An Interview With Phil Elverum: Exploring the Artistry That Led to “Microphones in 2020.”
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- Sweet little interview I did back in late October 2020 featuring Phil Elverum, the driving force behind The Microphones and Mount Eerie :) Interviewed by me, nwebb, a member of WHRB - Harvard University's Radio Broadcasting Station, which has been Boston's first source for exciting, entertaining, and enlightening music broadcasts for over 70 years!
Article about the interview: www.whrb.org/a...
This interview (my first interview ever!) loosely follows Phil's rise to masterful artistry, jumping around the little details that many of us learned to appreciate from Phil's music.
Tune in to learn a little more about Phil, from personal facts, opinions, and stories!
Towards the end of the interview, you will also encounter some discussion about Phil's experience in the music industry, especially given the fact that he has his own record label (P.W. Elverum & Sun.) Listen in for Phil's brief, yet important, announcement about Spotify's not-so-great services. 41:50
Just in case anyone is interested, here's the article covering the interview! www.whrb.org/archive/phil-elverum
Phil gives of the same vibe as a really great high school English teacher
W
I red: as a HIGH school teacher
this interview is only 1 minute longer than microphones in 2020
So incredible! It doesn't seem like Phil does a lot of interviews so it's awesome to see him show up here!
Sometimes, artists are more interesting through their work than directly, in interviews. Not so, with Phil. This is a great interview and it solidifies my respect and appreciation for the man and his work.
Well done, what a great first interview! Love Phil's stuff and it was lovely to hear a long form relaxed interview with him :)
thanks! happy to hear that :)
Really excellent interview my guy. I've been listening to Phil's stuff for going on 2 decades. The last several years I've returned to these prayerful albums of loss and wonder. I'd like to chill with Phil sometime. He's asking the right questions. He hears the heartbeat of this existence.
thank u so much! this is an awesome comment, and it's so crazy to hear that you've been listening for so long!
Phil's such an interesting character, so I really enjoyed this. Great job!
Had an overseas trip to Washington state planned last year. Airbnb booked in Anacortes, to explore the area that inspired so much of his work. Still planning on going when possible.
that's so dope! hope it goes well :)
that would be such a cool pilgrimage. maybe phil would walk you up mount erie.
@@elinsound I moved to WA a couple years ago, namely because of the sheer beauty here and to pursue my dream as an artist and musician. I frequently do day trips to Fidalgo Island and take my guitar up Mt Erie to invoke some inspiration lol. It's such a beautiful state. I'm never leaving!
For those that visit, the Olympic Peninsula is absolutely stunning. Must visit!
I had a psychedelic experience while climbing Mt. Eerie in thick fog...while listening to the album Mt. Eerie
This is a very stellar interview
Every question you've asked shed more light on Phil as an idealist and it's very inspiring to see and Phil is very polite and just makes it feel more like a conversation than anything. Cool work
yeah phil was awesome to talk to! thanks for the compliments!
His house looks like it smells awesome.
such calm and introspective energy in this interview i love it lots
haha i was really nervous at first but Phil was just too chill so it made it a lot easier
i love how these guys are both so soft spoken
Why this is only getting recommended to me now youtube ? At least 10k views on microphones in 2020 are mine...smh.. damn algorythm
Phil is open and generous in his answers. Seems down-to-earth. This interview gives some insight into his artistry which I appreciate.
Thanks for sharing this conversation with us.
thank you for listening in :)
This is really cooool!
It's quite a year now since I began to hear phil's music and I haven't seen a closer look to his point of view this intimate never. It's really lovely and I and surely a lot of people appreciate this kind of afforts. Thanks a lot for sharing it:)
thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it really means a lot :') and yes it was such an honor to talk to phil, he's so gr8!
Great interview. Phil just radiates empathy and intelligence.
Awesome that Phil was willing to do this. I am a big fan and will point a lot of viewers from the VC ( Vinyl Community) this way
thank you so much! i really appreciate it!
for a first interview ever this is pretty cool
“Which instrument is your favorite to play?
“I don’t really have a favorite”
“Fair that’s fair”
This was really nice to watch and listen to. If this was your first time doing an interview, you did a superb job! You really gave Phil a chance to speak and you asked a lot of good questions. This is the first interview I've ever seen with Phil, but he seems like a very kind person.
