Interview: Noah Gundersen

Craig Manning Aug 11, 2015

Last week, I got the chance to spend a half hour chatting with Seattle-based folk singer/songwriter, Noah Gundersen. Fresh off the release of his 2014 debut album, Ledges, and already gearing up for the release of the follow-up, Carry the Ghost, Gundersen spoke candidly about the collaborative nature of his new album, about keeping the intimacy of his earlier music alive whilst moving into full-band territory, about exploring difficult subjects like religion and existentialism in his lyrics, and about why we’ll probably be hearing yet another new album from him sooner rather than later.

Interview: Daniel Armbruster of Joywave

Jonathan Bautts Jul 23, 2015

Lead singer Daniel Armbruster dives into the transformative experience of making Joywave’s debut album How Do You Feel Now?, going No. 1 with “Dangerous,” sampling Disney animated classics, growing up in Rochester, and dealing with the bumps in life.

Interview: Jim Adkins

Jonathan Bautts Jul 13, 2015

Jim Adkins discusses taking a breather from Jimmy Eat World by going solo for the first time, exploring and reinterpreting ‘50s and ‘60s pop music, and why he’s releasing his songs individually instead of as an album.

Interview: Mike Shinoda of Fort Minor

Jonathan Bautts Jul 9, 2015

Mike Shinoda explains why he is bringing Fort Minor back, details his new song “Welcome” and its 360 video, describes his evolution as a musician and lyricist, talks about collaborating with Harvard, and reflects upon the past and future of Linkin Park.

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Interview: Ellie Rowsell and Joel Amey of Wolf Alice

Jonathan Bautts Jul 7, 2015

Frontwoman Ellie Rowsell and drummer Joel Amey talk about the inspirations behind Wolf Alice’s debut album My Love Is Cool, what some of the different reactions they’ve come across thus far have been like, and why learning to follow your gut is important.

Interview: Dustin Kensrue

Jonathan Bautts Jul 7, 2015

Dustin Kensrue discusses his long-awaited second solo album Carry the Fire, collecting old ideas and turning them into songs, approaching love songs from a different perspective, improving as a storyteller, and what it’s like for Thrice to be back.

Interview: Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan

AbsolutePunk Jul 6, 2015

How’s it feel to finally have your new song, “Saturday,” out?

We’re excited! It’s been a long time since we’ve put out new music. The last thing we did was like this little EP that was a little bit of a b-side, I guess, quote, unquote — songs that were leftover from the Get Your Heart Onalbum. We take a little bit of time in between records because we go on tour for two, two and a half years on each cycle. Then we stop for a few months, catch our breath, and then we start writing and we write for a long time. We wrote for like a year and a half on this album. We wrote like 70-75 songs. It’s definitely exciting. People have been waiting and we’re finally able to give them something they can listen to and get stoked about the album. It feels good to feel like, “Okay, we’re kicking up in gear,” and we’re slowing switching from writing, making the record, and recording it, to actually having music out and going back on tour and planning some shows and the album cover and all that. So it’s exciting that we, as a band, have the luck and the privilege to be doing it for a fifth time.

Jonathan Bautts Jun 30, 2015

Miguel Pimentel discusses wanting to establish an identity on his third album Wildheart, what being wild-hearted represents, how he’s grown as a songwriter and live performer, and why his L.A. roots will always play an important part in who he is.

Interview: Nate Ruess

Jonathan Bautts Jun 24, 2015

Nate Ruess explains the decision to go solo on Grand Romantic, why he always ends up writing about heartbreak, and how lucky he’s been to work with the people he’s met throughout his career.

Interview: Keith Goodwin and Dan Schwartz of Good Old War

Jonathan Bautts Jun 23, 2015

Lead singer Keith Goodwin and guitarist Dan Schwartz discuss Good Old War’s new album Broken Into Better Shape, the challenges of continuing as a two-piece, their positive outlook on songwriting, and how they are able to get all those gorgeous harmonies.

Interview: Sam Harris of X Ambassadors

Jonathan Bautts Jun 22, 2015

Frontman Sam Harris discusses the autobiographical concept behind X Ambassadors’ debut album VHS and its hit single “Renegades,” how a love of film influences his music, what it’s like co-writing for Rihanna, and why endurance is the key to success.

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Interview: Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou

Jonathan Bautts Jun 3, 2015

Vocalist Aaron Weiss unpacks the apocalyptic imagery inside mewithoutYou’s newest release Pale Horses, why he likes to explore each album from a different perspective, and how that left him at his most unguarded while trying to reconcile his love/hate relationship with religion.

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Interview: Jon Foreman

Jonathan Bautts Jun 1, 2015

Jon Foreman discusses his new solo undertaking The Wonderlands, the challenges of writing a song for each hour of the day and working with 24 different producers, why embracing the chaos in life is important, and what’s next on the horizon for Switchfoot.

Interview: Eli Maiman of Walk the Moon

Jonathan Bautts Mar 16, 2015

Guitarist Eli Maiman discusses how Walk the Moon’s sophomore album, Talking Is Hard, differs from the band’s debut, what attracts them to the ‘80s, and why they pride themselves on their live show.

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Interview: Butch Walker

Craig Manning Jan 29, 2015

Last week, I got a chance to chat extensively with a personal hero of mine, Butch Walker. We talked about Butch’s new album, Afraid of Ghosts, including how the recent loss of his father inspired a new direction for his music, why he decided to have Ryan Adams produce the disc, and why his trademark sarcasm and upbeat songwriting is nowhere to be found. We also touched upon Walker’s back catalog, the woeful reasons why no one should be expecting to find Letters on vinyl anytime soon, whether or not The Black Widows will be making music again in the future, and why Butch’s protege Jake Sinclair took over most of the production duties on the new Fall Out Boy LP.