Cris Cohen: For the song ’Blues At Bay,’ how did you get that guitar sound that is in the beginning of the recorded version? It is a little different from the guitars on any other Cowboy Mouth songs.

Fred LeBlanc of clients Cowboy Mouth: I was messing around with tunings on my Danelectro guitar. I recorded that around the same time that I did that cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” I was really into those sounds.

Cris Cohen: Another track that really stood out for me on this album (Eventide) is “Tip The Cap.” It has these really cool, subtle transitions. A lot of the song seems to swing from… it reminds me of the piano section of “Layla.” It’s kind of a lush, emotional thing. But then it swings into this contemplative jazz thing. Then it swings back, but it’s smooth. What’s the key to doing that so smoothly?

Nili Brosh: I don’t really know. I think it’s trying to understand what similarities genres have between them. Because at the end of the day, there’s always something in common. And that’s something that I really had to think about with my last album, Spectrum, which really morphed from one genre to the next.

However different two genres seem, there’s usually something that the two of them share. Whether it’s certain grooves or certain chord progressions, even if it’s not the instrumentation. There’s always something that unites two things when you don’t think it might. I try to go between the things that are more similar. I think that gives it a smoother transition, rather than trying to connect them by the things that they don’t have in common. Finding the commonalities and trying to smooth it out from there I think helps. Because jazz and classical, nylon string playing, I don’t feel like those two are too far from each other.

And vibe. You’re not going from a super-loud, heavy thing to low dynamics, solo, nylon string guitar. There are great ways to marry those that people have done that don’t have to seem jarring. If you take the similarities, I think it’s a lot easier to weave together.

FULL INTERVIEW

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Cris Cohen: Reading through several past interviews, the one thing that kept coming up again and again was the term “reluctant lead singer.” How does one balance the idea of A) being reluctant and hesitant to move in this direction, but B) also wanting to improve and evolve?

Kevin Martin of Candlebox: Well, I’m certainly insecure. I mean, I think to be a lead singer you have to be insecure because you’re looking for that instant gratification that you’re good, you’re talented, people like you. I’ve got to be honest with you, man. When I sing on a record or when I sing live, it’s really about pushing myself as far as I can go. Because I love it. I only love it those two hours I’m on stage. But for the same two hours that I’m on stage, my mind is playing all sorts of tricks on me. “That note was wrong. You didn’t get it right this time. You missed that pattern. You missed this lyric. You switched the lyrics up.” I’ve stopped “Far Behind” live several times because I fuck up the first verse. Being lost in that game can make it difficult to remember where you’re at.

Cris Cohen: You’ve never been a drummer who overplayed. You’ve always been Mr. Groove, Mr. Lock It Down. But I found out the initial manuscript that you turned in for this book (Hard To Handle) was 900 pages long. What did you intuitively know as a drummer that you didn’t know as a writer?

Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes / Howl Owl Howl: Interestingly enough, if I’m on a session and I’m playing a song for the first time, I overplay at first by design. You’ve got to find your ideas. The groove is going to find itself. I do my best thinking in real time at the kit. I can hear something in my head. But until you’re playing it and finding the groove, you’re not going to get every idea. And so I will play more and more fills. I like to hear a take that has too much. I know 90% of it is unnecessary, but there’s going to be something I hear that I’m going to want to keep. It’s almost like a shotgun approach. With writing, I didn’t think anybody was going to publish a 950-page book. But I needed to get it all down so then I could take some separation from it and say, “What part of this makes the best story?” I had to write the box set so that I could figure out the best album.

FULL INTERVIEW

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Steve Gorman spent nearly three decades providing the backbeat for one of rock’s most turbulent bands — and he’s got the memoir to prove it. In his book, “Hard to Handle,” the Black Crowes’ drummer laid bare the dysfunction, drama, and grind of life inside a band that was as volatile offstage as it was electric on it. Now, with the Crowes nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Gorman deep into a new project — the supergroup Howl Owl Howl, alongside Hootie & the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills — he’s got plenty of perspective on what it takes to survive a legendary band, trust the groove, and enjoy the ride.

Steve Gorman website: https://www.stevegormanrocks.com/

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Cris Cohen: Some of the songs have intros that you would never hear on your typical guitar-oriented album. “Pastel Dreams,” starts off like a Pet Shop Boys song, with the retro synths. “Every Player Wins” starts off with a rapid fire Latin conga. How did those intros come about? And was that also part of your thinking for the songs or did that come about later when you brought in, percussionists and such?