Great interview, and thanks to Phil for doing this! :)
@@vincentskater thanks a bunch! he made it really easy to hold a conversation with :))
This is a fantastic interview, as others have said. Phil doesn't do a ton of interviews and it's really nice to know that you know your stuff about his work. To kinda ponder on a thing Phil said, I'm fascinated by his response to the Lil Peep question. I understand his feelings in general, but the point specifically relating to the idea of "surrendering and checking out" seems odd, especially when quickly responding to the next question about Sonic Youth and the alt rock boom of the 90s. I'm curious if those feelings developed out of the lives lost during that era like Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain. Sonic Youth were tied pretty closely to drugs and a lot of the apathy that he critiques. I'd love to hear a follow up response to that. I have the same sort of feeling about apathy and it's recent resurgence as a 23 year old. its so similar to the 90s and we're losing great artists to very similar things, so I wonder if it's a subconscious response.
Aside from the rambling, coming from the recent live stream and QnA, this interview feels so nice because you really care about his work and want to know more. Keep up the good work man! I peeped the dorm room furniture in the background, so if you're preparing this good of an interview in college, you've got great things ahead!
appreciate this comment so much, thank you! and yeah sonic youth was undoubtedly tied to that, I wonder what he'd have to say about that as well. how was the live stream and QnA? I knew about it but wasn't able to attend sadly :(
Pretty dope. Crazy how you got Phil.
I really enjoyed this interview. You really give it a charm. It's as if Julian Koster was asking the questions.
This is amazing man:) such a privilege, thank you so much for your incredible work!
thank you for being interested and watching!!! means a ton :)
Wow! Lucky first interview. Congrats dude!
I have another tab open quietly playing Microphones in 2020. Its also 45min long just like this interview.
thanks!! and yeah that's an awesome way to watch this haha
such a lovely interview
The wholesome content we need right now. Thank you!
ty for watching!
Now to get into university radio so I could interview Phil :DDDD
heck yeah! looking forward to watching that someday :)
This is awkward in a warm way that's hard to describe
pretty much
Absolutely love Phil, thank you for posting this
This was a great interview, congrats!
brilliant interviewer.
asks great questions and really lets phil speak
Great interview! Interviews with Phil are few and far between, so this is a real treat!
amazing interview, glad you did this
lov u and phil
lomch u and phily too
very pleasant interview!
great interview mate
ty!
It was very interesting and, dare I say, peaceful. - Thank to both of you.
Thank you for this, made my day really
thank u for watching!!!!
sick interview! great job
much appreciated!
phil has such nice teeth
fax
Don't forget his rosy glow.
great interview! Phil is so sweet
I love him so much.
great interview :)
gracias
I loved it, thank you!
Good stuff 💕
ty!!
Exactly what I imagined his house would look like
Great interview
great interview!
How’d I miss this
I love
thank you
noooo, thank you!!!!
Wonderful interview
Enjoyable interview. 👍
30:05 "I'm not into the glorification of drugs or checking out or disengagement or, I don't know...like, surrender, basically. I want young people of the future to feel like life is for living an to not, like, pursue numbness." See also, "Don't Smoke / Get Off the Internet" pwelverumandsun.bandcamp.com/album/dont-smoke-get-off-the-internet-7
See if panda bear would want to be interviewed
that would b sick
I don't agree that streaming services are inherently bad or unfair. To people like Phil who have been making music for 20+ years it will inevitably seem this way but in principle the algorithmic component is both democratic and meritocratic. You aren't going to make huge money but given that there is 10x more content now it makes sense that that content has depreciated in value. It's not "fair" that most artists will only make small amounts of money from it but it also wasn't "fair" during the 90s that only artists signed to a label had any realistic chance of getting exposure.
Now, that's in theory, not practice. In practice the demand for streaming is growing and the democratic element is slipping away as spotify make more and more corporate deals and the online music sphere slowly becomes just as corporatised as the TV world was 20 years ago. In my opinion we should be working to change this from within. Not by trying to turn them into a platform that somehow magically creates an environment in which ordinary, modern consumers (who are constantly offered content for free by unknown artists) are realistically going to spend $5 on every album they listen to. This was feasible before, but it's just not going to happen now and for most of us getting into a spotify playlist is probably one of our best chances of getting some exposure.
Let's stop them from turning into a label, let's try and get them to pay us a larger share of what they get but let's work with them. It's the only way forward, you simply will not compete with that level of value and convenience in a world where people still eat tortured animals because it tastes better and it's cheaper. I'm not saying we shouldn't hope for a better future and I think it's cool that Phil took a stand for himself and others but personally I'm pretty happy with the opportunities afforded to me by spotify's system and I know that I won't get them on bandcamp unless I'm one of Bandcamp's chosen ones or I'm part of a larger network of artists that allows me external exposure which I can then direct to bandcamp. The few hundred dollars I've made from streaming as a relatively unknown artist is a lot more than I've made on bandcamp in that time.
How does one mess up a simple interview….
One doesn't. Not sure if we're watching different interviews or not, but Phil seemed really comfortable answers the host’s questions