Look At My Records!

Episode 190 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Ben Hoffman and Caroline Davis of Brooklyn neo-soul outfit My Tree. The duo, who just recently rebranded from “Maitri,” released their second full-length album, Where The Grace Is , in late July. The expansive and densely textured record explores the more experimental side of R&B, soul, jazz, and funk, while simultaneously tackling...

Episode 189 of Look At My Records features an interview with Mark Anderson and Gabe Perry of Jersey City indie rock group Sleepers Union. The quartet just released a brand new record called Numbers Station and their backstory is definitely an interesting one. Sleepers Union was originally formed by Anderson in his home country of New Zealand, but the group took on a new form when he relocated to t...

Episode 188 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Matt Sklar and Federica Tassano of Brooklyn indie-pop outfit Phantom Handshakes. The story of this relatively new band is quite unique to our times. After serving as a reliable supporting cast member of several great New York City bands like The Planes and Parrot Dream, Sklar found himself with a significant amount of time on his hands...

For Episode 187 of Look At My Records!, Tom spoke with the prolific California-based songwriter Austin Leonard Jones. For the last decade-plus, Jones has released a string of great albums and EPs, exploring lo-fi pop, psychedelia, surf rock, and country. His songwriting journey is chronicled through his most recent release, The Wonder Years of Austin Leonard Jones Vol. 1 & 2 , a double cassett...

Episode 186 marks the first in-person interview in over a year on Look At My Records! That’s right, Chris Fox of New Jersey’s Ruby Bones stopped by Tom’s apartment for a stimulating conversation over some adult beverages and Chris got to physically LOOK AT TOM’S RECORDS. Ruby Bones released their excellent second full-length, Laser Tooth Tiger , back in April on Mint 400 Records , and the two chat...

Episode 185 of Look At My Records! features an interview with multidisciplinary artist Jon Bernson. The San Francisco-based songwriter has a long and fascinating history of writing eclectic, narrative-driven songs that incorporate several other means of expression, including sound design, dance, and tableau vivant, to name a few. Berson began experimenting beyond the traditional confines of songwr...

For Episode 184, Zach Romano joins Tom as co-host for an interview with Brooklyn-based author Mandy Brownholtz.  Brownholtz just released her debut novel, Rotten , which tells the story of a young twenty-something named Viv Taylor as she navigates the seedy underbelly of the DIY scene in Washington D.C. The plot sees Viv confronting past traumas experienced through the scene and reckons...

Episode 183 of Look At My Records! features an interview with John Russell of Richmond, Virginia power trio Gnawing! We chatted with the band on paper earlier this year, but since then, they’ve released their debut full-length, You Freak Me Out. It dropped last week via Refresh Records and it’s an eclectic mix of big riffs, power-pop hooks, and a bit of far-out cosmic country twang. Tune in to our...

Episode 182 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Rafferty Swink of Evolfo. The band just released their long-awaited second album, Site out of Mind , on Royal Potato Family. It’s an epic 12 song collection of colorful, noodly psych-rock gems that touches on themes of spirituality and the afterlife, and was partially inspired by science-fiction concepts and one group psychedelic drug t...

Johnny Dynamite joins Tom for Episode 181 of Look At My Records! The Brooklyn synth-pop king just released his second solo album, Sleeveless , on Born Losers Records, and it builds off of the dark and dreamy sound of his 2020 debut, Heartbroken . Like that record, Sleeveless sees Dynamite leaning heavily into synth-driven arrangements and electronic production to create songs that tell vivid stori...

Episode 180 of Look At My Records! Features an interview with Aaron Martin and Jeremy Clark of Nashville’s Okey Dokey.  Since the project’s inception back in the mid-2010s, Okey Dokey has released a string of great albums and developed a creative ethos that builds off of the principle tenet of collaboration. Over the years, their records have featured contributions from Ron Gallo, Caleb Hickm...

Kris Anaya, Joseph Davancens, and Fernando Oliva of Sacramento California’s Best Move are my guests for Episode 179 of Look At My Records! This new Northern California trio came together in 2019 seeking a new outlet to explore different creative inclinations and inspirations. On their debut EP, Mirror Image Twins , their songs take direction from the stylings of 1960s and ’70s troubadours like Ran...

