Interviews

Interview: Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells

Interview: Sam Beam of Iron and Wine
The man with the immense beard refuses to make the same album twice.

Interview: Sufjan Stevens
Is 'The Age of Adz' Sufjan's mid-life-crisis LP?

Interview: Jessie Stein of The Luyas
Thank God for mental illness. Jessie Stein talks an LP dealing with schizophrenia and hallucination.

Interview: Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings
Dylan Baldi didn't agree with an audio engineering teacher who told him Steely Dan were the peak of sound perfection.

Interview: Julianna Barwick
Julianna Barwick discusses of the 'magic' of her one-woman "dolphin love-songs."

Interview: Theresa Wayman of Warpaint
Theresa Wayman feels out the emotions running deep in Warpaint's debut LP.

Interview: Chaz Bundick of Toro y Moi
You know you're a Southerner when you throw rocks at a dumpster. Toro y Moi talks touring far from South Carolina.

Interview: Daniel Bejar of Destroyer
Defending sax solos, puzzling over Frog Eyes lack of fame, and pondering over the death of poetry: Destroyer talks; we listen.

Interview: Stuart A. Staples of Tindersticks
The Tindersticks singer talks a career's worth of collaboration with French filmmaker Claire Denis.

Interview: Joanna Newsom
Philosophical musings with the harp-playing heroine.

Interview: Dayve Hawk of Memory Tapes
'Player Piano' is Memory Tapes' new album. He just recorded it four years ago. Dayve Hawk talks time, the internet, and chillwave.

Interview: Vincent Moon
The mastermind behind the 'Take Away Shows' talks obliterating the clichés of the concert movie.

Interview: Katie Stelmanis of Austra
Obsessive classical student becomes budding opera star becomes solo songwriter becomes electro-goth chanteuse.

Interview: Bryan Devendorf of The National
The National's perpetually-pounding drummer talks about dealing with the weight of expectations on 'High Violet'.

Interview: Alan Palomo of Neon Indian

Interview: Pat Grossi of Active Child
With harp, synths, and warbling choirboy voice, Grossi sought to build "cathedral-like" songs of "creepy beautiful" feeling.

Interview: Caroline Polachek of Chairlift
The Chairlift starlet talks blog sexism, Gemini nature, neural plasticity, and the songs on 'Something'.

Interview: Cass McCombs
In which we try to pry a few wise words from the private, elusive, inscrutable, and most odd songsmith...

Interview: Ernest Greene of Washed Out

Interview: Matt Mondanile of Real Estate and Ducktails
The Real Estate bro talks summer, autumn, and other musical seasons/stereotypes.

Interview: Zach Condon of Beirut
The one-time global wanderer searches for home on 'The Rip Tide'. Does it mark Beirut's move into adulthood?

Interview: Annie Clark of St. Vincent (2011)
The St. Vincent dame had a painful Year of the Tiger.

Interview: Ellery Roberts of WU LYF
"We're not out to make up some fantastic myth and hide behind it," the WU LYF frontman claims.

Interview: Chaz Bundick of Toro y Moi
Chaz Bundick talks about talking about people behind their backs right to their faces.

Interview: Alan Palomo of Neon Indian
The chillwave champ was never really a snyth nerd, until now. Also: the Flaming Lips!

Interview: Tom Cowan of The Horrors
Once a band defined by their wardrobe, The Horrors have grown greatly since their salad days. Tom Cowan talks change.

Interview: Stephen Malkmus of Pavement and The Jicks
Pavement did not reform to pay off Bob Nastanovich's gambling debts.

Interview: Mike Hadreas of Perfume Genius
Mr. Perfume Genius weighs up YouTube controversy, alcoholism, adolescence, Lana del Rey, and male nipples.

Interview: M. Ward
M. Ward talks Zooey, dreams, songs, old radio, Croatia, inspiration, and 'A Wasteland Companion'.

Interview: Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors
No longer chasing kooky concepts and genre-hopping weirdness, on 'Swing Lo Magellan' the leader of the Dirty Projectors courts sincerity, simplicity, and the art of songcraft.

Interview: Claire Boucher of Grimes
On the release of 'Visions', Grimes talks indie bands as brands, cognitive neuroscience, and Montréal.

Interview: Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards
On the brink of a breakout, Merrill Garbus is shocked she hasn't had to compromise one iota along the way.

Interview: Christopher Taylor of Cant and Grizzly Bear
The Grizzly Bear producer wanted his first ever solo record to be like an exfoliating rub.

