Music Life

White Denim frontman James Petralli, Jeff Parker, Heba Kadry and Midlake's Eric Pulido and McKenzie Smith discuss using vintage equipment and “mid-life vintage purchases”, why the sound they make comes from their hands, and why being a musician mostly means reacting to your environment. James Petralli is aTexas-based musician and frontman of lo-fi noisemakers White Denim. Jeff Parker, is an LA-bas...

Julien Baker, mxmtoon, Thao Nguyen and Quinn Christopherson discuss how to separate work life and leisure time, learning to embrace being selfish, and failing at keeping your studio tidy, Julien Baker is one-third of the group boygenius, along with Grammy-nominated Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. She describes her music as “indie folk” and in it explores her relationship with faith, addiction, fri...

Zara Larsson, Nina Nesbitt, Brian Higgins, Darin and Jörgen Elofsson discuss how important avoiding competition is, how getting dropped from a label affects your self-esteem and the creative process, and how difficult being both a fan of music and a musician can be. Darin is a Kurdish-Swedish vocalist. He started writing songs at 14 and signed his first record deal at 17. He’s co-written with pop...

Jabu Morales, Luedji Luna, Céu and Sara Tavares discuss how chaotic composing can be, what’s it’s like to write music as a mother, singing in multiple languages, and recording with musical legends. Jabu Morales is a Brazillian vocalist and percussionist, and a member of the band Ayom, which blends “century old traditions with the black and rhythmical language of lusophone cultures”. Jabu also teac...

Anchorsong, Loraine James, Gold Panda and Sandunes discuss what song they'd make it they knew billions of people were going to listen to it, being guided by samples, the importance of keeping in the mistakes, and the art of making organic sounds. Masaaki Yoshida is better known as Anchorsong, an electronic musician and producer originally from Tokyo. He describes his music as being “borderless”, f...

Esperanza Spalding, Marcos Valle, Patrick Paige II and Tom Misch discuss why playing music is dangerous, the sound of your first love, why drinking on stage is a bad idea, first takes v lots of practice, and recording an orchestra in one take. Grammy-winning bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding has performed at the White House for Barack and Michelle Obama’s Stevie Wonder tribute, and a...

Cola Boyy, Faye Webster, Juan Wauters and Cherry Glazerr's Clementine Creevy discuss why it takes leaving a town or city to appreciate it, not writing any lyrics down, how to make songs catchy, using movies for inspiration, and why songwriters have no privacy anymore. Cola Boyy is a self-taught musician and singer from Los Angeles. He released his debut album, Prosthetic Boombox, in June this year...

Young Australians Mallrat, Ninajirachi, Daine and Donatachi look into the epicentre of the media term ‘hyperpop’. It’s bubble-gum sweet, with chaotic synth sounds mixed with pop and autotuned vocals, and the volume turned up to 11. Together, they discuss feeling old in the hyperpop genre (they’re all in their teens, or early 20s), not having any musical training, why face-to-face sessions are toug...

Tom Furse, Caroline Shaw, Holly Herndon, Arushi Jain and Mat Dryhurst discuss why using computers makes their music feel more human, using the sound of plant pots, and how new technology will be viewed as old fashioned and retro in a few years. Tom Furse is the keyboard player with British rock band the Horrors, and is also a producer, remix artist, and “maker of music”. He’s talking to Arushi Jai...

Sinead Harnett, Grades, Jae Stephens and Monro discuss why naming songs is the easy part, balancing life and music, the importance of breaking away from music in order to live and gain experiences to write about, and the influence of R&B on their sound. Born in the UK before moving to Los Angeles, Sinead Harnett's latest record, Ready Is Always Too Late, is about “[embodying] the best version...

As the world famous Notting Hill Carnival isn’t taking place this year, we thought we’d have a party of our own, Caribbean style. Ragga artist and MC General Levy leads the charge. His parents were Trinidadian, and from an early age he started to write lyrics and form sound systems. If you don’t recognise the name, then you’ll definitely know the voice; Incredible, his ’94 track with M-Beat, chang...

Cassandra Jenkins, Arooj Aftab and Charlotte Dos Santos discuss being inspired by physical spaces that no longer exist, the emotional aspects of releasing music, why you never really complete a piece of work, and why handing music into your label is a bit like running for a flight. Cassandra Jenkins is an indie-folk musician and songwriter from New York. She’s always been surrounded by music, grow...

