Jeff Kolar

An episode of the Todd Nief's Show podcast, hosted by Todd Nief, titled "Jeff Kolar" was published on February 12, 2021 and runs 85 minutes.

February 12, 2021 ·85m · Todd Nief's Show

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Episode Description

Jeff edits many of these podcasts…and now it is time for him to speak!

Jeff is a prolific musician and artist — creating in a variety of genres and formats. His works appear as stand-alone albums, as complements to performance art, and on pirate radio stations.

I've long been a fan of Jeff's music, and, in 2020, he released two of my favorite albums of his: Ditch and Scale with Zeena Parkins.

I wanted to talk to Jeff about the differences between creating for "the art world" vs creating as a musician, as well as the role of improvisation in his process. Jeff also has some wild and hilarious stories about the variety of things that can go wrong when making art.

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Show Notes:

[01:59] Did Jeff inspire the Nathan For You sketch about smoke detectors?
[18:40] How does creation differ between "making sound art: and "making music"? How does composition change when complimenting a performance vs "making an album"?
[37:50] The crossover between punk, skate culture, and high art — and Jeff's background in BMX
[45:24] Jeff's record with Zeena Parkins — and the role of improvisation in music and dance.
[01:07:47] Jeff's radio project Radius — and using radio as an "art form"
[01:14:27] How the live performance of "Ditch" resulted in Jeff at the New York City police department at 6am
[01:24:00] Check out Jeff's Bandcamp and listen to Radius