Hey Talkhouse listeners, it's Josh Modell. Instead of a new episode this week, we're resurfacing a great one from a few years back between Blondshell and Maya Hawke. Blondshell, aka Sabrina Teitelbaum, released a new song recently and she's about to hit the road for a big tour. Maya Hawke is an actor who just signed on to star in the upcoming Netflix show The God of the Woods and she makes great records as well. Check it out!

—Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast 

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got two performers who’ve got friends in common, and became fast friends themselves while recording this chat: Maya Hawke and Sabrina Teitelbaum.

Maya Hawke is best known for her day job as an actor, most visibly in a little show called Stranger Things, and she was also in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the new Wes Anderson movie, Asteroid City. But as you’ll hear in this chat, she might be most excited by a side path as a singer and songwriter. Hawke has released two understated but fantastic albums so far, and she’s basically finished another. The vibe is sort of indie-folk, sort of floating and ambient but lyrically really engaging. She’s worked with some cool folks to realize her musical vision, including Christian Lee Hutson, who’s the “Christian” referenced in this conversation, just so you know. ⁠Check out⁠ a “Sweet Tooth” from Hawke’s 2022 album Moss right here.

Sabrina Teitelbaum just released her debut album under the name Blondshell, and it’s one of the best of 2023 so far. She describes it in this conversation as an emergency album—meaning a bunch of songs that she felt almost desperate to write, record, and unleash on the world. It’s direct and angry in spots, but also darkly funny and completely unafraid. She’s toured with the likes of Horsegirl and Porridge Radio, which might give some indication of what you’re in for. Or I could just play you Blondshell’s opus, “Salad,” right here. ⁠Check it out⁠.

These two have a fantastic conversation, and just in case it’s not clear from the context, they’re both good friends with the singer Samia, and each has contributed to a Samia covers series called Honey Reimagained. Blondshell did a song called “Charm You,” which is available now. Elsewhere in this chat, they talk about Hawke’s playing “body air guitar,” the weird emotional hit you get when a tour is finished, and the difficulties of stage banter. Enjoy.

0:00 Intro

3:20: Start of Conversation

3:21: On mutual friends and covering songs

4:58: On “perceived vulnerability” and perspectives in their songwriting

9:08: On sad songs, music you can play for friends, and “Olympus”

10:57: On the writing and jazz experiences that inspired Maya’s music

12:48: On the physicality of performing, feeling the music, and performance art

14:41: On playing live, post-tour loneliness, and active vs. passive time

20:06: On maintaining friendships

21:17: On Maya’s latest record

22:54: On onstage banter, scripting shows, and keeping shows fresh

25:53: On finishing a record and learning from the experience

27:43: On music serving as a snapshot of an artists’ life

28:26: On promoting music creatively and authentically, and social media

33:19: On the songwriting process, and tv show narratives’ influences on our experiences

38:40: On being inspired by friendships

42:13: On Maya titling her album “Moss”

43:40: On writing about past pain, and trying to balance it with joy

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Sabrina Teiltelbaum and Maya Hawke for chatting.

If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at ⁠Talkhouse.com⁠. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On the latest episode of Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, Nick Dawson sits down with one of the greatest living documentary filmmakers, Kirsten Johnson, the director of Cameraperson and Dick Johnson is Dead.

In a very personal conversation that draws on their shared history around death and their parents, the two talk about their mutual pursuit of connection, Johnson growing up in the shadow of an imminent apocalypse, the truly remarkable dream she had while shooting in Sudan, a great story about Stephen Colbert’s hands, the disappointing way in which she and a legendary artist have not been collaborating, and much more.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got an absolute legend of the punk rock world in conversation with one of his band’s biggest fans—who also happens to play bass in one of the world’s most famous rock bands. It’s Joe Keithley and Duff McKagan.

