Spend a few minutes talking with Styrofoam Winos and it becomes obvious why Any River feels so effortless. There are no fixed roles, no designated leader, and very little interest in conventional band hierarchy. Just three longtime friends following songs wherever they lead. We sat down with Joe Kenkel, Trevor Nikrant, and Lou Turner to talk collaboration, improvisation, everyday poetry, and the enduring rewards of making music together.
Category: The AD Interview
Michael Brook :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Ambient guitar pioneer Michael Brook joins us to discuss his 1992 classic Cobalt Blue, which has recently been re-issued by label 4AD with new art and a dynamic remastering job. Brook joins us in the midst of preparing to present the Cobalt Blue material live for the first time in years to discuss the record, his time on the road with John Cale, and the durability of floppy disc technology.
Jackie West :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Jackie West doesn’t abandon the intimacy of Close To The Mystery on Silent Century—she simply gives it more air to breathe. Bigger guitars, wider arrangements, and a sharpened sense of purpose frame a conversation about evolution, instinct, and the strange life songs take on after they’re finished.
The Hypos :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
What began as an unhurried songwriting exchange between Greg Cartwright and Scott McMicken has steadily taken on a life of its own. With a second album, Silver, on the horizon, the principals behind The Hypos reconvene with Aquarium Drunkard to discuss instinct, collaboration, recording in sheds and proper studios, and the peculiar freedom that comes from keeping expectations at bay.
Václav Havelka and James Jackson Toth :: In Conversation
Václav is something of a Renaissance man, a tireless and deeply creative soul whose Zelig-like 20-year career in the arts has included work as a musician, composer, producer, booking agent, festival organizer, and activist. In addition to this, he has worked as driver and tour manager for everyone from the Butthole Surfers to Father John Misty, and with his band Please The Trees, he’s opened for everyone from Steve Gunn and Kurt Vile to Smashing Pumpkins and Robert Plant. He joins James Jackson Toth to discuss his new album A Snake Crawling Up a Broken Ladder.
SML :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
With Spontaneous Music Live, their new album for International Anthem, SML finally documents that experience in full: two sprawling, unedited performances recorded at Zebulon that capture the band shape-shifting in real time. Ahead of SML’s June 26th and 27th performances at Teragram Ballroom celebrating Aquarium Drunkard’s 21st anniversary, we gathered all five members together to discuss improvisation, groove mechanics, communication, martinis, and more.
Dust-to-Digital :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
April and Lance Ledbetter of Atlanta’s Dust-to-Digital join us for a discussion about the label’s new radio app, Dust-to-Digital Radio, and the art of sharing archival music in the digital age: “The technology is amazing. I couldn’t have imagined it 20 years ago. I mean, maybe Nikola Tesla or some science fiction writers could have, but it’s changing so fast.”
Stix Hooper :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
As a member of The Crusaders, drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper’s life in music is a testament to the power of the groove. With his rhythms at the foundation, the band blended R&B, jazz, rock, funk, and eventually fusion, and his playing would go onto provide crucial samples for beats utilized by artists like J Dilla, Madlib, Three Six Mafia, and many more, making him, according to his label, “arguably the most sampled drummer of all-time.” He joins Aquarium Drunkard to discuss his new album and storied history—and one necessary ingredient that should be in every pot of gumbo.
What’s There That Isn’t There: Avey Tare & Geologist on “Croz Boyce”
Dave Portner and Brian Weitz are finally getting back to basics. After nearly three decades of pushing the concept of “rock music” to its absolute limit in Animal Collective, the duo better known as Avey Tare and Geologist recently dropped their debut collaborative release, Croz Boyce. A breezy, bountiful collection of instrumental jams, the record recalls Campfire Songs-era AnCo while simultaneously striking out in playful, surprising directions that almost verge on pop.
Recently, we sat down with Portner and Weitz to unpack where Croz Boyce came from, who Janis is, how Animal Collective was never even supposed to be a band, and much more.
“Who the Fuck Is That?” :: Kathleen Edwards Reconsiders Failer
27 years after her debut, Kathleen Edwards revisits Failer and early songs she barely recognizes, tracing the strange path back through musician-producers, a covers project born of the algorithm, and relearning how to believe what you sing.
I Love Mystery :: Hiss Golden Messenger on the Hard-Earned Optimism of I’m People
I’m People represents the beginning of a new era for Hiss Golden Messenger. The new project finds songwriter MC Taylor presenting a set of songs dedicated to, as he puts it in the album’s biography, “Truth, lies, magic, faith.” It’s a potent combo, and I’m People presents Taylor and his collaborators at his most refined, taking all the things that have made Hiss Golden Messenger recordings work so well in the past—country rock shuffles, indomitable boogies, soul and R&B flourishes, and heartland pop—and melting it all down to its core. We caught up with Taylor to discuss the recording, the influence of artists like Curtis Mayfield and Sinéad O’Connor, and the golden age of paranormal AM radio.
Spencer Cullum :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
On Spencer Cullum’s latest release, the closing chapter to the Coin Collection series, Spencer’s focus has shifted from curiosity to frustration. In trying to make sense of what’s unfolding before our eyes today, it helps to go back to the past. That’s exactly what Cullum has done with his most recent work.
Westerman :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Where Westerman’s first record neurotically arranged harmonies into refined ambiences and lush production aesthetics reminiscent of Peter Gabriel and Mark Hollis, and the second succumbed to unsettlingly unformatted bittersweetness, like Nick Drake making a party record, in A Jackal’s Wedding he tries to put things into motion once again, if only by breaking them apart. First you clinch it, then you stress it, then it bursts and pours out.
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
It might take a decade before you’re ready to make a record. Lia Kohl, Whitney Johnson, and Macie Stewart, multi-instrumentalists and stalwarts of the Chicago experimental music scene, have been playing and recording together since the late 2010s, in duos and on each other’s respective solo LPs. But 2026 sees the trio finally release BODY SOUND, their improvised debut, for International Anthem. Aquarium Drunkard spoke with Kohl, Stewart, and Johnson about friendship, the sacred, Yoko Ono, tape loops, surprise, improvisation, and more.
Bruce Hornsby :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Near the end of his latest Indigo Park, Bruce Hornsby sings something of a conclusion—or perhaps a belated introduction: “I’ve been seeking magical thinking/I think I detect a trend/This could be the start of something/Or this could be an end.” The lyric isn’t cited to suggest the 71-year-old songwriter is going anywhere. If anything, Indigo Park speaks to the hot streak Hornsby’s been on since 2019’s Absolute Zero. Aquarium Drunkard caught up with him to discuss the album, basketball chants, his work with The Grateful Dead, literary fiction, and much more.