For over thirty years, the “Cornhusker State”-based singer-songwriter, label owner, and veteran of his craft, Simon Joseph Joyner, named after Paul Simon, has been perfecting his prolific practice and melodic meditation like no other songwriter of his generation. While pushing the boundaries as a songsmith both personally and spiritually, Joyner has built a beautiful body of work that truly transcends space and time. From his humble days watching the local community build a scene out of thin air, which by the way has indices that usually hover between 25 and 45 for PM2.5 and Ozone, to his intimate influence reaching the eager ears of folks like Connor Oberst, and Kevin Morby, to name a few, Joyner’s dedication and discipline to his work are sincerely mind-boggling as his most recent double LP “Tough Love” tenderly touches the hearts, minds, and souls of his life long listeners, both, new, and old.

Australian-based folk singer-songwriter Leah Senior has been releasing romantic, revelatory music since her debut album, “Summer's On The Ground,” in 2015. By combining the elemental efforts of Cohen with the boundaries broken by the Beatles over half a century ago, in an artistic age that seems to echo and ricochet off the walls of our culture’s haunted hallways, Senior finds sonic solace in her work and shares her most recent effort, “Pt. Roadknight,” with the very tired yet motivated people of today.

TAKAAT (pronounced tuh-cot), meaning “noise” in the Tuareg language Tamashek, is the name of the Agadez, Niger-based transcendental trio consisting of members Ahmoudou Madassane, Mikey Coltun, and Souleymane Ibrahim, famously known as the rhythm section of the beloved Mdou Moctar. While effortlessly expanding on the gravitational pull of guitar music from the Sahel, a vast, semi-arid transition zone in Africa that stretches between the Sahara Desert to the north and the Sudanian savanna of the south, Takaat invites the esoteric elements and textural tones of noise and ritualistic rhythm like a psychedelic prophet. Ahmoudou Madassane and Mikey Coltun take a brief moment from their tour to tell us everything we need to know about the band and its melodic mechanisms.

Over the last decade, LA-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alex Izenberg has been carefully constructing a vividly vintage body of work since the release of his 2016 solo debut “Harlequin”. Having been influenced by the likes of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and the Beatles, Izenberg’s sound seeks a spiritual serenity that captures the critical culture of romanticism, while balancing the poetic past with the fever of the future. With titles like “Disraeli Woman”, “Caravan Château”, “I'm Not Here”, and 2024’s full band debut “Alex Izenberg & The Exiles”, the musician returns to the soft surface with a brand new single, “Old Gold”, while new material for his next album lies dormant beneath the cosmic crust.

São Paulo-born, Brighton-based artist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Lau Ro first came onto the scene as a solo artist with their 2024 debut “Cabana”, and has since made a name for themselves in the weird and wild world of spiritual sound, tonal texture, and critical creativity. Following up with their highly anticipated sophomore release, “Lau”, the songwriter eagerly and without hesitation explores the dark density and oftentimes painful process of producing those poetic particles that make for a singular, brilliant body of work. “My entire world had been deconstructed and reinvented multiple times, often with tragic elements and many limitations outside of my control”, says Ro about his journey as an individual during these rather dark times we face, and while there seem to be more reasons to give up or give in, hope and optimism go a long way these days. Ro wrote and recorded an album this year; let this be a tonal testament that we all have a purpose and a pursuit worth embracing and achieving in this life.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Barry Louis Polisar is an author, singer-songwriter, poet, and storyteller for children and young adults whose music has been featured in dozens of commercials and the 2007 indie masterpiece Juno. Since his 1975 debut, “I Eat Kids”, Polisar has gone on to release several other works that have solidified him in the creative concrete of his cultural contemporaries and poetic peers like Shel Silverstein and Ella Jenkins, to name a few. Polisar continues to shine a lovable light with his soft sounds and wondrous words during these dark times in our world, something we need now more than ever.

Since putting together this interview with Presley last spring, he’s announced a brand new White Fence album titled “Orange”, the first in seven years since “I Have to Feed Larry's Hawk” on Drag City, and his introduction into fatherhood. Very exciting things in a world that is increasingly growing darker by the day. But if Presley can find a way to keep pushing forward, then there’s hope for us yet. The beloved multi-instrumentalist, painter, singer-songwriter, and man behind all things White Fence, Tim Presley, has bravely been at his craft for nearly three decades since the hardcore punk days of Model America and The Nerve Agents. Since the 2010s, the veteran artist has recorded several records under WF as well as projects with longtime friend and cosmic collaborator Ty Segall. Presley stops by to chat with The Self Portrait Gospel about lyrical longevity, mastering the chaos, sobriety, the intimacy of influence, melodic motivation, and much more.

