Tracing Spaces

This episode features Jeff Tobias, the saxophonist from bands such as Sunwatchers and Modern Nature, among many other projects. His recent releases include the solo album Recurring Dream and a duo sax collaboration with Patrick Shiroishi. As a quick housekeeping note, Chandra's upcoming European tour that I mention in this episode has been put on ice, but we hope to hop back across the pond as soon as it's safe enough to do so. Follow Jeff's work at the links below! https://www.jefftobias.net/ https://jefftobias.bandcamp.com/ https://sunwatchers.bandcamp.com/ https://modernnature.bandcamp.com/

This episode features Chicago-based musician Haley Fohr, who performs as Circuit Des Yeux and Jackie Lynn. We discuss the making of her latest albums, the colour orange, and the ongoing influences of Laraaji, Scott Walker, and Sparks. Circuit Des Yeux's -io is now available from Matador, and Jackie Lynn's Jacqueline is now available from Drag City.  https://circuitdesyeux.bandcamp.com/album/io https://jackielynn.bandcamp.com/album/jacqueline

This episode features Yves Jarvis and Romy Lightman of the Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band. The musicians and romantic partners discuss how they met at one of the final shows from her band Tasseomancy, family connections to the Tree Museum, and how opposites attract. Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band's debut album, Banned, is out now from ANTI- and Flemish Eye. https://www.instagram.com/bandecstatic/ https://lightmanjarvisecstaticband.bandcamp.com/album/banned

This episode features Chad VanGaalen, celebrated Calgarian song-maker, producer, and animator. In his third conversation with Jesse Locke over a storied musical career, Chad gives listeners an audio tour of his creative playground, shares some of his philosophies on recording, and explains why the sound of Women's cult famous album Public Strain can never be recreated. Chad's new album, World's Most Stressed Out Gardener, is out now from Sub Pop and Flemish Eye. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com

This episode features Nina Ryser, one third of art-punk trio Palberta and a prolific solo artist. Our short but sweet conversation includes Nina's earliest memories of recording diary-like cassettes at age 8, the making of Palberta's new album at Paul Reubens' family home, and finally gets to the bottom of their band name. Spoiler alert: It has nothing to do with Alberta. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com

This week’s episode features Jordan Reyes, an acclaimed experimental musician and the founder of American Dreams Records. Our rousing conversation spans a wide range of topics including ambient country, Christian first person shooters, and how he joined the legendary avant-gospel group ONO. Jordan even provides a few hints at the poppy new directions of his upcoming solo album. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com

This episode features guitarist Barry Cleveland, who has the rare honour of collaborating with Emerald Web and having his music featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Barry's beautiful 1986 cassette Stones of Precious Water was recently reissued by Morning Trip Records. We discuss his memories of its recording sessions, experiences in the San Francisco punk scene, and second life as a music journalist and author. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com

This week's episode features Vanessa Briscoe Hay, the singer of legendary post-punk band Pylon! She shares stories of the B-52s, R.E.M., Ru Paul, and other oddball artists who helped put the band's hometown of Athens, Georgia on the subcultural map. Pylon recently released a massive 4LP box set on New West Records, collecting their original run of albums with a healthy selection of rarities never heard before.  If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com

Russian musician Kate NV (a.k.a. Ekaterina Shilonosova) is a multi-faceted artist who slips between genres like the costumed characters she inhabits in her photos and videos. Her latest solo album Room for the Moon (RVNG Intl.) is a one-woman show with a cast of characters singing in five different languages set against neon-hued backdrops of electronic hooks. NV wears influences on her sleeves that include Japanese City Pop and cartoons that shaped her as a child such as the uncensored version of Sailor Moon, discussed at length in this interview. She waves an entirely different flag as the vocalist/guitarist of post-punk group Glintshake, and provides some tantalizing hints about the new music she's hoping to release in 2021. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com/

In the early 1980s, Californian trombonist and composer Craig Kupka recorded a pair of gorgeously flowing instrumental albums for Folkways Records. Clouds and Crystals were created with the express purpose of accompanying the cool down period of modern dance classes taught by his romantic partner, and have become celebrated releases in the cosmos of new age. Our conversation jumps from Craig’s early inspirations to his use of cannabis to inspire creativity, and concludes with some stories of his second life as a polka musician. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. As an added bonus, we are now offering our patrons 15% off all releases from Telephone Explosion Records. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces https://www.telephoneexplosion.com/

This week’s episode features Lora Logic in her first ever podcast appearance! The British post-punk legend recounts the stories of how she joined X-Ray Spex on saxophone at age 15, was subsequently ejected from the group, and formed her new band Essential Logic. Lora also shares some anecdotes on her collaborations throughout the years, the harrowing experience that led her to join the Hare Krishnas, and ends with a sneak preview of the new music she's planning to release in the near future! If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces

