Welcome to episode one of CRITICAL LISTENING, a new podcast about music and technology hosted by Liz Pelly and Max Alper. 

How does a band survive 30 years of industry hostility to art? For our first episode, we’re chatting with Greg Saunier, the drummer of Deerhoof, who just released Noble and Godlike in Ruin, their 20th record across 30 years as a band. We talk about the political themes of the group’s recent material, resisting the AI slop machine, and whether recorded music itself is an aberration. Plus, we picked up a conversation on protecting the musical commons from tech extraction that Liz and Greg started at a Mood Machine event in LA earlier this year.

Deerhoof’s new record thematically grapples with some big questions of art-making amidst societal collapse. In turn, our first episode serves as a reminder that when we talk about technologies, we’re never just talking about technologies, but the social, political and economic forces influencing them. Thanks for listening, supporting, and also bearing with us as we work through DIY recording and editing!

Songs in this episode:

Theme song: “Talk to Me” by Eraser

“Disobedience” by Deerhoof

“Overrated Species Anyhow” by Deerhoof

“Kingtoe” by by Deerhoof

“Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaa” by Deerhoof

Support the show, hear more from this interview with a bonus segment, and get an invite to join the conversation on the Discord server at patreon.com/criticallistening.