Episode 180 of Look At My Records! Features an interview with Aaron Martin and Jeremy Clark of Nashville’s Okey Dokey. Since the project’s inception back in the mid-2010s, Okey Dokey has released a string of great albums and developed a creative ethos that builds off of the principle tenet of collaboration. Over the years, their records have featured contributions from Ron Gallo, Caleb Hickman, and Desert Noises, among others. For their latest album, Once Upon One Time, they took this collaborative-centric approach even further, enlisting an array of different artists, like Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, Dave Harrington, and members of The Shins and My Morning Jacket, to independently mix individual tracks. More recently, the band released a new EP called Leaky Sealing, which includes a remix of their song “Delicious” by the band Generationals, a raw cover of the Roger Miller classic, “Where Have All The Average People Gone,” a stripped-down version of “Wine Friends,” and two new original tracks.

Kris Anaya, Joseph Davancens, and Fernando Oliva of Sacramento California’s Best Move are my guests for Episode 179 of Look At My Records! This new Northern California trio came together in 2019 seeking a new outlet to explore different creative inclinations and inspirations. On their debut EP, Mirror Image Twins, their songs take direction from the stylings of 1960s and ’70s troubadours like Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Brian Wilson, and Harry Nilsson and the “visual scoring” of indie-pop song placement in 21st-century TV shows and films.

Episode 178 of Look At My Records! Features an interview with songwriter and composer Michael Zapruder. The Austin-based musician released his fourth full-length, Latecomers, in October of last year, a collection of sonically vivid tracks that delve both inward to domestic intimacy & outward to the wasteland of modern American life. The album was a decade in the making and follows the 2010 release of Pink Thunder, a collection of free verse pop art-songs made from the poems of more than twenty contemporary American poets, including Noelle Kocot, James Tate, Bob Hicok, David Berman, D. A. Powell, and Valzhyna Mort.

Episode 177 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Chaz Costello of Salt Lake City goth-punk outfit Sculpture Club. The band just released their long-awaited sophomore full-length, Worth, last month on Funeral Party Records. The songs of the album largely came together last year, when like many of us, Costello found himself with a lot of extra time on his hands. He began revisiting demos that he put to the side and started recording new ones, eventually entering the studio with Wes Johnson at Archive Studios in Salt Lake City.

Episode 176 of Look At My Records! features an in-depth conversation with Los Angeles-based songwriter Johanna Samuels. Samuels just released her debut full-length, Excelsior!, earlier this month on Mama Bird Recording Company. The songs on the album explore many of Samuels’ personal relationships, with many tracks like “Julie” and “Sonny” named after particular people in her life, and places an emphasis on personal growth through learning from others. Recorded live to tape at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud studio in upstate New York, the record has a very warm and intimate feel, driven by Samuels’ earnest lyricism and irresistible melodies.

For Episode 175 of Look At My Records! Tom chatted with Max, Colin, River, and Trey of the Bay Area post-punk outfit Pardoner. The band just released their ferocious third full-length, Came Down Different, on one of our favorite labels, Hoboken’s Bar None Records. This interview touches on an array of topics, including the band’s proclivity for writing wry and clever lyrics, their love of Polvo and Yo La Tengo, the condensed recording sessions with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden Studios, and much more.

Episode 174 of Look At My Records! features an interview with New York City bedroom pop artist Chloe Berry. As a songwriter, Berry has been writing music since she was seven years old, and last month, she released her long-awaited debut EP, Blueberry Jams, via Spirit Goth. It features several great previously released singles like “Breakfast” and “Something New,” and new tunes like “On My Own” and “ Most My Days.” Tune in to our interview to hear about the inspiration behind some of the EP’s standout tracks, her creative relationship with her partner Spoonuel, her insights on the direction she’s headed in with her sound, and more.

Episode 173 of Look At My Records features an interview with Gini Jungi of the Switzerland garage-psych outfit Annie Taylor. In the fall of last year, the band released their debut full-length, Sweet Mortality, and followed it up recently with an excellent double single “The Fool” b/w “Unspoken,” which showcases their ever-expanding experimentations with psychedelia. They’re one of my favorite recent discoveries, and if you’re a fan of bands like Bleached, L.A. Witch, and Death Valley Girls, then you’ll love their washed-out-sounding tunes.

Episode 172 of Look At My Records features an interview with Adam Schatz of Brooklyn indie rock outfit Landlady. For this episode, Zach Romano joins Tom as co-host to catch up with the Landlady frontman, and the three chatted about the band’s awesome new record, Adam’s recent move to Vermont, and a whole lot more.