Interview: Dayve Hawk of Memory Tapes
The man behind the mysterious Memory Tapes talks isolation, nostalgia, and feeling like a grandpa.

Interview: Alex Scally of Beach House (2012)
"To us, music only makes sense if it's intuitive. It's not an intellectual game. It's not about 'let's just change things up a bit,' like you're redecorating your house."

Interview: Frankie Rose
The former Crystal Stilts/Vivian Girls/Dum Dum Girls drummer discusses her blossoming solo career.

Interview: Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast
The Best Coast leader talks Jon Brion, backlash, gossip culture, existential angst, and expectations.

Interview: Andrew Bird
Dismay with over-produced digital recordings, Andrew Bird made 'Break It Yourself' straight-to-tape in a barn.

Interview: Oliver Sim of The xx
On the release of The xx's long-awaited second LP, Oliver Sim talks dealing with expectations.

Interview: Geologist of Animal Collective (2012)
On the eve of 'Centipede Hz,' Geologist talks the LP's genesis, it's "rocking" ways, and Animal Collective's refusal to repeat themselves.

Interview: Jens Lekman
The suave Swedish crooner talks Australia, Alaska, and heartache.

Interview: Anand Wilder of Yeasayer
Anand Wilder talks challenging expectations, not being a hippy, and his hope to one day be ushered straight through customs.

Interview: Johnny Jewel of Chromatics and Glass Candy
The mastermind behind Chromatics, Glass Candy, Desire, and the 'Drive' soundtrack talks taking time and finding perspective.

Interview: Megan James of Purity Ring
Purity Ring's singer is obsessed with bodies. And hopes that doesn't sound creepy.

Interview: Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie
The Death Cab frontman refutes the idea that his debut solo album, 'Former Lives', is a breakup record.

Interview: Christopher Taylor of Grizzly Bear (2012)
Following up 'Veckatimest,' Grizzly Bear struggling through the making of their "heavier" follow-up, 'Shields'...

Interview: Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.
With Jason Molina's sad passing in 2013, here's a conversation with the man from back in 2002, in the days before he turned Songs: Ohia into the Magnolia Electric Co.

Interview: Raphaelle Standell-Preston of Braids and Blue Hawaii
The singer for Braids and Blue Hawaii talks candid lyrics, growing up on record, and Montréal's amazing music scene.

Interview: Jim James of My Morning Jacket
Inspired by a wordless graphic novel from 1929, the My Morning Jacket set out on a quixotic path towards his debut solo LP.

Interview: Hugo Manuel of Chad Valley
The frontman of English indie act Jonquil talks about exploring glossy synths with his solo alter-ego, Chad Valley.

Interview: Tom Krell of How to Dress Well
On the release of 'Total Loss,' the How to Dress Well leader, and indie-R&B trailblazers, talks making an album to mediate grief.

Interview: Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing
Jack Tatum lives in his own dreamworlds.

Interview: Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend
Everyone's favorite Saab-burning, African-pop-riffing, boat-shoes-wearing indie-poppers are back with 'Modern Vampires of the City.'

Interview: Aaron Dessner of The National
On 'Boxer' and 'High Violet,' The National struggled through conflict and tension. 'Trouble Will Find Me' was, in comparison, a breeze, but it is all about death...

Interview: Catherine McCandless of Young Galaxy
The singer of Montreal's Young Galaxy gets philosophical discussing art-making, parenthood, and memories.

Interview: Julia Holter
High-art synth-pop thinker Julia Holter discusses her twin LP studies of Ancient Greece: 'Tragedy' and 'Ekstasis'.

Interview: Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
The woolly Wisconsinite discusses his blessed 2008, whether he's actually ever read Thoreau, and his skillz on the basketball court.

Interview: Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls and La Sera
Kickball Katy debuts as La Sera, battles stage-fright, and remembers Vivian Girls' super-fast blog-hype joyride.

Interview: Noah Lennox of Panda Bear
The Animal Collective bro talks Coachella, Ariel Pink, chillwave, expectations, depression, and children.

Interview: Trish Keenan of Broadcast
The late Broadcast singer speaks sound as literature, the passing of time, and the power of make-believe.

Interview: David Berman of Silver Jews
Silver Jews' David Berman discusses his recent embrace of the road, pop's utter lack of message, and whether he's still on a mission from God.

Interview: Ariel Rosenberg of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Ariel Pink needs to be huge right now. And he's not a self-loathing Jew. A conversation with indie music's strangest little lo-fi sage.