Creative expression and religious witness abide side by side in Natalie Bergman’s music. On her solo debut Mercy, the Wild Belle vocalist marries psychedelia and gospel, drawing inward to fill her ghostly psalms with beauty and power.
Category: The AD Interview
Gary Lucas :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
With a new career-spanning collection in tow, guitarist Gary Lucas joins us for a discussion about his work with Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley on his Grace album, and teaming up with Arthur Russell and…Vin Diesel?
Gwenifer Raymond :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Gwenifer Raymond is a virtuoso guitar player, born in Wales but extraordinarily adept in the American Primitive tradition, which she learned from Stefan Grossman tab books, John Hurt records and a guitar teacher who introduced her to John Fahey. Her latest album, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, is steeped in folk and blues, but imbued with a bit of Welsh folkloric strangeness, which she distinguishes from other UK traditions for its violence and its dark humor.
Buck Meek :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Big Thief guitarist Buck Meek sets out on his own with Two Saviors, an album filled with songs he calls “little prayers and visions from within the constant flux of pain, healing, and discovery.”
James Yorkston :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Songwriter James Yorkston answers questions from Aquarium Drunkard, Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins and crime novelist Ian Rankin, concerning his spontaneous new folk rock album The Wide, Wide River, and beyond.
Makoto Kubota :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
When asked what he’s most proud of in his five decade career in music, the answer doesn’t come easy for Makoto Kubota. The prolific Kyoto-born singer, songwriter, and producer has never been one to look back at his past work, and like his longtime friend and collaborator Haruomi Hosono, Kubota remains eternally humble, preferring to let the music do the talking. Until now.
We had a long, wide-ranging conversation with Kubota, lasting until the wee hours of the morning. Below are excerpts from the four hour chat—one of very few interviews with Kubota that has been translated into English.
God Is Not Your Fault :: An Interview with Alabaster DePlume
A week or so prior to the US election our pal (and International Anthem founder) Scottie McNiece and I were discussing the nuances of one of our favorite albums of 2020 — Alabaster DePlume’s To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1. A sort of audio balm, the lp’s tones and textures have been a constant companion throughout this pandemic. As McNeice helped birth the project, we asked him to check in with the artist on our behalf…
Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987
Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983 – 1987 gathers 28 gemlike tracks from bands that are mostly now forgotten. Some of the artists went on to commercial success, but that was clearly never the goal. We caught up with the comp’s curator, Mike Sniper, to learn how he found this music, what it means to him and why the world needs more bands, even now in the age of isolation and self-recording.
Dan Lacksman :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Daniel Lacksman has pioneered European pop and electronic music for decades. Now Real Gone Music reissues his early work. He joins Robert Ham for a look back at his long and varied career, early synthesizers, and getting to Eurovision by making fun of Eurovision.
The Narrative Is Always a Broken Narrative :: Rob Mazurek on Dimensional Stardust
On November 20, Rob Mazurek returns with Exploding Star Orchestra and a new album of sci-fi poetry and avant-jazz, Dimensional Stardust, via Nonesuch and International Anthem.
Aquarium Drunkard’s Jason P. Woodbury reached Mazurek to correspond via email over the last few (eventful) weeks to discuss occult science fiction mysteries and the desert.
Josh Kaufman :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Guitarist, producer, and journeyman Josh Kaufman joins Mike Behrends for a talk about hanging with the best record makers in the business—and recording music for Taylor Swift in his closet.
Lambchop :: The AD Interview
Late in 2019, when the world was just starting to hear rumors of a new flu in China, Kurt Wagner of Lambchop had an idea. He was short on material and wanted to bring the band together. Why not make a covers LP?
As November wore on, the song titles drifted in—a couple of Motown tunes, a George Jones classic, an A-side from an obscure garage band, an unreleased tune from James McNew (Yo La Tengo/Dump) and finally, the Wilco song “Reservations.”
Cut Worms :: The AD Interview
Bursting with melodies and completely unironic passion, Cut Worms latest hits like a golden-hour cigarette on a fire escape, and that won’t change anytime soon. The fact that it’s one of the best records of 2020 feels irrelevant; it could have been one of the best records of 1960, given the vintage production sound created at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, and to some crate-diggers down the line, if there is still such a thing, it should be one of the best records of 2080 too.
Garcia Peoples :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
New Jersey’s own Garcia Peoples open Nightcap at Wits’ End with an arch, vaguely evil-sounding riff that signals what’s to come: a set of songs that would feel equally at home soundtracking a backyard hang, a rousing game of D&D, or a solitary night at home considering the universe. Founding members Danny Arakaki and Tom Malach join us to discuss the band’s progward drift and open source creative flow.
Black to Comm :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Black to Comm’s Marc Richter has been making electronic music since the early 00s, piecing found sounds into intricate, multilayered compositions.
We caught up with the composer as he talks about his beginnings in music as a young man in the Black Forest region of Germany, the experiences that pointed him towards electronics and the art and artists who have inspired his latest work.