I mention it within the intro for this, but holy f*cking sh*t, Jamila Woods is on my podcast. If you’re unfamiliar with her, Jamila is a supremely talented singer, writer, poet, and activist. Musically she creates these worlds where you can safely pour your emotions into. Socially, she strives for a similar feeling with how she uses her voice, her platform, and the spaces that she commands. She’s an artist that feels one of a kind on so many levels, and we’re witnessing the growth of her artistry in real time. Her latest album, Water Made Us, is that deeply personal exploration that all artists have to make but the way Jamila’s gone about it is truly next level. Throughout our conversation, we discuss the universal themes of the album, the way relationships shape all of our lives, and one of my favourite topics: celebrating the messiness of life.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a fellow photographer on the podcast, and it does bring a massive smile on my face to finally introduce you to my friend Jennifer McCord. This bonus chat with Jenny is essentially a part 2 of the Half Moon Run pod that dropped earlier this week. Jenny is a photographer primarily based in London that takes the kind of photos that makes us go “damn, I wish I took that.” She has a signature perspective and approach to her work, which is conveyed by how she captures people in stark moments of emotional intimacy. A Jennifer McCord photo is the kind of photo where you can see someone bare, but never weak. Where you can see a person conveying conviction without ever feeling forced or contrived. Throughout her career, Jenny’s toured with incredible musicians has photographed numerous celebrities in portraiture, and has become the photographer for our recent guests, Half Moon Run, where she beautifully provided creative direction for their Salt album. We chat about all that and more on this very special bonus episode of the podcast, enjoy.

If this is your first time listening to the podcast, then know I’m very excited to hear that. In many ways this chat I had with Connor and Dylan of Canadian indie band Half Moon Run feels like how I want every episode of this podcast to feel: lovers of art talking about how life influences art. Don’t get me wrong, we tend to achieve that across our episodes, but Half Moon Run is unique in how those contemplations of art and life became very do-or-die for the band. Their most recent album, Salt, is the sound of three people fully surrendering themselves to pursuing creativity. Does that sound pretentious? Fuck yeah, it does, but the end result of them doing that is an album that’s both fun to listen to and massively transcendent. It’s easily their most complete body of work, and this episode centers around that journey; particularly how it was a transformative experience for the band.

Also a heads up, later this week there’ll be a bonus episode dropping with Jennifer McCord, my dear friend and the bands photographer. Be sure to be following the podcast so you don’t miss out on that release.