Joe Keithley has been known for the vast majority of his life as Joey Shithead, singer and guitarist for the band D.O.A., which is coming up on its 50th year of existence. D.O.A. are absolute legends that have always existed on the margins—I don’t think they’d have it any other way—and who influenced and crossed paths with countless bands over the years. They’re credited with bringing the word “hardcore” into the punk lexicon with their album Hardcore ‘81, and guys like Billie Joe Armstrong and Kurt Cobain were vocal fans. Politics and activism have always been part of D.O.A.’s DNA, so it’s no surprise that Keithley decided to run for office in his native Burnaby, Canada. It was a surprise, even to him, that he actually won, and he’s been representing his area for nearly eight years. There’s a new documentary out now called Something Better Change that covers his life both as a musician and a politician, and it’s definitely worth your time. It even comes as a DVD extra in a new double-LP greatest hits collection called Take on the Tyrants: The Very Best of Punk Rock’s Most Enduring Band. Check out the trailer for the doc right here.

Duff McKagan is a lifelong D.O.A. fan; as you’ll hear in this chat, he was onto them super early, including attending a legendary hardcore festival in Canada. McKagan probably needs no introduction here: He’s the longtime bassist and founding member of Guns N' Roses, with whom he still tours—he Zooms into this chat having just landed in Poland for some gigs. But McKagan’s fascinating career and history goes well beyond GnR; he was part of the Seattle punk scene starting as a teen, and he’s been a member of more bands, big and small, than you can count. He’s also an accomplished writer whose autobiography is well worth a read and he’s got a string of solo albums and collaborations. He’s always busy, and he clearly loves music, as you’ll hear in this chat.

In addition to talking about his love for D.O.A., McKagan talks with Keithley here about the good old days of punk rock, diving deep on Black Flag in particular. They also chat about Keithley’s political career and his new venture as the face of a Canadian guitar company. It’s a fun, lively conversation—enjoy.

0:00 — Intro

2:40 — Start of Conversation

3:26 — On how D.O.A shaped Duff’s perspectives on music, and on receiving their album

4:47 — On traveling in Europe on tour, and cities with the best rock audiences

7:52 — On traveling through East and West Germany, and how fans got new music in East Germany

9:53 — On D.O.A’s documentary, Something Better Change, and the politics, music, and punk culture that inspired them both

14:05 — On the Vietnam War and its impacts on music

15:05 — On Joe’s political campaigns, door-knocking, and learning about diverse cultures

18:57 — On crossing borders on tour

22:12 — On local politics and aggressive campaign commercials

24:44 — On touring, and attending graduations

26:23 — On Joe’s new line of guitars

27:46 — On D.O.A’s influence on Duff, D.O.A’s early days, and meeting other punk musicians

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Joe Keithley and Duff McKagan for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On the latest episode Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, Nick Dawson sits down with Charles Lane, the writer-director-actor behind the landmark indie film classic Sidewalk Stories. In a lively and frequently surprising conversation, Lane talks about such disparate subjects as how to make high-school love work (with some creative scheduling), being chased by street gangs and dinosaurs, how he copes with regret, his time as a pre-teen pyromaniac, the places one’s brain goes during a 12-minute (!) standing ovation at Cannes, becoming a Jehovah’s Witness as an act of teenage rebellion, and much more.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a couple of old friends who are both multi-hyphenates: film directors, actors, writers, musicians, and perhaps most importantly, opinionated rabble-rousers who’ve spent decades pushing at the edges of culture—especially sexual politics—and gleefully widening its scope. It’s John Cameron Mitchell and Sook-Yin Lee.

Mitchell is perhaps best known for co-writing and starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the late-'90s stage musical that became a cult-classic movie. It was the beginning of a career that has championed queerness and otherness, pushing those things into a mainstream that has sometimes been welcoming, but most times not so much. He followed Hedwig with Shortbus, whose frank depictions of sexuality were probably a little too intense for wider audiences. Mitchell has also done really interesting work as an actor in other people’s projects, including playing Tiger King Joe Exotic in a miniseries not too long ago. As you’ll hear in this chat, he’s working on a project about Alan Ginsberg in 1968, a time that should be more distant than it feels like at the moment. Mitchell is heading out on a Hedwig anniversary tour that will include screenings of the film plus live performance and conversation; check out hedwig25.com for info.

