In this episode, I interviewed Lamont Brown, best known for his moniker, RNIE. He’s a Philadelphia-based artist. His latest LP, which is self-released, is titled FULL NEPTUNE and was released on August 29th, 2025. Originally from Pittsburgh, he’s also spent significant time coming up in the Charlotte, North Carolina, DIY music scene and New York City. We discuss topics related to music, such as influence, discipline, themes, and intentionality.

RNIE: https://www.instagram.com/rn_ie/?hl=en

Bandcamp: https://rnie.bandcamp.com/album/full-neptune

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1. "LOW HIGH." 2. "JOY." 3. "BITTERS." 4. CENTURY III.

Original Photo by: Amanda Giordano https://www.instagram.com/ag1ordano/

This is a segment called Three Questions, where I ask an artist only 3 in-depth questions. One question is specifically aimed at their current project, and the other two are about ideas connected to their artistry overall. In this episode, I interviewed Aure. She’s a Paris-based singer, former architect, and multilingual singer. Her first EP, “A Few Notes,” was released in 2023 on Mayway Records, and she’ll release her first album in 2026. Out recently is her single “The Sailors' Tales,” and we jump into the deep end talking about the topics of language, uncertainty, imagination, and her new song.

Aure: https://www.instagram.com/aure.afewnotes/

Mayway Records: https://maywayrecords.com/

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1 & 2. "The Sailors' Tales"

"The Sailors' Tales' Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m09IPcg13qA

Original Photo by Chloé Bruhat: https://www.instagram.com/chloebruhat/?hl=en

I sat down with Jens Kuross recently and talked about his new LP, Crooked Songs. Some themes and topics we cover are learning, ambition, recreation, and Idaho. There’s also a published version of this interview in The Tonearm magazine if you’d like to read it with an extended introduction. It’s Called Room Sound and Raw Truth, and the link to the article is here: https://www.thetonearm.com/room-sound-and-raw-truth-jens-kuross-talks-crooked-songs/

Jens Kuross: https://www.jenskuross.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jenskuross/?hl=en

Released on Woodsist Records: https://woodsist.com/

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1. "What I Miss Most of All. 2. "Beggars Nation. 3. "Crooked Song".

Original Photo by Mark Oliver: https://www.instagram.com/photogrind/?hl=en

Find Me at: https://jonahinthesnow.com/

Talked to Lena Bartels recently, whose 2nd LP, called The Brightest Silver Fish, is out as of September 12th. We get into some ideas of music being a place to lean into the darkness of being alive, and what it’s like for her dipping into that eeriness. Questions that come up that we discuss and correlate with the album are what it’s like making active choices, the fragility of the COVID era, and coming out of it while planning for a future beyond that, and recognizing the moments of oscillating or moving from disempowerment to empowerment.

Léna Bartels: https://www.instagram.com/l.enabartels/?hl=en

Glamour Gowns Records: https://www.instagram.com/g.l.a.m.o.u.r.g.o.w.n.s/

"Amber" music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s1Ful3S46I&list=RD8s1Ful3S46I&start_radio=1&ab_channel=L%C3%A9naBartels

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1. Bad Sugar. 2. Fighter. 3. Amber. 4. The Brightest Silver Fish.

Original Photo by Morgan Helani Mein: https://www.morganmein.com/

In this episode, I talked to Yuri, who is BOK SUNA. Her album CARNATE came out recently. A fun fact is that she illustrated her music videos, and at one point, we get into this idea of two stars converging, which is illustrated in the “doghorn” video, and she talked about how it relates to the conception and creation of this album, CARNATE. And it’s like there are these layers of creation that BOK SUNA operates on that are just really beautiful. Y’all should check out the vids, and of course, the album. We get into the absence of structure in music, finding humor in this messy world, how prose poetry inspires, and a little bit of Sharknado and Justin Bieber.