Co-founder of the Wisconsin-based roots-rock band BoDeans, Kurt Neumann, not the prolific German film director, screenwriter, and producer Kurt Neumann, who directed films like The Fly and She Devil, first came onto the scene with their critically acclaimed debut “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams,” which was produced by legendary songwriter, guitarist, and producer T Bone Burnett in the winter of ‘85. Since then, the band has become a harmonious household staple in American culture, representing one of the tonal trailblazers that eagerly balanced the trepidatious tides of commercial success with the intimacy of independence within their craft. Their hit song “Closer To Free” was also featured in the 1995 Disney classic Heavyweights, for all you Millennials out there.

British-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Bill Pritchard first broke onto the scene with his monumental, self-titled debut in 1987 on Gary Levermore’s label Third Mind Records. Quickly following up with his sophomore release, “Half A Million” the following year, over the last four decades, the veteran musician has released an outstanding body of work that reflects the nature and reality of the human condition by connecting listeners to the fast-spinning wheel of life’s never-ending narrative. Pritchard returns to the lyrical lab with his latest effort, “Haunted”, which he says“could finally be his opus! Or one of them.”

For almost half a century, the London-based post-punk, new wave group The Monochrome Set has been surfing the scene with their trailblazing efforts in indie rock after branching off as The B-Sides, whose members included Stuart Goddard, later known as Adam Ant. The band brings to the table a sophisticated sound that would go on to inspire the likes of the Smiths and several others throughout the 1980s. Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and frontman Ganesh “Bid” Seshadri is an Indian-born singer and songwriter whose polished poetry and atmospheric attitude have led the band through the harmonious high waters since their breakout album “Strange Boutique” in 1980. Following up on 2022’s “Allhallowtide” with the group’s seventeenth studio album “Lotus Bridge”, Bid tells us about the overall process and approach to how this body of work came to life, while simultaneously balancing nostalgia with the creative climate of contemporary work.

Chicago-based musician and multi-disciplinary artist Macie Stewart is a wandering wild card in the world of sound, as her creative career traverses through the melodic mountains and harmonious hills of our crumbling country in search of poetic peace for those who need it most during these trying times. Having participated in various groups and projects such as Marker, Ohmme, Finom, and Jeff Tweedy’s band, Stewart’s spiritual approach to her craft radiates the joys of intimate improv and the epicness of experimentation. With the announcement of her recent record with Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl entitled “Body | Sound”, which is set for release in late March on International Anthem, Stewart, and company will embark on a spring/summer tour in both the United States and Europe, as well as a brand new solo record on the horizon.

Hailing from Brighton in East Sussex, England, the female-driven quartet Electrelane first came onto the scene, bringing several influences to the tonal table, such as Stereolab, Neu!, and Sonic Youth, in particular, Kim Gordon. Since their formation in 1998, the group has released four incredible albums and a staggering number of singles throughout their relatively short but intensely influential career. Having met Verity Susman (lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist) in secondary school at an early age, Emma Gaze (drummer), and the two effortlessly established a bond that quickly led to a liberating language spoken in melody. Gaze takes us through the trials and tribulations of being in an all-female group, the ups and downs of navigating the electrifying ecosystem of the music industry, and their humble legacy that continues to inspire to this day.

Everyone needs a push in life to reassure them that there’s something worth pursuing once you transcend the obstacles and emotional elements that lie ahead. Austin-based singer-songwriter, Jana Horn, has creatively conquered those harmonious hardships of being a musician with her most recent, self-titled effort, and highly anticipated follow-up to 2023’s “The Window Is The Dream”. While carefully navigating the terrors and madness of our current times, Horn finds blistering balance in her poetic process by leaning into herself and relying on the soul’s sonic connection to share, grieve, express, and manifest the subjects within.

