BV Interviews: A (mostly) Music Podcast From BrooklynVegan

This week we're talking Taja Cheek, who you may know as L'Rain. We discuss the fourth L'Rain album, Fata Morgana, which she says is the final part in a quadrilogy that began with her self-titled 2017 debut. We also discussed her already busy summer of shows, including sharing the stage with Tortoise in NYC and an appearance at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, plus the double-edged sword of the "experimental musician" tag, how L'Rain songs are brought to life on record, upcoming touring plans and more.

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Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

photo: Mackai Sharp

This week we're talking to the one and only Tricky. Having come up in the '80s as part of Bristol, England's Wild Bunch Soundsystem, Tricky was a member of Massive Attack before going solo in 1995 with his iconic debut Maxinequaye. Thirty-one years later he's just released Different When It's Silent, the first proper Tricky album in six years which is also one of his best.

 

We talked with Tricky about how the album came to be, how his new manager Alan McGee played into that, how he considers this to be his first "indie" album, the new collaborators on this one including singer-songwriter Mitch Sanders and Bristol rapper Run Red Rambo, and his upcoming North American tour. Plus: how he feels about the term "trip hop" in 2026, why he doesn't act anymore, the influence of The Specials on his music and more.

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Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

photo: Steve Gullick

This week we're talking to Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge of shoegaze OGs Swervedriver. They start their BrooklynVegan-presented tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of their debut album Raise on August 18th in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

 

Adam and Jimmy talk about how the band came up through the Oxford scene that also gave us Radiohead and Ride, how they ended up on legendary British indie label Creation Records, and recording their debut album. We also discuss touring with Soundgarden in the US in the '90s, touring with Failure in the 2010s, the current shoegaze revival and lots more.

All Swervedriver tour dates are here.

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Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

photo: Steve Gullick

This week we're talking to Panda Bear and Sonic Boom whose second collaborative album, A Question of When, is out this week via Domino. We discussed how this album differed from their first, 2022's RESET, and some of the interesting sounds on this one, including steel drum, yodeling, loops of Mary Lattimore playing harp, and a police siren that had unintended consequences.

 

We also talked about their decision to not release A Question of When on streaming services and how that ties into the album's themes of action in the face of adversity, how Brian Wilson has influenced both of them, five albums they think everyone should hear, and more.

 

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Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

This week we've got an interview with Destroyer's Dan Bejar that is making its podcast debut but was recorded in 2025 right before the release of album Dan's Boogie. It also happened just after we'd seen a unique trio lineup of Destroyer open for Father John Misty at New York's Beacon Theatre.

 

We discussed what it was like on tour with Father John Misty where there were more days off than he was used to on the road, recording Dan's Boogie with longtime collaborator John Collins, the record's unique sound, the influence of cinema on the album and its cover art, "Bologna Vs Baloney," and more.

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Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

Darkness photo by Simon Emmett