Dan Boeckner discusses BOECKNER and Boeckner!, Canada’s politics, history, and capitulation to fascism, feckless Canadian journalism, Israel, Palestine, and perceptions of the war crimes in Gaza, how aspects of the pandemic and human behaviour influenced the lyrics on his otherwise upbeat and powerful new album, collaborating with Matt Chamberlain, Brad Laner, and Kiwi Jr.’s Jeremy Gaudet, answering a Patreon question, tour dates, other future plans, and much more. Support vish on Patreon!...

Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, and Anthony Pirog from the Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis discuss their wonderful new self-titled debut album, when musicians “sat in,” freedom from genre signifiers, music school pros and cons, why Anthony and James connected and what makes Brendan and Joe such a special rhythm section, upcoming tour and festival dates, other future plans and much more. Support vish on Patreon! Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee,...

Matt Korvette from Pissed Jeans talks about their excellent, ferocious, and funny new album, Half Divorced, Philly, Kurt Vile, and Atom and His Package, writing angry, funny songs as, and even for, adults, having fun playing music like Mudhoney does, hating our phones, helicopter parents and what kids get up to these days, covering a Pink Lincolns song and how everywhere is bad, tour, other future plans and much more. Support vish on Patreon! Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the...

Spencer Burton discusses his lovely new album, North Wind, farming and regenerative agriculture, escapism and writing songs in a remote cabin, family ties, the pace of life, pondering cultural work, making records with Nashville-based producer Andrija Tokic, a dental emergency and a beautiful live take, Clint Black and The Larry Sanders Show, writing the children’s album/book The Mountain Man, three Ontario shows, tour, other future plans and much more. Support vish on Patreon! Thanks...

Daniel Romano’s Outfit discuss their brilliant new album, Too Hot to Sleep, why the Outfit has different members now, presence and what sleeping means in a time of great consciousness, songs like “That’s Too Rich,” which delve into wealth inequality, classism, and human rights violations, the fascinating stories behind the band’s new videos for singles, “Chatter” and “Where’s Paradise,” unreleased and new music by the Outfit and Carson McHone, touring, other future plans and much...

Kate Stables discusses Careful of Your Keepers, the latest album by This is The Kit, touring Canada in the winter, why references to The Simpsons, Despicable Me, and Pride and Prejudice might make it into her songs, chewing, biting, babies, and dogs, how repeating the same things doesn’t mean they’re not changing, being parented and parenting, more touring, other future plans and much more. Support vish on Patreon! Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean...

Tim Midyett discusses the incredibly impassioned new Mint Mile album, Roughrider, loving a home recorded performance as much as one made at Electrical Audio, singing about sex, love, mortality, and society, football, eschewing social media one platform at a time, collaborating with Joel RL Phelps and Nina Nastasia, conjuring Lou, Iggy, and Bowie, a fine day at Abbey Road, Silkworm reissues, tour, other future plans and much more. Support vish on Patreon! Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza...

Mary Timony discusses her excellent and introspective new album, Untame the Tiger, teaching guitar and creative coaching, caring for and then losing her parents to illnesses, what that taught her about herself, thinking about thinking and writing songs about her brain, favourite guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Christina Billotte, touring a lot, other future plans and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s...

Quentin Branch and Brian Warren from ANGRY BLACKMEN discuss their new album, The Legend of ABM, Santa Fe, Chicago, and leaving a place that makes you unhappy, musical and cinematic inspirations, dissing music journalism and getting nice reviews, racism in America and cyclical progress, exploring noise, punk, and pop in hip-hop, new music, other future plans and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s...

Aparna Nancherla discusses her return to standup and public life after taking time away to write a book of personal essays called Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Imposter Syndrome, when interviewers don’t engage with the things you make, being the child of immigrants and first generation anxiety, keeping up South Asian appearances, familial mental health stigmas and acceptance, an unforgettable joke, performing at JFL Vancouver on February 16 and 17, and much more. Supported by you...

Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada from Black Pumas discuss their latest album, Chronicles of a Diamond, the band’s history, Steve Martin’s The Jerk, RZA and Wu-Tang Clan, writing songs about relationships and also birds, unintentionally making psychedelic soul, hitting the road, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black Women United YEG. Follow vish...

J. Robbins discusses his excellent new album, Basilisk, life in Baltimore, band resurrections, punk and synthesized music, getting musicians together in a room again, January 6, ahistoricism, and temporality, a Jawbox update, hitting the road with these new songs, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black Women United YEG. Join my Patreon by January 31,...