This week’s episode tumbles from the vault to feature an interview with Canadian synth hero John Mills-Cockell, best known for his work with Syrinx and Intersystems. Recorded in spring 2020 when a Syrinx reunion show at the festival Le Guess Who? still seemed possible, our conversation covers decades of ground. Beginning with stories of how John tried out to play keyboards for Yes, it travels through his experiences with the Vancouver group Hydro Electric Streetcar, the unpredictable nature of Intersystems live performances, and two upcoming projects inspired by his sensory expanding work from the psychedelic ’60s. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces

"I make the kind of music that I do because it helps me," says Sarah Davachi. Throughout her prolific discography, the experimental composer has used extended tones and sounds associated with sacred spaces to slow down the frenzied pace of everyday life. Davachi's latest album Cantus, Descant augments recordings made on pipe organs with the haunting sound of her own vocals. In this conversation, we talk about our shared hometown of Calgary, overlooked elements of classic rock, the tour dates she was supposed to go on with Thom Yorke, and much more. If you enjoy this interview, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts, share it with a friend, and consider donating to our Patreon linked below. Tracing Spaces is a labour of love and we can only keep making it with your support. https://www.patreon.com/tracingspaces

Way back in April, we sat down with Toronto's Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg to chat about the debut album from his ambient alias, Memory Pearl. Music For Seven Paintings (Idée Fixe Records) may sound strikingly different from the motorik pulse he provides to avant-rock group Absolutely Free, but as he explains in this friendly, freewheeling conversation, it sounds much more like the records on his own shelf at home. Memory Pearl's lulling electronic sound can be partly credited to Fisher-Rozenberg’s work leading music therapy sessions at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and it adds a patient beauty to any rooms where it hangs.

Way back in April, we sat down with Toronto's Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg to chat about the debut album from his ambient alias, Memory Pearl. Music For Seven Paintings (Idée Fixe Records) may sound strikingly different from the motorik pulse he provides to avant-rock group Absolutely Free, but as he explains in this friendly, freewheeling conversation, it sounds much more like the records on his own shelf at home. Memory Pearl's lulling electronic sound can be partly credited to Fisher-Rozenberg’s work leading music therapy sessions at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and it adds a patient beauty to any rooms where it hangs.

In 1981, singer Rupa Biswas traveled from her home in Kolkata, India to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where she recorded the album Disco Jazz. It was not a commercial success, but found a second life many years later, with copies of the joyful, genre-blurring LP selling for more than 500 pounds before it was eventually reissued by Numero Group. We connected with Rupa and her son Debayan for a conversation about the album's creation and how it continues to spread happiness so many years later.

Tracing Spaces returns with a conversation with Jessy Lanza! The electronic pop artist shares fantastic stories about her childhood connections to the rave scene in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, what it was like to road trip across the U.S. at the start of the pandemic, filming music videos in her van, and the lyrical implications of the word “daddy” on her new album, All The Time, now available from Hyperdub. This interview originally appeared as a written article in the experimental music newsletter Tone Glow.

For the 10th episode of Tracing Spaces, we're thrilled to share our conversation with Can keyboardist and composer Irmin Schmidt! This discussion details his formative musical experiences studying with Stockhausen, agitated experiences in the studio and on live German television, and concludes with the influence of church bells on his upcoming live album, Nocturne. It was a true honour to speak with one of krautrock's last living legends.     

Mary Currie is one half of Flaming Tunes, the UK DIY duo she formed with Gareth Williams following the dissolution of his band This Heat. Their fragile, ramshackle pop songs stand in stark opposition to the apocalyptic post-punk of Williams’ better known group, and have remained a cult favourite since their original release as a cassette in 1985. While Flaming Tunes' music has been made available officially and unofficially several times, its most recent reissue from Blackest Ever Black went out of print in a flash. That will change in the near future with an upcoming edition from Superior Viaduct, which fans will surely be excited to learn more about in this interview. Mary has remained musically active over the years but rarely spoken publicly, so our conversation was a truly special experience. We hope you enjoy beguiling the hour with us!

William Eaton sees his music as a conversation and communion with nature. He began his creative journey in the early 1970s while living in the deserts of Arizona, sleeping outside, walking for hours in bare feet, and primarily subsisting on food from the earth. In these years, he would perform improvised guitar music outside for hours on end until friends convinced him to record and release an album. This resulted in Music By William Eaton with 18 spontaneous, untitled songs. It falls somewhere between John Fahey and Robbie Basho’s American Primitive guitar playing and Laraaji’s washes of autoharp to create a gorgeous, enveloping sound. In the decades that have followed, William has become a Grammy-nominated musician and acclaimed instrument builder at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. He attracts students from around the world to learn his process of creating highly unique guitars out of trees with as many as 26 strings.