Episode 11: Nite Jewel

“One Second of Love”

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In this episode, we’ll get a deconstructed view of the song One Second of Love by Nite Jewel. I spoke to Ramona Gonzalez of Nite Jewel and her partner and producer Cole MGN in their home studio in Los Angeles as they took a break from making a new record. Coming up, they’ll talk about the process they undertook, including recording to tape as a creative restriction, and collaborating with their friends and each other.

Buy “One Second of Love” on iTunes here and watch the music video:

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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Episode 10: Garbage

“Felt”

SongExploder10

The band Garbage formed in 1994 when three guys from Madison Wisconsin — Butch Vig, Steve Marker, and Duke Erikson, met Scottish singer Shirley Manson. Twenty years later, they’ve sold over 17 million records worldwide. In this episode, we’ll get a view inside their 2012 song “Felt” from the album “Not Your Kind of People.” Butch Vig, who is also a legendary producer behind some of the most influential albums of all time like Nevermind by Nirvana, Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins, Dirty by Sonic Youth, and countless others, spoke to me from his home studio in Los Angeles. I also interviewed Shirley Manson separately to get her insight on how the song was made. Plus some thoughts from their longtime engineer and now co-producer Billy Bush.

Buy “Felt” on iTunes here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Other songs excerpted in this episode:
Cocteau Twins – For Phoebe Still a Baby
Felt – Primitive Painters
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Drop Dead/Celebration

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Episode 9: Poliça

“Smug”

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Ryan Olson is a member of the band Poliça. Though he doesn’t perform with them live, he put the band together, produces the songs, and co-writes them. I interviewed Ryan in his bedroom studio in Minneapolis. In this episode, he breaks down the song Smug, from their 2013 album Shulamith. He also talks about two pieces of equipment that have helped shape the sound of Poliça, and how he was introduced to one of them by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and the other by DJ Shadow.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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