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Ep. #113: Julie Doiron

Julie Doiron is a talented and prolific singer, musician, and songwriter based in Sackville, New Brunswick. She first gained attention in the world-renowned band Eric’s Trip before going solo for a successful and busy trajectory of her own. Over the years she’s worked with many people and contributed to records by Daniel Romano, Mt. Eerie, Gord Downie, Shotgun & Jaybird, Herman Dune, Baby Eagle, and many more. Among her most notable collaborations was with the Wooden Stars; they released a self-titled record together in 1999, which was critically acclaimed and won a Juno Award, one of the first notable instances that Canada’s mainstream music industry acknowledged this country’s underground music community, which flourished in the 1990s. Many years later, Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars are playing a small run of shows together this summer at the Arboretum Festival in Ottawa on August 20, the Horseshoe in Toronto on August 21, La Sala Rosa in Montreal on August 22, and the Peterborough Folk Festival on August 23.  Here, Julie and I talk about my soggy bike ride home, bad weather and the wind currents thing, the 15th anniversary of Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars, the indefinite ‘indefinite hiatus’ that Wooden Stars have been on, just reboot it but don’t sit on the modem, Louis C.K.’s technology bit, the girls loved Michael Feuerstack, the Underdogs and skateboarding gangs, if it feels good do it, working with the Wooden Stars, Broken Girl, Sub Pop and Joyce Linehan, making the LP, three-os and G.E. Smith at CMJ, working with Eric’s Trip versus the Wooden Stars, fingerpicking, the Forest, receiving the reception for the album, the Juno Award, Josh Latour, running out of records, playing New Year’s Day at the Air Canada Centre, I pre-produce the next Julie and the Wooden Stars record, cover songs, almost retiring after the release of So Many Days, enjoying life, kids, and making music again, a new band Julie’s in called Weird Lines, making a duets record with Rick White, including questions in your answers, juliedoiron.ca not .com or .cl, Julie’s song “Life of Dreams” is in an iPhone commerical, the song “Gone Gone,” and then it’s goodnight nobody.

Related links: juliedoiron.ca vishkhanna.com

Julie-Doiron

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Ep. #112: Britt Walford of Slint and Watter

Britt Walford is a world-renowned drummer who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. In the 1980s he played in notable bands like Squirrel Bait, Maurice, and, for a spell, in the Breeders. Walford is best-known though as a founding member of Slint who initially had a short lifespan but whose second LP, 1991’s “Spiderland,” is easily one of the greatest, most enigmatic American rock albums of the 20th century. “Spiderland” was recently reissued in a super deluxe, limited edition box set, prompting Slint to do a small run of American and Canadian shows. At around the same time, a new band featuring Walford and multi-instrumentalists Zak Riles and Tyler Trotter surfaced with a new album of their own. The band is Watter and their latest record is a sprawling, ambient, post-rock thing called This World, which is out now via Temporary Residence. Here, Britt and I discuss what the people of Louisville do with the birds, where the band Watter comes from, the bands Grails and Strike City, what goes on in Louisville and how more bands have been playing there lately, Watter and Krautrock and clicking together, Britt plays the drums while Tyler and Zak do other things, Britt came later, recording then songwriting, how Watter works live, Cluster, Tangerine Dream, and Can, how Britt was last in a band 20 years ago and it was called Evergreen, how he ends up joining established bands a lot, what he’s been doing outside of making music since Slint and Evergreen ended, how the end of Slint may have impacted Britt’s interest in starting new music projects, raising children and pursuing an undergrad degree, what college means, piano lessons and drums, parents do understand, Rock Against Racism in Louisville, starting something versus jumping in, the Misfits and Samhain and Kentucky and Will Oldham, 3,138 and what the numbers mean, shitting in a cup, familial influences, Watter is fun, younger people, Lance Bangs getting Slint to talk for the doc Breadcrumb Trail, Britt’s role in the “Spiderland” reissue, Slint bassist Todd Brashear managed the project, why Todd doesn’t play Slint shows and what that’s like, getting used to playing Slint songs, selling all of the box sets, how it came together, Slint archives, what Breadcrumb Trail taught Britt about Slint, Todd thought the band was nutty, working in Slint compared to working with other people, what mastering engineer Bob Weston did to make “Spiderland” sound better, mastering machines, the future of Slint, the future of Watter, the song “This World” and then it’s good night, captain.

Related links: temporaryresidence.com slintmusic.com vishkhanna.com

Watter

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Ep. #111: Hamilton Leithauser

Hamilton Leithauser is a very talented singer and songwriter who is best known for fronting the acclaimed New York City band, the Walkmen. Last year, the Walkmen announced they’d be taking an extended hiatus after releasing a string of wonderful albums. Before long, members of the band began releasing solo material, including Leithauser. His new album is the startling and wondrous Black Hours, a timeless star-studded pop affair that was released on June 3 via Ribbon Music, and has prompted him to tour including a stop at Hamilton, Ontario’s Supercrawl this September. Here, Hamilton and I discuss NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, that time I saw the Walkmen play one of their last shows together in Halifax this past October, knocking a tooth out on a microphone, when work on Black Hours first began, why he made a record under his own name, who helped make this album a star-studded affair, the relationship between the conception of this solo record and the end of the Walkmen and why the band is taking a break, Frank Sinatra records, songwriting reversal, a nightclub, night time tone within the phrase “black hours,” Danzig, Self-Pity, growing up in Washington D.C. and seeing Minor Threat, Nation of Ulysses, Fugazi, and other Dischord Records bands, playing punk, working as a studio assistant at Inner Ear studios while Fugazi was recording Red Medicine, not making it into Instrument, being young and apolitical, loving the Make-Up and Ian Svenonius, the Cramps and the Modern Lovers, lead singers versus bands, Chain and the Gang, being in a band or being on your own, not sounding like the Walkmen, the new record’s weird storyline, the bizarre circumstance of the Walkmen’s “extreme hiatus,” trying new things but the Walkmen will likely be back, it’s fun to play, there are already new songs written but there was some writer’s block, working well with others, playing “Mr November” with the National, Hamilton playing Hamilton, Ontario, the song “The Silent Orchestra,” and then Hamilton out.

Related links: hamiltonleithauser.com vishkhanna.com

hamiltonleithauser

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