Album link: https://softseedmusic.bandcamp.com/album/carnate

"doghorn" video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drOfRqayOaA&list=RDdrOfRqayOaA&start_radio=1&ab_channel=ZegemaBeachRecords

BOK SUNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bokfuckingsuna/?hl=en

Episode Track Listing:

Snippets: 1: gtfo. 2. doghorn. 3. luckie charm

Had Jeni Magaña on recently, and her band is Magana. She’s a multi-instrumentalist and producer who is always creating and releasing art into the world. Her EP Bad News came out earlier this year. She also plays bass in Mitski and has another band called Pen, Pin. I think that if the world shut down again, her innate desire to create would probably produce so many albums within a year, as much of her life is spent on tour, and the time isn’t always there.

Magana was kind enough to share notes connected to the music she’s put out, and we get into them. I’ll attach a link so you can see said notes. I decided it’d be fun to incorporate artists' notes on their creations into the show because one, the name of the show, and two, to see some of their thought process of how they formulate their creations. Magana and I get into a lot, from Doing Art for yourself to being a working musician.

Ideas of tension, release, and resolution came up a couple of times in making music, so I’m attaching a link to “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber because Magana mentioned that piece, and it’s really quite powerful, and as she notes, illuminates these ideas clearly.

Episode Spare Notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hmPkbfMjyVYdMpt48Vq0ppy8MsmWRsvbcDuAErfPKAU/edit?tab=t.0

Episode Track Listing:

Snippets: 1. Fantasie Impromptu (fast) by Chopin. The rest are by Magana: 2. Girl in Chains (Teeth) 3. Lawyers Were Our Friends (Dreams) 4. To My Love 5. Shower Song (Bad News)

Full song: Half to Death (Bad News)

Magana

Website: http://s976828381.onlinehome.us/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maganarama/?hl=en

linktree: https://linktr.ee/maganarama?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAadKGy8cxI2jxORKhFHCS1D2s9PMT6wx5XE0wdNFADlm2H1vvTiaD452Aws0Jg_aem_r0CxzPeFlkcbBGLbQqKfyg

"Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450&ab_channel=MarshallJ.Hendrickson

From the importance of enjoying your creations and the nature of music, to getting down ideas and making art, Alexei Shishkin and I delve into ideas of taking advantage of time and moments to make music, because sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re gonna get done. Having created up to almost a dozen LP’s out, up-to-date, Shishkin is no stranger to getting it done. His latest record, “Good Times’ is out September 5th. We explore the making of ‘Good Times’ and get into the state of the music industry a bit.

The two latest singles are:

“Ode to Carl Dennis” is inspired by the poet himself,

"Disco Elysium" is inspired by the amazingly wild and beautiful video game Disco Elysium

Link to songs! https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/good-times

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/alexeishishkin?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacOYlKEzVR1xslft5Lr32F7rh1iopGn8nKHgPeCTfFVFOP2mqs6DhKkcUJUAQ_aem_xn1NHFUB3WBeDYqdQipciQ

Photo from Graham W. Bell: https://www.instagram.com/grahamwbell/

Tuxis Giant has an album coming out this week called “You Won’t Remember this, and I had a chat with Vocalist, guitar player, Matt O’Connor about it. We got into the contrast of joy and tragedy, Midwest family feels, dove into some lyrics, and talked about Huey Lewis, as one of the songs on the record is named Huey. It was nice having Matt O’Connor on for a second time!

Tuxis Giant:

INCREDIBLE INTERACTIVE Music Video for "Huey" HERE: https://worrybeadrecords.com/huey?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeDkODvqPb58g0aTwVWTpH5Mc6hXPZCtvZEINzrhBUl_wyaiHOaJ7mKuA304w_aem_RSNH3SRHel0RJyuvNvquWg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuxisgiant/?hl=en

Bandcamp: https://tuxisgiant.bandcamp.com/album/you-wont-remember-this

Original Photo by Omari Spears:

Website: https://www.oshoots.com/music?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaf-0XeSFIltiVy0b05y_pxI_QQMnEG_SpY6DLTBmO1XtJIelZLfXQb79_LuZg_aem_1b7gNxBEkjZp8qJIp3RWEA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/o.shoots/?hl=en