Ben Chasny discusses the lovely new Six Organs of Admittance album, Time is Glass, his return to northern California after many years living throughout the United States, the politically charged conversation we had when Ranga was on the show and made some incorrect 2016 U.S. presidential election predictions, getting himself a dog and reading about…

Raymond Biesinger discusses his best-selling book, 305 Lost Buildings of Canada, and trajectory as an illustrator, when Cadence Weapon introduced us outside of a Sadies show in Edmonton, why he didn’t actually feel like attending that show, his time in the Famines and why he retired from music making, his Edmonton social circles, why his work highl…

Cadence Weapon discusses his explosive new album ROLLERCOASTER, Hamilton joyriding and being a proud citizen, the time he introduced me to the visual artist Raymond Biesinger outside of a Sadies show in Edmonton, life as a new dad and why I think he might want to enjoy every moment, why ROLLERCOASTER is a revolutionary meditation on modern technolo…

Michael Feuerstack discusses his thoughtful and infectious new album Eternity Mongers, its social, philosophical, and interpersonal lyrical themes, a discussion about the phrase “It is what it is,” and Michael’s new song, “What Isn’t What it Is,” creating an artistic space to convey thoughts and ideas and Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, making …

Patrick Lefler discusses his band ROY and their beautiful new album, Spoons for the World, working as a foley artist and a brief lesson in making good sipping and kissing sounds, the role room sounds and ambiance play in his work, Patrick Roy, LeBron James, and Bryan Trottier, growing up in Guelph and the premise that it’s a music and arts city, hi…

Mikey Day discusses his work hosting Is it Cake? and as a performer and writer on Saturday Night Live, why Is it Cake? features so many SNL cast members as celebrity judges, how his work on both shows might inform one another, legendary Canadians like SNL producer Lorne Michaels and Ryan Gosling, playing a part in Unfrosted, which is Jerry Seinfeld…

Alex Edkins, Hayden Menzies, and Chris Slorach from METZ discuss their new album Up on Gravity Hill, its hard themes and dynamic emotional tenor, the evolution of METZ and the beginning of a new chapter, surprising each other musically, music videos and how songs can be de-valued, loving Eric’s Trip, working with producer Seth Manchester, filmmaker…

Joshua Wayne Hensley and Jared Myers discuss their band forestlike and recent self-titled debut album, life in Indiana and first bonding over buckets, the very flattering song that Josh wrote about me, why Jared abandoned a promising music trajectory and why he’s back at it now, a profound and somewhat unusual experience I had listening closely to …

Kaie Kellough and Jason Sharp discuss their work together in FYEAR and their new, self-titled debut album, our Alberta commonalities and the Edmonton Oilers, the origin of their social and musical relationship, writing one piece that has been divided into chunks for this dynamic album and its concept and sound, what certain children think of the re…

Mark Mothersbaugh from DEVO discusses his new hardcover art book, APOTROPAIC BEATNIK GRAFFITI, how limited eyesight helped make him a visionary, a 2020 hospital admission for COVID-19 that changed his life forever, mail art and thousands of art cards, how visual art led to the pursuit of music and DEVO’s formation, very old and very recent personal…

You’ve Changed Records is 15! A celebration featuring reflections by Steven Lambke, Daniel Romano’s Outfit, Attack in Black, Shotgun Jimmie, Julie Doiron, Marine Dreams, Apollo Ghosts, the Burning Hell, Nap Eyes, Partner, Mar Sellars, Jon McKiel, Status/Non-Status, Fiver, Colin Medley, and Julianna Riolino, plus a tribute to Richard Laviolette and …

Jim White and Guy Picciotto discuss their work together on Jim’s first solo album, All Hits: Memories, drumming, our relationship with artifacts and memories in an age of informational saturation, experimenting with keyboards and music production, perspectives on Jim’s idiosyncratic approach to drumming and ambient music, working in film and a lost…

Sohrab Habibion and Michael Jaworski discuss the new SAVAK album, Flavors of Paradise, dancing seahorses, snow shovelling adventures, the late Rick Froberg’s role in influencing aspects of SAVAK and his constant presence in our lives, U.S. politics and the media, singing about years, defending your band name, gallows humour and punk-infused pop mus…

Rosali discusses her beautiful new album Bite Down, Michigan, Philadelphia, and school trips to Canada, the important details, living in North Carolina with a dog and commuting to Nebraska, her band Long Hots’ Third Man Records single, befriending the David Nance Group and the Mowed Sound’s live-off-the-floor approach on Bite Down, our shared admir…

Dan Boeckner discusses BOECKNER and Boeckner!, Canada’s politics, history, and capitulation to fascism, feckless Canadian journalism, Israel, Palestine, and perceptions of the war crimes in Gaza, how aspects of the pandemic and human behaviour influenced the lyrics on his otherwise upbeat and powerful new album, collaborating with Matt Chamberlain,…

Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, and Anthony Pirog from the Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis discuss their wonderful new self-titled debut album, when musicians “sat in,” freedom from genre signifiers, music school pros and cons, why Anthony and James connected and what makes Brendan and Joe such a special rhythm section, upcoming tour and festival dat…