From the Windy City to the culturally cosmic City of Angels, community organizer, graphic designer, artist, synthesist, and educator Jeremiah Chiu has a career in the universe of sound that echoes the vibrations of the greats before him. Blending the melodies of the machine with the natural world and its organic oscillations, the multi-dimensional musician embraces the shapeshifting soundscapes of LA by moving from one genre to another, collaborating with various groups and projects, like Jeff Parker, Ben Lumsdaine, Marta Sofia Honer, and the highly praised quintet SML, along the way.

The LA-based singer-songwriter and guitar extraordinaire Emmett Kelly, no, not that Emmett Kelly, though we owe so much to the late, trailblazer of clown culture, but the Emmett Kelly of such groups as The Cairo Gang, Natural Information Society, Ty Segall, The CIA, and, most recently, the acclaimed supergroup the Hard Quartet, has become a household name among his peers. While simultaneously bending one reality of music with another, the veteran musician has played alongside countless legends throughout his nearly thirty-year career, and he’s only getting started. Like a cosmic chameleon, Kelly embraces creative and critical change in a world that constantly shifts for better or worse. Thank God for music!

Imagine if Thijs Van Leer, Keith Emerson, and Rick Wakeman all traveled to the foreseeable future on some sonic ship across several galaxies in search of a specific pianist to form one of the most exciting and epic quartets in music history. They locate the Los Angeles-based player Zach Tenorio in the harmonious hills of the city’s cosmic circle of liberating lumineers and psychedelic purists, and quickly bring him back to the year 1973. If this were to happen, and who’s to say it couldn’t, Tenorio would be at the top of that liberating list of spiritual subjects selected for such a feat. While capturing the essence of Mort Garson, Stevie Wonder, Rick Wakeman, and Tony Banks, the prolific musician has effortlessly carried the tonal torch of his heroes into uncharted territory as a trailblazer of his own generation.

For over 40 years, Australian-based singer-songwriter, poet, visual artist, and all-around champion of creative culture, Paul Kelly, has inspired several generations of musicians and artists through his iconic intensity, prolific power, and atmospheric ability to shapeshift like no one else before him. From the Dots, Coloured Girls, and the Messengers, Kelly’s output transcends his contemporaries by setting the spiritual stage where boundaries are beautifully blurred, and the cosmic curtains are pulled back only to reveal a master at work. Kelly’s most recent album, “Seventy”, explores themes like sex, death, love, grief, memory, friendship, and having “lived a long time.” Its overall capacity to explore the human condition is borderline religious, as the veteran songwriter's sincere testament takes shape across the album’s 13 tracks. There’ll never be another Paul Kelly, and thank God he exists in the first place.

From the spiritual streets of LA to the prolific psychedelia embedded in the melodic memories of Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter Matt Kivel has been pushing the tonal tides for nearly two decades, becoming a beacon for his generation. Having just finished a small run of stellar shows with Kentucky legends Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Ryan Davis (Roadhouse Band, Sophomore Lounge), while simultaneously supporting his latest effort “Escape from L.A.,” it is without a doubt that Kivel’s tender thumb is on the pulse of something extraordinary. While it’s up to us to keep our eyes and ears open and ready for the sonic signals that may pass through, let’s not forget that everything leading up to where you are now made the present possible. And Kivel’s music is a poetic product of those possibilities, and its harmonious height.

From 1990 to 1996, Hartford, CT-based illustrator David Opie created some of the most iconic Grateful Dead merch for Liquid Blue of the decade. His sophisticated style ranged from playful to grateful, while maintaining that fierce familiarity the band is so well known for. From skulls to psychedelic prairies, and everything else in between, Opie landed the design gig right out of art school without any clue he’d be spending the better part of a decade working closely with one of his favorite bands. Over the years, his work has become legendary amongst collectors, sonic scholars, heads, and even celebrities.

Thomas W.B. Hardy, known professionally as Lester Square, is a household name within the post-punk/new wave world that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the UK, and has since become a lyrical legend among his peers and cultural contemporaries over the last half-century. After leaving the earliest formation of Adam And The Ants, Square went on to form the highly influential The Monochrome Set with Indian-born singer-songwriter Ganesh Seshadri, whose impeccable influence inspired such groups as The Smiths, Orange Juice, and Franz Ferdinand, among others, over the years. Throughout his career, the veteran musician and visual artist has released several solo albums and regularly contributes to organizations such as TES (Times Educational Supplement), and is outspoken about the ongoing concerns of climate change and environmental extremes.