Talk the Line

Beverly Glenn-Copeland talks to Jen Long about how singing the day helps him through the pandemic. The reissue of Glenn-Copeland's 1986 masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies is out now via Transgressive, marking the 35th anniversary of its original release and features restored original artwork and liner notes by Robyn.

Dodie talks to Jen Long about how knitting helped her through the lockdowns. Her debut album Build A Problem is released on 7 May 2021.

Two years sober, Royal Blood vocalist talks to Jen Long about a cleaner way of living during the pandemic. The band's new album Typhoons is released on 30 April 20201.

23-year-old South London-born singer and songwriter Raye talks about discovering a passion for jigsaw puzzles during the pandemic. RAYE's new mini-album Euphoric Sad Songs is out now and her new single with Joel Corry and David Guetta "Bed" has just hit gone top five in the UK Official Charts.

Australian singer/songwriter Alexandra Lynn - better known to her fans as Alex the Astronaut speaks to Jen Long about losing herself in tv shows during the pandemic for this episode of Talk The Line. Alex's debut album The Theory of Absolutely Nothing was released summer.

Travis frontman Fran Healy speaks to Jen Long from his LA home about leaning into his love of directing videos during lockdown for this episode of Talk The Line. Travis’ new album 10 Songs is out now on BMG and their debut album Good Feeling is being reissued on vinyl for the first time on  2 April.

Grammy-nominated Canadian musician and singer-songwriter tells Jen Long how Bananagrams helped him survive the pandemic.

Julien Baker – Tennessee-born singer/songwriter and one third of Boygenius – talks about her love of trail running.

As the founding member of the NiNE8 collective, musician, singer and artist Lava La Rue has curated incredible projects across the worlds of art, music and fashion, as well as establishing her own solo career with debut single "Widdit", and this year's Butter-Fly EP. She joins host Jen Long on this episode of Talk the Line to talk about creating art during the pandemic.

Sir Tom Jones talks to Jen Long about the artists and songs that inspired him on new record Surrounded By Time, and his approach to re-imagining those tracks for a whole new audience.

In the final episode of our first season, Jess Abbott from Tancred talks to host Jen Long about a shared passion: the world of Harry Potter.

Einar Örn has been famously described as the first punk in Iceland. He played alongside Björk in in the early 80s anarcho-punk outfit Kukl before joining her as a founding member of The Sugarcubes. In recent years he's collaborated with Damon Albarn and Gorillaz as well as making music under his Ghostigital project, and he's also a renowned artist. We talk to him in a special episode recorded in Reykjaviík about....whispers!

Sigtryggur Baldursson - a founding member of The Sugarcubes alongside Björk - and key figure in the Iceland music scene over four decades - tells us about his concerns for the planet in a special podcast recorded at this year's Iceland Airwaves festival.

Milkywhale was born out of a performative project for dance school and has become one of Iceland's most inventive pop artists. Today’s we’re talking to one half of the duo, Melkorka Magnusdottir, about entrepreneurialism.

Musician, visual artist and former Múm vocalist Sigurlaug Gisladóttir has been a mainstay of the tightly-knit Icelandic music scene for more than a decade - much of that as part of solo-project-come-collective Mr. Silla. In a special podcast recorded at Iceland Airwaves, she tells us about her love of anime.

DIY outlier musician Jim White tells us about his passion for finding old things in a special podcast recorded at this year's End of the Road Festival.

Canadian popstar and singer/songwriter Alessia Cara talks about the awkwardness of adolescence.

Michelle Zauner - aka Philadelphia pop experimentalist Japanese Breakfast - talks about her love of Korean food to host Jen Long.

Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan from Welsh rockers The Joy Formidable talks about her experiences of living in Utah. 

Rising R&B star and comic book obsessive Samm Henshaw chats to Jen Long about how his favourite books have made it to the big and small screens.

Interpol frontman Paul Banks explains the noble art of boxing to Jen Long. The band's sixth album Marauder is released on 24 August via Matador.

