Our guest for today's episode is Rey Villalobos, who releases music under the name The Coral Sea.
Rey started out as The Coral Sea back in 2004 and has released several albums since then - including Golden Planet Sky which came out last year.
Before he went solo, Rey began his music career as a drummer. Playing in bands in Los Angeles and Portland - where we moved in similar ciricles to Ellliott Smith.
In this interview he talks about those days, covering A Distorted Reality is a necessity to be free and he also discusses his favourite song pick - which also has a strong Portland connection. Thanks to listener Pierrick for suggesting Rey as a guest!
Extra things:
Alameda by Elliott Smith
The Coral Sea on Instagram
A Distorted Reality by The Coral Sea
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Mar 6
24 min
Today we're joined by musician, Spencer Fox.
Spencer is the guitarist in the New York-based band Charly Bliss. The band have released two albums to date with Guppy coming in 2017 and Young Enough in 2019, and they've recently been in the studio recording their third record too.
We had a great time chatting to Spencer. He's a self-confessed major Elliott Smith fan and had a lot to say on his pick for his favourite song, the YouTube rabbit holes he goes down and he kindly humoured attempts to draw parallels between his childhood acting career (he starred in The Incredibles) with his Elliott fandom!
Extra things:
Thirteen by Elliott Smith
Lucky Three (which features Thirteen) film by Jem Cohen
Elliott Smith songwriting masterclass (the video Spencer mentions)
Charly Bliss' website
Follow Spencer on Instagram
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Feb 21
30 min
Our guest today is Violet Mayugba.
Violet is the guitarist and a founding member of the band, Destroy Boys. The group formed back in 2015 in Sacramento, California and have gone on to release three studio albums, with one more on the way - in fact, they had just finished recording it the day before this interview was recorded.
Violet is a huge Elliott Smith fan. She talks about her favourite song pick and the personal way she relates to it very openly and honestly, and we loved speaking to her.
And after the interview with Violet, we catch up with musician Dylan Rodrigue. Dylan and fellow musician Marcus Buser recently hosted an Elliott Smith tribute show in Los Angeles. It featured former podcast guests Johanna Samuels, Aaron Embry and Shannon Lay, and we discuss how the show went as well as Dylan's favourite song ES song.
Hope you enjoy it!
Extra things:
Roman Candle by Elliott Smith
Listen to Destroy Boys
Find Violet Mayguba on Instagram
Find Dylan Rodrigue on Instagram
In the episode, we play a clip of Johanna Samuels singing Antonio Carlos Jobim on Elliott Smith - here's the ES version
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Feb 7
43 min
Our guest today is Lily O'Farrell, who you may know by her online name @vulgadrawings.
Lily is a cartoonist and writer based in London. She began publishing feminist cartoons on Instagram in 2018 and has since reached more than 300,000 followers. She's also published a book, released a podcast (her recent series No Worries If Not is well worth listening to) and, yes, even created a number of Elliott Smith memes.
In this interview, we discuss what makes Elliott's music meme-worthy, whether or not you should date an ES fan and the impact her favourite song pick has had on her life.
Hope you enjoy listening to it!
Extra things:
Happiness/The Gondola Man by Elliott Smith
Happiness by Elliott Smith live in Paris
No Worries If Not - Lily's podcast
Follow Lily on Instagram
We also share a clip of Calebo playing Happiness at a recent tribute show in London - you can find them here
Photo by Holly Whitaker
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Jan 24
36 min
Welcome to our first episode of 2024 with Shannon Lay!
Shannon is a solo musician based in Los Angeles, who's released four solo albums, as well as a collection of covers that came out last year. And on that covers album is a version of Angeles (by Elliott Smith), which you can hear at the very end of this episode.
Before that though, we have the full interview with Shannon, where she discusses Figure 8, listening to albums from start to finish and the lyrical mastery in her favourite song pick.
Hope you enjoy it!
Extra things:
Can't Make a Sound by Elliott Smith
You can find Shannon's cover of Angeles here
Shannon's website
Photo of Shannon is by Kai McKnight
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Jan 10
40 min
Joining us for our last episode of the year is musician, Margaret Glaspy.
