Photo Credit: Gus Philippas.

New York based Indie Rock trio Sunflower Bean appeared at WFUV for an interview and live performance of 3 songs taken from their new album Mortal Primetime: “Nothing Romantic,” “Look What You’ve Done to Me,” and “Champagne Taste.”  Hear them along with the chat HERE.

Photo Credit: Gus Philippas.

Singer and guitarist Kieran Shudall and guitarist Joe Falconer of English Indie Rock band Circa Waves appeared at WFUV for an interview and live performance of 2 songs taken from their new album Death & Love, Pt. 1: “Like You Did Before” and “Let’s Leave Together.” They also performed “T-Shirt Weather” from the band’s debut album, Young Chaser.  Hear them along with the chat HERE.

Photo Credit: Alex De Corte, PR.

Kim Deal’s fingerprints are on some of the most essential rock of the last forty years. Her bass playing and vocals were the soul of the Pixies, while her writing, guitar work, and production came to the fore leading The Breeders. Now we’ve got what we’ve never had before, a solo album.

As Deal explained in our conversation, all of her favorite music came from bands, so doing a solo project was never something she had in mind. However, as circumstances unfolded and the appeal of an alter ego like Tammy (and the Amps) ebbed, she warmed to the notion.

Over a period of years, Deal crafted an album worthy of a Kim Deal billing: Nobody Loves You More. For this session, she recorded a few songs at Electric Lady Studios in the West Village. Deal felt she might not necessarily enjoy the best reputation at the house that Jimi built as she was less than an ideal client during a hazy stretch of the late 90s when she bounced around a handful of New York studios.

She also touched upon her relationship with her mom, which spurred the poignant session closer, “Are You Mine?” and spoke of her friendship with the late Steve Albini, whose last work at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago was for Nobody Loves You More.

Deal also explained how she came around to featuring strings and brass on the new LP, and how the spiffy album cover was inspired by Bas Jan Ader, the Dutch performance artist.

Hear 3 new songs from Nobody Loves You More, along with the chat HERE.

When I did an interview with the four members of the Pixies in 2019, new bass player Paz Lenchantin had great things to say about Kim.

Photo Credit: Noah Griffel, PR.

Alternative folk band The Lumineers appeared at WFUV for an interview and pre-recorded performance of 3 songs taken from their new album Automatic: “Same Old Song,” “Keys on the Table,” and “Plasticine.”  Hear them along with the chat HERE.

Photo Credit: Nina Westervelt, PR.

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jason Isbell appeared at WFUV for an interview with pre-recorded acoustic performance (at The Beacon Theatre in a special soundcheck WFUV set) of 3 songs taken from his new album Foxes in the Snow: “Bury Me,” “Foxes in the Snow,” and “If We Were Vampires.”  Hear the songs along with the chat HERE.

Photo Credit: Gus Philippas.

Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand appeared at the Power Station at Berklee NYC for an interview and live performance of 3 songs taken from their new album The Human Fear: “Bar Lonely,” “Audacious,” and “Night or Day.”  Hear them along with the chat HERE.

Photo Credit: Gus Philippas.

LA based punk rock quintet The Linda Lindas appeared at WFUV for an interview and live performance of 3 songs taken from their new album No Obligation: “Too Many Things,” “All in My Head,” and “Resolution/Revolution,”  as well as one song from their debut album, Growing Up: “Fine.” Hear them along with the chat HERE.

Real Estate celebrated the release of Daniel, their ninth album over 15 years, by dropping by Studio A to play a few tunes. As frontman Martin Courtney explained in my chat with him and bassist Alex Bleeker, Martin’s daughter gave Kacey Musgraves’ album, Golden Hour, a lot of play around the house. Courtney became a fan of Golden Hour‘s producer Daniel Tashian and this led to Real Estate, with roots in Bergen County, to head down to Nashville where FUV’s old friends worked with Tashian in Music City’s storied RCA Studio A.

Taking advantage of Nashville’s deep talent pool, the group brought in local ace Justin Schipper to add pedal steel guitar to the arrangements. The result is not a twang, but a gauzy sonic layer that unobtrusively complements Real Estate’s familiarly engaging melodies. After hearing the album, I thought the pedal steel might be Daniel’s secret sauce. However, after listening to the band in our Bronx studios without the pedal steel parts, I realized there really wasn’t any secret — only an outstanding bunch of songs from a band in excellent form, working harmoniously with a talented producer in a legendary studio.

In this session, hear the band — Courtney, Bleeker, keyboardist Matt Kallman, guitarist Julian Lynch and drummer Sammi Niss — play three songs from Daniel — “Water Underground,” “Flowers” and “Haunted World.” They also treated FUV to a special performance of Elton John’s “Daniel,” which helped give the album its name.

In between songs, Courtney and Bleeker offered insights into the selections and shared some details about recording them. They also dropped a few tidbits about creating the videos for “Water Underground” and “Flowers.” In addition, Steely Dan, R.E.M., Talking Heads, Franz Kafka, “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” and even my own family dog as a kid  — a West Highland White Terrier named Danny — all managed to find their way into the conversation.

When Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero of Rodrigo y Gabriela were both sixteen years old, they applied to the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City and both were rejected. This may have been the best thing that ever happened to the pair, setting them off on a fiercely independent and largely unprecedented path.

Early fans of the extraordinary duo may have heard about Tierra Ácida (Acid Land), the thrash metal band they left behind to set out as a duo on an adventure that is still unfolding. When Rodrigo y Gabriela were in town recently for their show at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, I had a chance to sit down with Gabriela whose brilliance on guitar is only matched by her incandescent smile.

We spoke about her role as the group’s rhythmic engine and how it grew along with the enthusiasm of their audiences. She also offered insights into their new album, In Between Thoughts…A New World, and discussed how they recorded it spontaneously during the pandemic in the same spirit as the musicians on the fated Titanic. She also explained how Rodrigo’s playing on his Fender Jaguar was a natural evolution following 2019’s Grammy-winning Mettavolution, and how the orchestral and electronic parts came to be.

Finally, she touched on how their own spirituality, specifically their connection with the ancient Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta, helped to create a blueprint for the album as well as a headspace for their performances.

Later, they also recorded three songs live for WFUV, all taken from In Between Thoughts … A New World: “True Nature,” “Egoland,” and “Descending to Nowhere.”  Hear them along with the chat HERE.

WFUV’s longtime pals Deer Tick celebrated the release of their new album, Emotional Contracts, with a visit to our Bronx studios in June 2023. In this WFUV Live session, American alternative rock-folk band Deer Tick was loose and having a few laughs while warming up and they tore through three songs, slowed down only by the momentary pause of a broken guitar string. As guitarist/vocalist John McCauley and drummer Dennis Ryan shared in our conversation, the band is based in Providence again — they all live close to each other and not far from McCauley’s studio, where the new songs were born. Listen to our conversion and see 3 live performances at WFUV here.

Deer Tick photo credit: WFUV staff