The band Converge formed in 1990, when its members were teenagers. They’ve been making music that lives somewhere in the intersection of punk, hardcore, and metal for almost 25 years. Guitarist Kurt Ballou spoke to me from his studio GodCity, which is where Converge writes and records. I also spoke over the phone with singer Jake Bannon. Coming up, they’ll talk about how the physical space of GodCity influenced their songwriting, how the Boston hardcore scene gave them a home, and how to get the classic Swedish death metal guitar tone.

Buy “Dark Horse” on iTunes here. Converge’s website is convergecult.com. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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.

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