Miles Kane joins presenter Jen Long to explore his passion for WWE - American Wrestling. With a career stretching back to his mid-teens, Kane's been one of indie rock's most prolific collaborators - notably as part of The Last Shadow Puppets, the band he formed with Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys. This year he releases Coup De Grace - only his third solo album - which is named for a wrestling move made famous by Finn Balor. Balor also appears in Kane's recent video for "Cry on My Guitar".

Singer/Songwiter and Rihanna-collaborator Mikky Ekko joins presenter Jen Long to share his fascination with controlling what happens in your dreams. You can take the Japanese Cube Test mentioned in this episode on David Wolfe's website.

Alec Ounsworth is the Pennsylvania-born frontman of Clap Your Hands Say Yeh, one of the most loved US indie bands of the last decade thanks largely to their self-titled 2005 debut and its follow up Some Loud Thunder. The band’s most recent album The Tourist came together after a period of reflection and was lyrically inspired by the likes of Elvis Costello and Paul Simon. As the football World Cup comes to a close, we're talking to Alec about his love of La Liga - the Spanish premier football league.

Rising star Tom Grennan tells us why football's coming home this year as we explore the unique appeal of the World Cup.

British singer/songwriter Lucy Rose tells us about the joys of being boring.

Kevin Baird is a founding member of Two Door Cinema Club, probably the most successful rock band to ever come out of Northern Ireland. The three members of Two Door met as teenagers in Bangor and made their TV debut at the age of sixteen on a BBC TV music talent show - where they came last. In 2007 they conquered social media and chose music over University, releasing their debut EP Four Words to Stand On, the following year. Two Door have had massive success across the world with three massive-selling albums including their platinum-debut Tourist History.Kevin's talking to us today about his fascination with a difficult period for his country.

Stella Donnelly was born and raised in Wales before moving to Australia at the age of ten. Fifteen years later she's one of her adopted country's brightest musical hopes, abandoning her plans to study social work at University in favour of signing to legendary indie label Secretly Canadian. Stellla is an honest and confrontational lyricist, with signature track "Boys Will Be Boys" addressing victim blaming and written to the rapist of her friend. It features on Stella's debut EP -which gets a reissue this month - and was originally put out on Melbourne's Healthy Tapes label last year, selling out four cassette pressings. We're talking to Stella today about her fascination with the menstrual cycle.

Minnesota-born Craig Finn is the frontman of The Hold Steady and as a huge baseball fan has never been shy about his support for hometown team the Minnesota Twins, even penning a fight song for them back in 2010 - and today we're talking to him about why it's the only sport that matters to him.

Chris and Keith from We Are Scientists go deep in chat on their literary obsession: Jack Reacher, the fictional character created by British author Lee Child.

Legendary singer and performer Neko Case tells us why she's inspired by the warrior women of history.

Harry Koisser, the frontman of Peace, used to embrace the lifestyle of a metropolitan rockstar but when Peace relocated to a farmhouse in the middle of a forest miles away from civilisation to write their new record Kindness Is the New Rock and Roll, he underwent a personal transformation. Newly sober, his creativity has been revolutionised by practising meditation and yoga and that's what we're talking about today.

Swedish pop star Tove Styrke tells us about her fascination with personality.

Max Richer - one of the first composers to combine classical and electronic elements with a post rock sensibility – tells us out one of his favourite writers, the Japanese-born Haruki Murakami.

Partying hard remains integral to everything California-born legendary Andrew W.K. does - he’s built a life philosophy around it – and (of course) that’s what we’re talking to Andrew about today for our fiftieth episode!

Alexis Taylor, the co-founder of the legendary Hot Chip is obsessed with Finnish-born Vuokko Nurmesniemi , the creator of Marimekko's iconic Jokapoika shirt.

South East London-born DJ and presenter Jamz Supernova is a TV boxset junkie and for this episode of Talk The Line we're discussing the work of Shonda Rhimes, the hugely influential television producer, screenwriter, and author who created shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Scandal - affectionally known as the Shondaverse!

