Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #266: William Tyler

William Tyler is a talented musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Known for his work in the bands Lambchop and Silver Jews, Tyler is also an accomplished solo artist and has released four critically-acclaimed albums. His latest is a gorgeous, instrumental record called Modern Country, which is steeped in familiar folk and rock structures but is also eerily expansive and hypnotic. Modern Country is out now via Merge Records and Tyler is playing a number of shows over the next few months, most of which find him opening for the Chicago band Wilco. Here, Tyler and I discuss how things are going in Nashville, the Country Music Association Festival and Bonnaroo, living in Nashville most of your life, Nash Vegas and what happens when your city grows, changes and WXNA, the world’s most talented music city, Harmony Korine is taking his talents to south beach, auditioning for Harmony and Budweiser, Dave Cloud and the Springwater and the Gospel of Power and losing local luminaries, getting older and the song “I’m Gonna Live Forever (If it Kills Me),” the notion behind Modern Country and its relation to America’s current political climate, media mediation and misinformation about different parts of the country you live in, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, the illegal and fraudulent conduct of the Democratic National Party, the 2000 Presidential election, Hill feeling the Bern, what Trump is stirring up and people comparing him to Hitler, his platform as it relates to the Republican party’s platform, hatred and racism, projecting a landslide loss, the stigma of intellectualism and the rise of reality TV, hope and faith in the American people, Trump’s imperviousness to criticism, the RNC as imagined by Hunter S. Thompson and Fellini, conveying political thoughts and perspectives via instrumental music, musical intent, receiving external inspiration, the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor and Silver Jews and the Mountain Goats, working with David Berman, lyrics, Wooden Wand, John Darnielle, relating as much to mood as words in lyrics, modernism and archaism, emoji’s and hieroglyphs, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, less talk more rock, adapting to different situations, playing in bands and also not, jamming, the Grateful Dead, Glenn Kotche and Darin Gray, Glenn Jones and Jim O’Rourke and Sir Richard Bishop and John Fahey, O’Rourke deserves more credit, O’Rourke interviews and music recommendations, Glenn and Darin and Insignificance, coming to Canada, touring woes, quiet storm psychedelia, those Silver Jews rumours, pleading with David Berman to write again, the song “I’m Gonna Live Forever (If it Kills Me),” and that was it.

Related links: williamtyler.net mergerecords.com vishkhanna.com

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #265: David Cross

David Cross is a gifted comedian, actor, author, and writer who originally hails from Atlanta, Georgia. For almost 30 years now, he’s been at the vanguard of comedy, writing and/or performing on influential and hilarious TV programs such as The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show, Arrested Development, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, W/Bob & David, and many more. He’s appeared in dozens of feature films, published a book of essays called I Drink for a Reason, and he’s well-known for his three incisive stand-up records: Shut Up You Fucking Baby!, It’s Not Funny, and Bigger and Blackerer. He’s on a world tour right now for a stand-up show he’s calling Making America Great Again!!, which includes July Canadian stops in Calgary on the 22nd, Edmonton on the 23rd, Toronto on the 24th and 25th , Ottawa on the 26th, and Montreal on the 27th. During a phone call while he was in Stockholm this past Monday, David and I discussed the mood in Europe post-Brexit, immigration and misinformation, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, how his current show actually relates to”Make America Great Again,” the state of satire, plans to work with Bob Odenkirk again, what’s happening with Arrested Development, “Flying on a Mexican Plane,” and that was it.

Related links: davidcrosstour2016.com vishkhanna.com

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #257: Piya Chattopadhyay & MINOTAURS’ Nathan Lawr

Piya Chattopadhyay is a respected broadcaster and journalist currently based in Toronto. She has appeared as a guest host on TVO’s The Agenda and has contributed to BBC, PRI, and once served as the Middle East correspondent for Fox News Radio. She is likely best known as a dynamic voice on CBC Radio, where she has guest hosted shows like The Current, The World at Six, q, and Metro Morning. She’s set to host her own new show on CBC Radio called Out in the Open, which debuts at 3:00 PM ET on Saturday May 28. Nathan Lawr holds a Masters degree in History from University of Waterloo and has worked with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to develop the Canadian Artists for Civil Liberties. He’s also a well-respected multi-instrumentalist who has contributed to key records and live shows by Feist, Jim Guthrie, Royal City, Constantines, FemBots, Sea Snakes, Bry Webb, and many, many more. He has created an excellent body of music on his own, most notably in his politically outspoken and Afrobeat-inspired band MINOTAURS, who celebrated the release of their new album, Weird Waves, in April. Presented by the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thompson Hall, this episode was recorded live before an audience at the Drake Underground in Toronto on Saturday April 9, 2016, where Piya, Nathan, and I discussed information and responsibility, how I am apparently a terrible interviewer, selective facts, media bias and mainstream media, how humans are biased, feeling the Bern, Donald Drumpf’s appeal to the media, a tendency towards sensationalism, no conspiracies, self-interest, working as a reporter for Fox News, how people dying impacts the news, how people in the west relate to the rest of the world, delineating mainstream media from alternative media, how public broadcasting differs from other broadcasters, media outlets and utilizing resources properly, trusting Democracy Now, information is inherently biased, anti-intellectualism, trusting without questioning, the oversaturation of media sources and people’s inability to find time to stay informed, the pervasiveness of music, the saddest podcast in the world, Uncle Natey’s Grump Shack, staving off malaise and complacency with the sentiment behind upbeat music, insights from creative people, Nathan’s hat, moving from love songs to politically-oriented songs, growing up in Saskatoon, visiting India, getting into media, becoming a musician, studying classical music and musical theatre, the rise of satiric news TV shows, we’re too busy to think, people want people to tell them what they think, the MINOTAURS album Weird Waves, which is out now, and the next MINOTAURS album AUM, three children, Piya’s new CBC Radio show Out in the Open, which debuts Saturday May 28 at 3:00 PM, the MINOTAURS song “Weird Waves,” and that was that.

Related links: cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen minotaursband.bandcamp.com vishkhanna.com

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.