Nili Brosh: No, that’s part of the writing. I really do my best to write away from the instrument as much as I can. I like to hear things in my head and jot it down as notes and voice memos.

The melodies will most likely be played by a guitar. But the arrangement around it is whatever I hear in my head. And I admittedly like a lot of synth stuff.

I like sneaking it in there. It’s all in service of the tune, service of the music.

To me, “Every Player Wins” is a heavy tune, but it always feels like kind of a Middle Eastern tune to me. So I’m thinking, “That type of percussion would be very prominent in that kind of music.” And I actually had the guitar line, the main guitar line from that tune, as an intro for the longest time and then had the percussion come in. I just didn’t like it.

I feel like the percussion rolls out the red carpet a little bit better on this one. I go with whatever services the music better.

FULL INTERVIEW

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Dwight Ritscher of Dwight + Nicole: I use my little recording app, the basic app on an iPhone, to record ideas throughout the day, all day, every day. These different phrases came over a couple of weeks. And I began to feel that they belong together somehow.

And you’re right, it doesn’t happen like that. I don’t know why I felt they were related to each other. But I couldn’t ignore it for some reason. I had a bunch of mumbles around these phrases. I brought the mumbles to Nicole. She said, “It sounds like you’re saying ‘day or night.’”

And then the whole song… that was the glue that made them all start to make sense. And then the lyrics flowed from there.

It was an odd thing.

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In this intimate and wide‑ranging conversation, musicians Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson open up about the creative forces, personal histories, and emotional truths behind their new album. They reflect on apocalyptic imagery, artistic integrity, and the healing power of making music. Nicole shares how she finds beauty even in turbulent times, while Dwight reveals the quiet, meticulous process behind shaping songs from scraps of riffs and iPhone recordings. Together, they explore vulnerability, ferocity, grief, and joy, offering a look into the inner world of two artists determined to create on their own terms.

Excerpt

Cris Cohen: It’s common for the opening track to set the theme for the album. Why did you choose a song about the end of the world to kick off this one?

Nicole Nelson: That’s a very good question. I have an interesting relationship with apocalyptic times. I have always felt like I was meant to be here while things are interesting and juicy and weird and in flux.

For me, there’s a beauty to that song, “One Morning.” It’s more about… things are wild and things are very temporary. So love it while you’ve got it.

Be in the moment that you can, if you can, whenever you can, and enjoy yourself. That’s what (the lyric) “Come lay down” is about. Yeah, things are wild, but we also need to rest and can still enjoy each other.

Cris Cohen: And that in itself is interesting: You’re drawn or interested in dystopian times, but you found this kind of comfort in it, which seems like this massive contradiction. Is that an apt way to describe it?

Nicole Nelson: Definitely that’s an apt way to describe it. For me, that’s a very personal theme that runs through my life. Growing up, experiencing some of the things that I did when I was younger, and learning through them how to still just dive headfirst into life and enjoy as much as I can.

There is always both sides to every coin. I love to play in those realms.

Dwight Ritscher: I think from a literal point of view too, we have a safe spot… or as safe as you can have. We ended up buying a home in Vermont six years ago. The riff of the song was something (created) playing in the living room after dinner.

It’s from Nicole’s outlook, but it’s from a safe space that she’s telling her story and sharing her truth. It’s pretty cool. We’re grateful for that.

CHECK OUT THE ALBUM

The Dwight + Nicole website: https://www.dwightandnicole.com/

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Guitarist and composer Nili Brosh returns with Eventide, an album that blends retro‑modern synth textures, genre‑bending arrangements, and an unexpectedly emotional undercurrent. In this conversation, she opens up about writing away from the guitar, the color‑driven instincts that shape her music and visuals, and the internal intensity that fuels her playing. From the retro‑futurist artwork to the nuanced percussion choices, Brosh reveals how every element of Eventide was crafted with intention—and how her work with Cirque du Soleil, Danny Elfman, and Dethklok subtly seeped into the final sound.

Transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Cris Cohen: I got the chance to speak to you a few years ago. We really went in depth with “Lavender Mountains” and “Song for Hope.” So I will link to that.