The Vaccines singer Justin explores the relationship between running and mental health.

At the age of 21 singer/songwriter Kate Nash won a BRIT Award and over the last ten years has balanced a successful music and acting career. She's releasd four albums to date and her latest Yesterday Forever was inspired by her adolescent diaries and the realisation that the end of her twenties was just as intense as her teenage years. Kate is known for her activism and as well as performances at Pride and her support for Pussy Riot, she's a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition, a musicians' lobbying group. In 2016 she also rallied almost 300 fellow musicians such as Sia, Alicia Keys and Karen O against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. As an actress, Kate's been part of Netflix's best shows GLOW where she plays wrestler Rhonda "Britanica" Richardson and stars alongside Alison Brie and Marc Marron. Kate is a massive fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Halloween 2012, she staged a version of the season six musical episode "Once More, with Feeling" at an East London theatre. She tells us just why the iconic TV show is so important to her. Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline

Two years ago Rock Island, Illinois born-singer Lissie moved out of the orbit of the music industry machine and back to her native Midwest. Empowered by the success of her last record - which she released independently - she decided it was time for a life change and to do things more her own way. She broke free from an increasingly stultifying Californian existence and bought a massive farm in Northeastern Iowa. The experience ushered in a period of exploration in her music and the result was new record Castles - her fourth album - which she says is the "record that people always wanted [her] to make". On her farm, she's learning how to grows vegetables and build a self-sustaining conservation space and retreat, as well as keeping bees - the subject of today's chat with Jen Long. Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline

Across four decades Tracey Thorn's songs and writing have offered up a clear-eyed woman’s view of the immediate world around her; from the acerbic teen love songs of her first early-eighties band Marine Girls, through sixteen years as one half of articulate multi-million-selling duo Everything But The Girl to her recent acclaimed memoirs and journalism. This year she released her first solo album of entirely original material for seven years, titled "Record". Tracey has described the album as "nine feminist bangers" and it includes collaborations with the likes of Warpaint, Shura and Corinne Bailey Rae. She says that "Record’ represents that sense of liberation that comes in the aftermath, from embarking on a whole new 'no fucks given' phase of life." In this episode of Talk The Line, Tracey tells Jen Long about the long walks she takes around her hometown of London.

Fred Macpherson was already a mainstay of the East London indie scene before forming Spector in 2011. Playing their first shows at Efes Snooker Club in East London, the hype around the group around Spector rose quickly resulting in them signing with Fiction Records, the home of The Cure and scoring a nomination for BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll.  Dropping their debut record Enjoy It While It Lasts that same year, the band were hailed with critical acclaim for the LP’s irresistible songwriting and witty wordplay. They followed this up with their second album Moth Boys and they return this year with their first new music in three years.  In this episode of Talk The Line, Fred talks us through his surprising affection for (and knowledge of) the Pizza Express restaurant chain - recorded live in a real Pizza Express in East London! Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline

The Staves are Emily, Jessica and Camilla - three sisters who cut their teeth performing together at open-mic nights in Watford, their home city an hour North of London.The trio put out their first EP in 2010 and backed up Tom Jones on his comeback gospel record Praise and Blame that same year. The band are longtime friends of Justin Vernon from Bon Iver who produced their 2015 Album If I Was at his studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The eldest of the sisters is Emily and she's obsessed with fantasy fiction, especially the His Dark Materials novels by Philip Pullman. In one of the most entertaining podcasts we've ever recorded, Emily tells Jen Long just why fantasy worlds offer up so much to her. You can find out more about Emily's passion in a letter she wrote us after we recorded this podcast, over on our show notes blog at talktheline.blog.

