Band Interviews

This Tuesday Chicago post-country quartet Ratboys released “Penny in the Lake,” the fifth and final single ahead of their sixth studio album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, which drops today courtesy of the band’s new home, New West Records (also home to PHILTHY phriends Emily Nenni, Esther Rose, Jaime...

“I’m really working on getting free on stage.  I’m normally quiet, being on stage isn’t my natural state, so I’ve been really loving this last year of playing shows, getting a new taste of being a bit more comfortable,” says Portland, Oregon-based singer/songwriter Anna Tivel, reflecting on her most...

“I like playing smaller rooms more than bigger rooms.  I like to fill the whole room with my voice.  I played a lot of churches in Europe, which you’d think would be great, but I feel like my voice got lost in the rooms,” says longtime PHILTHY phriend and...

“We’ll be mostly just trying our best to bring these songs to life in a live setting,” says Minneapolis-based indie rock singer/songwriter runo plum, who is about to hit the road for a North American headlining tour behind her debut full-length, patching, which dropped last November via Winspear (home...

You may have caught Chicago DIY rockers Smut opening for SPELLLING last May at Underground Arts or on the latest edition of Philthy Radio (now streaming via Y-Not Radio).  Last week the Bayonet Records outfit — led by vocalist/lyricist Tay Roebuck and guitarists Andie Min and Sam Ruschman —...

“I think collaboration has been my favorite part, to be honest…  I’ve been really fortunate throughout the years to be in orbit with deeply thinking, deeply feeling musicians,” reflects Massachusetts-based “writer song-singer” Heather Maloney of the personal highlights of her musical career, which officially began 17 years ago, when...

We haven’t spoken to Cate Le Bon since 2016, when she was preparing to play Johnny Brenda’s while touring her brilliantly psychedelic-leaning fourth LP, Crab Day, featuring the drumming of Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa.  However, the Welsh art pop singer/songwriter has had us out to a number of notable Philadelphia...

This October, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection got a live preview of, what is thus far, our favorite album of 2026, when Ailbhe Reddy opened MilkBoy for Will Varley, her final show of 2025.  The performance featured solo acoustic renditions of a handful of tracks from...

“I’m excited to go on tour with Built to Spill!” says Kassie Carlson, front person of New York art rockers – and longtime PHILTHY phriends – Guerilla Toss, who played their umpteenth show at Johnny Brenda’s less than two months ago, a venue Carlson tells me she’s a big...