LaunchLeft

In this episode of LaunchLeft, join Rain and special guest Chris Douridas as they pay tribute to the birthday of Rain’s late brother, River Phoenix. Chris Douridas is a DJ and musical tastemaker at Santa Monica, California's radio station KCRW, spanning a career of 31 years. Rain invites Chris on the podcast to recount and reminisce about an inspired conversation Chris had with River in 1991...

On this episode of LaunchLeft, Rain sits down with Grammy Award winner Rodney Crowell and new artist Vincent Neil Emerson. Crowell has written chart-topping hits for artists  Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Keith Urban and many more. Today he talks with Rain about his family and growing up with music, his own writing and recording career, and working with a young artist like Eme...

The 100th LaunchLeft celebrates with a special livestream variety show from Gold-Diggers in Hollywood hosted by Rain Phoenix, including Summer Phoenix, Catherine Keener, Devendra Banhart, Simone Istwa, LA Can Freedom Singers, and the legendary Daniel Lanois all to benefit #HomesNotPrisons! The show also highlights Rain’s favorite excerpts from David Lynch, Jack Black, Jane Fonda, and a never...

Alan Vega, an influential co-creator of the avant-garde band, Suicide, had a long, prolific career in music and the visual arts. Alan passed away in 2016, and his wife, Liz Lamere, joins Rain today to speak about his illustrious career and background and how she is continuing to produce and release his music posthumously. Even after his passing, Alan continues to influence other artists from his w...

In this episode of LaunchLeft, host Rain Phoenix sits down with today’s guests, the band, Lightning Bug, members Audrey Kang, Kevin Copeland, and Logan Miley. Lighting Bug released the album, A Color of the Sky , their third album. A record with a specific sound and introspection, the album reflects the journey of its songwriter in a personal and spiritual journey through life. The songs are...

In this Artist Takeover episode of LaunchLeft, Peter Matthew Bauer speaks with artist Caroline Kingsbury on her album he produced “Heaven’s Just a Flight.” Caroline explains how this album was really shaped by her growing up while making it. It deals with a lot of tough times in Caroline’s life such as the loss of her brother and coming out as queer and how that’s eff...

In this episode of LaunchLeft, join Rain in speaking with artist Sloan Struble, better known as Dayglow, about his sophomore album, Harmony House, which debuted on May 21st, 2021. The album was heavily inspired by his time in the year 2020 and how that influenced his music. Tune in to hear about Dayglow’s journey from growing up around music to working with a Garageband and learning to shoot...

In this episode, Rain speaks with 19-year-old musical artist Daniyel about his music journey and his new album, 82. Daniyel talks about his love for the intimate live performances they have, how he gets a personal connection to the audience, and its importance.  Daniyel has always had a love for film as well and has found ways to incorporate this with his music. Please tune in to this episode...

Artist and Filmmaker David Lynch joins Rain Phoenix in conversation this week on the podcast. Learn about David’s journey in artistic studies painting and sculpting, plus David’s experience living in Los Angeles since the 70’s. Tune in to hear about Lynch’s extensive career, how music found him and his deep connection with cinema and sound through his collaboration with Ang...

We are happy to kick off pride month with Girl in Red! The 22 year old Norwegian musician shares how she was the only family member to find music as a profession, speaks openly about her sexual orientation, and discusses how her parents and family first reacted to her having a girlfriend. Tune in as Marie Ulven Ringheim aka Girl in Red guides us through the entire process of the creation of her ne...

Marion Raw is a singer songwriter and visual artist. In a journey to get in touch with her roots, Marion splits her time between Mexico and Los Angeles which gives her art and music inspiration. Marion speaks about her childhood and how she found solace in music and visual art forms as she was uprooted from her life many times. Her journey with her mother’s and her own mental health through...

Allison Russell is a self-taught singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago. First, Allison speaks about music finding her from a young age and how the relationship with her mother played a massive role in her career. Then, Allison shares the story of finding her way out of a hazardous and life-threatening situation. Plus, Allison speaks...

