ifitbeyourwill Podcast

With WHY?’s new album, Oh Golly / Yes Lord, on the horizon, Yoni Wolf reflects on decades of making music that refuses to sit still. Moving between alternative hip-hop, indie rock, sampling, and richly layered arrangements, WHY? has built a catalogue that rewards listening to the whole record, not just the individual song.

Yoni talks about the long, sometimes uncertain process of making an album: four-track experiments, finding a record’s shape, sequencing songs, and working with collaborators who help bring ideas to life. We get into the self-doubt that follows a finished record into the...

Formed in California’s high desert, Heavy Gus make fuzzy, grunge-soaked indie rock that balances scruffy guitar noise with unexpected flashes of melody, humor, and tenderness. On their forthcoming second album, the trio revisit the loose, live-wire approach of Notions, but life has changed: Dorota Szuta and Stelth Ulvang are now navigating parenthood alongside the creative intimacy of being partners and bandmates. New singles “Super Soaker” and “Past Lives” reveal two sides of that tension, one sticky, volatile, and loud, the other reflective and bittersweet. Heavy Gus leave the contradictions intact.

https://www.heavygus.com/

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Julia Holter has never been content to leave a song alone. Across a career spent blurring the boundaries between experimental composition and pop, she has built elaborate musical worlds, then found ways to unsettle them. On Materia, that impulse turns inward: old ideas are revisited, familiar structures loosen, and music becomes something fluid, open to revision.

On this episode of If It Be Your Will, Holter traces the path from her early experiments and studies in composition to the increasingly expansive, emotionally intricate records that followed. We talk about orchestration as a way of thinking...

What if the things that scare you are also the things you need to move through?

On this episode of If It Be Your Will, SHEAL — the musical project of Toronto-based songwriter Sheilagh McNab — talks about stage anxiety, trusting her instincts, and learning to make room for both solitude and connection. We trace the path from Courage Again to golden hours and the new home-going chapter, exploring how motherhood, memory, and the quieter moments of everyday life find their way into her songs. It’s a conversation about letting go of old expectations, finding your footin...

On Prettiest Flower, Emily Nyhuus spent nearly eight years figuring out what Reveal Party was trying to say. The result is a record about becoming yourself, but also about the strange detours that get you there: an imaginary character who gradually turns out to be you, songs rewritten until they finally feel true, and a musical world that refuses to stay in one genre. We talk about Midwest emo, Neutral Milk Hotel, crushes, songwriting, burnout, perfectionism, and why some records need years before they're ready to leave your hands.

https://revealpartyonline.bandcamp.com/album/prettiest-flower<...

London singer-songwriter Natalie Shay joins If It Be Your Will for a chat about guitars, Taylor Swift, stage fright, songwriting, and figuring out how to become comfortable taking up space. From picking up her first acoustic guitar to playing for thousands of people, Natalie’s story is full of unexpected turns, big pop instincts, and a very human dose of nerves. We talk about finding confidence, learning to talk between songs, writing from instinct, and why sometimes the best way through your fears is simply to throw yourself into the deep end. A fun, honest conversation with pl...

THAO returns with Show Me, her first album in six years, and it’s a record about what happens when you stop trying to keep parts of yourself at a safe distance. We talk about divorce, desire, queer identity, family, Vietnam, community, and the uncomfortable work of changing how you move through the world. We also get into collaboration, the many forms her storytelling has taken, and the difference between telling your story and actually letting someone see you. This is a thoughtful, funny, deeply human conversation with an artist still willing to question herself.

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Will Schwartz spent more than a decade writing fiction before The Male Pattern brought him back to music. On If It Be Your Will, we talk about I Was Shot in the Heart! — a darkly funny, deeply human concept album about a bitter suburban dad who sees himself as the hero of his own tragedy. Will talks about growing up with music and writing, fatherhood, rediscovering the joy of making things simply because you want to, and why hiding behind a fictional character can sometimes reveal more truth than writing about yourself.

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Stornoway make the kind of indie music that refuses to sit still: folk one minute, orchestral, wild and wonderfully odd the next. After splitting, regrouping and finding their way back to each other, the Oxford band return with *Beyonder* — a record packed with birds, oceans, memory and big questions. Oli Steadman and Brian Briggs talk beginnings, breakups, folk songs, conservation, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and why, after all these years, Stornoway still sound gloriously like Stornoway.

https://www.stornowayband.com/

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Jacob Brodovsky joins If It Be Your Will to talk about Tell the Kids We Tried, the strange business of making art, and the increasingly ambitious project of keeping it together. We get into songwriting, fatherhood, community, climate dread, and why Canadian indie music seems uniquely qualified to make existential crises sound charming. There’s melancholy, wit, guitars, and just enough optimism to keep the whole thing from collapsing. A smart, funny conversation with one of Canada’s quietly great songwriters—and proof that “we tried” can be both a shrug and a pretty decent philosophy.

