Skip to content
#152 - John Vanderslice (Tiny Telephone Recording) episode artwork

May 6, 2019 1 hr 30 min

#152 - John Vanderslice (Tiny Telephone Recording)

from Washed Up Emo Hosted by Tom Mullen

Today we welcome John Vanderslice. I found out about John through his album in 2000 called, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, on Barsuk Records. It stuck with me and I’ve followed him since. Last month, he released his latest album “The Cedars” on Native Cat Recordings. He’s on tour with Pedro the Lion and worth a listen if you’ve never dived into the mind of Vanderslice. We talk about how he started late in music, how creating music takes some narcissism to survive, about the loss of life, and the depression that he’s been dealing with, including how this album saved his life. Plus, we dive into a discussion about having fame and critical acclaim early on in your career and what that does to you during and after. This is probably one of the more emotional as John opened up about his struggles with dependency on drugs and the battle he has every day with life, creating art, and keeping his recording studios, Tiny Telephone, afloat. Many of your favorite albums have been recorded there like ones from Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, Deerhoof, The Mountain Goats, The Magnetic Fields, and Spoon. A man not afraid to say what he feels and talk it out, I think you’ll enjoy this discussion. Washed Up Emo is a partner of the Double Elvis podcast network.

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

#152 - John Vanderslice (Tiny Telephone Recording)

0:00 1:30:48

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Food Saved My Life

Mar 19, 2026 34 min

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Washed Up Emo?

This episode is 1 hour and 30 minutes long.

When was this Washed Up Emo episode published?

This episode was published on May 6, 2019.

Can I download this Washed Up Emo episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.