Kreative Kontrol

During my recent conversation with Niko Stratis about her new book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman , she described her affection for Jason Lytle ’s band Grandaddy , and I mentioned I’d interviewed Jason before. Well, this got me looking for that talk and here it is! This phoner between Jason and I took place on Tuesday December 4, 2012 at 11 AM ET and was focused on his solo album Dept. of Disa...

John Dieterich, Satomi Matsuzaki, Ed Rodríguez, and Greg Saunier from Deerhoof discuss Noble and Godlike in Ruin , the band’s history and recurring lyrical themes about animals and magic, seeing Dokken and Krokus, the evolution of DIY music culture, the state of immigration, dehumanization, and capitalism, the Anishinaabe concept of “all of our relations,” working with Saul Williams, celebrating 3...

Niko Stratis discusses her wonderful new memoir-in-essays, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman , moving to Toronto by driving across Canada with a cat, Bruce Springsteen and fluid masculinity in rock, the ingenious, inspiring writings of Hanif Abdurraqib, living up to what we think our parents’ expectations of us are and honing a work ethic, love and addiction, Jon-Rae Fletcher and Kurt Cobain, phys...

Comedian Nikki Glaser and I spoke on the phone at 3:30 PM ET on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, not long before she was set to appear at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. At the time, the prospects of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States of America seemed slim, but we discussed that, the political climate and how it influenced her incisive TV show Not Safe with Nikki Glaser , why...

Nina Nastasia, Clinton St. John, Jeff MacLeod, and Morgan Greenwood from Jolie Laide discuss their new album, Creatures , Nina’s championship Kuriky skills and remembering Steve Albini, a spooky synthesizer part that was written by either Morgan or Clinton’s cat, the Edmonton/Calgary rivalry, the characters that populate the post-apocalyptic landscape of their latest songs, fifth member/producer C...

Haley Fohr returns to discuss Halo on the Inside by Circuit des Yeux , stylish, warm hats and accessories, the end of a long-term relationship and how women and men are treated differently when they create "diaristic" art, exploring new music technology and song ideas in the middle of the night, her four-octave voice, existentialism and cathexis, honesty and artifice, Diamanda Galás and havin...

Toronto’s METZ were recently asked to reunite for a performance on Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney , and so I dug into my archives for my first conversation with the band’s Alex Edkins. My digging led me to our second conversation as well, so I’ve combined them here for you and other METZ fans. Alex and I had met a number of times at METZ shows before our first interview, which was a phoner tha...

Ian Blurton and Rob Taylor discuss the return of Change of Heart and In the Wreckage , their first album since 1997, Rob’s 1992 departure and its impact on Ian who carried on, the savvy lawyer who oversaw Change of Heart’s major label deal and helped them retain their masters, whether we might see reissues of Tummysuckle and Steelteeth , why they made a new album, Toronto themes and socio-politica...

William Tyler returns to discuss his alluring new album, Time Indefinite , moving home to Nashville from Los Angeles during a pandemic, our perspectives on a paradigm shift and political contentions about a nebulous status quo, utilizing lo-fi media sources out of necessity to write songs and make films, the state of documentation and cultural erasure, exploring family histories, trusting artistic...

On the afternoon of Thursday, September 17, 2009, I interviewed Nick Cave in (what I recall was) the Park Hyatt's restaurant located in the Yorkville area of Toronto, Ontario. The occasion was to discuss his then new novel, The Death of Bunny Munro , and we also covered his work with Warren Ellis and the filmmaker John Hillcoat to score the film, The Road , why his new novel’s depiction of sexuali...

Yves Jarvis returns to discuss his astounding new album, All Cylinders , artistic growth and personal maturity, musical colours and poetic symbolism, dynamic inspirations like Paul McCartney, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and King Crimson, employing multi-instrumentalism, the admirable autonomy of stand-up comedians, expressing every single thing, tour, other future plans, and much more. EVERY OTHER COMP...

Erik Denno and brothers James Wall and John Wall discuss their work together in Kerosene 454 and the Solid Brass reissue of their second album, Came By To Kill Me , the band’s history, the roads that brought them from Arizona to D.C. to California, getting into punk rock, touring with Hoover and filming some of their sets, the connection between their album art and the film The Crow , how they rel...

