Podcasts by Couch Wisdom

Hip-hop original Madlib from 2019-06-24T08:00

Whether he’s working with artists like Freddie Gibbs, MF Doom or Erykah Badu, collaborating with the late J Dilla, or working under one of his own aliases, like the drugged out party creature Quasi...

Can's Damo Suzuki from 2019-06-17T08:00

Damo Suzuki left Japan in his late teens and busked around Europe, attracting the attention of Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit of the band Can. Suzuki became their lead vocalist from 1970 to 1973,...

Transcendent pop star Robyn from 2019-06-10T08:00

Robyn’s career reads like a film script: Swedish star tops of the charts, sidesteps pop for a more personal sound, ends up self-sufficient and even bigger than before. This second chapter has inclu...

Essential French DJ Laurent Garnier from 2019-06-03T08:00

One of the forefathers of French electronic music, Laurent Garnier had an older brother who would sneak him into nightclubs. He caught the disco bug and moved to Manchester, falling under the spell...

Pan Daijing: Sound, Performance, Emotion from 2019-05-27T08:00

The Chinese experimental artist Pan Daijing's attention to granular detail makes for a deeply absorbing listening experience. Since being an RBMA participant in Montréal in 2016, she's released her...

Detroit techno originator Kevin Saunderson from 2019-05-20T08:00

While Juan Atkins and Derrick May are known as the originator and innovator of Detroit techno, respectively, Kevin Saunderson is known as the elevator for bringing it to the mainstream. In the late...

Sound engineer Susan Rogers from 2019-05-13T08:00

Susan Rogers dropped out of high school to teach herself sound engineering. By 25, she worked for Crosby, Stills and Nash at their Rudy Records studio. Rogers spent five years working for Prince, a...

Funktion-One's Tony Andrews from 2019-05-06T08:00

Tony Andrews has been building PAs for decades. Today, the soundsystems made by his company Funktion-One are preferred by the world’s best clubs. Their speakers are more iconic than you might expec...

Cellist Larry Gold: From MFSB to "The Boy Is Mine" from 2019-04-29T08:00

Philadelphia native Larry Gold has worked on countless hits over the past four decades. He was a member of MFSB, helping shape “The Sound of Philadelphia" via classic recordings on Philadelphia Int...

Rap mainstay No I.D. from 2019-04-22T08:00

A pivotal figure in the ’90s Chicago rap scene, producer No I.D. is responsible for the bulk of Common’s early output. He went on to manage a young Kanye West and work with Jermaine Dupri and Jay-Z...

Sun Ra Arkestra's Marshall Allen from 2019-04-15T08:00

Marshall Allen is the third man to helm the Sun Ra Arkestra. The alto saxophonist joined the group in 1958 and led its reed section for over 40 years. For this episode, Allen was joined by Danny Ra...

Club and pop music polymath Jam City from 2019-04-08T08:00

The roster for UK electronic label Night Slugs is stacked with talent, so it’s no small praise to say that British producer, songwriter and DJ Jack Latham, AKA Jam City, is one of the label’s most ...

Singular rapper Pusha T from 2019-04-01T08:00

Born in the Bronx and raised in Virginia Beach, Terrence LeVarr Thornton, AKA Pusha T, is one of the most influential rappers alive. He and his brother No Malice formed rap duo Clipse, whose Neptun...

Definitive American composer Philip Glass from 2019-03-25T09:00

Philip Glass' compositions transformed the world of classical music and, eventually, popular music in general. Time spent in Paris set Glass on a course toward the repetitive, dramatic and conceptu...

Teki Latex on his musical evolution from 2019-03-18T09:00

Teki Latex is a progressive presence in the French electronic music scene. He got his start as a founding MC in Parisian hip-hop act TTC, along with collaborators including DJ Orgasmic and Para One...

House music legends Masters At Work from 2019-03-11T09:00

"Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez have spent more than 20 years shepherding dance music down new paths. With remixes being their specialty, their treatment has been given to artists fro...

Mixpak's Dre Skull from 2019-03-04T09:00

Raised on the East Coast underground freak-punk scene, Dre Skull perceives urban music culture as a holistic affair. After lacing beats for heavy hitters such as Beenie Man, Popcaan and Pusha T, th...

Ben UFO on joining the dots as a DJ from 2019-02-25T09:00

London’s Ben UFO started out on pirate radio station Sub FM in 2007, playing alongside friends, producers and DJs Pangaea and Pearson Sound. After being sent new music every week, the trio started ...