Episode 171 of Look At My Records! features an interview with indie folk artist Jack Symes. Symes just released his second full-length, Tompkins Park, in late March and the deeply personal record expounds on his move to New York after spending most of his life on the west coast. His story is an intriguing one, as while playing a series of gigs here in the city a couple of years ago, he met and fell in love with his partner, and thus, made the cross-country move last year. Many of the songs on the album detail his challenging early experiences in the city, but he also displays his knack for telling other kinds of stories at various points.

Episode 170 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Kip Berman of The Natvral. You likely know Berman as the longtime frontman of Brooklyn indie-pop sensations the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but over the course of the last few years, Berman underwent both a personal and musical evolution, as he officially ended Pains, moved to New Jersey and started a family, and reemerged with a new musical identity in The Natvral. The songs on the project’s debut record, Tethers, represent a change in style to a more folk-oriented sound and a shift in thematic focus, as Berman gets more reflective on how the passage of time has impacted himself and those around him.

Episode 169 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Diane Jean, the front person of Burlington, Vermont indie rock outfit Clever Girls. After a whirlwind 2020 that started with the theft of a significant amount of the band’s gear and the cancellation of several tour dates due to the pandemic, the quartet is looking to move forward in a big way in 2021 with the release of their incredible sophomore album, Constellations, which is out now via Egghunt Records

Episode 168 features an interview with Glenn Brigman of Los Angeles-based psych-pop outfit Triptides. The veteran group just dropped their latest record late last month, a shimmering and trippy psych-pop masterpiece called Alter Echoes. As their eight full length, the album represents a bit of a turning point for the band, as it’s their first since scaling down from a four-piece to a power trio. The band also tracked it at Hollywood’s Boulevard Studios, a different setting when compared with their previous releases, which were mostly recorded at home on Tascam tape machines.

Episode 167 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Max Bien-Kahn of Max and the Martians. The New Orleans-based project just released their sophomore full-length, All The Same, on Perpetual Doom. The incredible album sees Bien-Kahn sharpening his sound and colorfully blending folk and country with nice touches of 60s rock and psychedelic jangle.

Episode 166 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Brooklyn indie-folk artist Juliet Quick. Earlier this month, she released her latest EP, Glass Years on Substitute Scene Records. Across its five songs, Quick strings together dense arrangements and peers both inward and gazes outward to analyze impending global catastrophe, self-doubt, the impact of gendered emotional labor in relationships, and more.

Episode 165 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Philadelphia-based musician Ron Gallo. The songwriter has had quite a crazy few years. He navigated the complicated spousal visa process to get his now wife and musical collaborator, Chiara D’Anzieri, over to the states from Italy, and the two finally married in early 2020. Subsequently, a massive tornado plowed through Nashville, where he was living at the time, and of course, the pandemic turned the music world upside down. During this time, Gallo launched Really Nice, which acts as an umbrella for several projects, including live-streamed gigs and a clothing line. Additionally, he finished work on his most recent LP, PEACEMEAL, which dropped last week via New West Records.

Episode 164 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Brooklyn-based songwriter Cassandra Jenkins. Last month, Jenkins released her latest full-length, An Overview On Phenomenal Nature, a gorgeous, diaristic record that’s sure to land at or near the top of many year-end lists. For the album, Jenkins embraced a new approach to writing and recording, entering the studio with “ideas rather than full songs,” for a fruitful week-long session with producer Josh Kaufman.

Episode 163 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Brooklyn electronic pop outfit Psymon Spine. Deanna Dilandro joins Tom as co-host to chat with the band about their colorful and vibrant new record, Charismatic Megafauna, which dropped last week via Northern Spy Records. The fiercely danceable album centers on themes of change and separation, and can even be characterized as a breakup album, as the lyrics delve into both the personal and musical new beginnings that all members faced over the last few years.

For Episode 162 of Look At My Records!, Deanna Dilandro joins Tom as co-host for a chat with Philadelphia musician Dante Robinson. Robinson, who is a member of the group Vague Advice, got his solo career underway in 2020 with the release of two singles and an EP entitled On A Hotel Bed You Paid For. The EP hones in on a dense indie-folk sound with contemplative lyrics that blend Robinson’s real-life experiences and emotions with elements of fiction.

Episode 161 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Ashley and Johanna of Brooklyn’s Groupie. The band has made waves over the last few years thanks to their high energy live performances and tireless work ethic, and late last month, they released their excellent debut album, Ephemeral. The record showcases the group’s evolution in both sound and themes, as the songs turn inward to dissect personal experiences and lean into more shoegaze and post-punk textures.