Four Strings and the Truth

• Better Bass-ing with Nate Brenner (Tune-Yards, Naytronix)

  Nate Brenner has been playing music in front of people since he was four, and it shows. He and his musical/life partner Merrill Garbus have carved out a unique place in the indie-pop cosmos: funky, joyful, noisy and heartfelt. Between tours supporting Tune-Yards’ just-released sixth album, “Better Dreaming,” Nate spends some time with us to unspool his unique approach to the instrument, touching on his musical upbringing, the group’s warts-and-all aesthetic, and their compelling ability to carry out live performances of their complex songs as a duo. This is a portrait of artists figuring things out in real time, whether live on stage or in the copious scores they’ve composed for Boots Riley’s various projects.  Tune-Yards on Bandcamp (https://tune-yards.bandcamp.com) Tune-Yards live dates (https://tune-yards.com/tour/) Naytronix on Bandcamp (https://naytronix.bandcamp.com/) Nate’s Dad Craig Brenner’s latest album “Passages,” (featuring Merrill Garbus) (https://www.craigbrenner.com/music) A partial list of cool musicians who went to Oberlin (https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/10/bands_and_musicians_you_didnt.html) An Archive of Merrill Garbus’s songwriting workshop at School of Song (https://schoolofsong.org/products/songwriting-workshop-with-merrill-garbus-of-tune-yards-copy) Today, we’re launching a month-long contest to win a “like new” (seriously, I played it once) IdiotBox Effects Blower Box Deluxe pedal (video review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt6URsuLhD4). This is an amazing, bass-specific distortion pedal, with clean signal blend and a low-pass filter - so it will stick out nicely in live settings. It will arrive in its original box with 3M Dual Lock strips on the back, so it's ready for your pedal board.  To enter the contest, please send a screenshot of you recommending one episode of this podcast - your favorite interview - in a publicly viewable place - it can be Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or any social media outlet. Send screenshots to: [email protected], and we’ll pick one winner at random on 7/31/25. Please note that previous winners of one of our contests are not eligible for this one.  

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• They're Not Booing, They're Only Yelling "Lou" with Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion)

  We’re kicking (Mini-)Season 2 off with one of our most-requested guests, Lou Barlow - a four string lifer (on bass, ukelele, guitar, etc.) and amiable fellow who’s not afraid to lay bare his thoughts on all things Dinosaur Jr, his unique approach to making music, and his various creative endeavors, from childhood cassette experimentation to becoming a successful podcaster alongside his wife, Adelle.  Lou Barlow on Bandcamp (https://loubarlow.bandcamp.com/) Dinosaur Jr on Bandcamp (https://dinosaurjr.bandcamp.com/) Sebadoh on Bandcamp (https://sebadoh.bandcamp.com/) Folk Implosion on Bandcamp (https://thefolkimplosion.bandcamp.com/) Barlow Family General Store (https://barlowfamilygeneralstore.com/) RAW Impressions with Lou Barlow and Adelle Barlow on Spotify (podcast) (https://open.spotify.com/show/5H0j91I0qabIiBqv9nX0yy?si=87bb8b29b2404638) Bob Mould and Dinosaur Jr “In a Free Land (Live)” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLRhqfDbl2U&t=2s) Henry Rollins and Dinosaur Jr “Don’t (Live)” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RPh7dpN4Do) Kevin Shields and Dinosaur Jr “Thorn (Live)” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYPudLhOn7Y) The Music Machine “Wrong” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IAlVz07TpM)

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• Coming Soon: (The Monosyllabic Mini-)Season 2

  We have a clutch of new shows coming very soon with names you might expect...or not.

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• “We are the most underrated and yet most important members of any band” with Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes)

  Brian Ritchie is our first guest whose primary instrument - the one that helped make his band Violent Femmes a household name - is an acoustic bass. Today we hear how all that came to be, the band’s path from busking on the streets of Milwaukee to rocking stadiums, and why their approach really hasn’t changed all that much. Along the way he tells some funny stories about early gigs, opens up about a new acoustic bass he’s gotten his hands on and even shares what Flea told him about working with producer Michael Beinhorn. Also - and this will make sense after you listen - here are two updates to things I say in this episode: My amazing engineer/mixer Matt Noble pointed me to lutefish.com, a hardware-software set-up that does enable near real-time jamming over distances less than 500 miles. I haven’t tried it out, because it requires being hardwired to my modem and that’s too far away from my basses. Parquet Courts’ (fantastic) bassist Sean Yeaton doesn’t play a stock short scale bass - it’s a frankenbass made up of the body and pickups of an ‘84 Fender Bullet bass (short scale) and the neck of a ’50s P-Bass reissue (standard scale). It also has a weird hole in it. Violent Femmes (https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rpMdBzQXf7aYRnu5fDBJy?si=XfFHPeSkTUyqNHhdWKdAgQ) Brian Ritchie’s solo stuff (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5VlujeJlkf1SEspNUbdhq8?si=pREJiCIQQJKztGtRFon1Og) Big Johnson Basses (https://bigjohnsonbass.com/) - Brian Ritchie’s next new favorite bass? And here’s a video demo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KeWe0KUznk) by its creator. Guitars For Vets (https://guitars4vets.org) - a very cool charity, check it out  

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• “Cool World” by Chat Pile: The Bass-ic Review

  As we gear up for our next season of Four Strings and the Truth interviews, we’re introducing a new, more bite-sized feature: the Bass-ic Review. This is an analysis of new and recently released albums from the bottom up - i.e., from the point of view of the bass: the playing AND the player. And to kick things off, we’re focusing on the much-anticipated new album from Oklahoma City noise mavens Chat Pile, “Cool World.” Bassist Stin, who co-writes the tunes and has served as de facto producer, puts in the work on the new collection, which is earning huzzahs from fans of loud music across the punk-metal-alt-noise spectrum. Let’s find out how he makes Chat Pile tick. Chat Pile (https://chatpile.bandcamp.com/) Chat Pile Tour Dates (https://chatpile.net/shows) Chat Pile AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1g5abvq/we_are_okc_noise_rockers_chat_pile_ama/) Korn “Prayer To God” by Shellac (https://shellac.bandcamp.com/track/prayer-to-god) The Tronographic Rusty Box (https://www.tronographic.com/store/p/rusty-box) Chat Pile Covers Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" (https://youtu.be/N2_K13LlROQ?si=JETn-VfUO6vDTbf-)

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