The other half of today’s chat, Sook-Yin Lee, met Mitchell way back when, as you’ll hear, when she auditioned for him—sort of. She had roles in both Hedwig and Shortbus, but has also lived other lives as a TV presenter in Canada and a prolific film director. For the past couple of years she’s taken her latest film, Paying For It, straight to audiences along with her friend Chester Brown, whose graphic novel is the film’s basis. It’s a comedy about a couple that opens their relationship, and one of them decides to experiment by paying for sex. You can stream it most anywhere now, but that’s not all Lee has been up to: She just released a new album of catchy, skewed electro-pop called 72RHR. Check out the song “A Hollow” right here.

In this funny, fiery conversation, Mitchell and Lee talk about their early days together, about Alan Ginsberg and how the times he lived through don’t seem to be over, about Mitchell’s adopted New Orleans home, the power of art and lots more. Enjoy.

0:00 — Intro 2:39 — Start of Conversation 3:13 — On celebrating Pride, and Allen Ginsberg 5:34 — On their first collaborations, why their earlier projects couldn’t be made in today’s climate and industry, and branching out with new projects 10:43 — On promoting their latest film collaboration, "Paying For It" 13:11 — On their musical backgrounds and finding inspiration from different styles and genres of art 14:10 — On up-and-coming cities and scenes for artists, marginalized communities, and progressive and punk cultures 16:57 — Comparing and contrasting modern times and today’s art to 1968 18:42 — On making a living as an artist, funding for the arts, and affordability 20:23 — On art movements in small regions, and protecting DIY art spaces, and regional culture in New Orleans 22:03 — On promoting “Paying For It” in the US 23:36 — On the frustrations of a digital world, and building connection and attention spans 25:27 — On doing screenings and gigs for the 25th anniversary of “Hedvig,” and screening “Short Bus” 26:13 — On using art to bring people together again to re-connect to reality 28:58 — On fighting ICE and data centers, and uniting over shared issues 31:46 — On using technology to connect, and young peoples’ changing identities 34:23 — On how young people are creating DIY art, and the tools that make art more accessible for creators 38:13 — On the connections between punk culture, art distribution, and resistance 42:29 — On AIDS activism and “applied punk” within the queer community 44:03 — Where you can find their work

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Sook-Yin Lee and John Cameron Mitchell for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the other great shows in our network. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time! Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On the latest episode Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, Nick Dawson sits down with the brilliant and innovative filmmaker Zia Anger, the creative force behind the 2024 feature My First Film and the legendary live multimedia show of the same name.

Over the course of their conversation, Nick and Zia touch on such topics as the problems of being ahead of your time, how Justin Bieber’s recent Coachella show followed in Zia’s footsteps, the remarkable series of “Take It to the Limit” parties she attended as a college student, the dreams she has that Jung would have a field day with, what she would do during a nuclear holocaust, and much more.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a couple of friends who swim in the same punk-inspired scenes but whose musics are pretty different: Barry Johnson and Greg Mendez.

Johnson is the singer and guitarist for Joyce Manor, the pop-punk/emo/indie-rock/something-something band that’s been blasting out short, to-the-point songs for nearly two decades. There’s something perfectly economical about everything the band does: Their records often clock in at under 20 minutes, so there’s no fat or filler to be found. The latest is being hailed as their best, which is saying something for a band whose chosen genre rarely seems to age well—something Johnson laughs about in this chat. The album is called I Used to Go to This Bar, and it was produced by Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz. Check out the song “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” right here.

The other half of today’s conversation, Greg Mendez, takes a Spartan approach to songwriting as well, but his songs are much more quiet and reflective—you’ll definitely hear Elliott Smith vibes on his new album, Beauty Land. Mendez has actually been making music nearly as long as Joyce Manor, but their shyness didn’t really push through into wider view until a self-titled album in 2023. Now he’s ready to take the next leap—this new record is on the Dead Oceans label, which has released records by like-minded souls Phoebe Bridgers, Japanese Breakfast, and Bright Eyes. Check out the song “Gentle Love” from Beauty Land right here.

In this conversation, Mendez and Johnson talk about how they first met, about the ups and downs of sequencing an album, and about doing the stream-of-consciousness creative practice called “morning pages,” where you just write whatever pops into your head. Johnson doesn’t want you to see his pages, and you’ll find out why. Enjoy.

