Page 55 - Sharp September 2024

STRIKING A CHORD
PODCAST PIONEER AND MUSICIAN HRISHIKESH HIRWAY ON THE SCIENCE BEHIND YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS
By Cormac Newman
POSE THE QUESTION, “WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST?”
to anyone with a pair of AirPods, and they’ll surely name a few titles. Thanks to streaming platforms, new episodes are everywhere. Creators need only a small investment — microphones, editing software, and a pair of headphones — to reach an audience. In 2020, just as there was a run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer, Amazon briefly sold out of podcast mics. If the “now-in-stock” selection is any indication, most of those would-be podcasters moved on shortly after purchase. For a dedicated few, however, those extremely online years turned audio-stars into supernovas. Hrishikesh Hirway is one of those few.
Although he wears many hats, Song Exploder — a podcast-turned-miniseries in which musicians break down their recording process — is what solidified Hirway as a podcast trailblazer. Peppered with guests from Bon Iver to Billie Eilish, the podcast’s 10-year history is a fascinating look inside the recording studio. Speaking with SHARP, Hirway sits on the other side to offer a nuanced take on audio media, and takes us behind the scenes of the podcast.
You’ve scored Netflix series, films, a video game, and then you have musical projects, and four different podcasts. How do you balance all of these different creative outputs? Well, I think of them as separate projects. I go into each of them with very different intentions. So, while I think they have things in common, my aim is different for each. But I think they intertwine [through] my — I guess you would call it a style — of trying to lay these things out.
I’m always thinking about two things. One is the feeling, first and foremost, and the second is having some clarity about the story. The feeling, I think, comes first when it’s music, and the story comes first when it’s a podcast episode.
Do they inform one another? For example, when you put together podcast audio, do you draw from your experi- ences with music?
They’re definitely informing each other. Song Exploder is entirely born out of my music career that preceded it. I wanted to try and figure out how someone did something that felt incredible, that sounded amazing to me, so that I could try and create that same kind of feeling.
I didn’t have formal training. I would just try and re- verse-engineer things that I heard. That’s what inspired Song Exploder. When I had the chance to talk to other people about their songs, I wanted to ask the questions I wished I could ask everybody who makes music I love. Many of the questions were the kinds of questions you’d ask if you were a musician, asopposedtomoregeneralinterviewquestions. Ithinkthat’s part of what made the show appealing to people who come on — it was a way to talk about their work with a level of detail.
You’ve had a huge spectrum of guests, including RAYE, Madonna, Bon Iver, and Norah Jones. What does the song and artist selection look like?
The first thing I consider is whether the artist will be able to tell a great story. The song is like a little keyhole that we’re looking through; it’s the point of view for a mini-biography of the artist.
So, first and foremost, I’m looking for an artist who has something thoughtful, compelling, and personal to say about themselves. I think the artist comes first and the song second, but they go hand-in-hand. Not every song is going to let you into an artist’s brain in the same way.
Something unique to the podcast is the level of respect you have for modern media. A lot of the time, you only see that critical perspective as it relates to classic works. Is that something you’re consciously thinking about? Well, one of the nice things about doing the podcast is setting the rules for myself. The show was not going to only be about the music that I listened to because I wanted it to span genres and span different people’s tastes. Even if it’s a song you wouldn’t listen to, or on first blush you’d be like, “No, this isn’t for me” and you’d skip it — that doesn’t diminish the level of care and humanity that has gone into its making.
My hope is that people can listen to every episode of the Song Exploder podcast. Even if the music isn’t something they’re interested in, they’re interested in how creativity is born, and how different people are wired to try and express themselves.
MAN WORTH LISTENING TO
SHARPMAGAZINE.COM
SEPTEMBER 2024 • GUIDE 55