I had the opportunity to talk with musician Bär McKinnon from Melbourne band Umlaut. Bär has been playing live, recording and touring with the likes of Mr Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Hasco Enjoyments, Neil Hamburger and Umlaut.

Umlaut has been making music since around 2005 and recently (July 2025) released their third full length album 'Desole', the first to feature Danny Heifetz on drums and the first album in which all songs have vocals.

We spoke about: The meaning of the album title, writing more heartfelt lyrics, changing song arrangements to keep things fresh, the stress of composing music for a tv show, the unheralded genius of Danny Heifetz and more.

Thank you to Bär for being generous with his time, Jean Lizza for helping to set this up and you for listening.