Hey Talkhouse listeners, it's Josh Modell. Instead of a new episode this week, we're resurfacing a great one from a few years back between Blondshell and Maya Hawke. Blondshell, aka Sabrina Teitelbaum, released a new song recently and she's about to hit the road for a big tour. Maya Hawke is an actor who just signed on to star in the upcoming Netflix show The God of the Woods and she makes great records as well. Check it out!
—Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast
On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got two performers who’ve got friends in common, and became fast friends themselves while recording this chat: Maya Hawke and Sabrina Teitelbaum.
Maya Hawke is best known for her day job as an actor, most visibly in a little show called Stranger Things, and she was also in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the new Wes Anderson movie, Asteroid City. But as you’ll hear in this chat, she might be most excited by a side path as a singer and songwriter. Hawke has released two understated but fantastic albums so far, and she’s basically finished another. The vibe is sort of indie-folk, sort of floating and ambient but lyrically really engaging. She’s worked with some cool folks to realize her musical vision, including Christian Lee Hutson, who’s the “Christian” referenced in this conversation, just so you know. Check out a “Sweet Tooth” from Hawke’s 2022 album Moss right here.
Sabrina Teitelbaum just released her debut album under the name Blondshell, and it’s one of the best of 2023 so far. She describes it in this conversation as an emergency album—meaning a bunch of songs that she felt almost desperate to write, record, and unleash on the world. It’s direct and angry in spots, but also darkly funny and completely unafraid. She’s toured with the likes of Horsegirl and Porridge Radio, which might give some indication of what you’re in for. Or I could just play you Blondshell’s opus, “Salad,” right here. Check it out.
These two have a fantastic conversation, and just in case it’s not clear from the context, they’re both good friends with the singer Samia, and each has contributed to a Samia covers series called Honey Reimagained. Blondshell did a song called “Charm You,” which is available now. Elsewhere in this chat, they talk about Hawke’s playing “body air guitar,” the weird emotional hit you get when a tour is finished, and the difficulties of stage banter. Enjoy.
0:00 Intro
3:20: Start of Conversation
3:21: On mutual friends and covering songs
4:58: On “perceived vulnerability” and perspectives in their songwriting
9:08: On sad songs, music you can play for friends, and “Olympus”
10:57: On the writing and jazz experiences that inspired Maya’s music
12:48: On the physicality of performing, feeling the music, and performance art
14:41: On playing live, post-tour loneliness, and active vs. passive time
20:06: On maintaining friendships
21:17: On Maya’s latest record
22:54: On onstage banter, scripting shows, and keeping shows fresh
25:53: On finishing a record and learning from the experience
27:43: On music serving as a snapshot of an artists’ life
28:26: On promoting music creatively and authentically, and social media
33:19: On the songwriting process, and tv show narratives’ influences on our experiences
38:40: On being inspired by friendships
42:13: On Maya titling her album “Moss”
43:40: On writing about past pain, and trying to balance it with joy
Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Sabrina Teiltelbaum and Maya Hawke for chatting.
If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!
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