Episode 178 of Look At My Records! features an interview with songwriter and composer Michael Zapruder. The Austin-based musician released his fourth full-length, Latecomers , in October of last year, a collection of sonically vivid tracks that delve both inward to dissect domestic intimacy and outward to examine the wasteland of modern American life. The album was a decade in the making and follo...

Episode 177 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Chaz Costello of Salt Lake City goth-punk outfit Sculpture Club. The band just released their long-awaited sophomore full-length, Worth , last month on Funeral Party Records . The songs of the album largely came together last year, when like many of us, Costello found himself with a lot of extra time on his hands. He began revisiting de...

Episode 176 of Look At My Records! features an in-depth conversation with Los Angeles-based songwriter Johanna Samuels. Samuels just released her debut full-length, Excelsior! , earlier this month on Mama Bird Recording Company. The songs on the album explore many of Samuels’ personal relationships, with many tracks like “Julie” and “Sonny” named after particular people in her life, and places an...

For Episode 175 of Look At My Records! Tom chatted with Max, Colin, River, and Trey of the Bay Area post-punk outfit Pardoner.  The band just released their ferocious third full-length, Came Down Different, on one of our favorite labels, Hoboken’s Bar None Records. This interview touches on an array of topics, including the band’s proclivity for writing wry and clever lyrics, their love of Po...

Episode 174 of Look At My Records! features an interview with New York City bedroom pop artist Chloe Berry. As a songwriter, Berry has been writing music since she was seven years old, and last month, she released her long-awaited debut EP, Blueberry Jams , via Spirit Goth . It features several great previously released singles like “Breakfast” and “Something New,” and new tunes like “On My Own” a...

Episode 173 of Look At My Records features an interview with Gini Jungi of the Switzerland garage-psych outfit Annie Taylor. In the fall of last year, the band released their debut full-length, Sweet Mortality , and followed it up recently with an excellent double single “The Fool” b/w “Unspoken,” which showcases their ever-expanding experimentations with psychedelia. They’re one of my favorite re...

Episode 172 of Look At My Records features an interview with Adam Schatz of Brooklyn indie rock outfit Landlady.  For this episode, Zach Romano joins Tom as co-host to catch up with the Landlady frontman, and the three chatted about the band’s awesome new record, Adam’s recent move to Vermont, and a whole lot more. During the pandemic, Schatz found several other creative outlets to fill the v...

Episode 171 of Look At My Records! features an interview with indie folk artist Jack Symes. Symes just released his second full-length, Tompkins Park , in late March and the deeply personal record expounds on his move to New York after spending most of his life on the west coast. His story is an intriguing one, as while playing a series of gigs here in the city a couple of years ago, he met and fe...

Episode 170 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Kip Berman of The Natvral. You likely know Berman as the longtime frontman of Brooklyn indie-pop sensations the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but over the course of the last few years, Berman underwent both a personal and musical evolution, as he officially ended Pains, moved to New Jersey and started a family, and reemerged with a new...

Episode 169 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Diane Jean, the front person of Burlington, Vermont indie rock outfit Clever Girls. After a whirlwind 2020 that started with the theft of a significant amount of the band’s gear and the cancellation of several tour dates due to the pandemic, the quartet is looking to move forward in a big way in 2021 with the release of their incredible...

Episode 168 features an interview with Glenn Brigman of Los Angeles-based psych-pop outfit Triptides. The veteran group just dropped their latest record late last month, a shimmering and trippy psych-pop masterpiece called Alter Echoes . As their eight full length, the album represents a bit of a turning point for the band, as it’s their first since scaling down from a four-piece to a power trio....

Episode 167 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Max Bien-Kahn of Max and the Martians. The New Orleans-based project just released their sophomore full-length, All The Same , on Perpetual Doom. The incredible album sees Bien-Kahn sharpening his sound and colorfully blending folk and country with nice touches of 60s rock and psychedelic jangle. Tune in to our interview to hear about h...

Episode 166 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Brooklyn indie-folk artist Juliet Quick. Earlier this month, she released her latest EP, Glass Years on Substitute Scene Records . Across its five songs, Quick strings together dense arrangements and peers both inward and gazes outward to analyze impending global catastrophe, self-doubt, the impact of gendered emotional labor in relatio...