Episode 257: Local Natives

“Dark Days”

It can be hard to be in a band, or really, in any kind of group where there’s creative collaboration, and you’re supposed to act like it’s a democracy. Because what do you do with an idea that you love, if nobody else believes in it? That question is a big part of this episode with Local Natives.

Local Natives is a band from Southern California. Their first album came out in 2009, but the three vocalists and songwriters in the band, Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, and Ryan Hahn – they’ve been playing together since they were in high school. The lineup also includes Matthew Frazier on drums and Nik Ewing on bass. They’ve put out 5 albums, including their most recent, Time Will Wait For No One, which came out in July 2023.

But for this episode, I talked to Taylor, Kelcey, and Ryan about an older song of theirs:“Dark Days,” which came out in 2016. It’s their biggest song to date; it has over 100 million streams, and it’s been certified gold. It’s a duet with Swedish singer Nina Persson, from The Cardigans. In 2020, they put out a new version of the song, featuring Amelia Meath from the band Sylvan Esso.

I talked to the guys here in the studio, and to Amelia Meath remotely. And together, they told me the seven-year story of how the song was first made and then eventually remade.

You can buy or stream “Dark Days” here, and you can get other Local Natives music and merch here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Talking Heads – “This Must Be The Place”
Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”
Ableton Analog – synth
The Cardigans – “Lovefool”
March 2020 performance of “Dark Days” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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Episode 256: Bakar

“Hell N Back”

Bakar is a singer and songwriter from London. In 2018 he put out his first release, Badkid. A year later, he put out the EP, Will You Be My Yellow?, and this September, he’s releasing his second full-length album, Halo. One of Bakar’s tracks from the EP and the upcoming album is a song called “Hell N Back,” which went platinum, and hit number one on Billboard’s Triple A Charts. For this episode, Bakar told me how he wrote “Hell N Back,” and all the unexpected twists and turns it took before it became a hit.

You can buy or stream “Hell N Back” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
List of suicide crisis lines
Beach Noise – producers
Shangri-LaRick Rubin’s recording studio
Aidan Cullen – music video director
“I Caught You In A Lie,” by Robert Parker – sampled in “Hell N Back”
Zaza World Radio
Isaiah Barr – horn

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Episode 255: Natalie Merchant

“Sister Tilly”

Natalie Merchant is an award-winning singer and songwriter from upstate New York. She was the lead singer of the band 10,000 Maniacs until she left in 1993. And then, as a solo artist, she’s put out nine albums over the last 30 years. Between 10,000 Maniacs and her solo work, she’s had multiple multi-platinum records. 

In April 2023, Natalie put out her first album of new songs in nine years. It’s called Keep Your Courage. And for this episode, she talked to me about the song “Sister Tilly.” It’s a eulogy for a fictional character – a woman who represents the generation of women who influenced her. Women who were activists in the 1960s and 70s, when she was growing up. 

You can buy or stream “Sister Tilly” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
“Waterloo Sunset” – The Kinks song
Sally Grossman
Bob Dylan
Gabriel Kahane – arranger
Led Zeppelin
Jimmy Page
Joan Didion
Alex Sopp – flute
Eleanor Norton – cello
Ravi Shankar
Sitar
Ashram
Tanpura

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