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PODCAST

A Deeper Listen

On A Deeper Listen, host Emily Fox and other storytellers from KEXP talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.

music music interviews

All Episodes

19:35

Artificial Go Answers a Toddler’s Burning Questions

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/07/15

Cincinnati-based trio Artificial Go released their sophomore album,Musical Chairs, in May 2025. Their blend of post-punk riffs, danceable rhythms, and faux British accents has made them one of the most exciting groups on the scene. During their live shows, singer Angie Willcut wears a marching band uniform and literally marches around the audience. Their patently unserious attitude is exactly what we need right now. KEXP’s Dusty Henry teams up with his 3-year-old daughter to drill down on the

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22:54

Bonus: “Waiting for Britney Spears” and Jeff Weiss’...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/07/10

Music journalist Jeff Weiss recently wrote a book titled Waiting for Britney Spears, documenting the pop stars rise and fall from the public eye. But the book isn’t a historical account, it’s an “allegedly true” story that blurs fact and fiction, putting Weiss himself in the middle of the action. His writing takes a playful tabloid-style tone — a commentary on the tabloid-style news that moved her story along and his own experience working in that industry. KEXP’s

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31:06

Sea Lemon’s Shoegaze Captivates Ben Gibbard, Seattle,...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/07/08

Natalie Lew, also known as Sea Lemon, released her debut albumDiving for a Prizein June 2025 on Luminelle Recordings. Across 12 songs, reverb-heavy guitars wash underneath vocals that allude to made-up stories and unhealthy obsessions. For example, “Stay” draws inspiration from the real-life antics of an elderly security guard at a thrift store while “Rear View” pulls from Lew’s original fiction about a naive baseball player’s failing career. She proudly likens

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40:00

Meet Carl the Collector, the PBS Kids Show with...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/07/01

Max Perla and Vincent John make up Eraserhood Sound, the duo that scores the animated PBS Kids series Carl the Collector. In the spirit of Vince Guaraldi’s signature sound in Peanuts cartoons, show creator Zach Ohora says that Eraserhood’s “synth and soul” formula provides the perfect soundscape for the everyday happenings of an autistic raccoon and his neurodiverse friend group in Fuzzytown. KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke with Perla, John, and Ohora to learn more about the

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27:44

“Youth Revolution Now”: Sharp Pins on Chicago’s DIY...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/06/24

Sharp Pins is the solo project of 20-year-old Kai Slater, who also runs a zine called Hallogallo. Based in Chicago, he started the zine during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as a teenager, overwhelmed and frustrated with a life dominated by screens. So, both his music and zine are analog, made with tape recorders, photo copiers, and type writers. KEXP’s Dusty Henry talks with Slater about his music and the thriving DIY scene in Chicago. “The way that you remain young is by

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25:52

Outer Spaceways Incorporated Honors Sun Ra’s Cosmic...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/06/17

The Kronos Quartet — founded in Seattle, now based in San Francisco — has shaped modern classical music for more than 50 years. Their 2024 album Outer Spaceways Incorporatedreimagines the work of the trailblazing American jazz pianist, Sun Ra, featuring covers and collaborations with artists like Jlin, Armand Hammer, and others. In addition to recorded testimonials from Laraaji, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and longtime Arkestra leader Marshall Allen, KEXP’s Larry Mizell, Jr. spoke with

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28:45

The Revival of Panchiko, a '90s “Lostwave” Band

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/06/10

Owain Davies received a message from a stranger in 2020 asking if he might have been the singer of a band called Panchiko more than two decades ago. As it turns out, he was — but they never put their music online. They just had seven demo tracks on CDs, but Panchiko never really broke out of their scene in central England at the time. Fast forward to 2025: Panchiko is back in action with their second album since the band’s revival, Ginkgo, out on Nettwerk Music Group. Now, thanks to a

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40:15

Tune-Yards: “I don't need hope. I need wonder and a...

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/06/03

Merrill Garbus says the lyrics simply poured out of her mouth on several tracks for the new Tune-Yards album,Better Dreaming. This time, she and her partner Nate Brenner trusted their gut more in the writing process. The record is heavily inspired by current events domestically and abroad, the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights, and unexpected lessons from unexpectedly becoming a parent. “I'm not a maker of sad music generally,” Garbus says in the interview. “My general take on music

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18:07

Hiro Ama Creates Peace with a 1980s Japanese Synthesizer

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/05/27

Hiro Ama, born in Japan and based in London, plays drums in the indie pop band Teleman. In late 2024, he released his debut solo album,Music for Peace and Harmony,which leans heavily into the sounds of a 1980s Japanese synthesizer called Waraku, which literally means “peace and harmony” in Japanese. KEXP's Dusty Henry spoke with him shortly after the release. “I used to be quite a perfectionist,” Ama says in the interview. “Then again, when you listen to old jazz

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20:00

World Goth Day Cofounder: “Anyone Is Welcome”

