Taja Cheek (L’Rain) with Hisham Bharoocha (Soft Circle, Black Dice)

Welcome to the Talkhouse Podcast’s first ever guest-curated episode! Today’s talk was curated by Brandon Stosuy (Editor-In-Chief of The Creative Independent; manager of Zola Jesus, Diamanda Galas, and more; and curator for The Broad Museum and, until recently, MoMA PS1’s Warm Up) and Melissa Auf Der Maur (former bassist for Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, and co-founder of the Hudson, New York arts center Basilica Hudson). Stosuy and Auf Der Mauer are part of the team behind the fantastic annual Basilica Soundscape “anti-festival,” which presents boundary-pushing artists creating music, film, visual art, literature and more, inside a converted 19th century forge and foundry for steel railway wheels. They join me to intro today’s episode. Past Basilica Soundscape artists have included Matthew Barney, JLIN, Amber Tamblyn, and Deafheaven. This year’s festival takes place September 14-16, and features a killer lineup. Two of the artists performing are this week’s Talkhouse Podcast guests; Taja Cheek—aka L’Rain—and Hisham Bharoocha (Boredoms, Black Dice, Lightning Bolt, Soft Circle). Fittingly, much of their talk focuses on curation and the line where it blurs with artistic creation; Taja’s day job is Curatorial Assistant at MoMA PS1, and Hisham organizes the large-scale Boadrum events. We also hear about the incredible way Boredoms drummer Yoshimi writes music, how time constraints can stimulate creativity, and the ups and downs of playing with 111 drummers simultaneously. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. — Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer This episode was recorded by Ivan Kuraev, Ali Nikou, and Mark Yoshizumi, and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.