A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Aug 24, 2017 at 1:25am PDT

Maggie Rogers had a breakthrough moment when she was a student at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. Pharrell Williams visited to her class, and when he heard her song “Alaska,” his reaction was dramatic, and caught on video. The video of Pharrell listening to Maggie’s song went viral, and “Alaska” became a hit, with over 40 million streams on Spotify alone. Maggie Rogers is now playing sold out shows across the country, just a year after graduating. In this episode, Maggie tells the story of what came before that day in class—all the steps and missteps that eventually led to her writing the song “Alaska.”

You can get “Alaska” on iTunes.

Maggie’s Masterclass with Pharrell

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Maggie Rogers – “James”
NOLS Alaska Backpacking Program
Ableton House Racks – Undrgrnd Sounds
Carly Rae Jepsen
Doug Schadt – Producer

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A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Aug 15, 2017 at 2:13am PDT

Annie Clark moved to New York in the mid-2000s. She started recording and performing under the name St Vincent in 2006. She’s released five albums, and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 2014. Earlier this year, in 2017, St Vincent released this song, called “New York,” partly inspired by the city and neighborhood she calls home, although nowadays, Annie splits her time between coasts, with a studio in Los Angeles. She collaborated on this song with Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff.

You can get “New York” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Take the Song Exploder listener survey at surveynerds.com/songexploder.

Between 2004 and 2012, Grizzly Bear put out four critically-acclaimed albums. Their newest album is called Painted Ruins, and it features this song, “Four Cypresses.” In this episode, two members of the band, Chris Taylor and Daniel Rossen, tell the story of how the song came together.

You can get “Four Cypresses” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Take the Song Exploder listener survey at surveynerds.com/songexploder.