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Retro-Modern Soundscapes

It’s interesting hearing those now in this full album, as it takes you on this journey. You described this album as “going for a retro-modern feel.” I think I know what you mean by that, but I’m wondering if you can elaborate.

Nili Brosh: Some of the retro sounds in “Pastel Dreams,” for example, or “Eventide,” some of the vintage synths... I’ve always loved that vibe, and I wanted to put my own spin on it. I think some people probably hear older influences in my playing to begin with. So I don’t think that’s something foreign with me when it comes to people’s perception of my playing.

To me, it’s always kind of an amalgamation of where we came from, and how can we put a newer spin on it? Because it is 2026. And no matter what we do, it’s going to be something that came out now. So I guess that’s the modern part of it.

Visual Identity & Retro-Futurist Aesthetics

Cris Cohen: And even the artwork for the album I would describe as retro futurism. As a guy who grew up reading these books by Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, it had kind of the same style as the covers of those books. I’m wondering how much input you had into the visual aspect of that album.

Nili Brosh: That was definitely not an accident. I didn’t exactly control what the cover art was, but I definitely gave the artist, Flooko, a vibe and a direction. And he’s heard the music, and he knows what the whole thing is about. So it was intentional, trying to capture that visually and make all the visuals -- whether it’s on the album or the music videos or my signature guitar -- be a running theme with the music, how I not only hear it in my head, but what I see, what colors it corresponds to in my head, and how I internalize it.

Cris Cohen: And other people have noted the similarities color-wise with your signature guitar and the album artwork. I’m always interested when the artist has a vision that they’re trying to share visually. And obviously from what I’ve read, you had very definite opinions about what your guitar should look like.

Nili Brosh: And these were things that we’ve been working on for years, trying to get as close as we can to how I see it. So I think it was a worthwhile journey. And I’m really proud of how it all became a running theme, because it doesn’t always feel easy.

You can kind of see in your head what you want to do. But whether or not you can make it actually convey that, getting from point A to point B, is not always clear.

Hearing the Album as One Story

Cris Cohen: You’re preparing for solo shows that you’re going to be doing in Europe to promote the album. As you do prep work for that, are you now hearing more of a cohesiveness to all these songs that evolved over the last few years, now that they’re all being played as part of one show?

Nili Brosh: Totally. One thing that really helps with that is when you start mixing and especially mastering the record. You put it in a sequence, evaluate masters, and really hear it in order. You hear it as a running theme, as a cohesive piece for the first time. Shuffling that around and making the last tweaks on it. It’s really helped me see it as one thing, one entity.

But yes, putting it into the show, especially with older tunes, working on the sequence for that, and getting to the point where I’m not just playing it to record it, but I’m playing it to perform it, definitely breathes new life into the thing.

Writing Away From the Guitar

Cris Cohen: There are some really interesting aspects to this album and these songs. Some of the songs have intros that you would never hear on your typical guitar-oriented album.

It is really interesting. “Pastel Dreams,” starts off like a Pet Shop Boys song, with the retro synths.

“Every Player Wins” starts off with a rapid fire Latin conga. How did those intros come about? And was that also part of your thinking for the songs or did that come about later when you brought in, percussionists and such?

Nili Brosh: No, that’s part of the writing. I really do my best to write away from the instrument as much as I can. I like to hear things in my head and jot it down as notes and voice memos.

The melodies will most likely be played by a guitar. But the arrangement around it is whatever I hear in my head. And I admittedly like a lot of synth stuff.

I like sneaking it in there. It’s all in service of the tune, service of the music.

To me, “Every Player Wins” is a heavy tune, but it always feels like kind of a Middle Eastern tune to me. So I’m thinking, “That type of percussion would be very prominent in that kind of music.” And I actually had the guitar line, the main guitar line from that tune, as an intro for the longest time and then had the percussion come in. I just didn’t like it.

I feel like the percussion rolls out the red carpet a little bit better on this one. I go with whatever services the music better.

Cris Cohen: I like that idea of rolling out the red carpet to set the scene. Also because it’s so unexpected.

Nili Brosh: And I love it like that.

It’s another genre that I like. It’s another direction that I like dabbling with.

Cris Cohen: Getting back to the line, “I like to write away from the instrument,” I would think most people would assume you have a guitar in your hands 24 hours a day, always noodling. Is it more that you sing these parts and that’s how you get the ideas out of your head?

