SongDive

Spencer Peppet (The Ophelias)

Today on SongDive, we had the pleasure of speaking with Spencer Peppet of the band The Ophelias. Spencer was kind enough to share about her experience of making The Ophelia’s latest record called Spring Grove which comes out April 4, 2025, and working with Julien Baker who produced the record and Calvin Lauber who engineered the record.
 
The first single off Spring Grove is called “Cumulonimbus” and today we had the pleasure of diving a bit deeper and learning more about the song’s origins, lyrical inspiration, as well as the process of making the music video for “Cumulonimbus”, which was directed by filmmaker Jo Shaffer who also plays bass in The Ophelias. I personally had this video on repeat the other day because of how stricken I was by the vivid coloring and trance-like state the song’s narrative and accompanying visuals conjured in me.
 
I’m ever-impressed by Spencer’s range, grace and competence as a creative person and I was so grateful we got the chance to talk to her. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Spencer  Peppet of The Ophelias.
- Allie Cuva
 
Also, The Ophelias will be on tour this spring in celebration of the release of Spring Grove:
The Ophelias’ Upcoming Tour Dates:
Fri. April 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
Sat. April 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Broadway (Record Release Show)
Sun. April 6 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java
Tue. April 8 – Boston, MA @ The Rockwell Wed.
April 9 – Portsmouth, NH @ Press Room
Thu. May 8 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Fri. May 9 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Café Sat.
May 10 – Lansing, MI @ Stoopfest Sun.
May 11 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G Tue.
May 13 – Montréal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Wed. May 14 – Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean

Sidney Gish

On this episode of SongDive, we are joined by songwriter, guitarist, producer, and perpetual deep thinker, Sidney Gish. Sidney releases music under her own name, most notably the 2017 instant classic, No Dogs Allowed, and most recently a single called "Lonesome Ride" in collaboration with prior guest of the pod, Grumpy. Throughout this episode, we dive deep into a conversation about the creative process, idea generation, and the ever elusive question, how the heck do you finish something? Sidney is full of sage wisdom, Pinterest inspired motivational theories, and philosophical musings about the process of making great art. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Sidney Gish.
- Sarah Tudzin

Laura Colwell (Sun June)

Laura Colwell of Austin TX-based "regret pop" band Sun June joined us to talk about Sun June's recent release "41 Dollars" as well as Porches' cover of their song "Easy Violence". We also touched on Laura's experiences editing films like The Unknown Country (2022) and how that has influenced her relationship with music.

Heaven Schmitt (Grumpy)

Heaven Schmitt, aka Grumpy: a very talented and charming songwriter and overall wonderful person who is also an Old pal, pandemic pod buddy and college friend of mine. I originally met Heaven in nashville before we each moved to New York a couple years ago. Heaven actually shared with us quite a bit on this episode about their personal journey of coming more into themselves and their art in the past few years, which was really cool to hear more about.
The Grumpy song we’re focusing on today is called “Holding” off their latest EP Wolfed which came out October 2024. It’s a poignant and heavy rock song woven together with a story that Heaven was kind enough to open up about on today’s episode.
 
* Grumpy has a new song out January 15th with Precious Human and Sidney Gish
 
Live Shows:
2 dates full band with Great Grandpa: Philly on Jan 29 and DC on Jan 30
Jan 31st: starting a solo tour opening for Real Estate
 
Sarah and I hope you enjoy our conversation with Heaven Schmitt of the band Grumpy : )
- Allie Cuva

Alex Lahey - Producing Other Bands

Alex Lahey is a Melbourne-bred, Los-Angeles-based producer, songwriter, and musical artist under her own name. Last year, Alex released her critically-acclaimed, enthusiasm-infused third album called 'The Answer Is Always Yes'. She's currently home in Australia for work, but will be back on tour in the U.S. supporting Laura Jane Grace early in 2025. Alex joined us for a special episode on the topic of producing bands. What does it mean to be a producer? How does one fit into the culture of an existing band-dynamic? All this and more on this week's episode of SongDive with special guest Alex Lahey.

Lexi Vega (Mini Trees) - Shapeshifter

We had a great time talking with Lexi Vega as she shared with us her experiences of making the Mini Trees song "Shapeshifter" as well as the entire Burnout EP on which this song was released earlier in 2024. Lexi told us about her approach to tracking background vocals and building upon the "Shapeshifter" demo with collaborators like producer Jon Joseph and multi-instrumentalist Zac Rae (Death Cab for Cutie) to get this song to the finish line.
 
Apologies for Allie's sound quality: it's p awful because she was at a remote cafe due to unexpected travel. Won't be trying that again!

Sophie Payten (Gordi) - Reverie

sophie talks talk about pandemic daydreaming, accidentally making chris martin cry, and her new song "Reverie”, about which she was super kind to share many details, including its origination and how she self-produced this incredible song.

Sarah & Allie - Desert Writing, Cray-Cray Pedal Steel, Mega Rock Docs, etc.

allie was soooooooo tired but rly enjoyed talking to sarah

Lucie Murphy (Poise) - Thicker Than Blood

Mia Berrin (Pom Pom Squad) - Downhill

In this episode of SongDive, we talk to Mia Berrin of Pom Pom Squad about her infectious new song "Downhill". Pom Pom Squad's upcoming album, 'Mirror Starts Moving Without Me' comes out October 25th, 2024!
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