Middle Kids are an alternative indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Hannah Joy is the lead vocals, guitar, and piano. Hannah speaks about their latest album ; Today We're The Greatest;  there's so much texture, richness, moodiness, rawness, and realness to it. Hannah reveals how music found her at a young age, and we speak about Hannah's favorite form of activism. Plus we welcome Leeloo He...

Shaun Ross is an American model, recording artist, and actor; he's appeared in the pages of GQ and Vogue and fronted campaigns for the likes of Alexander McQueen and Fendi. Shaun's first record is dropping in three days! We talk about the process behind Shaun's music and who he collaborated with for this first album. Then, Shaun reveals how music found him at a young age, and we talk about Shaun's...

Known as “The Man Who Shot the 70s,” famed photographer Mick Rock joins the show. First, we chat about the inspiration behind his photography career, and Mick reveals the details behind shooting some famous musicians like Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Lenny Kravitz. Tune in as Mick Rock launches Chris Greatti, an American record producer, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and multi-instrum...

LaunchLeft welcomes Simone Istwa to talk about their influences, growing up with their musical parents T Bone Burnett and Sam Phillips, and finding their unique voice in the industry. Also, on the show actor James Duval (Totally Fucked Up, Donnie Darko) and director Nina Ljet (Phoebe Bridgers "Kyoto") discuss their collaboration with Simone on their latest music video "So Sure". -----------------&...

Karen Elson, singer, songwriter, supermodel, and fashion icon, is a guest host for this Artist Takeover. Today, Karen is talking with her dear friend, singer, poet, fashion designer, and taste-maker, Chase Cohl. Chase opens up about the inspiration behind her album Dear Dear: Volume 1. As a woman, it can be challenging to find your voice in the music industry. Chase reveals how she found her voice...

Ron Gallo is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and artist. Ron’s music is always authentic; his latest record PEACEMEAL is fantastic and something that you do not want to miss! First, we dive deep into Ron’s journey and the inspiration behind his musical career. Strange enough, Ron does not remember where he found his passion for music. However, we still dig deep, and Ron gives...

Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the greatest male vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation. In this Artist Takeover episode, Rufus has an in-depth conversation with Glass Battles, the King of Spook Pop. Rufus and Glass Battles talk about their experiences since the pandemic began. One big lesson learned during these challenging times is that anything can happen &n...

Mxmtoon, also known as Maia, is an American singer-songwriter and YouTuber from Oakland, California. We discover the inspiration behind Maia’s music, art and how she came to share content online at the age of twelve. Always using her creativity as an outlet, she also hosts a podcast 365 days a year! We dive into mxmtoon’s newest EP, dawn, which challenged her to make a more o...

In this special Artist Takeover, we welcome award winning director (Transparent, Pose, Dickinson) Silas Howard in conversation with celebrated writer and visual artist Harry Dodge. Long time friends and collaborators they discuss among other things working together on their film By Hook or By Crook about their experience in San Francisco’s queer community. They open up the show speaking abou...

We are grateful to have Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink of Azure Ray at such an opportune moment as they just celebrated 20 years since their first release. We learn about the inspiration behind Azure Ray's music and how tragedy can create beautiful art. In this episode. Maria and Orenda reveal how music found them and what it was like starting a band together. Tune in as we talk about releasing Azur...

This week we have Chris Stein on the show! Chris is an innovative guitarist, groundbreaking songwriter, and co-founder of Blondie. Plus, he is an acclaimed photographer. Chris's musical career gained inspiration from movie soundtracks such as West Side Story, and we talk about activism. Solo artist Grace McKagan joins the episode to talk about the backstory behind her latest single and the importa...

It is an exceptional treat to have super icon Jane Fonda join the show! If you didn’t already know, Jane Fonda is a two-time Academy Award-winning actress, author, activist, and fitness guru. We dive right into the inspiration behind Jane Fonda's activism. We all want to feel that our life has meaning. For Jane, she knew that with fame came a massive platform. So, she became an active partic...

West London-raised musician/poet Arlo Parks joins LaunchLeft for a Portrait Series episode. Arlo dives into how music found her at a young age. As a child, jazz music was the soundtrack to Arlo's whole existence, plus her uncle gifted his vinyl collection to Arlo – the rest is history! Arlo discloses her writing process and why it's essential not to overthink things when creating a poem or s...