Nili Brosh: Yes. I sing the parts into the voice memos.

If I hear any other arrangement ideas around it, I’ll take notes on it. I’ll sing the drum groove.

Everything is with the ear leading first. I’ve always believed that sometimes when you have a guitar in your hand, most people can overplay. That can derail you. That can turn a really good, succinct, cohesive idea into something that now has too many notes, or is now unrecognizable. I don’t want that to happen.

I want it to stay true to what I heard and have it develop from there. It always goes back to the ear.

Cris Cohen: I would describe a lot of your playing as very lyrical. I know there aren’t lyrics, but you sometimes swear there are lyrics.

Nili Brosh: That’s the idea. It’s songs without words.

Synesthesia & Color-Driven Creativity

Cris Cohen: And it’s interesting, this whole idea of, “I’m going to translate what’s in my mind into music.” Because in reading the materials that were sent along with this album, I think it’s the first press release I’ve ever had that mentions synesthesia.

The idea that within your mind, something from one sense triggers things in another sense. Sounds trigger sights. It’s a fascinating idea.

There was a book called “Born On A Blue Day.” It’s about this guy who was, for lack of a better term, an autistic savant. He saw numbers as colors and shapes. As a result, he can memorize the number pi out for thousands of digits.

You said you have “a touch of (synesthesia).” How does this manifest within you?

Nili Brosh: This is a self-diagnosed thing. There’s no proof that I really have anything like that, or what the extent of it is.

But to me, I’ve seen either certain key areas as certain colors, or certain tones, certain keyboard tones as certain colors, or certain reverbs as certain colors. It corresponds to a color palette. The more fleshed out the idea is, the more it seems like a certain hue.

Cris Cohen: Have you tried to use that to explain to other musicians what you’re looking for?

Nili Brosh: I haven’t really done that. When I give other musicians demos to play over, they hopefully already have the direction conveyed in them. It’s not to say that every musician is going to go and play verbatim what I had in the demo. But it’s usually fleshed out enough for them to know, “This is the range or the vibe that I need to be within.”

If that doesn’t really fit, then we can talk about how to make that closer. But that usually happens more in musical terms.

Smooth Transitions & Genre Bridges

Cris Cohen: Another track that really stood out for me on this album is “Tip The Cap.” It has these really cool, subtle transitions.

A lot of the song seems to swing from… it reminds me of the piano section of “Layla.” It’s kind of a lush, emotional thing. But then it swings into this contemplative jazz thing. Then it swings back, but it’s smooth.

What’s the key to doing that so smoothly?

Nili Brosh: I don’t really know. I think it’s trying to understand what similarities genres have between them. Because at the end of the day, there’s always something in common. And that’s something that I really had to think about with my last album, Spectrum, which really morphed from one genre to the next.

However different two genres seem, there’s usually something that the two of them share. Whether it’s certain grooves or certain chord progressions, even if it’s not the instrumentation. There’s always something that unites two things when you don’t think it might. I try to go between the things that are more similar. I think that gives it a smoother transition, rather than trying to connect them by the things that they don’t have in common. Finding the commonalities and trying to smooth it out from there I think helps. Because jazz and classical, nylon string playing, I don’t feel like those two are too far from each other.

And vibe. You’re not going from a super-loud, heavy thing to low dynamics, solo, nylon string guitar. There are great ways to marry those that people have done that don’t have to seem jarring. If you take the similarities, I think it’s a lot easier to weave together.

Cris Cohen: With the idea that songs are kind of a window on a person’s soul, it’s interesting to have a song like “Tip the Cap.” To make this sudden turn into this kind of acoustic area, it’s like, “Wow, there’s a whole other facet to this musician going on here.”

Nili Brosh: That’s the idea, to give kind of just like a little window.

The Hidden Intensity Behind the Calm

Cris Cohen: It’s funny because the way you are in conversations… you’re very mellow, calm, easygoing. And yet a lot of your playing on this album and others, there’s this dark grittiness to it. “Losing Grip.” Gritty rockabilly. That grittiness, where do you pull from personally to get that out into the music?

Nili Brosh: Maybe it’s not obvious in conversations, but I feel a lot of internal intensity and anxiety. I feel like it’s easier for me to get that out on a guitar. That, to me, is my natural default on a guitar. To go harder is easier for me than to back off.

