A Deeper Listen

KEXP

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.

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Introducing: A Deeper Listen

Introducing: A Deeper Listen

On April 9, we're launching a new podcast right here on this feed. A Deeper Listen will be KEXP's new destination for transformative conversations with artists – the ones you already know and love, and the ones you have yet to discover. We’ll hear from renowned and emerging talents of all musical styles about the stories behind their songs and the life experiences that are inextricable from their work. As we uncover the humanity behind the music, we’ll also gain the tools to listen more deeply. Over the past five years, Sound & Vision has brought you behind the scenes of the music industry through a variety of stories and formats. With A Deeper Listen, we dig deeper into our most popular type of feature: unfiltered, authentic conversations with artists. Each episode will go beyond the surface to bring us into the world of the artist and find new dimensions to their music. Take a deeper listen with us every Tuesday, right here, starting April 9.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episodes

Nilüfer Yanya on Identity and 'My Method Actor'

Nilüfer Yanya on Identity and 'My Method Actor'

Nilüfer Yanya released her latest album, 'My Method Actor,' this fall. Emily Fox speaks with Yanya about the new record, her family’s story, including the organization she and her sister started to bring art to refugee communities, and her thoughts around identity while creating these songs.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merce Lemon Immerses Herself In Nature

Merce Lemon Immerses Herself In Nature

Merce Lemon is a singer-songwriter based in Pittsburgh. In an interview with Emily Fox, we get to know her and her musical background and hear how stepping away from music and immersing herself in nature allowed her to make her latest record.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After “Downward Spiral,” Christopher Owens Makes First Album in a Decade

After “Downward Spiral,” Christopher Owens Makes First Album in a Decade

Christopher Owens, formerly of the San Francisco indie band, Girls, talks about his first album in nearly a decade. It arrives after a tumultuous time in his life. In recent years he got in a motorcycle accident, went through a breakup and became homeless after he moved out. Then in 2020, his Girls bandmate and collaborator, Chet “JR” White died at the age of 40. He talks about those moments, his new album, and about growing up in the Children of God cult. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura Marling’s Euphoric Motherhood

Laura Marling’s Euphoric Motherhood

Laura Marling’s new album, Patterns in Repeat was mostly written after becoming a mother. Motherhood and family come up a lot on the new record. Marling breaks down the record with Emily Fox as they both reflect on how their view on family has changed since becoming moms. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terror/Cactus Explores Bicultural Belonging on 'Forastero'

Terror/Cactus Explores Bicultural Belonging on 'Forastero'

Martín Selasco is an Argentine producer and composer based in Washington state. He speaks with KEXP’s Albina Cabrera about the musical diary of his life that led him to create the project Terror/Cactus. His music blends Latin American folk traditions with electronic beats, dark cumbia, and psychedelic sounds. In his latest album, 'Forastero,' Selasco explores his identity, displacement, and the influence of his family on his musical journey. He also shares the story of his father and grandfather, key figures in Argentina’s musical history and founders of the record company, Sicamericana, and the label, Music Hall Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Miss Kaninna on EP and Aboriginal Life

Miss Kaninna on EP and Aboriginal Life

Australia’s Miss Kaninna (Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon, and Yirendali) talks about the themes of colonialism in her song Blak Britney, about Aboriginal history and life in Australia, how her family has played a role in Indigenous activism and policy, and how she uses her platform as a musician to speak about Indigenous issues.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dark Chisme Puede Vivir Sin Ti

Dark Chisme Puede Vivir Sin Ti

KEXP’s Albina Cabrera sits down with Christine Gutierrez, the mastermind behind Dark Chisme. Gutierrez blends darkwave, post-punk, and synthpop to tell powerful stories of identity, resilience, and growing up in a bicultural space. With her self-titled debut album, she channels her personal journey through music, exploring painful episodes like her father’s deportation and the feeling of not fully belonging anywhere, transforming these experiences into musical strength and fire on stage.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How a Car Accident Gave Tomu DJ Motivation to Become a Solo Artist

How a Car Accident Gave Tomu DJ Motivation to Become a Solo Artist

Tomu DJ is an electronic artist from the Bay Area. She’s out with a new album called I Want To Be. Tomu DJ speaks with Emily Fox about her new album, her experience in the music industry as a trans woman and how a near death car accident impacted her sense of rhythm and inspired her to become a solo artist.“I had this renewed or newfound motivation to explore myself and kind of my own mental landscape and the things that I've experienced through music,” she says.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MIKE Enters the Final Stage of Grief

MIKE Enters the Final Stage of Grief

MIKE is a rapper who’s gained a following in part because of his vulnerable writing. He lost his mother just as his rap career was taking off. Throughout his career, he has used voice notes from her in his songs. In an interview with KEXP’s Martin Douglas, MIKE speaks about losing his mother, working through the loss, and eventually getting to the other side of grief.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suki Waterhouse: ‘Model, Actress, Whatever’

Suki Waterhouse: ‘Model, Actress, Whatever’

Suki Waterhouse talks with Emily Fox about how starring in the Amazon Prime series 'Daisy Jones and the Six' inspired her to make her new record, 'Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,' and how she finished the record in the final weeks of her pregnancy and played Coachella a few weeks after birth.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enumclaw Leaves Tacoma

