The Trap Set with Joe Wong

Dot Wiggin co-founded The Shaggs, along with her sisters Betty and Helen, in 1968. As the band's primary songwriter, she is the author of some of the most astonishingly unique, life-affirming music ever recorded. Dot discusses: forming the band at the behest of her father; her songwriting process; weekly performances at the town hall in Fremont, NH; the surprising legacy of the band; working in a...

Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley joins Joe from Montauk, NY to discuss: her animator parents; her background in visual arts; her band-specific drumming style; and her strong sense of intuition.

Today's guest is Duncan Trussell--comic, host of The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, and co-creator of the stunning new Netflix Series The Midnight Gospel. (Joe composed the score for the show!) Duncan and Joe discuss: meeting at just the right time; collaborating on the music for The Midnight Gospel; temporal neighbors; how certain childhood trauma can lead to a heightened sense of empathy; mystic s...

Joe shares "Dreams Wash Away", the first song from his forthcoming album! You also can stream the song on a service of your choice here: lnk.to/DreamsWashAway Make sure to check out The Midnight Gospel, coming to Netflix on Monday, 4/20! "Dreams Wash Away" makes an appearance in the stunning season finale.

With a formal background in sound engineering, classical guitar, and composition--coupled with a deeply curious mind--Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is the author of beautifully meditative, vast and vivid soundscapes. She and Joe discuss: how her independent study background prepared her for Berklee; how meditation made her a better listener; getting to know one's subconscious mind; her fortuitous discover...

Andrew Becker's dexterous, explosive drumming first gained recognition when he played in Dischord band Medications. Since then, Andrew has created four solo albums under the Human Potential Moniker, including this year's I'm Glad You're Alive. He's also an award-winning filmmaker, and proprietor of the label What Delicate. Joe and Andy have crossed paths in some interesting ways in the past twenty...

From an early age, drummer Areif Sless-Kitain exhibited a stunning level of musical maturity and a distinctive creative voice. Joe witnessed this firsthand when he saw Areif perform with Regulator Watts in Milwaukee in 1996. Areif and Joe crossed paths a few years later, when Joe succeeded Areif in the DC band that later became Medications. The two old friends re-connect, and Areif discusses his p...

Thor Harris is a percussionist known for his work with Swans, Bill Callahan, Rob Halverson, Devendra Banhart, and his own ensemble--Thor & Friends. Thor is also a sculptor, instrument builder, carpenter, and former TX gubernatorial candidate. Thor tells Joe about: being raised by an engineer and schoolteacher near Galveston, TX; studying drums in at Musicians Institute in Hollywood; learning to ma...

Makaya McCraven is a drummer, composer, and producer whose innovative work draws a creative through-line between generations of seemingly disparate avant-garde movements. He tells Joe about: being raised by musician parents; why he initially resisted pursuing music as a profession; the difference between the "oral musical tradition" in which he was raised and the academic approach he was presented...

Sean Solomon tells Joe about: taking lessons with the late Richie Hass of Saccharine Trust; growing up with a musical father and uncle; his early affinity for drugs; turning his life around in the psych ward; the meditative benefits of guitar playing; the band dynamic of Moaning; and his career as an animator. Also, Rob Ellis returns to discuss his new album, The Nostalgia Machine, out today. Duri...

Today, an experimental three-part episode! First, Britt Walford returns to answer listener questions; then, we turn over the host seat to Britt as he interviews his friend--today's guest--Emil Amos. Finally, Joe picks up where Britt leaves off for a life-spanning conversation with Emil. Emil is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter perhaps best known for his work as Holy Sons. For over t...

Meg Baird is drummer, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Meg her musical journey playing with her sister Laura in what would become known as The Baird Sisters. She moved to Philadelphia in 1995 and played in bands such as Espers, Heron Oblivian, and Watery Love. Beginning in 2007, Meg has released a stunning series of solo albums that showcase her uniquely compelling and haunting song craft. In 2...

