Spare Notes – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, I interviewed Lamont Brown, best known for his moniker, RNIE. He’s a Philadelphia-based artist. His latest LP, which is self-released, is titled FULL NEPTUNE and was released on August 29th, 2025. Originally from Pittsburgh, he’s also spent significant time coming up in the Charlotte, North Carolina, DIY music scene and New York City. We discuss topics related to music, such as influence, discipline, themes, and intentionality.

RNIE: https://www.instagram.com/rn_ie/?hl=en

Bandcamp: https://rnie.bandcamp.com/album/full-neptune

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1. "LOW HIGH." 2. "JOY." 3. "BITTERS." 4. CENTURY III.

Original Photo by: Amanda Giordano https://www.instagram.com/ag1ordano/

This is a segment called Three Questions, where I ask an artist only 3 in-depth questions. One question is specifically aimed at their current project, and the other two are about ideas connected to their artistry overall. In this episode, I interviewed Aure. She’s a Paris-based singer, former architect, and multilingual singer. Her first EP, “A Few Notes,” was released in 2023 on Mayway Records, and she’ll release her first album in 2026. Out recently is her single “The Sailors' Tales,” and we jump into the deep end talking about the topics of language, uncertainty, imagination, and her new song.

C'est un segment appelé Trois Questions, où je pose seulement 3 questions approfondies à un artiste. Une question est spécifiquement axée sur leur projet actuel, et les deux autres portent sur des idées liées à leur art en général. Dans cet épisode, j'ai interviewé Aure. Elle est une chanteuse basée à Paris, ancienne architecte et chanteuse multilingue. Son premier EP, « A Few Notes », est sorti en 2023 chez Mayway Records, et elle sortira son premier album en 2026. Sorti récemment, son single "The Sailors' Tales" nous plonge dans les profondeurs des sujets de la langue, de l'incertitude, de l'imagination et de sa nouvelle chanson.

Aure: https://www.instagram.com/aure.afewnotes/

Mayway Records: https://maywayrecords.com/

Episode Track Listing: Snippets: 1 & 2. "The Sailors' Tales"

"The Sailors' Tales' Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m09IPcg13qA

Original Photo by Chloé Bruhat: https://www.instagram.com/chloebruhat/?hl=en

I recently interviewed Sara Mae Henke of The Noisy. They’re releasing a deluxe edition of their debut album, The Secret Ingredient is More Meat, and the Deluxe version is called The Secret Ingredient is Even More Meat. Comes out in October. Some things Sara Mae and I talk about are, but not limited to, sharing the love of silly things, performance as a clown, fighting feelings of inadequacy, creating art that fights patriarchal expectations of desirability, sharing gratitude instead of wounds, Tony Soprano, Grey Gardens, Virgin Suicides, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Check out their latest music video and single "Twos"! Inspired by the documentary film Grey Gardens and the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Noisy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veryverynoisy/?hl=en

Listen Here: https://thenoisy.bandcamp.com/

Photo of Sara Mae by Morgan Kelley: https://www.instagram.com/morg.kelley/

I spoke with Rachel Cholst, a music journalist from New York City who has been writing about the queer country music community for the last 9 years. You may have already seen her work in magazines like No Depression, The Boot, and Wide Open Country. Currently, she is the editor of Rainbow Rodeo Magazine, and as far as she knows, Rainbow Rodeo is the first print publication devoted to queer country music.

There are interviews, reviews, critical essays, and some podcasting. Something I think that is amazing is that Cholst talks about creating, documenting, and preserving history for queer artists in country music. And it makes me think, man, how often do people try to create history and preserve it, and how often is it erased? There is an essay she wrote in Rainbow Rodeo a couple of months ago called “Building the Queer Country Canon in Real Time,” where part of that thread can be seen. We talked about this idea in the interview, too. And it seems, Cholst is continuing to create these threads through Rainbow Rodeo as a platform and as a community.

I did ask her about Beyonce’s album that people contend is country because ownership and tradition are often hotly contended in the realm of music.

And if you think, but Jonah, I don’t like country. Well, well, I have a gateway album recently released that you could check out, and that’s S.G. Goodman’s Planting By the Signs.