Enumclaw Leaves Tacoma

Aramis Johnson of Enumclaw talks about the band’s recent move to L.A. because they needed to get out of their hometown of Tacoma, about the joys of going off social media and reading more and the themes of loss on the band’s new album.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The History of Stax Records

The History of Stax Records

The Memphis-based soul label Stax Records is home to The Staples Singers, Otis Redding and many soul hitmakers. David Porter, writer of the hit songs “Soul Man” and “Hold On I’m Comin’,” joins this episode to share the story portrayed in the Emmy-nominated documentary, 'Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.' Porter talks about how Stax was first a country label and switched to soul music after allowing him and other youth from the neighborhood to audition. He talks about how music unified both Black and white musicians at the label, in a town that was segregated at the time. He also discusses the trials and tribulations of getting acquired by larger labels, how the deaths of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Otis Redding impacted the label, and the successes and legacy of Stax.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sunny Day Real Estate on Band History and “Emo” Music

Sunny Day Real Estate on Band History and “Emo” Music

Sunny Day Real Estate came out of the hardcore scene in Seattle in the 90s and eventually became a major influence on “emo” music. KEXP’s Dusty Henry talks with guitarist Dan Hoerner and drummer William Goldsmith about the band’s history, their take on "emo," their recent reunion tour, and the re-release of their 1994 debut album, 'Diary.'Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

F*cked Up On Releasing Albums in 24 Hours & Medical Marijuana

F*cked Up On Releasing Albums in 24 Hours & Medical Marijuana

The Canadian hardcore band, F*cked Up is out with a new record, called Another Day. The band’s last three records were all written and recorded in a total of 24 hours. Emily Fox speaks with F*cked Up’s frontman Damian Abraham about these 24-hour projects, how Toronto marijuana politics comes up on Another Day and how medical marijuana has helped his panic attacks. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aoife O’Donovan Gives History Lesson on Suffrage Movement

Aoife O’Donovan Gives History Lesson on Suffrage Movement

Aoife O’Donovan of the bluegrass bands Crooked Still and I’m With Her released a solo album this year about the suffrage movement. To honor the 104th anniversary of women’s right to vote in the U.S., Emily Fox caught up with O’Donovan to get a history lesson on the movement and discuss where we’ve come and the work that still needs to be done.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alisa Amador Learns to Say Yes

Alisa Amador Learns to Say Yes

Alisa Amador grew up touring the US and singing in her parents' Latin folk band, Sol y Canto. She then went on to start a solo career and in 2022 she won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. But when she got the call from NPR that she had won, she almost told them to give the award to another contestant. Amador had stopped writing music in 2020 following the death of a close friend. In the end, she did accept the award and is now out with her first album since winning the Tiny Desk Contest. It’s called 'Multitudes.' Emily Fox caught up with Amador to talk about grief, struggles with mental health, and how winning the contest allowed her to start a new, refreshed chapter of her music career.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex Henry Foster Finds Healing on Ambient Record

Alex Henry Foster Finds Healing on Ambient Record

Alex Henry Foster of the band Your Favorite Enemies talks about how his new ambient record, 'Kimiyo,' was formed after a health crisis that left him unable to speak for months. The album also shares the stories of people he met in Japan during his travels, finding connection between their struggles and his own, and gaining a renewed outlook on life.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EMEL on Soundtracking the Revolution

EMEL on Soundtracking the Revolution

Emel Mathlouthi is a Tunisian musician whose song “Kelmti Horra” went viral in 2011 and became an anthem for the Tunisian Revolution during the Arab Spring. Her new album, ‘MRA,’ calls for the continued fight for freedom on a global scale, but through an explicitly feminist lens. It was made by an all-women cast, from producers to musicians to engineers, and includes features from Malian rapper Ami Yerewolo, Brazilian producer Lyzza, Swedish-Iraqi rapper Nayomi, and more. Emel talks with KEXP’s Isabel Khalili about why she chose to work exclusively with women on this album, what it was like being called “the voice of the Tunisian Revolution,” and the role of artists in social movements.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pedro the Lion Makes Peace With the Past

Pedro the Lion Makes Peace With the Past

Seattle indie rock band Pedro the Lion gained a cult following in their early days, making Christian-adjacent music that saw lead singer David Bazan’s reckoning with his faith and politics. After putting the project on hiatus for more than a decade, Bazan returned to the Pedro name in 2018 with the announcement that he’d be recording a five-album series with each record dedicated to a place he lived. Recently, Pedro the Lion put out the third record in the series, 'Santa Cruz.' Bazan talks with KEXP’s Dusty Henry about making the record, learning to “re-parent” himself, and what he’s learned about himself through the process of making these albums.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

somesurprises Frontwoman Natasha El-Sergany on Cosmic and Political Inspirations

somesurprises Frontwoman Natasha El-Sergany on Cosmic and Political Inspirations

Natasha El-Sergany of the Seattle band somesurprises talks about the cosmic, political. and social inspirations behind their new album, 'Perseids.' She also discusses her journey coming to the US with immigrant parents, her day job as an immigration lawyer, and how all of this fuels her music.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.