Ryan Miller of Guster is the guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. We recorded it live this past August at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine as part of Guster’s very inspiring On the Ocean Festival. It was an amazing day and great to sit down with Ryan and talk about the last Guster record Ooh La La, The Scorpion’s “Still Loving You”, high school bands, writing songs on new instruments, Matt Johnson and The The, working with new producers, Guster’s college rep program and community building in this modern age. I came away from the weekend in awe of all Guster had put together and it was super great to speak with Ryan about the way they’ve approached things.

Dave Hause is the guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I first met Dave as a member of the band The Loved Ones, and we went on an epic tour of the States in 2008 together. Since then, he’s made a bunch of solo records, including the very excellent Dave Hause and the Mermaid LP, which came out in September. We talked about the new record as well as The Hooters, Billy Joel’s “Angry Young Man”, being a roadie for Sick of It All, hardcore as folklore, sobriety, remaining accessible to younger people, his annual Sing Us Home festival, and so much more. Dave is an awesome and thoughtful artist and friend, and this talk was really great. Listen and subscribe.

This November, I'm going out on tour with my friend Patterson Hood. We're calling it the Devil in the Details tour, and we're gonna be appearing on the same stage at the same time playing our songs with one auxiliary musician, a guy named Ben Hackett. This tour is gonna be magical, and I'm already excited about it. In fact, I'm so excited about it that I decided to dig into the vaults and re-air the first-ever episode of That's How I Remember It, which featured a conversation between myself and, you guessed it, Patterson Hood. So if you can, I hope you'll come hang out in one of these places: Seattle, Portland, Bend, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Dallas, and Austin. The devil's in the details indeed. Get more details of the dates at craigfinn.net. This episode originally ran on June 8, 2022. For the first episode of That’s How I Remember It, I spoke to Patterson Hood, one of my all-time favorite songwriters. Patterson’s work with the Drive By Truckers has examined life in the Southern USA and beyond, lyrically tearing down old monuments while constructing new ones to more worthy recipients. We talked about turning memories into mythology, honoring deceased friends, and how his classic song "18 Wheels of Love" might be built on a shaky foundation. We also reminisce a bit on the Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady “Rock and Roll Means Well” Tour from 2008. Huge thanks to Patterson for being my first guest. I’ll be talking to Brian Koppelman, Fred Armisen, and other great guests in weeks to come, so please subscribe and keep listening to That’s How I Remember It.

Conor Oberst is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’m very excited about that because I’m a huge fan. I talked to the BRIGHT EYES songwriter about his excellent last record Five Dice, All Threes as well as Don McLean’s "American Pie," La Bamba the movie, 120 Minutes, Billy Joel, signing to Grass Records as a high school student, his creative relationship with Alex Orange Drink, Aksarben and so much more. I’d been really looking forward to this conversation, and Conor was predictably great. Listen and subscribe!

Matt Berninger from The National is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Matt checked in from a tour bus at the End of the Road festival in the UK and we talked about his great solo record Get Sunk, lyric monitors, Rizzo from Grease, roller skating, hotel bars, reading novels to plot your future, memory as fantasy and collage, writing about childhood, early 2000s NYC, and Nabokov cocktails. He also shared a traumatic Valentine’s Day story. So happy to have Matt on the show, it was a really fun conversation. Listen and subscribe!

Dan Wriggins from the band Friendship is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’ve been a big fan of Dan’s band and his writing for the last few years, and I think I’ve listened to the new Friendship record Caveman Wakes Up more than anything else this year. We talked about this great record as well as basement shows, Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War,” Dave Eggers movies, writing in Asheville, recommending songs to friends, landscaping work in the Philly suburbs, and song titles as Gary Larson cartoon captions. Great episode, check it out and please subscribe.

Margaret Cho is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Margaret is, of course, a comedy legend, but she’s so much more - a writer, an actor, a singer/songwriter, etc. I met her over a decade ago at a tribute to Bob Mould out in LA, and I was thrilled that we reconnected on this episode. We talked about Lucky Gift, her record from last year, as well as Benzodiazepines, perfume memories, ditto machines, going to see the GoGos on the Vacation tour, her early act, Lilith Fair, pub rock, and so much more. Really a fantastic talk, Margaret is truly a joy to speak with and I’m so glad she spent the time. Listen and subscribe.

Nick Carpenter makes music as Medium Build and he is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It. In 2024, he released a great record called Country, and we talked about that as well as memorizing lyrics, Crocs, “Renegade” by Styx, Alaska, being obsessed by geography, dreaming about Marc Maron, Lou Vega’s “Mambo No. 5,” and missed connection ads being like songs. I had a great time talking to Nick, he’s funny and insightful and I was thrilled to meet him in person a few weeks later when we both opened for Tyler Childress. Huge thanks to him for joining me. Check it out, listen and subscribe.

Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, the principal songwriters in the band Wussy are my guests on this episode. It was recorded live in June in front of a great audience at Club 603 in Baltimore. Wussy put out a fantastic record called Cincinnati, Ohio last year which dealt a lot with losing their bandmate John Erhardt. We talked about that as well as the TV show Mannix, Celine Dion’s Stevie Wonder cover, the origins of their band, Club 603, breaking bones, seeing ghosts, and finding dead bodies. It’s an excellent and funny conversation. Huge thanks to Chuck and Lisa and Club 603 for hosting. Listen and subscribe!

