Kreative Kontrol

Andrew Mazerolle from Muncho is here to discuss his new album Is This Something? , life on both the east and west coasts of Canada, Muncho Joe and Munchos, the fried potato snack, singing in church and getting into Christian ska as a kid, falling in love with the Beatles, why Maritimes bands have such an affinity for 1960s Brit-pop, why he enjoys the limitations of four-track recording and being a...

Julianna Riolino returns to discuss her excellent new album, Echo in the Dust , hanging out in her childhood bedroom and reflecting upon life with our respective parents, being a particularly sensitive person and artist, existentialism, pondering the universe, and billionaires who wish to escape Earth, reflecting upon her time in and outside of Daniel Romano’s Outfit, theatricality on the new reco...

Carlyn Bezic from Jane Inc. returns to discuss her deeply personal new album, A RUPTURE A CANYON A BIRTH , moving up in the world in her Toronto home, the end of a long-term relationship and beginning a new one, a life-changing near-death experience on the road, being diagnosed with cancer and how overcoming it gave her a greater appreciation for joy and grace, the emergence of her Jane Inc. alter...

Jasamine White-Gluz from No Joy is here to discuss their latest album Bugland , patios, porches, decks, and why she moved outside of Montreal, her Gord Downie-like penchant for placing the same lyrics in different songs, a shared affection for Canadian music television in the 1990s, representation, laziness, and making an effort to be a decent person to other people, a brief history of No Joy and...

Dan Bitney and Douglas McCombs from Tortoise are here to discuss their new album Touch , Dan being the lone band member I’d never interviewed before now, living in Chicago under fascism, how they met because of one of Dan’s earlier bands, how Touch was made with only two bandmates living in the same city, writing some of the shortest Tortoise songs ever, leaving Thrill Jockey for International Ant...

Esther Rose is here to discuss her new album Want , living in New Mexico and how locals regard Vince Gilligan’s groundbreaking TV shows, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul , growing up in Detroit and going to London, Ontario to attend punk shows, the raw, confessional work of John Lennon, dealing with trauma and exploring ketamine-based psychedelic therapy, giving up drinking and pondering alcohol’...

Hugh McElroy and Mike Kanin from Black Eyes return to discuss their first new album in 20 years, Hostile Design , the state of American socio-political discourse, the inspiring resistance that D.C. residents have exhibited as the federal government has sent military personnel and ICE agents into the area, American history and foreign policy and where power truly lies, songwriting themes and topics...

Cate Le Bon is here to discuss her lovely new album Michelangelo Dying , moving closer to home in Cardiff, her initial reticence about writing a record based on declarative sentiments about a failed relationship, why she invoked an iconic artist in expressing herself through her own art, the concept of aspirational jealousy, spirituality and gratitude, collaborating with John Cale on a song and th...

Casey Gomez Walker from Case Oats is here to discuss their new album, Last Missouri Exit , why no federal government should ever underestimate the grit and resolve of the people of Chicago, growing up in St. Louis and being assigned school band instruments, music lessons and having the right learning tools, falling in love with storytelling, a song about an ex’s girlfriend and that same girlfriend...

Will Anderson from Hotline TNT is here to discuss their new album, Raspberry Moon , his love of Canada and why he almost lived here forever, moving to New York City only a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic started and how the isolation of that time bolstered his DIY ethic, a line-up shake-up, his Association Update fanzine and our love and criticism of the NBA, streaming strangeness and why...

Amy Millan is here to discuss her latest and deeply personal solo album, I Went to Find You , remembering Dallas Good of the Sadies, finally, as an adult and as an artist, processing the sudden death of her father when she was only five years old, how a person’s actual age might be different than their spiritual age, the key role that producer Jay McCarrol and her longtime partner and musical coll...

Dan Wriggins from Friendship is here to discuss their latest album, Caveman Wakes Up , being and having a roommate, his interest in creative writing and poetry, and being from the same state as noted author Stephen King, seeing Bob Dylan live with his father, his own musical influences and academic pursuits, temporality, fashion, and subcultural explosions, gassing up his bandmates and how Friends...

