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Chris Messina is a GRAMMY-nominated producer, mixer, engineer and songwriter, and one of Bon Iver's main creative partners. They struck up a friendship when Chris was working on Bon Iver’s world tour in support of his 2011 self-titled album. After that run Mr Bon Iver himself, Justin Vernon, asked Chris to quit working on the touring circuit and move to Wisconsin to manage his studio, as well as collaborate on creating music. Chris did just that and played a key role in the making of Bon Iver's 22, A Million and i,i albums.  Before bunkering down with Bon Iver, though, Chris was touring the world working behind the scenes with artists like Madonna, Tom Jones and Lady Gaga, all of which we talk about in this interview.

The Living End frontman Chris Cheney releases his debut solo album, The Storm Before The Calm, on June 17. Worlds away from the bombast of The Living End, the record took years to make, during which Chris’s life veered dangerously out of control, as he talks about in this interview. He also talks about discovering music and learning to play guitar as a kid, breaking big with The Living End, and loads more.

Pete Murray has been a mainstay of the Australian music scene since he released his major label debut album, Feeler, in 2003. One of the interesting things about Pete’s story is that he didn’t even pick up a guitar until 22, and he was 30 when he released his first independent album, The Game. By today’s standards he is very much a late starter, having spent his youth focusing on sport, to the point where he almost represented Australia in rugby union 7s. Pete walks us through his story here, and the tragedies that set him on his path to being a musician. 

The debut album by Jaguar Jonze – AKA Brisbane artist Deena Lynch – is called Bunny Mode. The record’s title may sound upbeat and playful, but the story behind it is heartbreaking, as it describes the behaviour Deena used as a coping mechanism when she was abused as a child. She is a survivor in the very real sense of the word, having not only made it through her childhood, but as an adult she was sexually assaulted by two music producers. She responded by bravely speaking out, and in doing so became one of the leading voices of Australia’s #MeToo movement. Deena's advocacy work has played a big part in Jaguar Jonze’s public profile, but so too has her boundless creativity. Jaguar Jonze is just one of Deena’s creative outlets, with Spectator Jonze focusing on visual art, and Dusky Jonze on photography. We talk about Bunny Mode as well as Deena's life, her art and her advocacy work in this interview.

Stephan Jenkins was cast into the spotlight when Third Eye Blind's  1997 self-titled debut album exploded around the world. On the back of hits like "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper", the frontman achieved success beyond his wildest dreams – all the while learning the hard way about the compromises the music industry often demands of its artists. Fast forward to 2022 and Third Eye Blind have not only weathered the storms of those early years, but as Stephan explains in this interview, being in control of the band's decisions and trajectory is much easier. The five-piece will tour the US in June, commemorating the 25th anniversary of their debut, while also shining the light on their latest album, 2021's Our Bande Apart. We talk about it all in this interview, from Stephan's difficult upbringing to his devotion to music, from the success of the band's debut to current day.

Matt Sorum joined Guns N'Roses in time to play on their 1991 Use Your Illusion albums. At that point they were the biggest rock band in the world, and though Matt had experienced fame before with The Cult, stepping into Guns N’Roses was another level altogether. Combine the unresolved issues from his childhood with the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll that went hand in hand with being in the world’s most dangerous rock band, and you had a fiery cocktail that took Matt down a very extreme path of excess. He writes about it all in his new memoir, Double Talkin' Jive. From his upbringing to his move to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune, from his time with Guns N’Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver to the lessons he’s learned along the way, there’s a lot to unpack, as he reveals in this episode.

Keli Holiday is a fictious character created by Peking Duk's Adam Hyde to channel a different side of his musical personality. While Peking Duk deal in high energy, partystarting electronic music that regularly goes platinum and tops the charts in Australia, Keli Holiday is informed more by emotional introspection and the music of Joy Division and New Order. The idea for the project came to Adam at the end of a two-month US tour with Peking Duk, and once he committed to it the music just poured out. That music is available on Keli Holiday’s debut album KELI, and while Adam might have released the record under that name, this music is Adam Hyde at his rawest and most vulnerable, as he explains here…

The name Skylar Grey might not be instantly recognisable, but you’ll definitely know the songs she’s co-written: "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem, "Clarity" by Zedd, "I Need A Doctor" by Dr. Dre and "Last One Standing" from the Venom: Let There Be Carnage soundtrack are just some of her hits. Skylar sung the chorus hook on "Glorious" by Macklemore and "Coming Home" by Diddy; she’s a long-time collaborator with Eminem, as a performer, songwriter and producer; and she is also a solo artist in her own right. In fact from the moment she started performing as a kid, being the main artist was Skylar’s goal. But as you’re about to find out there have been many detours along the way, with both incredible highs and soul crushing lows. It was during one of those lows that Skylar wrote, performed and produced her new self-titled solo album.  We talk about it all in this interview.

Tex Perkins is one of the finest and fiercest frontmen ever to stalk a stage, and the very definition of an artist who follows his instincts wherever they take him. He first made his name in Sydney in the '80s when he formed the primal rock band The Beasts Of Bourbon, but he had his greatest commercial success with The Cruel Sea, who for a while in the early to mid-'90s were one of Australia’s biggest bands. Since then he’s released many great albums with multiple projects, the latest being The Fat Rubber Band. This interview is a lot of fun and contains stories of rioting crowds, police run-ins, and the conclusion of a decades-long saga involving an ARIA Award, a bin, and a man named Ernie.

Midlake recently released their fifth studio album, For the Sake of Bethel Woods. It’s their first album since 2013’s Antiphon, and the second to feature guitarist Eric Pulido on vocals after founding frontman Tim Smith left the band in 2012. Having gone on hiatus at the end of the Antiphon touring cycle, the idea of making new music was first floated in 2019. The deal was sealed when keyboardist/flautist Jesse Chandler had a dream in which he was visited by his father, who’d recently passed away. In that dream his dad said it was time to get the band back together. Jesse’s dad Dave is on the cover of For the Sake of Bethel Woods, captured at the age of 16 at Woodstock, and we talk about that image in this interview, as well as that dream. We also talk about the themes around the new record, the band’s hiatus, Eric’s upbringing and path into Midlake and more. 

Shamir’s new album Heterosexuality is an intensely personal record. While in the past Shamir has sung about his identity as a queer, non-binary person, he says this is the first time he’s really tackled his relationship as a queer person with the binary, heterosexual world. (I should point out that I spoke with Shamir about which pronouns he’s comfortable with me using, and he replied that he/his/him is fine.) Heterosexuality is Shamir’s eighth full-length record, but the path to this point has been anything but linear. After signing to British indie label XL at the age of 19 and releasing acclaimed debut album Ratchet in 2015, Shamir then split with the label due to creative differences and released his second album, Hope, on SoundCloud for free. After recovering from a psychotic episode Shamir immersed himself in the Philadelphia indie scene and released five DIY albums in less than three and a half years, following his creative muse wherever it took him. We talk about that journey in this interview, as well as Shamir’s upbringing in the Nation of Islam, the label he founded, Accidental Popstar Records, his new LP Heterosexuality, and more.

As the daughter of two visual artists, art has always played a central role in Nilüfer Yanya’s life. Discovered at 20 after uploading demos to SoundCloud, she quickly released a series of EPs for which she was long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2018, followed by her 2019 debut album, Miss Universe. As well as playing music, Nilüfer co-founded an organisation called Artists In Transit, which delivers art workshops to communities in times of hardship. We talk about Artists In Transit in this interview as well as Nilüfer’s upbringing and path into music, and her new album Painless.