I recently shared a new conversation with the band Regulator Watts, so it now seems fitting to share an older talk I had with their distant cousin, Reggie Watts , the gifted comedian, musician, and actor. Reggie and I first spoke on Wednesday May 9, 2012, at 3 PM ET, ostensibly about his then new special, A Live at Central Park , but we also covered his comedic and musical influences, his interest...

Melanie St. Pierre-Bednis, Neil Bednis, and Fraser McClean from Casper Skulls discuss their new album Kit-Cat , the TV show character Frasier Crane, the significance of alt-rock radio and MuchMusic on young minds, Robert Frost poems and being goth, the Bunnies in Berlin record made at the Romano brothers’ studio in Welland, moving from stark post-punk to heartfelt indie-rock, loving bands like Son...

Alex Dunham and Areif Sless-Kitain from Regulator Watts discuss The Mercury LP , Alex building a new house in Minnesota, Areif’s stint drumming in Bluetip and his love of Hoover, why Hoover broke up and how Regulator Watts began, the cinematic nature of the band’s sound, Regulator Watts reconvening recently and recording new songs at Electrical Audio, whether this means the band might play shows a...

On Tuesday August 21, 2012, at 3:30 pm ET, I spoke with Josh Tillman, who’d left a popular band called Fleet Foxes to venture out on his own. He called himself Father John Misty and earlier that spring, Sub Pop had released his acclaimed debut album, Fear Fun . Josh and I had a talk about its meta- and philosophical themes, why he name dropped people like Neil Young and Jean-Paul Sartre, the novel...

Marlaena Moore discusses Because You Love Everything , leaving Edmonton for Montreal, being tall among the smaller, playing bass in a garage rock band, why imposter syndrome can be a form of narcissism, working with “Monty” Munro and Chris Dadge, Chad VanGaalen’s way of life, loving Sarah McLachlan and Annie Lennox, being at peace with death, the Cherish This Tour with Land of Talk, working on new...

Daryl Hall is here discuss to his latest album D , historic home preservation and restoration, working with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, classic rock radio and how legacy artists stay vital, why he started the inventive, award-winning web series Live from Daryl’s House and its current status, working with Robert Fripp on 1980’s Sacred Songs and his interest in outsider music, what he makes of con...

On April 12, 2007, I had two phone calls with Patti Smith for a print piece about both her then-new album, Twelve , which features her interpretations of songs by other artists, and her life and work. We were originally only meant to speak once but, after a publicist cut us off after 25 minutes, Patti told me she found my questions thoughtful, asked for my phone number, and promised to call me lat...

Dan Bejar discusses the new Destroyer album Dan’s Boogie , why he feels better about this album than his last one, expressing opinions to collaborator John Collins without saying a word, whether or not he thinks Jim Morrison is still alive and well in Syracuse, New York, collaborating with Fiver’s Simone Schmidt and why they’re one of the best singers working today, his interest in Italian cr...

Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock discuss their new book Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story Of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival , living among bears, whether Guitar World journalists are required to shred, why their book Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion and Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground,...

Back in September, 2010, I had the tremendous opportunity to interview Van Dyke Parks on two occasions. The second time was live before an audience at Pop Montreal. The first time was over the phone for the Mich Vish Interracial Morning Show! , which I co-hosted with my wife Michelle. Here for you now, as it aired on September 29, 2010, is my radio interview with Van Dyke Parks.  To hear this...

Eliza Niemi is back to discuss her wonderful new solo album Progress Bakery , her creative life post-Mauno, why she’s been focusing more on cello and the creative and collaborative opportunities it’s providing her, working closely with Dorothea Paas and Louie Short, dealing with a frightening illness alone while completing a residency in New Mexico, Dogman, fireflies, and other creatures and theme...

EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. Enjoy this excerpt and please subscribe now via this link to hear this full episode. Thanks! Kim Thayil from Soundgarden , 3rd Secret , and Nudedragons is here to discuss how the roots of Sub Pop and Seattle’s sound are in Illinois, growing up as Indian guys in a rather white underground rock wor...

EVERY OTHER  KREATIVE KONTROL  EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. This one is fine, but  please subscribe now on Patreon  so you never miss full episodes. Thanks! Ben Disaster is here to discuss Real Sickies and their new album Under a Plastic Bag , his weekly CJSR radio show, This is Pop , festive DIY kitchen parties on the east coast of Canada an...