Pop radical Planningtorock from 2019-02-18T09:00

For Jam Rostron, the multimedia artist who performs as Planningtorock, subversion – in gender, sexuality and politics – has driven their creativity for almost two decades. After the melodramatic po...

Piano adventurer Chilly Gonzales from 2019-02-11T09:00

Pianist, composer and entertainer Chilly Gonzales is no ordinary musician. Originally from Canada, he scored a Grammy for his contribution to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and seamlessly switc...

Drummer and hitmaker Sheila E from 2019-02-04T09:00

Sheila E is a world-class drummer and percussionist who's worked with some of the most acclaimed artists of all time, including Marvin Gaye, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock and Diana Ross. She was Prince’s...

Montréal engineer Howard Bilerman from 2019-01-28T09:00

Grammy-nominated Howard Bilerman is a former member of Arcade Fire and the engineer for the band's breakthrough album, Funeral. Throughout his prolific career he has worked with over 400 artists, i...

Berlin icon Gudrun Gut from 2019-01-21T09:00

Gudrun Gut has been at the forefront of Berlin music for decades. She cofounded Einstürzende Neubauten and went on to play in bands like Malaria! and Mania D. In the ’90s Gut founded Moabit Music a...

Canadian composer Kara-Lis Coverdale from 2019-01-14T09:00

Kara-Lis Coverdale became organist and composing music director at a local church in Ontario at 14. After studying musicology and composition, she moved to Montréal and befriended Tim Hecker, playi...

Minimal Wave's Veronica Vasicka from 2019-01-07T09:00

Veronica Vasicka has unearthed countless gems and revived a subgenre with Minimal Wave, the label she founded in 2005. Vasicka’s sound was partly cultivated via online radio station East Village Ra...

Production duo Christian Rich from 2018-12-17T09:00

Taiwo and Kehinde Hassan AKA Christian Rich have created some of the most progressive rap productions of the ’10s. After producing for artists like Foxy Brown and Lil Kim in the ’00s, Rich racked u...

German music icon Manuel Göttsching from 2018-12-10T09:00

Manuel Göttsching is one of Germany's most influential talents. In the ’70s, he co-founded pioneering krautrock group Ash Ra Tempel and released several works of minimalist guitar music. In 1984, h...

Electronic original Jlin from 2018-12-03T09:00

After discovering footwork while majoring in math at Purdue University, Jlin began studying from genre pioneers like RP Boo and DJ Rashad. Her track “Erotic Heat” caught the attention of Mike Parad...

House godfather Frankie Knuckles from 2018-11-26T09:00

Born in the Bronx, Frankie Knuckles grew up during the early days of disco and was a regular at the Loft and the Gallery. He cut his DJ teeth with Larry Levan before heading to Chicago, where he he...

DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad: Taking footwork to the world from 2018-11-19T09:00

When footwork first erupted in Chicago, few were able to put names to the music behind the wild dancing. Gradually, DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad (who passed away in 2014) emerged as prime movers, with a ...

Footwork originator RP Boo from 2018-11-12T09:00

Chicago producer Kavain Space, AKA RP Boo, invented footwork with his 1997 track “Baby Come On.” By upping the tempo of ghetto house, he established a new template for an entire generation of dance...

Inimitable DJ and producer Objekt from 2018-11-05T09:00

Many musicians genre-hop, but few have an inventive take on every style they touch. Cue Objekt. Across his output on labels like Hessle Audio, Leisure System and PAN, audacious sound design and arr...

Experimental artist Fatima Al Qadiri from 2018-10-29T09:00

Senegal-born, Kuwait-raised and Berlin-residing producer Fatima Al Qadiri pulls together personal and political geographies. As a child, she experienced the Gulf War firsthand – a trauma that was f...

Synth guru and producer Malcolm Cecil from 2018-10-22T08:00

Malcolm Cecil was in a series of ’50s and ’60s jazz bands, but it was the synthesizer that really excited him. With Bob Margouleff he formed T.O.N.T.O.’s Expanding Head Band. The name was an acrony...

Monolake's Robert Henke from 2018-10-15T08:00

Robert Henke is one of the most significant figures in electronic music. Along with Gerhard Behles, Henke developed Ableton Live, the DAW that allows musicians to store and trigger samples during s...

Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto: Electronic Luminaries in Collaboration from 2018-10-08T08:00

Ryuichi Sakamoto came to fame with Yellow Magic Orchestra, along with solo work and collaborations with the likes of David Byrne, Thomas Dolby, Iggy Pop and Berlin-based electronic artist Alva Noto...