Fischerspooner began as a performance art piece in New York City at the end of the last century. They played their very first performance at a Manhattan Starbucks, which ultimately transformed into a spectacle that ushered in the electroclash scene. With the song "Emerge" they created one of the defining songs of that short-lived movement. This year they're back with Sir, their first new record in more than a decade. The highly personal album chronicles a tumultuous and emotionally fraught period of Casey Spooner’s life and was co-written and produced by REM's Michael Stipe. For this episode of Talk The Line, Casey tells Jen Long about the food experiences that shaped him. You can check out a full list of the places he recommends on our show notes blog at talktheline.blog. 

Jófríður Ákadóttir - one of Iceland's most talented and productive young musicians tell us about her obsession with matcha, against the backdrop of Kumiko, a teahouse in the hip Grandi area of Reykjavík.

Multi-disciplinary artist, electronic musician, vocalist and producer Káryyn tells us about how the importance of meditation in her life. 

London-based rapper and poet Kojey Radical tells us in detail about his passion for mixed martial arts.

Punk trio Dream Wife came together while they were studying visual arts at Brighton University, with roommates Rakel and Bella roping in fellow student Alice to create a fake girl band for a course project. Of course the fake band proved to be something of real substance and soon Dream Wife were putting on some of the best live shows around and recording tracks like their signature anthem "Somebody", inspired by the SlutWalk, the grassroots protest march that calls for an end to rape culture. Dream Wife also collaborate with the Girls Against campaign, which was formed by three teenage girls to raise awareness of, and reduce sexual harassment at gigs and concerts. At their concerts they make sure there's an even footing between performers and audience and they on a mission to support women taking up space at shows.  Icelandic-born and California raised Rakel Mjöll is Dream Wife's singer and was already a veteran of the Reykjavík music and arts scene before she headed to the UK to study. She's sung with bands such as Útidúr, Sykur and Halleluwah and comes from a highly creative family of that includes her uncle Ragnar Kjartansson — the famed performance artist.  As Rakel tells us, Icelanders are incredibly protective and proud of their culture and past which is rich in tales of monsters, spirits, elves and trolls. This is shown through their passionate storytelling, which has occupied a central place in Icelandic history since the first settlers from Norway and the British Isles reached the island in the late 9th and early 10th century.  Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline

British singer/songwriter Marika Hackman's had an incredible 18 months - last year's album "I'm Not Your Man" ditched the pastoral folk sound of her debut and found her treading new ground, asserting her credentials as one of the UK's most fierce and interesting artiss. Right now she's in the middle of touring Europe with the mighty Alt-J but we caught up with her at last year's By The Sea Festival in Margate for our chat. It's a testament to Marika Hackman's sense of humour that when we asked her to choose something she was obsessed with for this episode of Talk The Line, she told us she wanted to talk about her favourite condiments. Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline Talk The Line is hosted by the amazing podcast people at Pippa.io who make setting up a podcast a total breeze. Take your first steps in podcasting by signing to Pippa with this link: bestf.it/talkthelinepippa

Joe Mount is the mastermind behind Metronomy, one of the UK's most inventive, loved and successful bands. Joe formed Metronomy as a teenage bedroom project in his home town of Totnes, Devon and it took shape when he moved to Brighton to study music and visual art. Releasing the debut album Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe) in 2006, Metronomy became one of the more complex and considered characters of the burgeoning nu-rave scene. Relocating to London in 2008, Metronomy played a string of shows as trio with a very creative aesthetic which included outfits decorated in push-on bulbs and a series of choreographed routines. Completely changing it up with a new line up that included bassist Olubenga and drummer Anna, Metronomy's album The English Riviera was released in 2011 and is considered to be one of the most visionary pop records this decade. The album was smart, literate and catchy, and earned itself a nomination for the 2011 Mercury Prize. The gorgeous and just as innovative Love Letters follows in 2013 and in 2016 they released Summer 08, named after the last summer Joe had spent not playing the festival circuit. Joe's now based in Paris but we caught him in August last year on a trip back to the UK to headline By The Sea Festival in Margate for a chat about his fascination with architecture. Catch up with our earlier shows by subscribing on Apple Podcasts with this link: bestf.it/talktheline