Kreative Kontrol

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 plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreo...

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 be next for sound carriers and makers, book tour...

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 conditions, how he seemed so relatable, shame, collage,...

Joseph Shabason discusses his fascinating new concept album, Welcome to Hell , which rescores the classic, 1996 skateboarding video of the same name, his own skating history and how jazz, punk, and free improvisation relate to the sport, reclaiming public spaces, the amazing look and sound of skate videos and legends like Ed Templeton, bail sections, skate parks, tour dates , other future plans, a...

Markus Floats discusses the lovely Fourth Album , working in Montreal, shifting from solitary to collaborative work with Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, fixed and fluid art, a koan by Fred Moten, problems and solutions, tarot cards and astrology, darkness and hope, playing shows, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Pizza Trokadero ,  the Bookshelf ,  Pl...

Jessica Jalbert and Rene Wilson discuss their band Faith Healer and brilliant new album, The Hand That Fits the Glove , strange Edmonton birds, why it’s been six years since they last released an album, working with many other people, intentionality and confidence, dogs and a specific dog, going viral, huge life news, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Bla...

Elizabeth Powell discusses the new Land of Talk album Performances , caregiving and a culturally-rich upbringing, experimenting with their singing voice, trading guitar in for keys, gender fluidity, abuse, and the lack of protection in music communities and infrastructures, voyeurism, objectification, and dress codes, sitcoms like Family Ties , the Twin Peaks theme song, reflecting on who they are...

Monty Messex discusses the new reissue of My Crazy Life by DFL , seeing early shows by and becoming friends with members of Black Flag, the Germs, and Guns ‘N’ Roses, making music with the likes of Izzy Stradlin, Carla Bozulich, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, being in Beastie Boys’ social circle, signing with Epitaph as punk went mainstream again, what makes “Crazy” Tom Davis so crazy, touring, maki...

Kelley Deal and Josephine Wiggs from the Breeders discuss Last Splash (30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition) and the making of this landmark album in 1993, Local Rabbits and Protomartyr , photo curation, archiving, and social media pros and cons, how they first came to know each other and collaborate, how the success of Last Splash impacted the band, Kelley on playing a sewing machine and maki...

Ariel Engle discusses the brilliant new album, XO Skeleton , by La Force , Paris and fandom, family ties that bind, grief and reflection, making heavy pop music, cynical mysticism, working with Andrew Whiteman, Shahzad Ismaily, and Warren Spicer, cigar box guitars, "Song a Day" and Feist, touring, new music, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Pizza Trokade...

Tommy Stinson discusses the wonderful new box set, Tim: Let it Bleed Edition by his old band, the Replacements , touring Canada in October with Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys in the Campfire and the stories behind the songs on their new album, Wronger , John Doe and Bob Dylan, the state of American life and writing new songs about it, loving Canada, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on&...

Bob Mehr , Jason Jones , and Ed Stasium provide an exclusive and detailed perspective about their work together on the revelatory new box set, Tim: Let it Bleed Edition by the Replacements , other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,  Pizza Trokadero ,  the Bookshelf ,  Planet Bean Coffee , and  Grandad’s Donuts.  Suppo...

Sam Morril discusses his upcoming stand-up dates including a JFL Toronto stop on September 21 , being a terrible driver and growing up in a blended family in Manhattan, how our parents measure our success, getting into comedy and admiring John Mulaney, attention spans and Oppenheimer vs. Barbie , telling David Letterman why he offers some specials to fans for free, corporate delays and greed, his...

Nick Thorburn discusses his band Islands and their new, sunny/dark album, And That's Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs , making a musical trilogy, creative people striking and speaking out about cultural exploitation, pivoting in the modern age, John Lennon and Robert Smith, how to remain optimistic, always living near large bodies of water, making beats for people like Fat Tony, touring again , other...

In his first interview in nearly a decade, Buck 65 explains his self-imposed exile from hip-hop and why he’s back, incredible recent albums like 2022’s King of Drums and 2023’s Super Dope and making beats in secret, giving up space for other artists, attracting the attention of a New York Yankees scout as a kid and making a triumphant return to baseball as a middle-aged man, working with Controlle...

Allison Russell discusses her celebratory, thoughtful new album The Returner , the heady success of her 2021 debut, Outside Child , an update about her forthcoming memoir and its structure, Back to the Future and other trilogies, the power of the Rainbow Coalition, the right-ward shift of politics and fighting fascism with facts, loving The Sound of Music , inspiring work by Roberta Flack, Mavis S...

The great Richard Laviolette died on September 5, 2023. I remember and celebrate Richard as a friend, a colleague in my community, and as a collaborator. Featuring radio interviews my wife and I conducted with Richard in 2006 and 2011, and a song I recorded with Richard and friends in 2018. For more information, read Richard's wonderfully written death notice , a record review I wrote in 2006, a 2...

Sean Michaels discusses his compelling, contemporary novel, Do you remember being born? , the time we shared a helicopter ride in the Yukon, the late poet Marianne Moore’s life and how it inspired this book, his exploration and use of ChatGPT and A.I. to tell this story, what Nick Cave and Marc Maron might have wrong about such technology, collaboration, his book tour , other future plans, and muc...

Jarrett Evan Samson talks about his band Tough Age and their new album, Waiting Here , leaving Ontario for western Canada, how the climate is changing, GBV, R.E.M., and Flying Nun, loving comics and the cinema vs. superhero movies debate, a brief history of Tough Age and its different configurations, continuity and a Jesse Locke update, working with new labels, future plans, and much more. Support...

Julia Steiner discusses her band Ratboys and their eclectic, emotionally charged new album, The Window , living in places like Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, her mother’s influential Beatles and Sheryl Crow CDs, a Bob Dylan detour, loving Wilco, Chad VanGaalen, and Sufjan Stevens, exploring grief and grieving on The Window , upcoming tour dates , other future plans, and much more. Supported by y...

Hannah Georgas discusses her deeply personal and revealing new album, I’d Be Lying if I Said I Didn’t Care , leaving Toronto behind, tennis and acupuncture, asserting herself and really, really communicating, producing this album herself, the Canadian music industry and authenticity, upcoming tour dates, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik...

Fenne Lily discusses her wonderful new album Big Picture , running and sleeping, writing as a coping mechanism, why self-reflection alone won’t cut it, how literature and comedy influence her songwriting, letting listeners in, subtle bits of homage, profound bumper stickers, temporal temperature, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,  Pizza...

Ray Padgett discusses his remarkable new book, Pledging My Time – Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members , his music journalism origin story, loving “Weird Al” Yankovic and MAD Magazine , first getting into Dylan and then the obsession with all things Dylan, why seeing one show is never enough and his excellent live Dylan newsletter , whether Dylan might be retiring, talking to people who rarel...

Nico Paulo discusses her new, critically acclaimed self-titled album , living her life in Portugal, Toronto, and St. John’s, window shutter signals, learning other people’s music, how love can mean so many things even in the same languages, the water, new songs, upcoming tour dates , other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,  Pizza Trokad...

[TW: suicide, psychological abuse] Nina Nastasia discusses her latest wondrous solo album, Riderless Horse , living in Calgary, Alberta for a while, the longest walk in the world for a dog, the difficult life she lived with her late partner Kennan Gudjonsson, and the songs she wrote about it, inviting Electrical Audio’s Steve Albini and Greg Norman to upstate New York to make Riderless Horse , upc...