Check out Rainbow Rodeo! https://rainbowrodeomag.com/

Review on Rainbow Rodeo: "S.G. Goodman -- Planting By the Signs"

I worked with Eleanor Henderson for a year at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, during the 2022/2023 school year. She was the chair of the Writing department at the time, and I was a lecturer. We had a lot of conversations about teaching, writing, and ideas. We've stayed in touch since, and still to this day, talk about said things, while keeping each other up to date as our lives keep moving on through new milestones. I was so excited and a little nervous to interview her. But she is a teacher, and a novelist, and her presence is very present.

During my time teaching at Ithaca College, I learned that she wrote a book called Ten Thousand Saints where the characters lives were heavily involved in the straight edge hardcore music scene in New York City in the 1980s. Her husband was heavily involved in the scene during the time, and though they met later, by proxy, he spurned her hunger and curiosity to delve deeper into the movement that's influenced so many people and musicians. Naturally, as a gigantic music fan, I thought that maybe we could talk about the book she wrote a bit ago, and it being the 10th anniversary of the movie that was made (for the record, Eleanor is celebrating this!), We get into a little hardcore, Ian Mackaye, ethnography, ethics, writing, expanding or exploring ideas, and life.

She's currently working on her 4th book!

Her other books are: The Twelve-Mile Straight, and her memoir, Everything I have is Yours

Catch them here: https://eleanor-henderson.com/

I met Misha Tentser at graduate school in Syracuse, New York, four years ago and we became friends not long after. He's a poet, writer, and teacher, and it's always a pleasure to talk to him! We get deep into dream logic, mental health, the figurative weight of objects, being nerdy about your art, emotional confrontation of the self, psychogeography, and what it's like to be a writer.

Here are some links to Misha's published work!

"Before" in Midway Journal.

"BoJack Horseman Visits Chagall’s America Windows," "BoJack Horseman Visits the Strip Mall Optometrist" in Had Magazine

"Landscape," "Goodyear, AZ" in Sonora Review.

Gory and I had a nice talk about what it's like for her bing a nomadic musician. She's from Panvel, Maharashtra, India, and it's difficult to play there as a musician unless you are performing covers. This spurned her musical journey. We talked about the challenge of finding a place to play at home, while finding so much by way of traveling to play. Not just artists to colaborate with, but the joy and comfort of becoming a part of a larger music community. She's got.

She just released her first EP, called Teen Error. Link to the different streaming platforms for the album is HERE.

I think I fell in love with winded sometime in 2022. I used to play "Swallowing Hair" and "I know it's Thin" on repeat during my drives from Syracuse, NY, to my job in Ithaca, NY. Mostly rolling hills and farms, and deep green walls of trees and fields, calm scenery. The songs soaked into my veins with their melancholic, grunge-infused, lonely, haunting guitars, and outbursts of crunchy, searing melodic static.

It was great to have a winding conversation with Thrin Vianale, the originator of Winded! What a great soul, awesome music creator, and community organizer! We went deep into grief, music as a healing process, and much more.

Check out their music on Bandcamp or Spotify.

In the interview, we talk about the benefit/competition they're in. To learn more, check out this Global Citizen website HERE.

Matt O'Connor recently started a record label inspired by the need to help trans youth, creating Worry Beads Records' first release, a compilation of 18 different bands called True Names: A Benefit for Trans Youth. We talked about how we can create space to honor and support trans youth, while not only with fundraising, but also through the impact of literature and music. We also talked about literature, the origin of True Names, and learning how to open the self by letting go of control.

Trans Youth Emergency Project Website

True Names: A Benefit for Trans Youth compilation on Bandcamp

Worry Bead Records Instagram

I tracked down David Schellenberg after listening to the new record of his band Tunic, A Harmony of Loss Has Been Sung. Listening to the album was an intense experience and a pleasure for me. I liked listening to this record in my car the best, surrounded by the dark tones, the grief and pain in the lyrics, and the absolutely stunning composition of instruments, dragging me into the depths of this loss. The deep bass, the wretched pain in Schellenberg's voice, wails of loss, and a cathartic expression through dissonant sounds and distorted guitars. The album is a gut punch, and it hurts so good.

We talk about the Winnipeg music scene, creating and growing as an artist, composition, communication, pain, and grief.

Tunic - Ordinary Unique Pain (Official Visualizer)

Tunic Instagram

Tunic Website