LSQ

The War On Drugs ’ Adam Granduciel remembers feeling the electricity through the floor and the house shaking, the very first time he played an electric guitar. It was at his friend Jeff’s house, on a rig he admits he's been chasing ever since, and it ignited an obsession whose evolution he discusses in episode 68 of the LSQ podcast. We talk about Nirvana and Bob Dylan and songwriting and being a p...

“When I used to be in Oingo Boingo, I was constantly battling these impulses to go in opposite directions,” says film composer Danny Elfman of his earlier career. “First, I was in weird musical cabaret theater for eight years and suddenly I hear ska music out of England and I say, I want to be in a band. Every two years I wanted to be in a different band, but you can’t do that when you’re in a ban...

Goo Goo Dolls ' John Rzeznik discusses the music that inspired him as a kid (The Cars, Springsteen, Petty, the Kinks) and how it taught him the importance of melody and each song telling its own story. We also talk about Goo Goo Dolls' early days, touring in a van and crashing on couches (he always brought along blank cassettes so he could copy some of his host's music); what it felt like to have...

On the heels of her fantastic new album, Home Video , singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus describes the path that led to it -- growing up in Richmond, Virginia, finding a passion for creative writing early on, discovering musical favorites like Yo La Tengo and Broken Social Scene, playing her first gigs at house shows, developing her songwriting practice, and beyond. 

Manchester Orchestra 's Andy Hull talks about early influences (Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, the Beatles, the classical music his mother played around the house); his evolving approach to songwriting; how his band's sound has grown to cinematic new heights; what advice he gives young artists who come to him for wisdom about surviving the music business; and more! Manchester Orchestra 's new...

As a producer, writer, recording artist and entrepreneur, Poo Bear is always searching for collaborators who bring out the best in him, and vice versa. "Do you believe in me?," he'll ask an artist who wants to record one of his songs, because for him, the best work arises when there is that mutual passion for each other's work. He's definitely found that zone with Justin Bieber, his most extensive...

Tegan and Sara Quinn rejoin the podcast for a fun, roundtable-style conversation with Lili Trifilio from the up-and-coming Chicago indie band Beach Bunny, on the heels of their recent collaboration on a new version of Beach Bunny's viral hit "Cloud 9." We talk about how the collaboration - where each chorus features alternate pronouns -- came to exist,  Lili's early musical experiences, and T...

Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker delves into his earliest musical endeavors -- learning to play his brother's drums, writing songs on one guitar string, playing with his first band at the high school talent show -- and how his attitudes toward songwriting and creativity have evolved since then. He also talks about plans to get back into collaborating with other artists, now that social distanci...

Flaming Lips ’ Wayne Coyne on the profound influence of punk rock in his life: “Previous to that, you didn’t know that art was fucked up. To be a musician meant, ‘You’ve gotta know music. If you don’t know music, you don’t belong here.’ When really, some of the greatest musicians would say just the opposite — ‘Don’t worry about that, fuckin’ do your thing.’ But in this world, when you’re young and...

Experimental electronic composer and producer Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never delves into key influences from Chick Corea to Rush to My Bloody Valentine to Nirvana to DJ Premier, in a conversation about his evolving creative process. He talks about growing up as the child of Russian immigrants, recollecting the “beautiful red velvet walls” of the Russian restaurant where his father’s rock...

The three members of Houston, TX trio Khruangbin — bassist Laura Lee, drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, guitarist Mark Speer — share insights into their individual and collective creative journeys. “LL,” as her bandmates call her, talks about learning to read by studying Beatles liner notes, her teenage obsession with Radiohead, and how her approach to art has evolved since she joined Khruangbin. DJ sh...

“I didn’t like curse words when I was real young, so my dad would read Spin and get black ink and blot out the curse words for me,” says Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio , explaining how his father helped shape his early interest in music. “He would bring home records he was interested in and it always ran a wide gamut. His favorite musician is Jimi Hendrix and we would listen to so much Jimi He...

“I’d write terrible songs constantly, and I just loved it so much,” Fleet Foxes ’ Robin Pecknold says of his early years exploring songwriting — a process he began by elaborating on Joni Mitchell and Elliott Smith tunings he’d learned on the internet. “I felt so passionately about it as a teenager that I think every other possibility started to seem unlikely. I just felt like that was what I was g...

Victoria Legrand, on writing music for Beach House: “It’s like something magical happening. And I believe in that, there’s love, but it’s not just love between us, it’s the whole universe around us and all the things we’ve been reading about the stars and the movies we’ve seen and the pain I’ve felt from talking to people about their loss. It all sucks down into this one moment of pure reaction. I...

The dude behind the King Tuff moniker, Kyle Thomas, talks about the punk music he discovered as a kid, growing up in Brattleboro, Vermont; learning to shred by studying Jimi Hendrix; playing in the band Witch with one of his heroes, Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis; how his songwriting has developed since he started King Tuff; the ways that learning a new instrument inspires new song ideas, and more! Supp...

Tim Burgess, frontman for The Charlatans, talks about how his lifelong music fandom fuels his popular "Tim’s Twitter Listening Party," and more.

On the occasion of releasing his debut solo album, "Serpentine Prison," The National's Matt Berninger talks about key moments in his creative journey.

The awesomely uncategorizable singer-songwriter Shamir talks about key moments in his creative trajectory, with nods to influences including The Who, Taylor Swift, Nina Simone, Björk, Tegan & Sara, Vivian Girls, and more.

A revealing deep-dive with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Michelle Branch about her life in music — from her childhood obsession with the Beatles and Frankie Valli to early songwriting explorations inspired by artists like the Gin Blossoms and Lisa Loeb, through her tenacious teenage pursuit of a record deal, the making of her multiplatinum 2001 album The Spirit Room when she was only 16, the ba...

Chances are you already love Justin Tranter’s songs, even if you’ve never heard their name before. During the past several years , Justin has written massive pop songs by artists including Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons, Halsey and many more. In 2020 alone, Justin has written songs for The Chicks’ Gaslighter, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, Selena Gomez’s Rar...

M. Ward talks about his new album, Migration Stories, and early influences from The Beatles and Bach to  Firehose and Sonic Youth. Plus, an excerpt from a recent conversation with Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck, about folk music and the magic of songs.

A look back on key moments of creative discovery for Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba, including a discussion of the new music he's working on for the band.

Empress Of's Lorely Rodriguez talks about her new album, I'm Your Empress Of, and the creative journey that led her there. Plus, the debut of a new LSQ theme song, composed and recorded by Houses' Dexter Tortoriello!

Chances are you’re already aware of the genius of Tim Heidecker as a comedian, actor, writer and director. But if you haven’t been paying close attention to his career the past decade, you might have missed that he has also devoted quite a bit of time and passion to making music, as well. And he’s quite good at it. Heidecker talks with Jenny about some of his lifelong musical favorites (Bob Dylan,...

tUnE-yArDs co-founder Merrill Garbus chats with Jenny about her life in music, discussing early musical influences (Ani DiFranco, Johnny Clegg, Ali Farka Touré, to name a few), how her focus shifted from theater and puppeteering (!) to making music in a band, and how she hopes tUnE-yArDs can contribute to positive change in the world.