Matt Korvette from Pissed Jeans talks about their excellent, ferocious, and funny new album, Half Divorced, Philly, Kurt Vile, and Atom and His Package, writing angry, funny songs as, and even for, adults, having fun playing music like Mudhoney does, hating our phones, helicopter parents and what kids get up to these days, covering a Pink Lincolns …

Spencer Burton discusses his lovely new album, North Wind, farming and regenerative agriculture, escapism and writing songs in a remote cabin, family ties, the pace of life, pondering cultural work, making records with Nashville-based producer Andrija Tokic, a dental emergency and a beautiful live take, Clint Black and The Larry Sanders Show, writi…

Daniel Romano’s Outfit discuss their brilliant new album, Too Hot to Sleep, why the Outfit has different members now, presence and what sleeping means in a time of great consciousness, songs like “That’s Too Rich,” which delve into wealth inequality, classism, and human rights violations, the fascinating stories behind the band’s new videos for sin…

Kate Stables discusses Careful of Your Keepers, the latest album by This is The Kit, touring Canada in the winter, why references to The Simpsons, Despicable Me, and Pride and Prejudice might make it into her songs, chewing, biting, babies, and dogs, how repeating the same things doesn’t mean they’re not changing, being parented and parenting, more…

Tim Midyett discusses the incredibly impassioned new Mint Mile album, Roughrider, loving a home recorded performance as much as one made at Electrical Audio, singing about sex, love, mortality, and society, football, eschewing social media one platform at a time, collaborating with Joel RL Phelps and Nina Nastasia, conjuring Lou, Iggy, and Bowie, a…

Mary Timony discusses her excellent and introspective new album, Untame the Tiger, teaching guitar and creative coaching, caring for and then losing her parents to illnesses, what that taught her about herself, thinking about thinking and writing songs about her brain, favourite guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Christina Billotte, touring a lot, ot…

Quentin Branch and Brian Warren from ANGRY BLACKMEN discuss their new album, The Legend of ABM, Santa Fe, Chicago, and leaving a place that makes you unhappy, musical and cinematic inspirations, dissing music journalism and getting nice reviews, racism in America and cyclical progress, exploring noise, punk, and pop in hip-hop, new music, other fut…

Aparna Nancherla discusses her return to standup and public life after taking time away to write a book of personal essays called Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Imposter Syndrome, when interviewers don’t engage with the things you make, being the child of immigrants and first generation anxiety, keeping up South Asian appearances, familial me…

Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada from Black Pumas discuss their latest album, Chronicles of a Diamond, the band’s history, Steve Martin’s The Jerk, RZA and Wu-Tang Clan, writing songs about relationships and also birds, unintentionally making psychedelic soul, hitting the road, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd…

J. Robbins discusses his excellent new album, Basilisk, life in Baltimore, band resurrections, punk and synthesized music, getting musicians together in a room again, January 6, ahistoricism, and temporality, a Jawbox update, hitting the road with these new songs, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pi…

J Mascis discusses his new solo album, What Do We Do Now, recent live Dinosaur Jr. jams with friends like Lee Ranaldo, Kurt Vile, and Kim Deal, what we learned about “Divine Mascis” from the Breeders and J’s recollection, Kurt Cobain inviting him to join Nirvana, expensive cities like Oslo, Norway, working with Ken Mauri and Matthew “Doc" Dunn, lov…

NYSSA discusses her brilliant new album Shake Me Where I’m Foolish, witchcraft, paganism, and tarot, desire and capitalism, magical thinking and spiritualism, DIY empowerment and expertise, band chemistry and companionship, playing record release shows, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokade…

Nick Zubeck discusses his lovely new album, Echo Park, Cliff Clavin and watching Cheers and Late Night with David Letterman with his late father, a fascinating family history, once running a yoga studio, meditation and existentialism, remembering lost friends and celebrating their work, record release shows, other future plans, and much more. Suppo…

Rachel Brown and Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes discuss their 2023 album Everyone’s Crushed and its recently released remix record, Crushed By Everyone, playing basketball with kids in Brooklyn, loving but leaving Chicago, bluegrass, the Beatles, and Ween, stand-up comedy and being a lead singer, “punk,” theatricality and trusting your instincts…

Michael Balazo discusses his hilarious new stand-up album, Michael 1, Comedy 0, the year-in-review and 2023 highlights, co-hosting the Evil Men podcast, travelling back and forth between Toronto and England and performing for different audiences, Burton Cummings and the fake Guess Who, seeing James Cameron’s Titanic, Metallica, and Ramones, future …

Robert Smigel discusses co-directing and co-writing the hilarious new film, Leo, why he rarely does podcasts, why kids know comedy better than some adults do, performing The Lost Hans and Franz Movie on Conan O’Brien’s podcast this year, writing songs and not promoting musicals, singing well in character the way Adam Sandler, Triumph the Insult Com…

Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel discuss their work on the essential new book, Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine, its fascinating essays and notable contributors and their access to almost any of Dylan’s manuscripts and lyric notebooks at the Bob Dylan Center that they asked for, clamouring for mythical material by Dylan, Charlie Parker, and Fugazi,…