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Two records in two years, and GVTH DVDDY are clearly not slowing down. Their latest self-titled album pushes the sound even further into the dark—massive guitars, strange textures, raw emotion, and songs that hit with the weight of lived experience. On this episode, we go back to Kevin Robinson’s years in Viva Voce, trace the path that led to GVTH DVDDY, and get into what happens when a band keeps pushing forward instead of looking backward. Heavy, hypnotic, epic, and completely human—this is GVTH DVDDY at full volume.

http://gvthdvddy.com/

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Johanna Samuels makes songs that can turn a tiny memory into something that suddenly feels enormous. On this episode, we get into Sorry, Kid, revisiting old songs, getting older, the weirdness of memory, and how the places and people in our lives keep finding their way into our music. Johanna is thoughtful, funny, and refreshingly honest about the messy process of making sense of the past while still moving forward. A great conversation with a songwriter who knows how to make the personal feel universal—and a lot of fun along the way.

https://www.jo...

What happens when a non-binary, trans artist comes back to country music and refuses to leave anything out? On Assigned Country Singer At Birth, Rae Spoon puts trans lives, disability, harm reduction, religious trauma, solidarity and colonialism alongside the trucks, beer and heartbreak traditionally associated with the genre. On *If It Be Your Will*, we get into why country still matters, what happens when you make music outside the boundaries of expectation, and what it means to claim a genre—and a country—that hasn’t always made room for you.

https://raespoon.ca/

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Darren Hayman's been at this for three decades, and he's still treating songwriting like a puzzle he hasn't solved. Best known for fronting Hefner — the band a record label basically forced into existence by asking "is this a band or just you?" — Hayman's gone on to release records governed by self-imposed rules: witch trials, place names, entire concept records where the research threatens to swallow the songs whole. On this episode, he talks getting jumped after a gig, turning a fractured skull into The Violence, and the mild indignity of people treating your trauma like content. Also...

Four albums deep, Toronto's Kiwi Jr. arrive at Blowin' Up by doing something quietly radical: playing it live, together, in a room. Jeremy Gaudet traded the tight compression and Pro Tools tinkering of past records for the sound of four people breathing the same air—guitar solos left unswapped, drums left unmoved. The result opens up where earlier Kiwi Jr. records clenched, trading whimsical, pop-culture-soaked lyricism for something more spacious and unguarded. Gaudet talks candidly about writing from title first, riff last, and the Neil Young listening sessions that shaped the room-sound instinct. Out August 7th, it's th...

Amelia Day’s EGO TRIP is country music with the safety rails ripped off—part heartbreak, part self-interrogation, and part refusal to play by somebody else’s rules. Amelia isn’t interested in sanding down the messy edges: the songs move between country, indie rock, and pop while wrestling with identity, desire, ego, and what it means to be seen. On this episode of If It Be Your Will, we get into the emotional wreckage behind EGO TRIP, reclaiming country as a queer space, and the strange freedom that comes from making music on your own terms. It’s sha...

For more than a decade, Monster Rally has occupied a curious corner of contemporary music, where faded postcards, forgotten library records, and golden-age hip-hop production dissolve into richly imagined landscapes. On Echoes of the Emerald Sands, Ted Feighan opens that world to other voices for the first time, inviting collaborators including LEISURE, TV Girl, Sessa, Jordana, Mei Semones, and even the timeless presence of Henry Mancini into his meticulously assembled sonic atlas. The result is less a departure than an expansion—a record that blurs collage, memory, and fantasy while asking how place can be conjured from so...

Some artists write songs. Colin MacIntyre seems to collect entire lives. For more than 25 years, the man behind Mull Historical Society has turned grief, small-town stories, oddball observations, and big melodies into one of Scotland's most distinctive catalogues. Along the way he's become an award-winning novelist, playwright, and the kind of creative who somehow makes writing a musical seem like a perfectly reasonable side project. His latest album, In My Mind There's a Photograph, takes memories shared by some of the world's best writers and transforms them into songs that are funny, moving, and deeply human. We...