Modeselektor: Anarchic Berlin Techno from 2018-10-01T07:50:50

Hailing from Germany, Modeselektor work in a variety of tempos and styles with an emphasis on big, warpy synth sounds and heavy basslines that can threaten foundations. With plenty of artist albums...

Techno innovator Richie Hawtin from 2018-09-24T08:00

Richie Hawtin always pushes the envelope: he started Plus 8 Records with John Acquaviva, formed the M-nus empire and developed Final Scratch. His works as F.U.S.E., the delicious desolation of Plas...

Berlin electronic/punk icon Hanin Elias from 2018-09-17T08:00

After her family moved to Berlin, Hanin Elias ran away from home and into the city’s punk and hardcore scene. In 1992 she formed Atari Teenage Riot with Alec Empire and MC Carl Crack, fusing punk a...

Mastering Engineer Mike Grinser from 2018-09-10T08:00

Mike Grinser made his name as one half of Manmade Mastering, alongside Tim Xavier. In addition, Grinser also works at Berlin's renowned Dubplates & Mastering. Grinser was a rock fan before being tu...

Alexander Hacke and Gareth Jones: On Berlin's '80s Underground from 2018-09-03T08:00

Alexander Hacke joined the influential Einstürzende Neubauten shortly after the band’s formation in 1980. Gareth Jones worked at the iconic Hansa Tonstudio, adding an industrial edge to recordings ...

Atari Teenage Riot Founder Alec Empire from 2018-08-27T10:20:21

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, a young Alec Empire looked to the rebellious sounds of techno, acid house and punk to inform a new project: Atari Teenage Riot. The trio debuted in 1992 and b...

South African House Music Master Black Coffee from 2018-08-20T08:00

Black Coffee, real name Nathi Maphumulo, serves as Durban's house music elder statesman. His style is, in his words, “home-brewed but future-focused.” Maphumulo's recording career began in 2005 wit...

Keyboardist and Funk Icon Bernie Worrell from 2018-08-13T08:00

Bernie Worrell came to prominence as a founding member Parliament/Funkadelic, radically utilizing emerging keyboard technology during the golden age of synths. Later, he resurfaced with the Talking...

Atlanta Super-Producer Mike WiLL Made-It from 2018-08-06T08:00

The Atlanta-born Michael Williams’ journey began with a gift from his father, a Korg ES-1 sampler, followed by his first break: producing for hometown hero Gucci Mane. While the man best known as M...

Calypso Icon and Activist Harry Belafonte from 2018-07-30T08:00

Grammy Award-winning musician, actor and activist Harry Belafonte is one of the most successful Jamaican-American artists of all time, renowned for bringing the Caribbean sound to the international...

Throbbing Gristle's Cosey Fanni Tutti from 2018-07-23T08:03:49

Starting her career in the late 1960s, Cosey Fanni Tutti went on to become a seismic force in experimental music. Whether delivering confrontational performance art as part of COUM Transmissions, p...

Bob Marley&the Wailers Guitarist Junior Marvin from 2018-07-16T06:00

Originally a rock and blues guitarist, Junior Marvin became a member of Bob Marley & The Wailers from 1977 to 1981 after getting into reggae through Toots & The Maytals. He continued playing with t...

Mastering Engineer Rashad Becker from 2018-07-09T08:24:59

Around Berlin, Rashad Becker’s name is synonymous with sonic brilliance — a mastering engineer at the famed Dubplates & Mastering studio, he put the finishing touches on over 1,200 of your favorite...

'Lost in Translation' Music Supervisor Brian Reitzell from 2018-07-02T09:08:41

Brian Reitzell is best known for his contributions to films by Sofia Coppola, including 'The Virgin Suicides,' 'Lost in Translation' and 'Marie Antoinette,' but he’s also composed scores for the fo...

CW_RBMA_Couch_Wisdom_with_Tune_Yards.15295033491260412_192 from 2018-06-25T16:08

TOKiMONSTA: LA's Queen of Blissed-Out Beats from 2018-06-18T07:24:32

If there’s one thing TOKiMONSTA taught us since attending the 2010 Academy as a participant, it’s that she’s never one to settle. Linking up Flying Lotus and the mighty Brainfeeder empire has led t...

Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier: French Indie Icon from 2018-06-11T09:49:32

For many young indie music fans making their way through the "alternative" section of their local record store in the mid-90s, it was the music of Stereolab, and in particular the voice of chanteus...

DJ Storm: First Lady of Drum&Bass from 2018-06-04T07:33:09

Few nicknames in dance music have been as rightfully earned as DJ Storm's "First Lady of Drum & Bass." It all began in early 90s London, when she discovered the weird and wonderful world of UK rave...