Owen Ashworth from Advance Base is here to discuss his latest album, Horrible Occurrences , life in Illinois, his parents’ San Francisco high school rivalry with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fogerty brothers, his friendship with Dan Wriggins from Friendship and starting Orindal Records, why he ended Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, what draws him to narrative songwriting about transience and d...

Josh Cole, Craig Dunsmuir, and Colin Fisher from Dun-Dun Band are here to discuss the September 27 Toronto release party for their new LP, Pita Parka, Pt. II : Nim Egduf , where they live and how they met, the best pizza slice in Toronto, the Holy Oak Family Singers, Not the Wind, Not the Flag, Sandro Perri, and other musical pursuits, a growing interest in physical media, Colin and I unknowingly...

Abby Govindan is here to discuss her Pushing 30 stand-up show at Just For Laughs Toronto on September 22, visiting her family in her beloved Houston, Texas hometown, her excitement as a New Yorker with high hopes for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, being outspoken, translating one’s affluence into empathy and fighting for those who are less fortunate than you are, the end of centrism, Malcolm X...

Alan Licht is here to discuss his recent releases, including Havens , New York City politics, plugging in and then improvising on an acoustic guitar, fond memories of the Hoboken, New Jersey venue Maxwell’s and seeing memorable shows by Ween and Eric’s Trip, meeting and playing with his old friend Tim Barnes, interpreting a Stooges song, revisiting Love Child, upcoming tour dates, other future pla...

Michael Gira from Swans is here to discuss their exhilarating new album Birthing , an erotic dream he had about Roy Cohn, Richard Nixon, and the current president of the United States, which inspired a new song, dishonesty and the relative truth, what he reveals about himself in his music and how his aesthetic might relate to those of Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison, including contributions by his wife...

Carson McHone is here to discuss her brilliant new album, Pentimento , news about Daniel Romano’s Outfit recording and touring activity, artistic foundations, layers, and repentance, the journal full of messages to her from her mother, which were entered since Carson was born, pondering history and the personal passage of time, celebrating creativity, motherhood, and children, assembling a band of...

Jens Lekman is here to discuss his new album and novel, Songs for Other People’s Weddings , life in Sweden, insights about being a musician and also part of an arts community that works on weddings, distinctions between authentic and cheesy music, Frank Sinatra’s album Watertown , working with author David Levithan and conversations they had about love and relationships, staging this album for a t...

Saul Williams is here to discuss Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople , performing and improvising while suffering from jet lag, geopolitics and the crumbling American Empire, technology’s impact on socio-political awareness, capitulation, civil unrest, and anti-capitalism, working with Deerhoof and outspokenness in censorious times, his working relationship with Carlos Niño...

Kathleen Edwards is here to discuss Billionaire , becoming a snowbird by getting married and moving to Florida from Canada, how relocation and travel and running a coffee shop can foster curiosity and appreciation for the human condition, accepting yourself and pondering other people’s behaviour and pain, embracing growth and confidence that stems from lived experience, reflecting upon relationshi...

Mac McCaughan and Laura King from Superchunk are here to discuss their new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes , North Carolina living and many Ludwig drums, writing dark-hued songs packaged in sunny, energetic arrangements, Jon Wurster retiring from Superchunk and how the band have met the challenge of filling his role, Laura’s musical background and why drummers have been in the news so much in 202...

Marc Ribot is here to discuss his new album Map of a Blue City , his late, dear friend and beloved music producer, Hal Willner, and demoitis, how producer Ben Greenberg helped him finish an album 30 years in the making, the best way to catch bluefish and also fish you really shouldn’t eat, his relationship with his own singing voice and recent lyrical themes centred around loss, god, German Romant...

Chris DeVille is here to discuss his excellent new book, Such Great Heights – The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion , his history as a music fan, musician, and music journalist at Stereogum, the impact that mass media once had on him as a source for music and music news, why his book has a particular focus on the outsized influence that Pitchfork has had on 21st century pop cul...

Howlin' Pelle Almqvist from the Hives is here to discuss The Hives Forever Forever The Hives , living in Sweden, whether or not the band’s substantive, outspoken lyrics get enough attention, the eerily cyclical nature of western civilization, reflecting upon being in a band for 30 odd years, another artistic outlet he has but has never really talked about before, recording fidelity and punk rock,...