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/05/22

In this bonus episode, we hear from Martin Oldgoth, cofounder ofWorld Goth Day, in conversation with Sharlese, host of Mechanical Breakdown, about the holiday’s origin in 2009. What started as a sort of joke on BBC Radio 6 Music rapidly spread across the world as a celebration of goth culture, which is constantly evolving. And, no, you don’t have to wear black. “The goth scene is very inclusive,” Oldgoth says in the interview. “There are no rules. If someone tells you,

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40:00

Suzzallo’s Loud Grief on The Quiet Year

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/05/20

Seattle-based musician Rocky Votolato has formed a new band called Suzzallo, who put out their debut albumThe Quiet Yearearlier this year on Thirty Something Records. Through loud guitars and cathartic screaming, Suzzallo offers an outlet to help him grieve the loss of his child, Kienan, who died in a car accident in 2021. “Without a way to express this pain, it probably would have killed me,” Votolato says in the interview. “Being able to turn it into this rock band and all this

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39:30

Dead Pioneers Confront the American Dream

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/05/13

Denver-based punk group Dead Pioneers recently released their second album,PO$T AMERICAN, on Hassle Records. They’ve been opening for Pearl Jam on their U.S. tour this spring. KEXP’s Dusty Henry caught up with lead vocalist Gregg Deal to discuss the band’s rapid success, how their new album portrays disillusionment with modern America, and how the band reclaims and recontextualizes Indigenous representation seen in media – from Dances with WolvesthroughOne Flew Over the

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8:58

Vegas Sober & 8 Months Pregnant for Pitbull

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/05/06

Emily Fox, host of A Deeper Listen and Sound & Vision, is taking maternity leave form now until the fall. Before she left, shared an essay about why she went to Las Vegas sober and 8 months pregnant to see Pitbull in concert and why she thinks Pitbull deserves “a deeper listen.” Best wishes to Emily and her family! In the meantime, the A Deeper Listen feed will continue to stay active with stories from the editorial team and guest host Roddy Nikpour. Keep it tuned in here and thanks

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18:14

SASAMI’s Left Turn Pop Album

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/04/29

SASAMI has just released a new pop album calledBlood on the Silver Screen. While her first record fell in the indie rock realm and her second album had a lot of metal influence, this album represents another left turn. SASAMI talks with Emily Fox about what draws her to make music from so many different genres, and how her family’s story of immigration and involvement in unconventional religious communities might have impacted her self-described identity as a “weirdo outsider.”

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22:50

Ela Minus’ Journal of Freedom

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/04/22

On this week’s episode, songwriter Ela Minus talks with KEXP's Albina Cabrera about her new album,DÍA—a fully nomadic project with songs written and recorded between Mexico, Seattle, and her native Colombia. WithDÍA, she steps away from her analog era and embraces everything at hand: broken microphones, acoustic instruments, and digital synths. It’s a search for freedom that began the moment she left her comfort zone. The album is out now via Domino Records. Photo by

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26:49

Perfume Genius Faces His Fears

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/04/15

Mike Hadreas of Perfume Genius talks with Emily Fox about how his inner fears, struggles with mental health, paranoid fantasies and reflections on gay lust and love show up on his latest album,Glory. “I think I was just really afraid and I felt really tender and mortal and the world felt really fragile and scary and I couldn't figure out how to move through it very well,” Hadreas says speaking writing through depression. "And I didn't really know how to hold all of these things that I

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44:12

Spotify and The Costs of the Perfect Playlist

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/04/08

Liz Pelly, author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist talks through the many practices at Spotify over the years that have impacted independent musicians-- from outsourcing stock music Spotify pays a lower royalty rate for and flooding Spotify's in-house playlists with that stock music, to paying artists a 30% lower royalty rate in exchange for promotion on Spotify. Then, guitarist and independent musician Lance Allen talks about how he was able to pay off his

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26:12

Lucy Dacus on Love and Stillness

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/04/01

Songwriter Lucy Dacus talks about her new album,Forever Is AFeeling. In conversation with Emily Fox, she discusses everything from love, lyricism, and making conscious decisions to step away from boygenius and her solo work to find balance and stillness. She also breaks down some of her favorite songs and lyrical moments on the new record. “I keep saying this, how you spend your time is how you spent your life. And that has been a really profound cliche to remember,” Dacus says

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20:16

La Fonda Quit Corporate Day Jobs For Band & Vintage Shop

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/03/25

Valerie and Veronica Tapacio left their corporate day jobs to dedicate their time to their Seattle band, La Fonda and their vintage clothing shop, Delusional Bird, which is named after one of their songs. Last year was the first year they made more money doing music and running their business than they did at their 8-5 desk jobs. The sisters talk about how their father’s detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2008 forced them into corporate work early and how the pandemic helped

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18:10

Lupe Flores: Rock Drummer, Budding Restauranteur

A Deeper Listen ·

2025/03/18

For years, Lupe Flores was primarily known as the drummer for a number of Seattle rock bands, including Wild Powwers. But as something to do to keep herself sane during pandemic lockdown, she reconnected with a childhood tradition. “I feel like a lot of musicians are like, 'Oh, I sang whatever in church' or 'My parents always had music,’” Flores says. “There was literally no music. There has always been food.” She started making tacos using her Lebanese-Mexican

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574 results

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