My Favourite Elliott Smith Song

In the fourth episode of the My Favourite Elliott Smith Song podcast, we speak to Denny Swofford. Denny is the co-founder of Cavity Search, the record label that released early Heatmiser Singles and Elliott Smith's first album, Roman Candle. 

Hopefully you enjoy this chat - Denny's got some great stories about the Heatmiser days in Portland and listen out for his take on hearing, for the first time, the songs that would later bec...

In this episode, we speak to singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers. Phoebe was one of the breakthrough artists of 2017 with her album, 'Stranger in the Alps', in many people's best of the year lists. She's a big fan of Elliott's and you can really hear his influence coming through on some of the songs on that album.

It was great to speak to her about (what else) her favourite Elliott Smith Song, how she first got into him and whether...

In this episode, we speak to Ross Harris. Ross directed three music videos with Elliott Smith - Coming Up Roses, Heatmiser's Plainclothes Man and, perhaps Elliott's most iconic video, the one for Miss Misery. You may also know him as the robot hand salesman in the documentary on Elliott, Strange Parallel. 

But, much more than those impressive credentials, Ross was a friend of Elliott's, and he has some great anecdotes. So, hopefu...

In this episode we speak to Sadie Dupuis. Sadie is a New York based musician, who is the founder and lead singer of the band Speedy Ortiz, and she's also got a solo project called Sad13. 

Sadie is a huge Elliott Smith fan and is incredibly knowledgeable about his work. She speaks about his music, and the culture surrounding it, with a passion and good humour that will be very familiar if you follow her on Twitter. 

Hope you enj...

In this episode we speak to New York-based songwriter and musician, Kevin Devine. Kevin is a huge Elliott Smith fan and has covered his songs many times, so it was great to get the chance to speak to him. He's also worked closely with Rob Schnapf - the producer behind Either/Or, XO, Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill - and here we discuss how their relationship came about, as well as what it was like working with a person who...

In this episode, a first for My Favourite Elliott Smith Song, we hear from two guests: the musicians Jessica Lea Mayfield and Seth Avett. Both artists made their names separately, Jessica as a singer-songwriter and Seth as part of the band the Avett Brothers, but they joined forces in 2015 to release the album Jessica Lea Mayfield and Seth Avett Sing Elliott Smith.

It was so enjoyable speaking to them both. They have a great chem...

In this episode, we speak to the singer/songwriter Beatie Wolfe. Beatie has built a reputation as an innovator - she combines music with technology and, last year, she was named in Wired magazine's people changing the world. 

Importantly for us though, she's a huge Elliott Smith fan. Such a big fan, in fact, that she's written a song - called Little Moth - in tribute to him and had it beamed into space (yes, really). So, in this ...

This episode is with the animator Craig Bartlett. Craig is perhaps best known as the creator of children's TV shows such as Hey Arnold and Dinosaur Train.

As well as being a great animator, Craig is also a huge Elliott Smith fan. In this edition, he talks us through his favourite Elliott Smith song, as well as an Elliott comic he drew - you can find that comic on our website myfavouriteelliottsmithsong.com.

Extra things to l...

In this episode, we speak to musician, songwriter and author Amanda Palmer.

Amanda came to prominence during the early 2000s as one half of the duo the Dresden Dolls. She's since gone on to release several successful solo albums and books, including 2014's The Art of Asking. You probably won't be surprised to find out that Amanda is also a huge Elliott Smith fan - she even appeared on an Elliott Smith tribute album called Say Yes...

The musician Max Bloom is our guest on episode 13 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song. The frontman of the band Yuck talks us through his pick for his favourite song, his experiences covering Elliott as part of the Say Yes tribute album and why (in a weird kind of way) his music reminds Max of a certain British comedy character (see more on this in the links below).

This interview was recorded in London in June 2018. Hope you enjo...

Our guest for episode 14 is the musician Jason Lytle. Jason made his name as the frontman of Grandaddy, and it was with that band that he met Elliott Smith for the first time. Grandaddy had just released their second album, The Sophtware Slump, while Elliott had recently put out Figure 8, and they had been lined up to tour together.

In this interview, Jason discusses the moment he met Elliott for the first time, how their friends...

A few years before he passed, Elliott Smith bought a recording studio in Van Nuys, California. He poured his heart and soul into the place - buying vintage analogue equipment and staying in there for weeks at a time to try and fix it. He called the studio New Monkey because, it is said, this big new commitment was like a monkey on his back. 

In this special episode, we speak to the three guys who now run New Monkey Studio. Robert...

Yoni Wolf joins us from his holiday in North Carolina for episode 16 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song. Yoni is a musician and producer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is probably best known for his work with his band, Why?

Although his work is musically quite different, Yoni became interested in Elliott Smith because the sentiment of his music resonated with him. He talks about this during the episode, as well as his favourite song ...

Our guest for episode 17 is Marissa Nadler. Marissa is a singer-songwriter based in Boston, Massachusetts. She regularly cites Elliott Smith as a big influence on her and also took part in the same Elliott tribute show as our guest for episode 16, Yoni Wolf.

In this interview, Marissa talks about covering Elliott for that show, how his music has helped her as a shy person and her selection for her favourite song.

It was lovely ...

Episode 18 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is with Andy Hull. 

Andy is a musician probably best known for his work with the band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a couple of other side projects too and one of those is called Bad Books, which is a collaboration with Kevin Devine - a former guest on this show. 

And Andy was recording with Kevin when we called him up for this chat. It was a lovely conversation, where Andy spok...

Our guest for episode 19 is the musician Pete Krebs.

Pete is somewhat of a legend on the Portland scene. His band Hazel broke through in the early '90s at a similar time to Heatmiser. As well as playing numerous shows with Elliott Smith, Pete was also good friends with him - the pair drank in the same bars and worked the same construction jobs to fund their music careers. They even released a split seven inch record together in 1...

Our guest for episode 20 is the musician Jade Bird. Jade is a hotly tipped artist from the UK - in the last year or so she has been on the BBC's Sound of 2018 list and Rolling Stone have called her a country artist to watch out for.

She's also a massive Elliott Smith fan, albeit one who has discovered his music relatively recently. She can, of course, be forgiven for this though, as she just turned 21 the other week. Hope you enj...