There are artists who make records, and then there are artists who seem to build entire worlds. On this episode of If It Be Your Will, Nina Winder-Lind joins us to discuss Wild Love, a debut solo album that feels both intimate and expansive. From growing up in Sweden and discovering music through Led Zeppelin and a teenage gang of misfits, to finding a creative home with The New Eves, Nina reflects on mythology, poetry, collaboration, and why the most personal songs often become the most universal.

https://transgressiverecords.com/artist/nina-winder-lind/

Montreal has always known how to make great punk bands, and General Chaos are proving the tradition is in very good hands. Formed when they were just twelve years old, the trio has quickly evolved from local curiosity to one of Canada's most exciting young punk acts. On this episode of If It Be Your Will, Constantin Blondy joins me to talk about Can't Please 'Em All, growing up in Montreal's legendary punk scene, DIY culture, songwriting, Pouzza Fest, and why honesty—not nostalgia—is keeping punk alive for a new generation. 

https://stomprecords.com/bands...

Chicago singer-songwriter Max Subar joins If It Be Your Will to discuss his stunning debut album, Anything Could Be, released on Merge Records. We explore the quiet power of solitude, trusting instinct over perfection, and how a frozen lakeside retreat became the foundation for an intimate, expansive record. Max reflects on collaboration, vulnerability, and embracing uncertainty, revealing how the album became both a personal transformation and the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his career. 

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Jaco Jaco's music exists in that rare space where groove and introspection become inseparable. Formerly of the Oklahoma indie-rock band Sports, Jacob Theriot has steadily carved out a solo identity rooted in warm bass lines, psychedelic textures, and songs that wrestle with uncertainty without ever losing their sense of joy. On the heels of his new album, On the Levee, Jacob joins If It Be Your Will to talk about leaving behind the only band he'd ever known, rebuilding his life in Philadelphia, finding confidence as a vocalist, and why the meaning of his...

Chicago's Widemouth joins the podcast to explore the friendships at the heart of their remarkable debut, No Gasoline. Mak Carnahan and Jamie Eder reflect on finding collaborators through a simple flyer, writing songs rooted in memory and community, recording with trust instead of perfection, and why the quiet moments between people often make the most enduring music. It's a thoughtful conversation about growing up, staying grounded, and building a band that feels like home.

https://bfan.link/no-gasoline-album

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Some records don't age—they deepen. Nearly thirty years after Knife in the Water quietly reshaped the edges of alt-country and slowcore, Aaron Blount joins ifitbeyourwill to revisit the landscapes that first inspired the band and the memories that still echo through its songs. It's a conversation about Austin before it changed, music that refuses easy categories, and the strange privilege of watching old songs find new lives in new listeners.

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Some debut albums arrive with the urgency of a first statement. Chinook feels different—it carries the weight of years spent listening, collaborating, and quietly becoming. On this episode, Mallory Hawk reflects on a childhood soundtracked by records and military helicopters, the winding road through New York's DIY underground, and the moment she stopped writing for everyone else and trusted her own instincts. It's a thoughtful conversation about memory, resilience, and the beautiful uncertainty that fuels great songs.

https://www.malloryhawk.art/

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Josaleigh Pollett has quietly become one of indie music's most compelling voices, expanding from intimate folk confessionals into lush, emotionally charged songs where synths, noise, and vulnerability coexist. On this episode of ifitbeyourwill, we discuss the making of If I Let It Quiet, recording across continents with longtime collaborator Jordan Watko, the strange gift of physical distance, and why learning to be seen may be the hardest—and most rewarding—part of making art.

Josaleigh ’s https://linktr.ee

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This week on ifitbeyourwill, Andrew Sa joins the podcast to talk about American Rough, his striking debut on Bloodshot Records. We trace a path from childhood karaoke nights and family musical roots to country music, identity, belonging, and the voices that shaped him along the way. It's a conversation about finding your place in a tradition while making room for something entirely your own.

https://www.andrewsamusic.com/

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On this episode of ifitbeyourwill Podcast Jason Edmonds of Magic Castles joins us for a conversation that begins in a basement record collection filled with psychedelic treasures and winds its way to Realized, the band's latest album. Along the way, we talk about the enduring pull of 60s psych, building a musical universe outside the spotlight, recording in Minnesota, and why Magic Castles continue to make music that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a place to disappear into. A thoughtful, cosmic conversation with one of modern psych's most quietly compelling voices.