Vagabon, Vieux Farka Touré, Mary Lattimore and Mereba discuss the impact family can have on musical journeys, the perks and perils of collaborating with other musicians, and how cultural origins can mean that a musical life is looked down upon. This week’s host is Laetitia Tamko, better known as Vagabon. Born in Cameroon and growing up in New York City, Vagabon’s music fuses pop, indie and punk. H...

Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes, Roberto Lange (aka Helado Negro), Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy and saxophonist Joseph Shabason discuss music as a form of healing and the impact it has both on themselves and those who listen to it, not being able to find the right thing to say when they’re approached after a show, and how selfishness can benefit the creative process. Roberto Lange, aka Helado...

Joeboy, Ray BLK, 2baba and Ayra Starr discuss their best choruses, the direction Nigerian music is going in, mums crying to their music, and why it’s important to remember: “if I can't remember the lyrics or melody to my own song, how can anybody else?” Mr Eazi protégé Joeboy blends Afrobeats, R&B and pop and was discovered online covering Ed Sheeran. He’s just released his debut album, Somewh...

Manika Kaur, Ali Riaz Baqar, Gurujas Khalsa and Abi Sampa discuss individual definitions of success, why you're going to offend somebody no matter what music you make, the rollercoaster effect, and what their studio spaces look like. Manika Kaur is a singer and contemporary performer of Sikh kirtan music. Predominately performed by men in gurdwara temples, kirtans are devotional singing or sacred...

Producer Ian Brennan, Alex Magaga of the Tanzania Albinism Collective, Hanoi Masters musical director Van-Anh Vo and Rwandan folk musician Gilbert Uwitonze discuss how members of a community can intuitively start singing despite never having heard music before, accidents in the recording process (including a very loud cow), and music being a release from persecution. Ian Brennan is a Grammy-winnin...

Tshepang Ramoba of BLK JKS is joined by Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff and Radiohead's Colin Greenwood to discuss simplifying complex music, why Africa is in all music, making sounds that can't ever be created again, and the inspiration behind the artwork to Radiohead’s In Rainbows. Tshepang Ramoba is the drummer and band leader of BLK JKS, a South African Art-Rock based in Johannesburg. He's...

Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, Slowdive's Rachel Goswell, Slint's David Pajo, and Beth Jeans Houghton - aka Du Blonde - discuss how much they care about their live shows sounding like the record, and that awkward moment when you forget the words to your own song live on stage. Stuart Braithwaite is a guitarist, songwriter and vocalist in Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, who have released 10 studio al...

We celebrate Music Life’s 100th episode with some of the highlights from Episodes 50–100. Pop icon and previous Music Life host Melanie C is back to guide us through some of the show’s biggest moments so far. So far in the series we’ve heard Hans Zimmer explain how he went from playing in a new wave pop band to composing for the biggest films in the world, Moonchild Sanelly on what she can’t say i...

Japanese Breakfast, Julia Stone, Black Belt Eagle Scout and Becca Mancari discuss why the third album is often the trickiest to make, meeting your heroes in airports, the role producers play in allowing you to tell your story, and getting Hollywood actors to appear in your videos. Japanese Breakfast is very much the artist of the moment, having released the highly anticipated third album Jubilee....

British post-punk newcomer Billy Nomates talks to Simone Marie Butler, Xenia Rubinos and Radie Peat about the pressures of living up to expectations, whether or not they feel proud of their work so far, and songs they write when they think no one else will hear them. Simone Marie Butler is best known as the bassist in rock band Primal Scream. She’s also recorded with Joel Culpepper, the Stooges’ J...

Amy Lee, Ice T, Aurora and Oli Sykes discuss how they how they got into music, how music has affected their personal growth, and how they work through creative differences with their collaborators. Amy Lee from Grammy Award-winning US Rock band Evanescence is on hosting duties, and she’s invited some of her favourite artists and collaborators to join her, starting with seminal rapper and producer...

Will Joseph Cook, Olivia and Queenie from Boys World, dodie, and Alfie Templeman discuss whether they share their creative processes on social media, overcoming industry stigma for being an 'internet artist', and finding strength in being who you are. Will Joseph Cook is a singer-songwriter and self-taught producer from Kent, England. He signed with Atlantic Records when he was 17, and released hi...

Jamaican rising stars Lila Iké, Sevana, Jaz Elise and Naomi Cowan discuss whether or not they think about genre when creating, how much they write about their personal lives in their music, and how their experiences as a woman in the music industry are reflected in their songs. Lila Iké is a Jamaican singer-songwriter whose genreless sound fuses contemporary reggae with elements of soul, dancehall...