J Mascis discusses his new solo album, What Do We Do Now, recent live Dinosaur Jr. jams with friends like Lee Ranaldo, Kurt Vile, and Kim Deal, what we learned about “Divine Mascis” from the Breeders and J’s recollection, Kurt Cobain inviting him to join Nirvana, expensive cities like Oslo, Norway, working with Ken Mauri and Matthew “Doc" Dunn, loving early work by the band Chicago, Van Morrison vs. Bob Dylan, band chemistry and case studies like Metallica and Ramones, how musical heroes...

NYSSA discusses her brilliant new album Shake Me Where I’m Foolish, witchcraft, paganism, and tarot, desire and capitalism, magical thinking and spiritualism, DIY empowerment and expertise, band chemistry and companionship, playing record release shows, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black Women United YEG. Follow vish online. Related...

Nick Zubeck discusses his lovely new album, Echo Park, Cliff Clavin and watching Cheers and Late Night with David Letterman with his late father, a fascinating family history, once running a yoga studio, meditation and existentialism, remembering lost friends and celebrating their work, record release shows, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black Women United YEG....

Rachel Brown and Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes discuss their 2023 album Everyone’s Crushed and its recently released remix record, Crushed By Everyone, playing basketball with kids in Brooklyn, loving but leaving Chicago, bluegrass, the Beatles, and Ween, stand-up comedy and being a lead singer, “punk,” theatricality and trusting your instincts, 2024 tour dates, CanCon, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the...

Michael Balazo discusses his hilarious new stand-up album, Michael 1, Comedy 0, the year-in-review and 2023 highlights, co-hosting the Evil Men podcast, travelling back and forth between Toronto and England and performing for different audiences, Burton Cummings and the fake Guess Who, seeing James Cameron’s Titanic, Metallica, and Ramones, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s...

Robert Smigel discusses co-directing and co-writing the hilarious new film, Leo, why he rarely does podcasts, why kids know comedy better than some adults do, performing The Lost Hans and Franz Movie on Conan O’Brien’s podcast this year, writing songs and not promoting musicals, singing well in character the way Adam Sandler, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Neil Hamburger do, critical acclaim and awards season, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokadero, the...

Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel discuss their work on the essential new book, Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine, its fascinating essays and notable contributors and their access to almost any of Dylan’s manuscripts and lyric notebooks at the Bob Dylan Center that they asked for, clamouring for mythical material by Dylan, Charlie Parker, and Fugazi, why it feels like Dylan is telling us he’s retiring, the latest on the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, other future plans, and much...

Jarvis Taveniere from Woods discusses the sound and lyrical themes on their new album, Perennial, our shared love and interactions with the late David Berman, the work that Woods did with Berman in their band, Purple Mountains, a brief Wikipedia-like history of Woods and recalling former members like Kevin Morby, from digital to analog, the Woodsist universe, working on new music, touring, other future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Pizza Trokadero, the...

Thank you to anyone who supports Kreative Kontrol on Patreon! If you or someone you know loves this podcast but isn’t yet a donor, please go to our Patreon page and become a member during our membership drive between December 4 and 14! If you become an annual member at the $10 a month tier, you increase your chances of winning draws for prize packs provided by record labels like Beggars Group Canada, Constellation, Drag City, Merge, Rhino, and You’ve Changed! Winners will also receive a copy...

Steve Albini and Fred Armisen discuss Letters to Santa: The Holiday Gala in Chicago, which stars John Mulaney and takes place December 5 in Chicago, and Letters To Santa: The 24 Hour Comedy and Music Marathon in Los Angeles on December 16-17, their long friendship, their respective interactions with Conan O’Brien, Fred’s talents for mimicry, Steve’s penchant for comedic logic, Chicago’s distinction as a hub for top-tier comedy, music, and recording studios, Fred’s interest in “complicated...

Dave Hill discusses his endearingly insightful, heartwarming, and hilarious book, The Awesome Game – One Man’s Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey, the state of hockey and reasons why basketball might be more popular, performing national anthems on electric guitars, a funny story about seeing Fugazi in Cleveland, knowing Dick Cavett, the artful awfulness of sports interviews, whether Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and LeBron James are funny people, future plans, and much more. Supported...

Kliph Nesteroff discusses his intriguing new book, Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars, the life of an author in a time when people seem to be reading less, strange yet predictable historical cycles, media literacy and the lack thereof, some of the new taboos, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black Women United YEG. Follow vish online. Related episodes: Ep....

Aaron Goldstein discusses his band Espanola and their new album, Espanola, Again, what it was like touring with Willie Nelson in Kathleen Edwards’ band, why and how he became such a sought-after pedal steel player, the blurry line between producing and writing a song, writing about displacement, southern rock from southern Ontario, future plans, and much more. Supported by you on Patreon, Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S. and Black...