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Talkhouse

Music

Talkhouse Weekend Playlist: Tom Misch’s #PlaylistsForEarth

Jackie McLean, frontwoman of Roan Yellowthorn, the musical project supported by partner and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Strack, delivers confessional indie rock with a singer/songwriter heart. The duo’s forthcoming new album, Another Life, is due out May 14 via Blue Élan Records. McLean wrote much of the set as a reflection on a childhood marked by frequent mental and emotional abuse that continued into young adulthood, oftentimes causing her to question her own reality and sense of self-worth, and the idea of alternate or parallel lives serves as a throughline. She channels her healing process and the rebuilding of her individual identity through laid-back &#8217;80s era synths and airy, often bright, dream-pop sounds helmed with the help of producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Kurt Vile, Waxahatchee).

Jackie McLean

Jackie McLean and Alex Cameron Are Just Trying to Tell the Truth

Originally a Fort Worth, Texas native, Carlson Young attended the University of Southern California where she studied Creative Writing. Carlson’s short film directorial debut The Blazing World premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and the feature version of The Blazing World had its world premiere at Sundance 2021. The film, starring Young, Dermot Mulroney, Udo Kier and Vinessa Shaw, will be released in select theaters and on demand through Vertical Entertainment on October 15. She is also an actor, appearing in Scream: The TV Series, Key &amp; Peele and Emily in Paris.

Carlson Young

Podcast

Bonnie McKee Talks with Carlson Young on the Talkhouse Podcast

Blue Cactus is Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, a North Carolina-based country duo. Their sophomore album Stranger Again is out May 2021 via Sleepy Cat Records. 
(Photo Credit: Chris Frisina)

Blue Cactus

Introducing: Blue Cactus’s “Stranger Again”

Ellen Kempner is the vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the Boston and New York-based indie rock trio Palehound. Their latest record, Eye on the Bat, is out now Polyvinyl.

El Kempner

Ritt Momney, Palehound, and Claud Roundtable on Their New Collaboration

10 years ago this April, Chicago’s Ratboys put out their first collection of songs. The RATBOY EP, consisting of five indie-folk dorm room recordings, was free to download on Bandcamp and humbly passed around to friends on social media. 
Cut to 2021, and Ratboys would normally be celebrating their 10-year anniversary on the road, playing a mix of songs from their very first release to their most recent, last year’s critically-acclaimed Printer’s Devil. Instead, just two weeks after the album’s February 2020 release and mere days before heading out on their first headline tour, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all touring to a halt. Despite not being able to play in-person shows for the past year, Ratboys has managed to stay busy by performing their music online via their own Virtual Tour series and by finding a different way to celebrate their first decade of being a band.

Ratboys

A Guide to Ratboys’ Happy Birthday, Ratboy

Annie Blackman has been writing her way into and out of heartache since adolescence. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Montclair, New Jersey, makes droll yet stirringly vulnerable music to bridge the gap between the head and the heart and untangle what it means to want. A compulsive archivist, Blackman draws inspiration from her own diaries, schoolwork marginalia, and the hallowed grounds of the Notes App on her iPhone. Loving, liking, and longing inform Blackman’s lore. With measured vocals and hypnotic production, Blackman faithfully leads us through her world of faded dorm room furniture and pensive walks-home.
(Photo Credit: Daniel Dorsa)

Annie Blackman

Annie Blackman Raises Unanswerable Questions

As lead vocalist of the Bush Tetras, a seminal post-punk band in New York  City, Cynthia Sley produced some of the most distinctive aspects of the Tetras sounds. Sley&#8217;s vocals were half spoken, half sung and in songs like &#8220;Too Many Creeps&#8221; and &#8220;You Can&#8217;t Be Funky&#8221; she repeated simple phrases creating a hypnotic monotony similar to Pat Place&#8217;s guitar rhythms. &#8220;Too Many Creeps&#8221; was a mainstay of the infamous early &#8217;80s New York &#8220;No Wave&#8221; club scene.

Cynthia Sley

Pyramid Club Was the Center of the Universe

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. <a href="https://pod.link/Talkhouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Subscribe now</a>, and explore more illuminating shows on the <a href="https://talkhouse.com/category/podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Talkhouse Podcast Network.</a>

Talkhouse Podcast

Revisited: Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) Talks with Dan Snaith (Caribou) on the Talkhouse Podcast

LAPÊCHE is a Brooklyn-based band led by singer/guitarist Krista Holly Diem, whose dark, melodic songs offer a refreshing twist on post-punk inspired indie rock. With bassist Dave Diem (Twelve Hour Turn), guitarist Drew DeMaio (Asshole Parade, Floor, Strikeforce Diablo) and drummer Jeff Gensterblum (Small Brown Bike, Able Baker Fox), the close friends compose together, drawing inspiration from both past and present, light and dark, guiding Krista Holly&rsquo;s provocative melodies and lyrics.
(Photo Credit: Kate Hoos)

LAPÊCHE

LAPÊCHE and J. Robbins on Being the Guy Who Annoys the Engineer

Born-and-bred New Yorkers, MICHELLE is refreshingly comprised of predominately POC + queer members. The collective references equally diverse influences — Noname, Led Zeppelin, Sly and the Family Stone, Orion Sun, My Chemical Romance, SZA — all of which distill to create a cohesively diverse sound. The group’s unique stylings are the result of songwriting from Sofia D’Angelo, Julian Kaufman, Charlie Kilgore, Layla Ku, Emma Lee and Jamee Lockard with production from Kaufman and Kilgore.

MICHELLE

In Conversation: MICHELLE and CHAI

As an active paramedic, firefighter, and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Vision Video leader Dusty Gannon has seen more horror in real life than in the classic movies he draws inspiration from. When not saving lives on the front line, Dusty dons torn fishnets, combat boots and makeup to play post-punk that recalls the genre’s heyday when the lines between goth and pop blurred to create some of the underground’s most beloved acts such as The Cure, The
Smiths, and Joy Division. But hidden within Vision Video’s catchy hooks and danceable beats is a nostalgic yet desperate message exploring the darker undertones of our existence. At its core, Vision Video’s debut album, Inked In Red, looks inward to understand the effects of war and the global pandemic. Dusty’s experiences in service have imparted an authentic gravitas to the music, revealing a cautionary tale of unhinged mental illness born of trauma.
(Photo Credit: Olivia Mead)