Spotlight On

Today, the Spotlight shines On singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Chastain.Paul is one half of the duo The Small Square, with drummer, percussionist, and vocalist John Louis Richardson. He is also a songwriter for and co-founder of the group Velvet Crush and has worked with Matthew Sweet, Roger McGuinn, Susanna Hoffs, the late Tommy Keene, and many others.Paul and John released the second record from The Small Square, Ours & Others, on Farm to Label Records in October 2023. While separated by a continent and ocean (Paul lives in Japan, John in Wisconsin), they co-produced the record and created a modern sound using modern techniques rooted in classic songwriting and musicianship in the Beatles, Beach Boys, and Big Star tradition.Enjoy!(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from The Small Square’s album Ours & Others)–Dig DeeperPurchase The Small Square’s Ours & Others from Qobuz, Bandcamp, or directly from Farm to Label Records. You can also listen to the album on your streaming platform of choiceFollow The Small Square on Facebook and InstagramVelvet Crush | Trouser PressA beginners' guide to the heyday of power-pop, 1972–1986Paul Chastain Talks Synthesizers, Songwriting, and The Small Square’s ‘Ours & Others’Be sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines On musician, songwriter, journalist, and returning guest, Jeff Slate.Jeff joined us about two years ago and while that discussion was more focused on his work as a writer and cultural observer, this talk focuses on his music career.Based in New York City, Jeff has traveled quite an interesting road from his roots in the mid-80s post-punk world to rubbing shoulders and working with luminaries like Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Pete Townshend, Roger McGuinn, Jeff Tweedy, Willie Nile, Margo Price, and Sheryl Crow.Jeff has a new record out, The Last Day of Summer, featuring Dave Stewart, Duff McKagan, Earl Slick, as well as members of Paul Weller’s band and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The album even boasts photos shot by famed rock photographer Bob Gruen.It was a real blast getting to know this side of Jeff’s life and work. He’s fun to spend time with and is someone who speaks his mind and who clearly cares. Check out Jeff’s music (links are in the show notes) and enjoy our talk.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Jeff Slate’s album The Last Day of Summer)–Dig DeeperVisit Jeff Slate at jeffslatehq.comPurchase Jeff Slate’s album The Last Day of Summer on Qobuz or listen on your streaming platform of choiceFollow Jeff Slate on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), and YouTubeJeff Slate visits Spotlight On in 2022James Honeyman-Scott: The Complete 1981 Pretenders InterviewBe sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines On bassist and vocalist Katie Ernst. In addition to many other things, Katie is one half of the duo Wayfaring with last week’s guest James Falzone.Katie is also co-leader of the Chicago-based jazz trio Twin Talk, and the indie rock band Edith Judith, and has garnered much acclaim for her Dorothy Parker poetry song cycle Little Words, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.Katie is a working musician, performing as part of many jazz and improvised music ensembles in the Chicago area. She is also a committed educator, working with young musicians in her work as a teaching artist for the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Masters Residency Program in Chicago Public Schools, and by serving on the faculty at Birch Creek Music Academy summer program.I was very fortunate to see Katie perform as part of Wayfaring earlier this year and even more fortunate to have this conversation. Enjoy.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Twin Talk’s 2019 album Weaver and Wayfaring’s recent Intermezzo)–Dig DeeperVisit Katie Ernst at katieernst.comListen to music from Katie Ernst’s projects: Wayfaring, Twin Talk, and Edith JudithFollow Katie Ernst on Instagram, Facebook, and BandcampTwin Talk (website)Edith Judith – Bones And StructureKatie Ernst joins Iron & Wine on tourBe sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines on clarinetist, penny whistle player, composer, improviser, and educator James Falzone.James and I have been collaborating on an upcoming live event, Improvisation in Music and Life, taking place on June 22 at the Royal Room in Seattle. This will be a unique program of performance and conversation between me and the five-piece James Falzone Division Ensemble. We will explore the nature of improvisation in music and how its principles can be useful in all aspects of life, not just for musicians. Tickets are available at theroyalroomseattle.com. We recorded this talk in person in a very special space at Cornish College, where James is both a Dean and Professor of Music. It was a thrill to consider that I passed through rooms where John Cage and Merce Cunningham likely met or spent time. James and I spoke for nearly two hours. His instinct to record in person on a Saturday in Seattle allowed us to go slow and let the conversation unfold. Enjoy! (The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Six Artifacts, James Falcone’s new improvised collaboration with Lisa Cay Miller and Bonnie Whiting, as well as the song “Who Put the Blood” by Wayfaring)–Dig DeeperVisit James Falzone at allosmusica.orgPurchase music from James Falzone and Allos Documents on Qobuz or Bandcamp, and listen on your streaming platform of choiceFollow James Falzone on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubeSpotlight On: Improvisation in Music and Life with the James Falzone Division EnsembleBe sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon.• Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines on jazz pianist, composer, and educator Francesco Crosara.Francesco was born and raised in Rome, Italy, where both jazz and classical music came into his life early on, particularly through his mother, the influential jazz singer, broadcaster, and educator Lilian Terry. Lilian presented many of the most important names in American jazz, and some—like Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Chick Corea, and Dizzy Gillespie—influenced young Francesco’s artistic growth.We spoke in early March, several weeks after Francesco’s recent album, Circular Motion, was released on Origin/OA2 Records. The record consists of all original material, including a revisiting of his compositions dating back over 40 years.It was a treat to sit across the table from Francesco, in person, and talk about music, pianists, and his work as an educator and mentor. Enjoy our talk.(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from Francesco Crosara’s album Circular Motion)–Dig DeeperVisit Francesco Crosara at francescojazz.comPurchase Francesco Crosara’s Circular Motion from Qobuz or Bandcamp, and listen on your streaming platform of choiceFollow Francesco Crosara on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTubeMusic Discovery Center (MDC)Listen: Bill Anschell and Francesco Crosara Piano Duo | KNKXBe sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines On legendary writer, vocalist and digital culture commentator, Ken Goffman, better known as R.U. Sirius.Most will know R.U. from his time as co-publisher and editor-in-chief of the 1990s cyberpunk magazine MONDO 2000. MONDO covered topics like transhumanism, virtual reality and smart drugs at a time when these things offered hope for a better or at least more interesting world, though the editorial tone always subversively poked at the soft white underbelly of technoculture. If Wired has become Kenny G, MONDO was Sun Ra, through and through.R.U. is author or coauthor of books including Counterculture Through the Ages: From Abraham to Acid House, Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars on Drugs, How to Mutate and Take Over the World, and nearly a dozen more.We covered a lot of ground, including but not only: online subcultures, societal repercussions of digital technologies, conspiracy theory, the shortcomings of transhumanism, post-scarcity philosophy, the limitations of irony, and a ton more. Music is a big part of the R.U. experience, as you will hear in our talk. He’s been a lyricist and composer for projects including Phriendz, Party Dogs and Mondo Vanilli. R.U.’s various works have served as a guidepost for me since I was a much younger man. It was a special treat to connect with him now, in this time of reckoning with what the digital and internet revolution has wrought, to talk about the state of life and affairs.(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from R.U. Sirius’s Infinite Gesture (A Work in Progress)) –Dig DeeperVisit R.U. Sirius on his Bandcamp page and mondo2000.comFollow R.U. Sirius on Instagram, Twitter (X), Facebook, and LinkedInBe sure to peruse this episode’s extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On’s next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines On returning guest, the innovative musician and composer Markus Reuter.Markus originally joined us for Episode 130 back in November 2022. He joins us now to discuss his project Sea of Hopeless Angels (Unsung Records), which began as several unedited studio solo improvisations by Markus on his electric touch guitar. Those recordings were turned over to mixer Stefano Castagna, whose sonic wizardry included not only mixing but fully collaborating with the recordings, adding new sounds and instruments as inspiration struck, including his own voice, various samples, bass, synthesizers, and other electronics.There are other inspirations at work in this project, but we will leave those to be revealed in the course of our discussion. It is important to mention the final collaborator for Sea of Hopeless Angels, though, and that is Aldo Grazzi, an Italian painter and video artist, who, back in the early 1980s, made visual experimentations interfacing a video camera with a cathode ray TV screen. The resulting video retains every imperfection of what was then state-of-the-art technology. All of the pieces on Sea of Hopeless Angels feature video accompaniment drawn from these videos, which are in the Grazzi archives, with two of them also accompanied by studio footage of Markus’ original performances.(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from Markus Reuter and Stefano Castagna's album Sea of Hopeless Angels) -- Dig DeeperVisit Markus Reuter at markusreuter.comDownload Sea of Hopeless Angels on Qobuz or Bandcamp, and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Follow Markus Reuter on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubeSea of Hopeless Angels visuals + videosBe sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com-- • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On's next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.

Today, the Spotlight shines On Berlin-based electronic music composer and performer Hainbach.I have come to view Hainbach as much an archeologist or audio specimen collector as he is a musician. While he makes beautiful music and soundscapes, they are often showcase pieces for the devices he works on, which include not only vintage and rare modular synthesizers but also tape machines, test equipment, and other industrial machinery. A particular highlight of his work is his YouTube channel, where Hainbach brings experimental music techniques and the history of electronic music to a wider audience, frequently displaying how he gets usable sounds from these forgotten devices. We have included a link to that in the show notes.He is a fun and creative human, someone I am grateful to have spent some time with.(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from Hainbach's The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost soundtrack) -- Dig DeeperVisit Hainbach at hainbachmusik.com and on his excellent YouTube ChannelPurchase Hainbach's music on Qobuz or Bandcamp, and listen on your favorite streaming platformFollow Hainbach on Patreon, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter (X)Meet the German Producer Making Music With Salvaged Nuclear Lab EquipmentBe sure to check out this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com-- • Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. • Check out Spotlight On's next live event at The Royal Room in Seattle on Saturday, June 22! More info here.