BV Interviews: A (mostly) Music Podcast From BrooklynVegan

This week we're talking Taja Cheek, who you may know as L'Rain. We discuss the fourth L'Rain album, Fata Morgana, which she says is the final part in a quadrilogy that began with her self-titled 2017 debut. We also discussed her already busy summer of shows, including sharing the stage with Tortoise in NYC and an appearance at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, plus the double-edged sword of the "experimental musician" tag, h...

This week we're talking to the one and only Tricky. Having come up in the '80s as part of Bristol, England's Wild Bunch Soundsystem, Tricky was a member of Massive Attack before going solo in 1995 with his iconic debut Maxinequaye. Thirty-one years later he's just released Different When It's Silent, the first proper Tricky album in six years which is also one of his best.

We talked with Tricky about how the album came to be, how ...

This week we're talking to Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge of shoegaze OGs Swervedriver. They start their BrooklynVegan-presented tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of their debut album Raise on August 18th in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Adam and Jimmy talk about how the band came up through the Oxford scene that also gave us Radiohead and Ride, how they ended up on legendary British indie label Creation Records, and reco...

This week we're talking to Panda Bear and Sonic Boom whose second collaborative album, A Question of When, is out this week via Domino. We discussed how this album differed from their first, 2022's RESET, and some of the interesting sounds on this one, including steel drum, yodeling, loops of Mary Lattimore playing harp, and a police siren that had unintended consequences.

We also talked about their decision to not release A Quest...

This week we've got an interview with Destroyer's Dan Bejar that is making its podcast debut but was recorded in 2025 right before the release of album Dan's Boogie. It also happened just after we'd seen a unique trio lineup of Destroyer open for Father John Misty at New York's Beacon Theatre.

We discussed what it was like on tour with Father John Misty where there were more days off than he was used to on the road, recording Dan'...

This week we've got an interview with The Darkness' Justin Hawkins that is just now making its podcast debut, but was actually recorded in early 2025 as The Darkness were getting ready to release their eighth album, Dreams on Toast. We discussed guitar solos, how he can still hit all those notes two decades on, his Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel, and more.

--

Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mast...

This week we're talking to comedian, actor, writer, and series creator Jon Glaser who you may know from Parks & Recreation ("Jeremy Jam"), Girls ("Laird"), as a writer and performer on Late Night With Conan O'Brien and his own shows like Delocated and Jon Glaser Loves Gear. His new comedy special "Jon Glaser Live at The Bell House" will stream live on VEEPS on July 18. 

We talked about what to expect from his comedy speci...

This week we're talking Kelley Stoltz, who has been making amazing DIY pop out of San Francisco for over 25 years for such labels as Sub Pop, Third Man and John Dwyer's Castle Face. His latest is If You Don't Know Me, Buy Now! and is his first of possibly three albums out this year. In addition to his own music, Kelley also spent time as an auxiliary member of Echo & The Bunnymen and Robyn Hitchcock's band, and also produc...

This week we're talking to Doublespeak, a synthpop supergroup featuring Vince Clarke of Erasure, Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Neil Arthur of Blancmange, and producer and synthesizer expert Benge. They've just released their self-titled debut album which features electropop covers of songs by The Carpenters, The Magnetic Fields, David Essex, Young Marble Giants, ABBA, and more.

We talked separately with Vince Clarke first, and then Neil...

This week we're talking Glenn Donaldson who is the man behind San Francisco's funny, charmingly gloomy The Red, Pinks & Purples. His latest album Acknowledge Kindness is his first for Fire Records and his most accomplished Reds Pinks and Purples record yet.

Glenn and I discuss the making of the album, its musical inspirations and lyrical themes, how Bandcamp helped him return to songwriting after a few away from the music biz,...

This week we're talking to the one and only Robyn Hitchcock about his 50-year career, his new album The Confuser, and his biggest electric-band tour in decades. We also talk about how REM and MTV’s “120 Minutes” helped his US profile back in the '80s, his current Nashville-centered touring band, and working with his wife Emma Swift, producers Paul Fox, John Leckie, Jon Brion, and Dave Rawlings.

Plus: polka dots, ...

This week we're talking to Mike Ness who has led SoCal punk icons Social Distortion since 1978. The band just released Born to Kill which is their first album in 15 years. It's been a long time coming, delayed further by Covid and Mike's cancer diagnosis and successful treatment.

Mike discusses the making of Born to Kill, the '70s inspirations behind it, and working with producer Dave Sardy and collaborators Lucinda Williams and B...

This week, we're talking with Alex Edkins who you might know as the singer and guitarist for late great Toronto noise rock trio METZ and who now makes insanely catchy and still noisy powerpop as Weird Nightmare. His new album is titled Hoopla and is out via Sub Pop.

Alex and I discuss how Weird Nightmare came to be, and how the first Weird Nightmare album influence the final METZ album. Other conversation topics include: METZ refo...

This week, we're talking with Swedish singer-songwriter José González who just released his fifth album Against the Dying of the Light. He's currently on tour in North America and our conversation happened the day before it started in Boston. We discuss his new album and its somewhat apocalyptic themes, including AI which you'll learn he has a more complicated relationship with than some do.

We also talk about his use of distortio...

This week, we've got filmmaker Chandler Levack who actually has two new films out. The first is Mile End Kicks which is based on her own life as a music journalist and is set against the backdrop of the Montreal music scene of the late '00s and early '10s. The other film is comedy Roommates which was made for Netflix under Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company.

We talked to Chandler about recreating the Montreal of her 20...

This week we've got a true iconoclast: filmmaker, provocateur, author, hitchhiker, tastemaker, Sub Pop and Third Man Recording Artist, festival MC and all around legend John Waters. He's currently on tour with Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80th Birthday Celebration.

John and I talk about what he's doing on his birthday tour, and on his actual birthday which is April 22. We also talk about how Donald Trump has ...

We've got a great episode for you today as punk and alt-rock icon Bob Mould is here to talk all things Sugar. The trio, who originally existed from 1992 through early 1995, will play their first show in 31 years on May 2 in NYC which kick-starts reunion tour that runs through the fall.

Bob tells us how the Sugar reunion came to be, their very loud shows, the pros and cons of earplugs, being a Williamsburg, Brooklyn pioneer in the e...

This week we're talking to Carl Newman of Canadian indie rock institution The New Pornographers. The band's 10th album is titled The Former Site Of and it might be their most synth-forward record to date. Carl and I discuss that topic, among many others including how lyrically this album is different from their previous nine. We also talk mandolins, tiki bars, and payphones, plus memorable New York City shows, and we finally get to...

This week we've got a living legend with us -- producer, dub stylist, remixer and On-U Sound label founder and all-around cool cat Adrian Sherwood. He's worked with just about everyone which if you didn't already know, you'll learn on this episode. 

Our wide-ranging conversation includes how he stumbled into record production, working with Lee Scratch Perry, The Fall, Nine Inch Nails, and more, forming influential group Tackhe...