Jeff and Steven MacDonald from Redd Kross are my guests on this episode of That’s How I Remember It, and I couldn’t be more psyched. These brothers are the subject of a fantastic recent book, an amazing documentary film, and they put out a great double record last year. I’ve been obsessed with them going back to the 80s, and we talk about that here. We also talk about them trading VHS tapes with Quentin Tarantino, seeing REO Speedwagon and Ohio Players at a live recording of Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert, Jeff seeing the Beatles at age 2, sharing a memory as brothers, Kiss Dynasty, The Replacements, Syd and Marty Krofft, and of course I brought up the Bay City Rollers. Amazing episode, listen and subscribe!

Ezra Furman is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’ve been a massive fan since I heard her 2013 release Day of the Dog, and her new record Goodbye Small Head might be her best yet. We talked about that as well as music taking the place of religion, rituals, The Waterboys, community, the top ten hits of 1961, early songwriting attempts, memory from a trans perspective, and so much more. I have been hoping to have Ezra on the show for a long time, and it was everything I hoped it would be. A fantastic conversation, check it out and subscribe!

The case of Evan and Chris, best friends who love playing music together. But after the band suffers a terrible tragedy, they find themselves unable to regain their momentum. We pair them up with another musician who’s all too familiar with the neverending drama that comes with being in a band with friends.  From the episode:  Listen to The Superweaks and the single "Blindside" from their new record The Superweaks Superweekly Supercast episode where Yowei stumbles into the case Follow them on Instagram @thesuperweaks Read Ryan Dusick's memoir Harder to Breathe: A Memoir of Making Maroon, Losing It All, and Finding Recovery Learn more about Ryan and follow him on Instagram @ryan_michael_dusick Listen to The Harder To Breathe Podcast  The Music Industry Therapist Collective Subscribe to Proxy with Yowei Shaw.

S.G. Goodman is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. She’s got an amazing record dropping in the next few days called Planting By The Signs and we talked about that as well as survival mode, pandemic isolation, losing her dog Howard, our modern relationship with nature, a breakup being like an addiction and letting a song “go about it’s business.” It was a really great talk with a fantastic writer. I enjoyed it immensely. Listen and subscribe!

Cassandra Jenkins is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Cassandra is an amazing and inspiring songwriter and musician. She’s also a friend that I’ve made music with. We talked about growing up in a musical household, steel drums, “I Want to Dance With Somebody,” saving voicemails, our 2019 tour, her decision to re-record her most recent album, working in a flower shop, and so much more. Cassandra is super insightful, and I was so happy to finally have her on the podcast. Listen and subscribe! Download Cash App Today: ⁠https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/y8we5e0g⁠ #CashAppPod *Referral Reward Disclaimer: As a Cash App partner, I may earn a commission when you sign up for a Cash App account.

Alex Orange Drink, Alex Levine, is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’ve know Alex for a while now, and did a UK/Euro tour with him and his brothers’ great band The So So Glos. He also makes records as a solo artist, including a great new one called Victory Lap #23 which details the battle with cancer that he faced after being diagnosed in 2023. We also talked about Chuck Berry, Michael Jordan, living with Homocystinuria, writing with Conor Oberst and Tim Armstrong, and so much more. I was extremely happy that Alex was able to join me here. His story is inspiring. Listen and subscribe! Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/y8we5e0g #CashAppPod *Referral Reward Disclaimer: As a Cash App partner, I may earn a commission when you sign up for a Cash App account.

Bartees Strange is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. In February, Bartees released a great record called Horror, and he’s on the road now in support of it. We talked a lot about the record and also about Christian rock bands, which horror movies scare him, Bon Iver’s song "Skinny Love," writing short songs on purpose, hardcore as an inspiration, and so much more. Great talk, I was really happy to get to speak to Bartees. Listen and subscribe!

Jim James of My Morning Jacket is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’ve been a big fan of My Morning Jacket since my old band Lifter Puller played a show with them way back in 2000. We talked briefly about that show as well as their fantastic new record, The Muppets, validation, depression, EMDR therapy, sleeping on tour buses, Danzig, The Doors, and so much more. Really a fantastic talk with Jim, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Listen and subscribe!

Adam Granduciel is my guest on this episode That’s How I Remember It. Adam is the principal behind the amazing band The War on Drugs and also produced my new record Always Been. We’ve been friends since a 2009 THS/TWOD tour which we spoke about here. We also got into rock and roll ephemera, his Live Drugs records, being flattered by bootleg merch, our 2008 joint European tour that never happened, and making my record Always Been together. Grateful to Adam in so many ways including being a guest on this podcast. Great talk. Listen and subscribe.

Ben Nichols from Lucero is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Ben just released an unplugged record which features him and Lucero piano player Rick Steff performing stripped-down versions of some Lucero classics and deep cuts. We talked about that as well as the first Violent Femmes record, The Nerves’ song “Hanging on the Telephone,” the Little Rock music scene, his brother Jeff’s movie The Bikeriders, and the time both our bands opened for the Replacements in 2014. I always have a great time with Ben and this was no exception. Listen and subscribe!

Stuart Murdoch is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Stuart is the lead singer and songwriter of classic band Belle & Sebastian, who have consistently released amazing music since the mid '90s. He’s now also the author of a great new novel Nobody’s Empire, which mirrors his own personal experiences with chronic fatigue syndrome in the time leading up to the formation of B&S. We talked about that as well as Abba, Bay City Rollers, Come on Eileen, CS Lewis, writing letters to Quentin Crisp, Inland taipans, and so much more. It was a thrill for me to have Stuart on the show, I’m a huge fan, and I think we had a great talk. Listen and subscribe!