Items20The creator’s order
  1. 1Dolly PartonDolly PartonBorn 19 Jan 1946Parton's interviews combine a storyteller's timing with a songwriter's practical understanding of her work. Her 2001 Fresh Air conversation moves from the music of her childhood into the choices behind her return to roots recordings; the 2023 Howard Stern interview adds vivid accounts of writing…0i
  2. 2Nick CaveNick CaveBorn 22 Sept 1957Cave is compelling when an interviewer gives him space to work through an idea rather than supply a definitive slogan. Ann Powers's 2024 conversation about Wild God moves between faith, performance and the changing shape of his songwriting. His book-length conversations with Seán O'Hagan offer…0i
  3. 3Jarvis CockerJarvis CockerBorn 19 Sept 1963Cocker can make an ordinary object or awkward memory open into a conversation about pop, belonging and the strangeness of fame. His Good Pop, Bad Pop interviews are especially rewarding because the book's stored possessions give his observational humour something concrete to work on. Start with…0i
  4. 4Brian EnoBrian EnoBorn 15 May 1948Eno turns questions about records into usable arguments about creativity, tools and the conditions in which ideas develop. His 2013 Red Bull Music Academy conversation with Emma Warren is a good introduction: the discussion ranges from installations to the practical problem of deciding when a piece…0i
  5. 5David ByrneDavid ByrneByrne's conversations are rewarding because his curiosity often points away from his own legend. The interviews around How Music Works ask how rooms, audiences, technology and money shape what we hear. In his 2012 Smithsonian exchange, he questions cultural hierarchies while acknowledging the…0i
  6. 6BjörkBjörkBorn 21 Nov 1965Sonic Symbolism gives Björk room to describe the textures, colours and emotional climates behind successive albums. The conversations with collaborators make her visual language a practical route into the music, rather than an excuse to treat her as an inexplicable eccentric. Compare the Homogenic…0i
  7. 7Joni MitchellJoni MitchellBorn 7 Nov 1943Mitchell's extended conversations are valuable for the way she resists a tidy account of her work. Her 2013 CBC interview moves between painting, musical change, the voice and the public image attached to her earlier songs. An answer can become a correction to the premise of the question, which…0i
  8. 8Leonard CohenLeonard CohenBorn 21 Sept 1934Cohen's low-key delivery and dry self-scrutiny make room for humour inside conversations about demanding subjects. His 2006 Fresh Air interview, later rebroadcast as Zen and the Art of Songwriting, moves through poems, the changing voice, spiritual practice and the labour of making songs. The…0i
  9. 9Patti SmithPatti SmithBorn 30 Dec 1946Smith's interviews connect a working artist's routines with a vivid sense of the people, books and places that remain in memory. The Fresh Air conversation about Just Kids and her PBS discussion of M Train make a useful pair: one explores an early creative partnership, while the other follows the…0i
  10. 10Iggy PopIggy PopBorn 21 Apr 1947The contrast between Pop's stage reputation and his reflective conversational manner is only the beginning of the interest. His 2016 Red Bull Music Academy discussion with Carl Wilson moves from early musical education to performance, literary influences and the possibilities of a different singing…0i