BV Interviews: A (mostly) Music Podcast From BrooklynVegan

This week we're talking to Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge of shoegaze OGs Swervedriver. They start their BrooklynVegan-presented tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of their debut album Raise on August 18th in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

 

Adam and Jimmy talk about how the band came up through the Oxford scene that also gave us Radiohead and Ride, how they ended up on legendary British indie label Creation Records, and recording their debut album. We also discuss touring with Soundgarden in the US in the '90s, touring with Failure in the 2010s, the current shoegaze revival and lots more.

All Swervedriver tour dates are here.

--

Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

photo: Steve Gullick

This week we're talking to Panda Bear and Sonic Boom whose second collaborative album, A Question of When, is out this week via Domino. We discussed how this album differed from their first, 2022's RESET, and some of the interesting sounds on this one, including steel drum, yodeling, loops of Mary Lattimore playing harp, and a police siren that had unintended consequences.

 

We also talked about their decision to not release A Question of When on streaming services and how that ties into the album's themes of action in the face of adversity, how Brian Wilson has influenced both of them, five albums they think everyone should hear, and more.

 

--

Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

This week we've got an interview with Destroyer's Dan Bejar that is making its podcast debut but was recorded in 2025 right before the release of album Dan's Boogie. It also happened just after we'd seen a unique trio lineup of Destroyer open for Father John Misty at New York's Beacon Theatre.

 

We discussed what it was like on tour with Father John Misty where there were more days off than he was used to on the road, recording Dan's Boogie with longtime collaborator John Collins, the record's unique sound, the influence of cinema on the album and its cover art, "Bologna Vs Baloney," and more.

--

Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

Darkness photo by Simon Emmett

This week we've got an interview with The Darkness' Justin Hawkins that is just now making its podcast debut, but was actually recorded in early 2025 as The Darkness were getting ready to release their eighth album, Dreams on Toast. We discussed guitar solos, how he can still hit all those notes two decades on, his Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel, and more.

 

--

Credits:

Hosted & produced by Bill Pearis

Mixed and mastered by Nick Gray

Theme music by Michael Silverstein

Darkness photo by Simon Emmett

This week we're talking to comedian, actor, writer, and series creator Jon Glaser who you may know from Parks & Recreation ("Jeremy Jam"), Girls ("Laird"), as a writer and performer on Late Night With Conan O'Brien and his own shows like Delocated and Jon Glaser Loves Gear. His new comedy special "Jon Glaser Live at The Bell House" will stream live on VEEPS on July 18. 

 

We talked about what to expect from his comedy special before diving back into his long career which included Second City in Chicago, working on the infamous and influential The Dana Carvey Show and Conan in the '90s, Delocated, Jon Glaser Loves Gear, his album Jon Glaser's Soothing Meditations for Solitary Dogs, his new Substack, sports, sandwiches, drums, and more. We also discuss how he got to open for Slipknot and Belle & Sebastian -- not the same show -- in the 2000s.

 

You can order the Jon Glaser: Live at the Bell House VEEPS livestream HERE.

 

If you live in the NYC area you can get ticket see Jon Glaser Live At The Bell House HERE.