Equiknoxx: Kingston's Dancehall Innovators from 2018-05-28T08:19:05

Over the past decade Equiknoxx has become one of the most innovative production crews in Kingston, Jamaica. After working with some of the biggest names in dancehall – Aidonia, Beenie Man, T.O.K – ...

Robert Hood: Detroit Techno Giant from 2018-05-21T05:00

As one of the founding members of the legendary Detroit techno crew Underground Resistance – alongside Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills – Robert Hood’s legacy in the electronic music world is almost p...

Beverly Glenn-Copeland: The Unifying Power of Music from 2018-05-14T09:50:55

Beverly Glenn-Copland worked for years in children's television, notably composing music for Sesame Street, but when his 1984 electronic album Keyboard Fantasies was reissued by Invisible City Edit...

Drake Producer Boi-1da from 2018-05-07T05:46:14

Thanks to an early partnership with Drake, hip-hop producer Boi-1da helped define a new sound of Toronto. Playing yin to Noah "40" Shebib's yang, he made his mark with hit songs like "Best I Ever H...

Laurie Anderson: On Art and Tragedy from 2018-04-30T07:24:23

On November 16th, 2015, in the wake of devastating attacks in Paris, Laurie Anderson joined us on the lecture couch to talk about how art and artists respond to tragedy. Back in the ’70s, Anderson ...

Oneohtrix Point Never: Electronic Iconoclast from 2018-04-27T16:42:04

In this special edition of Couch Wisdom, we meet Oneohtrix Point Never, a confounding electronic musician who deploys the anxiety of the digital age to stunning effect. In one of the first intervie...

'80s Hitmaker Trevor Horn from 2018-04-23T08:26:10

Trevor Horn found massive success with The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," but he also produced some of the biggest hits of the 80s, including landmark records with ABC and Malcolm McLaren....

Young Guru: Jay-Z's Engineer from 2018-04-16T07:00

Young Guru is more than just an engineer. As Jay-Z's right-hand man in the studio, he oversees everything from sequencing to mixing, and his work on "Empire State of Mind" earned him a Grammy nomin...

Steve Reich: Pioneering Minimalist Composer from 2018-04-09T05:18:19

Hailed as the world’s “greatest living composer,” Steve Reich helped pioneer American minimalist music alongside Philip Glass, Terry Riley and John Adams – although Reich himself prefers the term p...

Ka: Rap's Single-Minded Force from 2018-04-02T02:30

Ka witnessed the genesis of hip-hop growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn. But it wasn't until his first album made its way to GZA that things began to change. In control of everything – rhymes, beat...

Joan La Barbara: Vocal Virtuoso from 2018-03-26T06:00:42

Vocal virtuoso and sound artist Joan La Barbara looms large in experimental music. From multiphonic singing to circular breathing, she’s developed a whole new vocabulary of trills, whispers, cries ...

Hudson Mohawke from 2018-03-19T03:30

Hudson Mohawke’s ascent has seen him go from playing Glasgow house parties to releasing two solo albums for Warp, producing with Lunice as the gargantuan duo TNGHT (which led a new wave in trap mus...

Syd from 2018-03-12T04:00

LA native Syd found early success producing tracks and DJing on tour for Odd Future, and in 2017, she released her debut studio album Fin. In her 2017 lecture as part of the Red Bull Music Academy ...

Alice Bag from 2018-03-05T03:00

Born in East Los Angeles to immigrant Mexican parents, Alice Bag first embraced music’s riotous energy when she founded the Bags with Patricia Morrison in 1977. The band made an indelible mark on t...

Edgar Wright from 2018-02-26T03:44:39

Director Edgar Wright is known for parodying cinematic tropes, as seen in 2004’s zombie horror mash-up Shaun of the Dead. His latest movie, Baby Driver, became the surprise summer blockbuster of 20...

Debbie Harry&Chris Stein from 2018-02-19T05:01:03

As Blondie's founding members, Chris Stein and Debbie Harry inspired kids and rebels around the world at the turn of the '80s. With classic songs like "Heart Of Glass" and "The Tide Is High," they ...

Questlove from 2018-02-12T03:30

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is a living link between the digital science of modern hip hop and the flesh-and-blood textures of vintage R&B. He's helped shape the sound of neo-soul with The Roots, th...

George Clinton from 2018-02-05T07:03:25

Music as we know it would look a lot different (and less colorful) without the contributions of George Clinton. From his early musical beginnings at Motown, he went on to form the bands Parliament ...