So it’s interesting that you say that. I definitely have my anxious moments where I can’t relax. Relaxing doesn’t ever feel like my default. That’s something that I have to work a lot harder on. So pouring more out of it on a guitar is a lot easier for me than restraining myself.

Life On and Off the Road

Cris Cohen: A week or two ago, you had this post where it was like, “A musician off the road.” And it was you being neurotic.

Nili Brosh: Exactly. You wait for that moment. I have so much to do all the time. There are so many balls in the air.

You think you’re going to enjoy that earned day off whenever you get to it. And then you get to it.

And I’m like, I don’t know what to do with myself. Yeah, I struggle with that for sure.

Cris Cohen: Okay. So it wasn’t just a joke.

Nili Brosh: It was not a joke.

It’s also abrupt. When a tour starts, it ramps up somewhat gradually. But when it stops, it stops abruptly and you hit a wall. And so sometimes, it’s hard to process that sudden stop.

Sometimes dealing with that can be tricky.

For me, it has to do a lot with how I feel I performed. Sometimes I’ll have a really bad habit of analyzing how things went. It dawned on me that you’re looking for something to process because you don’t know how to put an abrupt stop to it.

Sometimes your brain doesn’t really know where to put that until you’ve kind of had a chance to mull over it.

Cris Cohen: Interesting. I never thought about that.

The Mental Whiplash of Live Performance

It also reminds me of conversations I have had with Ben Sesar, who is the drummer for Brad Paisley. He talked about the times when the set list has something that’s going 100 miles an hour, and then the next song is a ballad.

Nili Brosh: Yeah.

Cris Cohen: And trying to slow, because you’re mentally still going 100 miles an hour…

Nili Brosh: Calming down the nervous system like that in spurts and going back and forth is not the most natural thing in the world. Trying to stop it and telling your body, “Now, take it really chill. Don’t rush.”

That’s hard.

Cris Cohen: It also reminds me of the work you do with Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson show, where you actually leave the stage at points and come back.

Nili Brosh: Yeah. That’s a totally different animal than being on stage and playing for a show. And even with Danny Elfman, there’s its own version of it. There are times where the orchestra will play film music that we don’t play. We stand there and watch the orchestra. And that’s a lot of time to think.

That can be even stranger, because you’re still on stage, you’re still being seen. I mean, there’s a lot going on on that stage. So no one’s really paying attention to you.

But at least at Cirque, you get good at going back and forth like that. Every show has its own set of challenges when it comes to that.

And it definitely keeps it interesting.

Cris Cohen: I never thought of how that can really kind of screw with your mind.

Nili Brosh: It totally can. But you know what, so can staying on stage and playing through it, because then you’re off to the races. That’s a different animal too.

How Her Gigs Shape Her Sound

Cris Cohen: You’re three regular gigs are with Danny Elfman, Cirque du Soleil, and the band Dethklok.

In what ways did those bands / gigs influence or inspire what’s on this album?

Nili Brosh: I think they always do. I think it always gets in there in ways that you aren’t necessarily even aware of. I think with Dethklok, I use the same guitar with the low tuning, the C standard tuning, on this record, just because that’s where I was at the time.

And then when I recorded it, and I was like, “I have to do all the rhythm parts with this guitar, because they get kind of low.” But then everything with the leads ended up being in strange keys for me that I don’t normally play in. But that’s how the song was written. So I adapted.

The Most Challenging Track

Cris Cohen: What was the most challenging song on Eventide to create as far as getting a finished, polished song?

Nili Brosh: That’s a good question. You know, they each have different challenges, whether it’s how to mix it, or getting the right people on it. But I think a lot of times, when I’m dealing with genres that are newer to me, or that I feel less familiar with, there’s always a question in my head about whether I’m really getting it to where I want it to go. Not necessarily how it should sound, but whether it’s authentic to me.

So, maybe “Every Player Wins.” That had a lot of nuance, both the playing and the instrumentation and getting the right parts to come through.

Cris Cohen: I can’t imagine trying to arrange all those layers, so that they are so cohesive.

Nili Brosh: That’s why my albums take a while. I try to give it the thoughtfulness that it requires and not just finish something because I have a quick deadline and have to get a new album out there. I want it to be thought out and conveyed the way that it should be.

