by Life of the Record / Talkhouse
Classic albums, told by the people who made them.
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Publishing Since
11/10/2019
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April 15, 2025
For the 15th anniversary of the second Titus Andronicus album, The Monitor, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Patrick Stickles founded Titus Andronicus in Glen Rock, New Jersey in 2005, he worked with a rotating group of musicians, many of whom he had known in high school. By the time they were ready to record their first album, the lineup had coalesced around Stickles, Liam Betson, Dan Tews, Ian Graetzer and Ian Dykstra. The New Jersey label, Troubleman Unlimited, agreed to put out their debut album and pay for studio time with producer Kevin McMahon, who they had worked with on their early recordings. The Airing of Grievances was released in 2008 and was an unexpected success. XL Recordings became interested in signing the band and agreed to rerelease their debut album in 2009. Around this time, Eric Harm took over on drums, while Stickles moved to Somerville, Massachusetts and began writing the songs that would make up their second album. Using their advance from XL, they booked a month in Kevin McMahon’s studio and began recording the album. The Monitor was eventually released in 2010. In this episode, Patrick Stickles describes his grand vision of a concept album framed around the American Civil War. He describes his routine at the time where he would stay up late, smoke pot and watch Ken Burns’s Civil War documentary. Stickles talks about how gobsmacked he was by the film and how the words of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman inspired him to include their words as a framing device on this record. He also describes this time in his life when he was graduating college and applying to graduate school but deciding to abandon his plans as the band started to become successful. Partially inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Stickles talks about how he felt like he needed to take advantage of a potentially fleeting moment, where he had a deal with a new label, the attention of the music press, and a growing audience around the world. The result was the big swing of The Monitor, where the band had no qualms about attempting to create a generational touchstone. From the indie rock boom years to casting his friends in reenactment roles to ambitious song suites to incorporating the music of the Civil War to exploring the eternal us vs. them conflict to the continuing saga of mental health to the importance of conviction and raising the stakes, we’ll hear the stories around how the record came together. Intro/Outro Music: “The Anniversaries” by The Tisburys, from the album, A Still Life Revisited Episode produced, edited and mixed by Dan Nordheim Additional mixing and mastering by Jeremy Whitwam
March 10, 2025
For the 20th anniversary of Stars’ breakthrough third album, Set Yourself on Fire, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman grew up together in Toronto, they formed Stars when they were living in New York City. Their first album, Nightsongs, was made with the help of their friends in Metric and several guest singers, including Amy Millan. Deciding to relocate to Montreal, they added Amy Millan and Evan Cranley as full-time members. Their second album, Heart, was released in 2003 by Paper Bag Records and the new label Arts & Crafts, which was co-founded by their friend Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. For their ambitious third record, they brought in drummer Pat McGee and producer Tom McFall. Set Yourself on Fire was eventually released in 2004. In this episode, Torquil Campbell discusses the early days of the band as an outlier in the New York City rock scene and how they found their people when they moved to Montreal. He describes his vision of having both male and female vocalists and how when Amy Millan joined, they could start telling stories from two different sides. Amy Millan discusses her initial reluctance to join the band, but how she was able to cement her place as co-lead singer and develop her songwriting voice. She also describes the alchemy of the relationships in Stars and how despite some romantic turmoil within the band around the time of this album, they’ve remained deeply connected to one another decades later. Evan Cranley talks about his musical partnership with Chris Seligman and how the two of them were able to collaborate to develop song structures in an orchestral pop style. Chris Seligman describes how his background in classical music, his love of string arrangements and his perfectionist tendencies impacted the music they made together. From the vibrant Montreal music scene of the early 2000s to an encounter with a stranger in a bar that led to a house where the songs were written to connecting with Tom McFall in London to a big fight in North Hatley to a mad dash to finish string arrangements at that last minute to personal lyrics about love, death and the band itself, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.
January 27, 2025
For the 20th anniversary of the sixth Bright Eyes album, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Conor Oberst began Bright Eyes in 1995 in Omaha, Nebraska as an outlet for his solo material that he had been writing as a teenager. He formed a partnership with Saddle Creek Records, a label founded by his brother Justin Oberst and Mike Mogis and began releasing his albums in 1998, starting with A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995–1997. Later that year, he released Letting Off the Happiness, which marked his first collaboration with Mike Mogis. Fevers and Mirrors was released in 2000 and Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground followed in 2002. At this point, Conor moved to New York City and began writing the songs that would make up his next two albums. I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn were eventually released on the same day in 2005. In this episode, Conor Oberst describes how moving to a New York as a midwestern transplant gave him a fresh perspective and brought a sense of romanticism to the songs he was writing. He also talks about a political awakening that he experienced after George W. Bush was elected and 9/11 happened. Connecting with musicians in New York inspired him musically as he began incorporating jazz elements and decided to embrace a minimal 70s folk sound for this record. Longtime Bright Eyes producer and band member Mike Mogis describes how they ended up making the record back in Nebraska but invited some new people to the sessions, including musicians from New York like Jesse Harris and Tim Luntzel. He also talks about the stripped down approach they used for this record and how he felt insecure about not relying on the studio tricks they had used for past records. By recording live with a small group of people and making the record in a very short amount of time, he discusses how this change suited the material Conor was writing. From a turbulent plane ride on the way to make the record to a creative burst in Conor’s songwriting to working on two very different records simultaneously to sparse arrangements and musical jokes to the shot in the dark of asking Emmylou Harris to sing backup, we’ll hear the stories of how the album came together.
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