Margaret, who is based in New York City, released her latest album - Echo the Diamond - in August this year. The record is Margaret's third full-length album, and follows on from 2020's Devotion and 2016's Emotions and Math.
Margaret says Elliott Smith has been a big influence across her career, so in this episode we dive deeper into that, how she defines the Elliott 'vibe' and why her favourite song pick means so much to her.
Extra things to look at and listen to:
Stupidity Tries by Elliott Smith
Margaret Glaspy's website
Line of Best Fit review of Echo the Diamond
Kolby Dickens plays us out with Say Yes
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Dec 20, 2023
28 min
Our guest today is John Vanderslice.
John is a musician, producer and the owner of the legendary Tiny Telephone studio, which initially began in the Mission district of San Francisco. Bands who've recorded at Tiny Telephone with John include the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River, the Mountain Goats, St. Vincent and many, many more.
Embarking on his musical odyssey as a singer/songwriter, John has left an indelible mark with the release of 17 albums since 2000. Recently, he underwent a significant evolution by immersing himself in the vibrant realm of electronic music. Notably, he continues to manage Tiny Telephone Oakland.
In this interview, he tells us about how Larry Crane introduced him to Elliott Smith, his experience of seeing him live and we also talk about John's changing relationship with narrative in music.
Photo by Maria Brand
Extra links:
Say Yes by Elliott Smith
Dear Elliott by Graciela Maria and Sneaky
Bellza on Bandcamp
Gruesome Details on Bandcamp
Tiny Telephone (website)
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Dec 13, 2023
31 min
Our guest today is Kimbra.
Kimbra is a musician originally from New Zealand but is now based in New York City. You may have first heard of her when she sang on the track Somebody That I Used To Know in 2011 alongside Gotye, who wrote the single. The pair went on to win two Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
These two Grammy wins are part of a huge career, which includes signing with Warner Bros, multiple collaborations, an appearance on a Sims computer game soundtrack and a total of four albums, with her most recent, A Reckoning, coming out earlier this year.
Before releasing this record, Kimbra made the decision to break away from her major label recording contract and work independently.
In this interview, we talk about the reasons behind that decision, the parallels between her career and Elliott Smith's, and, of course, we cover her favourite song choice too.
Extra links:
Everything Reminds Me of Her by Elliott Smith
A Reckoning by Kimbra
Far Out: Elliott Smith's Favourite John Lennon songs
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com
Nov 14, 2023
29 min
Our first guest of the new season is author, Paul Rees.
Paul has had a great career as a music writer. He's held senior positions at magazines such as Q and Kerrang, he's written several books including a best-seller on the life of Robert Plant, and most recently, penned a biography of Elliott Smith titled, Shooting Star.
In this interview we discuss that book, how Paul decided to write about Elliott, the many stories he learnt along the way, and we also discuss his pick for his favourite song too.
At the end of the episode, we also mention this brilliant Elliott Smith tribute from Adam Walton on BBC Wales and this unreleased interview from the year 2000 (courtesy of Mark Benton).
Thank you for listening!
Music in this episode:
Kings Crossing by Elliott Smith
From A Basement On the Hill by Elliott Smith
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
Nov 1, 2023
31 min
Our guest for our final episode of this season is Lauren McCarthy.
Lauren is the Executive Editor of Nylon, a publication that covers fashion, entertainment and music. Through her work, Lauren has the enviable opportunity of interviewing some of the most exciting artists working today - people like Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee and Snail Mail.
One interesting thing Lauren has noticed through her work is the enduring influence on these younger musicians of Elliott Smith. So, for this final episode of the season, we look to the future. We ask why it is that Elliott still lives on so strongly in the minds of this new generation of artists, as well as of course talking about Lauren’s favourite song pick too.
Thanks for all your support over the course of this season!
Extra things to look at / listen to:
Waltz #2 (XO) by Elliott Smith
XO by Elliott Smith
Check out Lauren's work on Nylon
Follow Lauren on Instagram
Subscribe to our newsletter
Our cover today comes from Sparky Bosque - listen to it here
My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong.
Dec 13, 2022
25 min
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