Podcasts formed in Oslo in late 2018, bringing together four work colleagues – Ellis Jones (Trust Fund), Kyle Devine, Tore Størvold and Emil Kraugerud – who just happened to have a music rehearsal room in their basement.
Their first demo recordings were released as a double single (‘Dragging The Lake’ / ‘First Things First’) in September 2019 on Oslo’s Snertingdal Records. Their debut album was recorded in Oslo in late 2019, and was almost complete before Covid hit, during which time half the band moved away from Oslo. The band finally reunited in May 2023 to put the finishing touches on their record. Podcasts (the album), which came out on Prefect Records in August 2023, consists of 11 mostly short, mostly fast songs, drawing on the band members’ diverse musical backgrounds, but centered safely within the realm of indie rock. Some songs sound like they contain three or more little compositions, but that’s probably just the sound of Podcasts.

Their Mixtape:

Cowtown – Motivational Speaker

Ellis: Cowtown are a Leeds DIY band who’ve been around for sixty or seventy years at this point. They play party music that’s a joy to watch: technical skill, joyful presence, and real camaraderie. I think Podcasts try to offer some of the same. Our song ‘Amazing!’ borrows heavily on the kind of guitar work that’s evident in this Cowtown song. It’s a riff that’s both static and fluid – keeping you grounded while getting you moving.

Robert Palmer – Looking for Clues

Ellis: I confess that our song Dragging the Lake started life as an imitation of this song – which in turn I read as a bit of a Prince rip-off. I love its combination of levity and sincerity. The funk is almost-intense, but undercut by some synth nonsense; the lyric is mildly existential but also having lots of fun with word-swapping. I hope that Dragging the Lake captures some of that ambivalence as well. Our track ended up as quite a driving rock song, but if you listen closely perhaps you can hear some underlying rhythmic similarity, as well as a direct theft of the modulation in the verses.

Hey, Wait! - Bond

Tore: Podcast’s first ever show was a split with this wonderful band in Oslo. It was a memorable night. Our friends in Hey, Wait! played a killer set showcasing their crisp, spacious style of indie rock infused with real pop songcraft. This song just sounds Oslo to me. Best enjoyed on cold autumn mornings gazing at a body of water of your choice. Make sure to wear a scarf for that guitar solo.

Radiohead – Knives Out

Tore: This is my favorite Radiohead song and a song that’s very dear to me. Listen closely to the drum kit: there’s something about this specific tempo and the placement of the snare hits that inspired the groove I brought to our song Hesitation. Jonny Greenwood’s guitar is my kind of beauty. Not sure Ellis would agree as, by his own admission, he ‘doesn’t like Radiohead’. Which is, like, an opinion.
Emil: When we were mixing the record in Oslo, we all went to a The Smile concert. Tore loved it!

Ponctuation – Exil

Emil: When we started playing together (early 2019), I had just come back from some time in Québec, where I came across this brilliant band. Their down-to-earth psychedelic garage rock, with poetically simple 12-string electric guitar lines and anti-show-off solos, is probably the solution to any problem. I’m pretty sure some of that seeped into our lullaby 21:59 but who knows?

Are You Having Fun Yet – Are You Having Fun Yet?

Emil: Are You Having Fun Yet (there’s a Nickelback reference in there, for sure) were a short-lived Oslo-band who we at some point tried to get a gig with. Unfortunately, they had already stopped playing together. Luckily, they did release an amazing album, full of energetic basslines, warm synths and late 80s reverb.

Nina Nastasia – Our Day Trip

Kyle: In Podcasts, we think of our songs as mostly short and mostly fast. Our Day Trip is neither. Not exactly. But it’s a song that says what it has to say, and no more. Which I like. This is the economy that I was trying to imitate in First Things First. And Nastasia’s song is characteristically desolating. Which I also like.

Roger Miller – Dang Me

Kyle: There’s just something about struggle and stupidity sung happily. Or levity sung heavily. Either way, sad–glad combos really get me.

Swearin’ – Big Change

Kyle: I’m cheating and listing a third track, because the other two I’ve mentioned are in-the-spirit-of influences. This one is more of a soundalike, in my mind anyway. I was often listening to Fall Into the Sun around the beginning of Podcasts. Swearin’ sounds to me like the 1990s were casked, aged well, and tapped decades later. They also remind me of a band called Haunter, who sound like a summer road trip on the Manitoba prairies.

Podcasts is out now on Prefect Records. Look HERE for more information on Podcasts.