0:00 — Intro 2:47 — Start of Conversation 5:16 — On sequencing records 7:58 — On releasing new music and planning modern album rollouts 9:20 — On the benefits of slower rollouts and appreciating singles 10:58 — On how they became friends 13:52 — On living in New York, and midlife crises 15:42 — On surfing, skating, and Long Beach 19:50 — On discovering punk through skating culture 20:28 — On touring’s impact on creativity, and finding inspiration from other musicians 23:08 — On overcoming writer’s block, exercising your creativity with age, “morning pages,” and Kurt Cobain’s diary 32:21 — On upcoming tour plans and keeping audiences’ attention while playing solo 34:14 — On seeing musicians transfix an audience, getting emotional at concerts, and live versions of songs

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Barry Johnson and Greg Mendez for a great chat. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On the first episode of the new season of Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, host Nick Dawson sits down with Emmy-winning actor Tatiana Maslany, whose new thriller series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is now streaming on Apple TV. In wide-ranging conversation, the two talk about how she fell in love her husband over FaceTime, her very unconventional way of turning up for auditions, why she falls asleep thinking about coffee, the hardest time she’s ever had on a movie set, her love of taking COVID tests, and much more. Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

Hey Talkhouse listeners, this week, I'm throwing you a rerun from a while back, but whose wisdom hasn't dimmed since 2018 when it was recorded. It's a great conversation between Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale that was captured backstage at the Desert Days Festival. I grabbed this one from the archive because we recently passed the 2nd anniversary of Albini's untimely death, and there was a great Rolling Stone piece about his legacy that got me thinking. He was a very smart, sometimes controversial guy, always opinionated, but always thoughtful. Check it out and we'll see you with a new episode next week. 
—Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast 

The Talkhouse Podcast recently headed out to the fantastic Desert Daze festival at Moreno Beach at Lake Perris in Southern California. When we weren't catching sets by Tame Impala, King Gizzard, and My Bloody Valentine, we recorded a trio of great talks; this week, we present the first.

When I saw that both Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale were going to be at Desert Daze giving talks, I knew we had to pair these two icons of alternative music. They're big fans of each other's work, and halfway through their conversation, Steve said, “This is the sort of stuff no one ever talks about. These are the questions I’ve had for 30 years.”

Their fascinating talk takes in the beginning years of Devo’s existence; their complex relationship with Neil Young; Brian Eno’s proclivity for ménage à trois; the differences between poker and making records; and how the name Devo became a category alongside jocks, squares and nerds.

Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.
—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

0:00 — Intro 1:01 — Start of the chat  1:14 — Introductions, names, and local sports  3:50 — On Devo straddling genres, their connection to Neil Young, and punk rock  8:14 — On the orthodoxy of punk rock culture, and reactions to politics and power structures  15:17 — On Devo’s connection to the experimental and underground scene 17:58 — On lying to club owners to book shows in the '70s  19:13 — On promoting Devo’s first albums, and Stiff Records  22:44 — On working with Brian Eno, their first major record deal, and meeting David Bowie  27:41 — On Devo controlling and developing their own sound  29:04 — On making “non-functional” experimental music versus dance music, and the role of taste in producing and creating  31:58 — On studio musicians working across genres  35:56 — On being compelled to create original art, regrets, and the paradox of the mainstream record industry  39:17 — On playing poker, and the psychological relationship between poker and creative personas  45:55 — On being an outsider, and Devo becoming “a badge of courage” 

This episode was recorded by Keenan Kush at Desert Daze. It was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Big thanks to Desert Daze for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast.

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a pair of songwriters who currently call Canada home, but whose music and backgrounds come from intriguingly different places: Lido Pimienta and Ora Cogan.

Lido Pimienta is an incredibly thoughtful, thoroughly outspoken musician/artist who was born in Colombia and whose music takes inspiration from there and a dozen other places. She released her first record in 2010, but it was 2016’s experimental-leaning La Papessa that won her both the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and a bigger batch of listeners inspired by her activism and genre-jumping. The laziest comparison might be Björk, so take that for what it’s worth. Pimienta’s latest album is last year’s stirring, strange, and gorgeous La Belleza. Check out the minimal song “Mango” right here.

