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Talkhouse

Washer — aka Mike Quigley and Kieran McShane — is a rock band from Brooklyn. Their latest record, Improved Means to Deteriorated Ends, is out now on Exploding In Sound.
(Photo Credit: Jay Leiby)

Washer

Music

Washer and Pile Are Focusing on the Positive

Rick Maguire is the frontperson of Pile, whose new album Songs Known Together, Alone, a reimagining of material from across the project&#8217;s catalog, is out now via Exploding in Sound.
(Photo Credit: Mark Lapriore)

Rick Maguire

An Explanation and Brief History of Pile

Canadian art-rock band Blessed have released just one full-length record—their taut, spring-loaded 2019 debut Salt—and a handful of EPs (iii is the brand new one) and yet they’ve arranged themselves around a sound and aesthetic that is fully formed and potent, couched in a quiet reverence for their community in Abbotsford, a small, rural city in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. In line with the themes of collaboration and community that define the band, they also recruited different mixers for each song of the iii EP, including Corin Roddick (Purity Ring), John McEntire (Tortoise), Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck), and the band’s own Drew Riekman.
(Photo Credit: Jake Holmes)

Blessed

In Conversation: Drew Riekman (Blessed) and Rick Maguire (Pile)

An influential fixture on the East Coast DIY scene and beyond, Sean Sprecher has been creating profound and sincere music that deals with unhappiness and its absurdity in equal measure since 2007. He has been performing under the name Bad History Month since 2013, transitioning from Fat History Month, a name he used when playing as a duo with drummer Mark Fede. Despite a career marked by sporadic disappearances and the often deliberate avoidance of public attention, Sprecher was already a cult figure in DIY circles in 2017 when the release of his first album as Bad History Month, Dead And Loving It: An Introductory Exploration Of Pessimysticism, brought him to wider attention, drawing praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum and NPR who described the album as an exercise in &#8220;high grade introspection&#8221; that functions &#8220;like message meant to be folded into a square, tucked into a pocket, and returned to in solitude during times of distress.&#8221;

Bad History Month

Bad History Month and Rick From Pile Are Learning To Chill