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Homework this weekend... delving into this deluxe vinyl edition of the album “Suffocate City” in preparation for my in-person interview with The Funeral Portrait in a couple weeks. In addition to the title track, I love the songs “Stay Weird” and “You’re So Ugly When You Cry.” Lee Jennings’s vocals regularly morph from rock to theatrical to a great blend of the two.

Watch my previous interview with Lee.

Bands To Fans: I help professional musicians turn casual fans into genuine fans.

There is an art to creating chapter titles for a book. This one is fantastic. A quote from a conversation in the following pages, it does not shock you. You have already read through some intense moments in the previous 35 chapters. But after seeing that chapter title, you can’t wait to read more. Because after all of the insanity that was covered in the previous 279 pages (paperback edition), you realize these people may have actually outdone themselves… which you did not think was possible.

What is amazing is that this is from a non-fiction book. What is even more amazing is that this counts as work, because tomorrow I am interviewing the musician who is the author.

From my 1998 interview with Rob Hirst, drummer and lyricist of Midnight Oil, about their album Redneck Wonderland.

Cris Cohen: From a lyrical point of view, do you feel pressured to live up to your past, if only because your lyrics have been so challenging, so different from just middle of the road fare? Is it tough to keep generating such interesting stuff album after album?

Rob Hirst: Not really. Because Australia has been going through a very fascinating period here.

And the band has always proudly and defiantly written about what’s going on here, which sometimes has had a universal application and people have been able to understand what we’re going on about.

I don’t know whether people will make head or tail of this record, because it is actually, like Diesel and Dust, very local and focused, but probably has an application elsewhere. But we’ve never really given that much thought.

And when some of those records got away in the 80s overseas and did incredibly well, it really caught the band by surprise… who thought that we were making local land rights records in the 80s. A couple of songs got away and then the band suddenly found that all this back catalogue, which we thought would be relegated to the dustbin of cultist collections, was now available and was selling really well. Which was one of the great delights.

But really, there’s a wealth of songwriting stuff here. Perhaps it’s got something to do with still being effectively a young country with a great spirit and optimism in spite of lack of leadership in the political area. There’s still this great spirit of the place, and particularly in Sydney with the Olympics coming up. There is certainly a great spirit of what could be, even though it’s not happening right now.

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Kim Wilson of clients The Fabulous Thunderbirds: Making albums years ago, artists road-tested their songs before recording them. Each track was performed live, refined through audience reactions and stage energy, ensuring that when the album finally dropped, it was guaranteed to electrify listeners. The recording process was a dynamic, audience-informed journey.

An excerpt from the interview I did with Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil in 1998.

Cris Cohen: You have this other band, Ghostwriters. What do you get from your work with that band that you don’t necessarily experience with Midnight Oil?

Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil: Well, almost a nervous breakdown.

I think that there’s always a tendency with Midnight Oil to sit on the back couch a bit longer than you should or could, because everyone’s got an opinion and everyone’s probably got the right opinion.

With Ghostwriters, it’s songs that I’ve written and sing and play guitar and produce and play the drums and pay the bills and do the website and the artwork and the film clips and dance steps and blah, blah.

I actually embarked upon it as a non-sitting-on-the-back-couch thing, which became a monster. Not only was it quite successful. But in attempting, like all true control freaks, to do everything, it nearly killed me.

But it was an incredible learning experience. And we’re on to our third (album) now.

But the main thing I get out of it is that I’ve tried to be more and more prolific as a writer and keep that as my main focus. And as anyone will tell you, you never quite get there with this. You’ve never written the perfect song.

(So), if the muse comes past, I don’t let it go too often. Because I know it might disappear for another six months or so.

Bands To Fans

Afton Wolfe: One of the reasons I wanted to make this a full-length album (Ophiuchus) with many different kinds of songs is because I wanted it to represent what I aspire to in music: personal, vulnerable connection to people that are willing to send it back to me. I want to be open to it.

It’s a very personal album. All the songs I either wrote or co-wrote. I talk about things that are very important to me, things I’ve been meditating on for years… forgiveness, war, philosophy, ontology, mythology. I don’t know who else they’re important to, but I tried my best to bring in as many different influences because that is something that’s important to me.

