort to stay away from it. But sometimes that phone…

Will Taylor and Charlie Martin of Hovvdy take a deep dive into their songwriting processes on the podcast. We delve into, among other things, the nuts and bolts of the revision process and whether di…

Evan Lewis and Tom McGreevy of Ducks Ltd seem to be at opposite ends of the creative  spectrum when it comes to organization. Lewis likes chaos: "The process should be a disaster," he says.

McGreevy,…

Future Islands stops by today to talk about their individual and collective processes, which sometimes involves folding laundry and listening to trains. They've also earned the title of Most Well-Rea…

I had such a good time interviewing Martin Courtney of Real Estate back in 2022 for his solo album that we're doing it again! This time, Real Estate has a great new album out called Daniel on Domino …

Johnny Marr (The Smiths, The Cribs, Modest Mouse, The The, so many more) is arguably one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of the last 50 years.  So don't waste any time reading this in…

Untame the Tiger (Merge Records) is Mary Timony's first solo album in 15 years, and it's so good, from start to finish. For the uninitiated: Timony's bands have included Helium, Autoclave, Wild Flag,…

You get two for one in this episode with Eliza McLamb and Sarah Tudzin! Both are songwriters: McLamb's debut album Going Through It  is out now, and Tudzin is the founder and frontperson for Illumina…

"Writing is a form of contemplation," says Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney on the podcast.  And while it's true that the actual act of putting pen to paper involves contemplating, Brownstein and …

"When I write songs, I put on a miner's light and try to make it around the next corner."

Josh Radnor found fame playing Ted Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother," but he's also a terrific songwriter (and …

I was already a Jaime Wyatt fan before we talked, but our shared affinity for the poet E.E. Cummings made this episode even more fun.  I also knew this would be a good convo after reading an Instagra…

"The times when I'm writing the most are when I'm reading a lot," Carl "Buffalo" Nichols says on today's podcast. And wow is this true: you cannot be a writer of any stripe unless you read.

Nichols l…

Duff McKagan's latest solo album Lighthouse is dedicated to Cormac McCarthy, which is no surprise given the importance McKagan places on reading.  The Guns N' Roses bassist reads without fail every d…