A conversation with Stella Birdie feels like stumbling upon a secret diary—intimate, raw, and unexpectedly illuminating. Speaking from her candlelit porch in Australia as dawn breaks, Stella reveals how songwriting became her way to process emotions too complex for everyday conversation.

"I want to ruminate on things much longer than most people want to," she confesses, perfectly capturing why her music resonates so deeply. From childhood notebooks filled with song-like poems to her recent EP "Speaking Terms," Stella's creative journey follows a consistent thread: seeking intimate expression for experiences that defy easy articulation.

Her songwriting process begins with lyrics, usually captured in her phone's Notes app while walking home, processing the day. Unlike many artists who begin with melody or chords, Stella prioritizes the words and the emotional truth they carry. This lyrics-first approach explains the rare authenticity that permeates tracks like "Organ Donor" and "He Didn't Mean It"—songs that begin as personal catharsis before becoming universal connection points.

What's particularly fascinating is Stella's revelation about the therapeutic nature of her craft. "Closure is not real," she says with hard-earned wisdom, "and writing is a really good band-aid for coping with that fact." This perspective offers listeners a new way to understand why we're drawn to emotionally complex music—it gives voice to feelings we struggle to resolve in our own lives.

As sunlight gradually illuminates our conversation, Stella reflects on the beautiful paradox of performing painful songs with joy, watching audience members connect with her most vulnerable moments. There's something magical in this transformation—from darkness into light, from private pain into shared experience. For anyone who's ever found solace in a song that seemed written just for them, Stella Birdie's music provides both mirror and window into our shared emotional landscape.

Discover Stella's music across all platforms and catch her upcoming shows across Europe and the UK this May. Your new favorite lyricist is just getting started.

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Owen Ashworth returns to the podcast to discuss his latest Advance Base album "Horrible Occurrences" and the beautifully human stories woven throughout its tracks. Rather than rehashing his origin story (covered in our previous episode), we dive deep into his current creative approach and the emotional weight of performing these vulnerable new songs.

The conversation takes us into Owen's refreshingly authentic touring life—traveling solo in his Subaru Forester, staying with old friends or in characterful motels, and creating space to experience the towns he visits. "I really love traveling... gas stations and motels and diners and seeing the sites," he shares, describing a touring routine built around personal comfort rather than business optimization. This DIY ethic extends to his performances, where he typically sells his own merchandise and makes himself available to connect with listeners.

What emerges is a fascinating portrait of songwriting as a long-term pursuit of meaning. Owen reveals that some songs on "Horrible Occurrences" began as fragments written 15 years ago, only finding completion when new life perspectives illuminated their purpose. The fictional town of Richmond serves as a unifying setting—a deliberate creative choice that allowed him to build "a community where all these stories were fitting in with each other" despite spanning different times and experiences.

Perhaps most compelling is Owen's candid discussion about the vulnerability required to perform these songs. "These shows have felt very heavy," he admits, describing how the minimalist arrangements leave him emotionally spent. Yet he finds a meditative quality in performance, where the music itself carries both him and listeners through difficult emotional territory.

As one of indie music's most thoughtful storytellers, Owen continues to find beauty in everyday human experiences—even the painful ones. Check out "Horrible Occurrences" for its developed stories and beautiful reflections, and catch Advance Base live if you can for a uniquely intimate musical experience.

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Ever wonder how the humming of air conditioners could inspire an entire album? Tim Rutili, the creative force behind Califone and former member of Red Red Meat, takes us deep into his unconventional musical world where everyday sounds become extraordinary compositions.

Rutili's musical journey reveals a fascinating evolution from his early punk roots to his current experimental approach. "In everything there's tonality," he shares, explaining how he once tuned his guitar to match the collective drone of neighbors' air conditioners while recording in Austin. This philosophy of finding music in unexpected places permeates his creative process, whether he's capturing rainfall on outdoor microphones or repurposing mechanical noise from nearby buildings.

What separates Rutili's work is his embrace of happy accidents and willingness to follow unexpected paths. He describes how Califone's songs often emerge through improvisation rather than traditional composition – band members responding to intriguing sounds, creating hours of experimental audio that later gets shaped into finished pieces. One standout track from their recent album "The Villager's Companion" began this way, incorporating environmental recordings that would never have existed through conventional songwriting methods.

The distinction between Rutili's deeply personal work with Califone and his professional film scoring provides fascinating insight into his versatility as a musician. "With scoring, it's like you're serving a story," he explains, contrasting it with Califone's music which can sometimes be so personal "it might be inaccessible to other people." His approach to performance follows a similar philosophy – treating songs as living entities rather than trying to perfectly recreate studio recordings.

Want to experience Califone's mesmerizing soundscapes in person? Catch them on the East Coast this May, or at their upcoming benefit show for California wildfire relief in Long Beach. As Rutili continues to find renewed joy in his craft, his music stands as a testament to the endless possibilities that emerge when conventional boundaries dissolve.

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