Holly Herndon from 2018-01-29T08:07:37

Holly Herndon is obsessed with the intersection between mind, body and technology. Her music tackles her complicated relationship with the internet, the NSA, Max/MSP software, and her own voice; cr...

Dev Hynes from 2018-01-22T06:56:53

Liberation of soul and mind is essential to the work of Dev Hynes. In addition to crafting socially-minded R&B as Blood Orange, he's worked with artists ranging from Solange Knowles and Nelly Furta...

Q-Tip from 2018-01-15T07:38:13

As a member of A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip helped shape the sound of hip-hop in the '90s. The group became a blueprint for MCs looking to balance the literate and the absurd, as well as producers s...

Matana Roberts from 2018-01-08T08:31:54

Chicago-born saxophonist Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin series – named after a freed slave and businesswoman – openly questions the American jazz tradition while paying homage to it. In her lecture at t...

Ice-T from 2018-01-01T03:00

Ice-T introduced himself as one of the West Coast’s most electrifying rappers. He recorded a string of classic hip-hop albums in the late ’80s, broadening his palette with the infamous Body Count p...

Jam&Lewis from 2017-12-25T03:00

Meeting in the ’70s Minneapolis music scene that produced Prince, songwriting and production duo Jam & Lewis have crafted classics for Janet Jackson, Human League, George Michael, Usher, Mary J. Bl...

Jah Shaka from 2017-12-18T03:00

Jah Shaka’s legendary dubs, spiritual message and chest-rattling soundsystem symbolise a deep meaning in sound. Coming from Jamaica to London in the late ’50s, his young life was embedded within th...

Kindness from 2017-12-11T03:00

Pop singer and producer Kindness has a deep understanding of how music ties into identity and ways of seeing the world. Having collaborated with Dev Hynes, Kelela, Robyn and more, his outlook on ho...

The Black Madonna from 2017-12-04T10:46:43

One of the most respected DJs working today, The Black Madonna has never shied away from speaking up for women, people of color and the LGBTQ community, both on and off the dancefloor. In her lectu...

Kaytranada from 2017-11-27T04:00

An unofficial Janet Jackson remix put Kaytranada on the map, but the Haitian-born beatmaker has emerged as the next in a long line of talents from Montreal. His debut album for XL Recordings netted...

Pauline Oliveros from 2017-11-20T01:05:34

One of electronic music’s most important early figures, Pauline Oliveros dedicated her life to sound. An original member of the pioneering San Francisco Tape Music Center, she also founded the Deep...

Che Pope from 2017-11-13T03:00

As the chief operating officer of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, Che Pope is one of the most influential figures in US rap and hip-hop culture. In his lecture from the 2015 Red Bull Music Acade...

Suzanne Ciani from 2017-11-05T22:13:32

Created in the early 1960s, the Buchla synthesizer revolutionized electronic music, but few have pursued its emotional and sonic possibilities as comprehensively as Suzanne Ciani. In her lecture at...

Iggy Pop from 2017-10-30T04:00

Iggy Pop was punk before punk even existed. His band The Stooges created some of the most potent rock music the world had ever heard, and his high-wire collaborations with David Bowie are the stuff...

Mtume from 2017-10-23T02:00

James Mtume may have crafted iconic LPs with Miles Davis, but it was his transition to R&B master that really set him apart. His duo with Reggie Lucas was an unstoppable force through the ’80s, and...

Moodymann from 2017-10-16T02:00

Moodymann is one of the most enigmatic figures house music ever bred. Despite his refusal to play the press-and-promo game, his voice has been among the loudest when it comes to preserving the rich...

Tanya Tagaq from 2017-10-09T03:00

A powerful voice from Canada’s north, Tanya Tagaq’s take on Inuk throat singing is a fiercely innovative fusion of old and new. In this episode of Couch Wisdom, recorded at the 2016 Red Bull Music ...

Young Thug Engineer Alex Tumay from 2017-10-02T03:00

Nobody knows Atlanta rapper Young Thug quite like audio engineer Alex Tumay. In his lecture from the 2016 Red Bull Music Academy in Montreal, Tumay discusses working with one of the brightest and w...

Björk from 2017-09-25T04:00

Over the last three decades, few musicians have matched Björk’s electrifying output and restless reinvention. In addition to her musical accomplishments she has constantly pushed boundaries in fash...

Introducing Couch Wisdom from 2017-09-05T18:13:19

Introducing Couch Wisdom, the new weekly podcast from Red Bull Music Academy presenting essential conversations with today's most notable music-makers.