Kreative Kontrol

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...

Leith Ross discusses their new album, To Learn , leaving Ontario for the prairies, music in their parents’ home, believing in boredom, what social media is good for, irl community connections, dehumanization, fantastical nostalgia, touring and playing the Hillside Festival , other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,  Pizza Trokadero ,&nbs...

In a conversation recorded before the SAG-AFTRA strike motion,  Martin Herlihy , John Higgins , and Ben Marshall from please don’t destroy discuss their 2023 North American tour and Just for Laughs stops in Montreal, Canada and important Canadians like Norm Macdonald and Jamal Murray, their work as writers and short filmmakers on Saturday Night Live , comedic film editing and doing a live sho...

Jean Néant discusses their new Joni Void album, Every Day Is the Song , moving to Montreal from France to study film, remix experiences with Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, primitive and modern recording technology and how their sound affects sounds, authenticity and mediated culture, distortion, Tom Waits, and the Beatles, bots on twitter, new Joni Void music, other future plans, and much more. Su...

Simone Schmidt and Ian Russell discuss their band One Hundred Dollars and the recent Blue Fog Recordings reissue of their classic debut album, Forest of Tears , listening speeds, our long relationship, recording with Rick White , the 2007ish Toronto music scene, vinyl records and music consumption, the mysterious band LSDoubleDCup , representation and the evolution of awareness, Ian’s solo record...

Following the devastating news of his shocking death on June 30, 2023, I remember Rick Froberg , who is someone I’ve admired most of my life and became friends with over the past 20 years. Featuring my recollections about his artwork, songwriting, and bands like Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu , Hot Snakes , and Obits , and archival interviews I conducted with Rick about such things in 2005, 2009, and...

Douglas McCombs and Charles Rumback discuss their band Black Duck and new self-titled debut album , jazz, punk, and freedom, the Slint/Tortoise connection, why producers like J Dilla are really influential for drummers, improvisation and composition, Bill MacKay ’s guitar playing, working with John Hughes III, Cheap Trick and Superchunk, Seven Bridges , Black Duck shows , a Tortoise album update,...

Hari Kondabolu discusses his brilliant new comedy special Vacation Baby , being a dad, Indian parents, Indian food, and yogurt, delving into cultural and familial backgrounds without mocking them, making art that changes things, perspectives on the impact of his film, The Problem with Apu , becoming friends with Hank Azaria and thinking about The Simpsons , the sharpness of his stand-up, (Extended...

Priyanka discusses her journey from being television personality Mark “Suki” Suknanan to winning the first season of Canada’s Drag Race in 2020, professional fans, male hygiene tips, immigration and her Indo-Guyanese background, racism, homophobia, transphobia, drag hatred, and gay liberation, keys to successful relationships, making new music and being Canada’s Queen of All Media, touring and the...

Cory Hanson discusses his excellent new guitar rock record, Western Cum , film’s influence on his narrative songwriting of late, exploring American rock music forms, bands from the Sunset Strip era, walking in Van Halen’s footsteps, social media and the merch guy story that went viral, being a guitar person and being Michael Jordan, hard stops and fade outs, touring, other future plans, and much m...

John Wright from Nomeansno discusses his new band Dead Bob and their debut album, Life Like , living in a remote cabin in the woods, his time working with the robot rockers in Compressorhead , the forthcoming Nomeansno book, the state of Nomeansno reissues on Alternative Tenatacles , one-off t-shirts , other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,...

Ariel Engle and Efrim Manuel Menuck discuss their band ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT and their stunning new album, Darling the Dawn , gardening, touring, the night, sleep and insomnia, the birds, labour, capitalism, and “poor eternals,” folklore, hope, roses, new collaborators, playing live, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myoozik ,  Pizza Trokade...

Jason P. Woodbury discusses his project JPW and its debut album, Something Happening / Always Happening , growing up and finding music in Arizona, his entry into music journalism and contributing to Aquarium Drunkard , the time I was on his Transmissions podcast, interviewing people with the spirit of awe and enthusiasm, the desert mindset, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Pa...

Kevin Morby discusses his new album More Photographs (A Continuum) , the continuing resonance of “This is a Photograph,” tragic Tennessee figures like Big Star’s Chris Bell, the collapse of Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, youth, aging, and dying, loving physical photos, songwriting concepts, tour dates, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on  Patreon ,  Blackbyrd Myo...

Joe Casey discusses the new Protomartyr album, Formal Growth in the Desert , selling his childhood home and losing his mother and other family members, music-making viability in a pandemic, having his home repeatedly burglarized and deeper societal issues, misinformation and disinformation, the Detroit Tigers and funny lyrics in dark arrangements, the Wu-Tang Clan, tour dates , other future plans,...

Ky discusses their stirring debut album, Power is the Pharmacy , remembering Joni Sadler, leaving Ottawa for Montreal, co-founding the Error 403 studio and being a recording engineer, academic pursuits and searching for a feeling, classical music, challenging theatricality, and loving pop music, The Artist’s Way , fretting over teeth, tour dates, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you...