If you had to choose the catalog of just one Trap Set alumnus to listen to during quarantine, you could do no better than today's guest, the incomparable Dave Mattacks! Dave made his recording debut in 1969 on Fairport Convention's seminal album Liege & Lief. From this stunning statement onward, Dave's unique brand of rhythmic adventure has accompanied a who's who of genius songwriters: Nick Drake...

Billy Conway joins Joe from his home in Montana to discuss: growing up in small-town Minnesota; attending Yale on a hockey scholarship; teaching in the inner city; how deliberate limitations informed his approach to playing with Morphine; how making a solo record shaped his approach to producing other artists; and how fighting advanced cancer has put his life into perspective.

Guitarist and vocalist Kid Congo Powers has been a key member of several paradigm-shifting bands such as The Gun Club, The Cramps, and The Bad Seeds. Over the past fifteen years, he's also led his own excellent band, Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds. Kid tells Joe about: growing up in a Chicano family in Los Angeles; how he became obsessive about music before ever playing an instrument, ultimat...

Brian Chippendale is perhaps best known as the drummer and vocalist for the Providence duo, Lightning Bolt. A band perfectly suited to Chippendale's singular gift for conjuring colorful and frenetic noisescapes. He is also a prolific visual artist and graphic novelist. Brian tells Joe about: his childhood in New York state and Pennsylvania; his long-lasting aversion to becoming a grown up; attendi...

John Congleton and Joe first met 22 years ago in Denton, TX. John's band, the pAper chAse shared a bill with Joe's band at the time. In the intervening years, John has distinguished himself as one of the most innovative and in-demand producers of his generation, working with scores of artists such as: Sharon Van Etten, Blondie, St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, and Wye Oak. John and Joe discuss: depressio...

As U.S. Girls, Meg Remy has achieved an impressive songwriting balance between the familiar and the wholly unexpected. She joins Joe to discuss: why she is somewhat relieved that the global pandemic caused touring postponement; singing through an amp in her childhood garage; her first band; attending Catholic school; and the interesting predicament presented by humanity's awareness of mortality. D...

Today's guest is Britt Walford, perhaps best known as the drummer for Slint, a band he co-founded in Louisville in 1986. During its brief lifespan, Slint operated in relative obscurity; but the band's music has proven to be a massive influence on subsequent generations--and previous generations alike. Even established legends such as Robert Plant have professed their affinity for the band. Britt's...

Joe is joined by Sylvan Esso to discuss: Elmer's Glue mohawks, Corona anxiety, songwriting, existential dread, and slap bass! During the age of social distancing, we're recording remotely and releasing new episodes of The Trap Set every day.

Joe and Torche's Rick Smith first met when their respective bands shared a bill in Dallas, TX, in 2008. The two reconnected last year when Rick was in Los Angeles, touring behind Torche's excellent new album, Admission. During the age of social distancing, we're releasing new episodes every day.  

Ben Gibbard is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie, and as co-founder of The Postal Service. Ben and Joe discuss: songwriting; the challenge of creative evolution; existential dread; and life in quarantine.

Armed with a background in orchestral percussion, hand drumming, and jazz studies, Andrya Ambro possesses a uniquely compositional drum set style and is a proud member of the Singing Drummer Club. A resident of New York City, Andrea tells Joe about how she is handling the current pandemic; growing up in Delaware; the influence her older brother had in shaping her musical awareness; getting kicked...

Billy Martin joins Joe to discuss: how his parents met at Radio City Music Hall (she--a Rockette, he--a musician); his childhood affinity for Jacques Cousteau; how going to the movies informed his inner world; some of his key mentors; the difference between dead music and live music; and why he considers himself an experimental artist.

Matt Sharp and Joe gulped down thick, black coffee and hung out for well over two hours. We discussed: Matt's itinerant childhood as the son of a government contractor; working with brilliant producers such as Ric Ocasek; how his first band--Weezer--willed themselves to success; working with Nick Zinner and Ronnie Vanucci on the new Rentals album, Q36; and collaborating with multimedia artists via...