FULL INTERVIEW

Afton Wolfe website: https://aftonwolfe.com/home

On January 20, 2026 Rob Hirst, the drummer and songwriter of Midnight Oil, died after a battle with cancer. In 1998 I was lucky enough to interview Rob following the release of their album Redneck Wonderland. Here is an excerpt.

Rob Hirst: As we were making the record, and as the political climate darkened, we ended up re-recording four or five of the songs to make them angry and tougher, particularly as we toured and the songs took on a new light. We decided we wanted to make the strongest and angriest musical statement that perhaps we had done since 10 to 1, which was, as you said, born of a similar political climate in the early 80s.

Cris Cohen: I’m guessing one of those songs you re-recorded was “Concrete”?

Rob Hirst: It was indeed. In fact, I remember exactly the time that we decided that the album version that we’d recorded with Magoo, who produced the bulk of the record, was too safe and too tame. (We were) playing a couple of showcase shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York last year. And we decided that that song, “Comfortable Place on the Couch,” and a new song that Jim (Moginie) had written, which was the actual title track, “Redneck Wonderland,” really should state the case at the beginning of the album.

And if people could sort of get through that, then they’re lucky to go the whole distance. If they weren’t, they’d sort of go back and play Diesel and Dust.

Cris Cohen: I was going to say, what you guys probably consider tame, most guys consider right out in the front.

Rob Hirst: Yeah, I guess it’s degrees. But there again, there’s been a lot of very strong, strident political music made, not the least of which would be people like Rage Against The Machine. A lot of people like that.

We felt that we had to put it in terms that were as strong as when we were just starting off, remember not to get too produced, and to throw away the rule book.

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John Papa Gros (client): When I was writing “Mardi Gras” with my songwriting partner, Mark Carson, I said there are three things I love about Mardi Gras. 1) Catching the parades. 2) Watching Big Chief Monk Boudreaux show his feathers and colors on Mardi Gras day. 3) Parading with the Society of St. Anne, from Bywater through the Quarter, releasing the ashes of friends who died on wreaths into the Mississippi River. It’s tough to do it all in one day, but it’s easy to enjoy in one song.

Cris Cohen: The common through-line to a lot of the music is what I would call “dark optimism.” You address very heavy, serious issues facing the world today, but there’s always this glimmer of hope. Where does that hope come from for you?

Joel Ekelöf of SOEN: We take life kind of lightly, with a smile. We smile a lot on the tour bus and on tours, and we have fun. I try to smile a lot during shows as well, because it gets pretty unbearable if it’s only darkness and melancholy. But in a way, melancholic music gives me relief. It gives me joy. I think it gives the music a certain meaning if you address the more difficult topics.

Cris Cohen: I like the fact that there’s always a hopeful twist in the end about overcoming all the darkness.

Joel Ekelöf: Because otherwise it gets unbearable. If it’s just “good night, everything goes to hell, let’s just die,” that doesn’t work. So we address the things that are dark and problematic, but there has to be a way out. There’s always hope, and I believe in mankind.

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SOEN website: https://www.soenmusic.com/

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One of my favorite songs released in the last six months. “Enough Time” by Bernie Barlow.

Cris Cohen: A lot of these songs sound like they’d work acoustically as well as with a full band, particularly “Enough Time,” which has this great campfire jam session vibe. Was that how these songs came to fruition?

Bernie Barlow: Pretty much every song… acoustic guitar and voice in a room. That’s how they all came to be. Dave said to write 25 songs, maybe 30. I think I got to 24.

“Enough Time” came from us talking about what was going on in our lives. Lily (Wilson) had received a phone call from a dear friend whose mother had passed away. They said they never had enough time because the doctors gave her nine months to live, but she only made it three. I said, “Lily, my mom’s 92. I still don’t feel like it’s enough time.”

We wrote from there. I told Paul and Lily there’s a celebratory approach I wanted… songs to sing at wakes or celebration of life events, because I think we should celebrate each other.

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A funny moment. During my therapy session this week, as a lead in to a point she wanted to make, my therapist said, “Do you know the Sister Hazel song ‘Change Your Mind’?”

She didn’t know that I had worked with them. “Funny you should mention that song…”

What made it truly surreal was emailing with Ken Block about it later that day. Ken wrote the song and sang lead on it. He is on the far left in the photo above.

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