Jarvis Taveniere from Woods discusses the sound and lyrical themes on their new album, Perennial, our shared love and interactions with the late David Berman, the work that Woods did with Berman in their band, Purple Mountains, a brief Wikipedia-like history of Woods and recalling former members like Kevin Morby, from digital to analog, the Woodsis…

Thank you to anyone who supports Kreative Kontrol on Patreon! If you or someone you know loves this podcast but isn’t yet a donor, please go to our Patreon page and become a member during our membership drive between December 4 and 14! If you become an annual member at the $10 a month tier, you increase your chances of winning draws for prize packs…

Steve Albini and Fred Armisen discuss Letters to Santa: The Holiday Gala in Chicago, which stars John Mulaney and takes place December 5 in Chicago, and Letters To Santa: The 24 Hour Comedy and Music Marathon in Los Angeles on December 16-17, their long friendship, their respective interactions with Conan O’Brien, Fred’s talents for mimicry, Steve’…

Dave Hill discusses his endearingly insightful, heartwarming, and hilarious book, The Awesome Game – One Man’s Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey, the state of hockey and reasons why basketball might be more popular, performing national anthems on electric guitars, a funny story about seeing Fugazi in Cleveland, knowing Dick Cavett, the artf…

Kliph Nesteroff discusses his intriguing new book, Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars, the life of an author in a time when people seem to be reading less, strange yet predictable historical cycles, media literacy and the lack thereof, some of the new taboos, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokade…

Aaron Goldstein discusses his band Espanola and their new album, Espanola, Again, what it was like touring with Willie Nelson in Kathleen Edwards’ band, why and how he became such a sought-after pedal steel player, the blurry line between producing and writing a song, writing about displacement, southern rock from southern Ontario, future plans, an…

In their first ever interview, Fez Gielen, Ali Hendra, Loris Kecaj and Lauren Spear from MAYBEL discuss their wonderful new and second album, Gloam, loving Montreal but moving away, working with producer Jonas Bonnetta from Port William Sound/Evening Hymns, folk singer Bob Dylan from Minnesota, how this band first met and began working together, ob…

Kurt Vile discusses his lovely new EP, Back to Moon Beach, Philly, Boston, and Atom and His Package, pandemic prescience, writing songs that show love for George Jones, Dead Milkmen, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and David Berman, our personal connections to Berman, Silver Jews, and Purple Mountains, interacting with Neil Young, bringing your children to w…

Gregg Turkington discusses his collaboration with Erik Paparozzi on the wonderful new album, Neil Hamburger Presents Seasonal Depression Suite, why a Christmas-themed concept record set in a chain hotel works so well, surveys, reviews, and why customers get so entitled at hotels and motels, Frank Sinatra’s Watertown and David Berman’s songwriting, …

Pete Stahl discusses the celebratory, star-studded new album, DC Special, by Scream, the heartbreaking, recent passing of founding member Kent Stax, Dave Grohl’s pre-Nirvana role in Scream and his engagement with the band since, working at the longstanding location of Inner Ear before the studio was displaced, our shared love of the people in Fugaz…

Jon Dore discusses his November 2023 tour of the Canadian Prairies, wanting to move from Alaska to Ottawa, his incredible partner, his recent and great CBC show, Humour Resources, whether audience feedback has ever made him reconsider a joke, what the term “post-pandemic” actually means right now, why Tom Green and vish need to talk, gambling with …

Nicole Rampersaud and Off World’s Sandro Perri discuss their respective new albums, Saudade and 3, how they first met in Toronto and where they each live now, barbecue liberation and Grub-a-Dub, swan songs and other bird activities, the sounds of nature and surprising people with the sounds of their instruments, being a dub bub and the role of a pr…

Roy Wood Jr. discusses headlining a coast-to-coast Just for Laughs tour across Canada in November, the World Series, being on the road and learning a lot about Canada, why he left his correspondent role on The Daily Show and whether he’s still interested in hosting it, the fragile state of late night TV and other ways comedians thrive these days, h…

Geordie Gordon discusses his excellent, reflective new solo album, Tambourine, writing about his teenage years playing music and contemplating his sexuality, loving sad songs, his role in U.S. Girls and seeing an important show by the Hidden Cameras, growing up in the closet in a university town, pondering his next record, playing shows, other futu…

Maximilian Turnbull discusses the new Badge Époque Ensemble album, Air, Light & Harmony, and this past spring’s Radiant Music by Symphony Orchestra, touring and speaking with toddler twins and also Bill Callahan, composing and also composting music, sampling your own work and conceptual complexity, working with his friend Michael Rault, future plan…

Marc Masters discusses his fascinating new book, High Bias –The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape, why we fixate on music formats, the democratization of sound, why cassettes are still revered and collected around the world, tapers, the Grateful Dead, and Sonic Youth, how tapes foretold modern notions of on-demand music portability, what might…

Michael Azerrad discusses his wonderful new book, The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, interviewing Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic for the original Come As You Are book and his subsequent friendship with the band, the truth and rock mythology, self-consciousness and indifference about perception, Kurt’s clinical condit…