The music made by the other person in today’s conversation, Ora Cogan, comes from a different sonic place but I think a similar emotional one. Cogan’s new album Hard Hearted Woman takes old-school West Coast singer-songwriter vibes and adds a bit of modern indie-psych edge. I hear influences like Joni Mitchell and Sharon van Etten bubbling under, but there’s something a little darker happening in Cogan’s songs that’s hard to put a finger on but a pleasure to hear. She’s finishing up a West Coast US tour at the moment that will end back home in British Columbia, so check her out if you can, and in the meantime, check out the song “The Smoke” from Hard Hearted Woman right here.

In this lively conversation, Pimienta and Cogan talk about coffee, Canada, and Pimienta’s recent career reset. They also talk about the increasing difficulties of making art in the modern economy, something we’ve heard from other guests recently as well. But they don’t let it get them down—enjoy this chat and their positive energy.

0:00 — Intro 2:46 — Start of conversation 3:29 — On coffee, productivity, fast food, and sugar 6:40 — On “road snacks” and favorite foods while touring abroad 8:00 — On fiddling and Irish and Scottish folk music 10:04 — On safety while crossing borders and making tour travel plans 10:53 — On the importance of music, creativity, and connection today 14:18 — On the contrast between spirituality and the music business 17:23 — On fame and realistic expectations for musicians 21:36 — On Lida’s music and how her culture influenced her style 26:13 — On finding connection through art, beauty, and sharing culture 28:20 — On authenticity and gatekeeping in art 29:43 — On the connections between wealth, commercialization, and the importance of real art and experience 31:46 — On raising children in a consumerist world, and introducing them to art and culture

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Lido Pimienta and Ora Cogan for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great chats and writing and Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

This week’s Talkhouse Podcast features a conversation between two ridiculously talented young songwriter/guitarists in the early days of what will surely be interesting careers: Mei Semones and John Roseboro. Semones famously found her passion for guitar by watching the “Johnny B. Goode” scene in Back to the Future, which led her to music school and the kind of genre-spanning passion that feels refreshingly unfiltered. Sometimes she’ll play delicate, jazz-inflected acoustic songs while singing in Japanese; the next minute it’s more familiar indie-pop that adds a bit of bossa nova or some shredding. The fact that it doesn’t make sense is what makes it make sense, if you get what I mean. Semones was a big hit at this year’s experimental-leaning Big Ears Festival, and she’s also got a big social media following—that’s an odd crossover, or at least I think it is. Next week she’ll open a string of shows for American Football on the west coast before heading down to charm Australia. Her first full-length was last year’s Animaru, and she followed it recently with an EP called Kurage, which includes a song made with today’s other guest, John Roseboro. Roseboro has called his music “post-Bossa Nova” or sometimes just “post-Bossa,” but that only tells part of the story. He’s a thoughtful, observant lyricist who’s great at building a vibe and then taking it to unexpected places. Like Semones, he lives in Brooklyn, though he ended up there via a strange route that took him to mortuary school and some time among the Amish. His latest full-length is 2024’s Fools, but since then he’s released a charming cover of the classic “Close To You” that removes a lot of the cheese associated with various other versions over the years. He also collaborated with Semones on a track from her EP that recounts a story of his lost tooth and a meeting on a subway platform. Check out that song, “Tooth Fairy,” right here. In this charming, relentlessly laid-back conversation, Semones and Roseboro—who are good friends, as you’ll be able to tell—hit each other with questions that lead everywhere from what food they like on the road to the magic of music. Succumb to their rhythm and enjoy the conversation. 0:00 — Intro 2:28 — Start of conversation 2:50 — If you could be an animal, what would you be? 4:19 — On traveling and finding a home base 5:50 — What do you think about while performing? 8:15 — On noticing the audience at shows, and hecklers 10:10 — On favorite types of food, and go-to deli orders 12:46 — On what makes a good song & lyrics 16:29 — On underrated songs they’ve made 18:40 — On dreams and dream imagery 20:38 — On Nerd Clusters, snacks, and drinks on rider requests 22:03 — On favorite sports 22:40 — Have you ever been in a fight? 24:49 — On favorite seasons and months 25:13 — On the differences between touring and recording 27:56 — On sleeping 28:55 — On subtlety Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Mei Semones and John Roseboro for chatting. If you like what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan and the Talkhouse theme was composed and performed by the Range. See you next time! Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more. Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.