For Canadians who came of age somewhere along the Montréal–Toronto corridor, Charlotte Cornfield’s music carries a particular resonance. On this episode of ifitbeyourwill, the Toronto songwriter reflects on the cities that shaped her, the Plateau music scene that made a life in music feel possible, and the long road from jazz drums at Concordia to releasing Hurts Like Hell on the legendary Merge Records.
What unfolds is a conversation about creative practice, parenthood, community, and the strange act of looking back at your younger self with equal parts tenderness and humour. Charlotte discusses recor...

Evan Redsky grew up on Mississaugi First Nation, on the north shore of Lake Huron, between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury — a small community of maybe 500 people, and a history much larger than that. Four generations of his family attended the Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School. His great-grandfather James was the last elder to hold their community's birch bark scrolls before they were dispossessed by the Glenbow Museum. Redsky carries that lineage into everything: the punk fury of Indian Giver, and the quieter, harder work of his solo music — Canadiana-rooted folk that sits closer to Neil Young than Nash...

Montreal’s Second Body returns with up and coming release Gift Horse, a record born from curiosity, confidence, and the willingness to let songs become something unexpected. In this conversation, songwriter and former drummer Yann explores the leap from the back of the stage to the front, the creative freedom found in surrendering control, and the balancing act of music, family, and everyday life. We dive into songwriting as discovery, the vibrant Montreal music community, and why some of the best songs arrive when you simply keep showing up and listening.

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On this episode of ifitbeyourwill, zzzahara talks about the new album Distant Lands — a record shaped by distance, emotional drift, and the search for connection inside everyday uncertainty. The conversation moves through formative musical memories, relationships, identity, and the comfort of making songs that don’t try to hide their bruises. From discovering emotion through the Selena soundtrack to embracing vulnerability in their songwriting, zzzahara reflects on creating music that feels lived-in, intimate, and deeply human. A thoughtful conversation about longing, memory, and finding clarity inside the noise.

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Cincinnati's Sungaze make the kind of shoegaze where the haze finally lifts. On this episode, married duo Ivory Snow and Ian Hilvert trace the unlikely arc from death-metal speed runs to restraint—the notes you don't play—and the slow build toward a sound with intent. They talk Slowdive and Tame Impala, a homemade guitar gifted for a 26th birthday, and the quiet domestic alchemy of writing as a couple. Their new record, I Am No Longer Afraid of Heights, lands May 22nd, ahead of a June tour through New York and Boston.

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Blending dream-pop haze, indie folk intimacy, and jazz-inflected songwriting, After Ours creates music that feels suspended between memory and late-night confession. On Imaginary Friend, Kayla Janowitz folds soft textures, diaristic lyrics, and understated hooks into songs that linger long after they end. In this conversation, she reflects on learning jazz standards with her brother, navigating perfectionism in studio, and the emotional residue that shapes her writing. What emerges is a thoughtful discussion about nostalgia, identity, and the strange beauty of becoming someone new while still carrying older versions of yourself forward. A great listen for all aspiring...

A wide-ranging conversation with Michael Feuerstack that traces the arc from Snail House bedroom recordings to a decades-long solo practice shaped by collaboration and quiet persistence. He reflects on how songs emerge—sometimes as fragments, sometimes as loops you can’t shake—and what it means to stay open enough to follow them. Moving through Montréal’s indie community and his own shifting identity as an artist, the episode lands on a simple throughline: make the work, finish it, and put it into the world.

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Marc Ostermeier and Tanya Maus of the cult shoegaze duo Should stop by for their first ever podcast interview to celebrate the deluxe reissue of Feed Like Fishes, out now via Numero Group.

From basement 8-tracks in early 90s Austin to a new generation of fans discovering their music on Instagram — Should's story is one worth hearing. Marc breaks down his obsessive approach to crafting atmospheric sound, Tanya reflects on finding her voice in unexpected places, and both drop a tantalizing hint about new music.

Thirty years later, Should still sounds like nothing el...

More than a decade into Common Holly, Brigitte Naggar still writes the way she did as a teenager — quietly, in her bedroom, not quite ready to let anyone hear. On this episode, Chris sits down with the Montreal songwriter to talk about Anything Glass (June 2025) and its companion EP They Will Draw Halos Around Our Heads (February), two records that feel like siblings.

Brigitte talks about going back to the piano for the first time since she was a kid, letting poems turn into songs without forcing them, and her long run with producer De...