Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) with Neil Krug
On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a repeat customer along with his well-known photographer friend-slash-collaborator who’s done some record covers you’re definitely familiar with. It’s Ruban Nielson and Neil Krug.
Nielson is the frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the band he started in his native New Zealand before relocating to Portland, Oregon, where he still lives. UMO, as the band is affectionately known, has often been categorized as psych-rock, but I’m not sure that label is accurate or complete. There’s definitely some oil-lamp vibes going on, but there’s something more personal and direct happening underneath the swirling guitars and hooks. That’s maybe never been more true than on this year’s Curse EP, which was Nielson’s way of writing and creating through the grief of his younger sister’s untimely death from cancer. He channeled that energy into songs that were also inspired by ‘70s Italian horror movies and gloomy metal records, but somehow it’s not a bummer at all. Check out “DEATH COMES FROM THE SKY” right here.
As you know if you’re a regular listener of this podcast, we mostly feature musicians, occasionally actors, every once in a while a producer or writer. But I’m not sure if in all of these years we’ve ever welcomed someone chiefly known as a photographer. That changes today, with Neil Krug, whose photographs you’ve likely seen even if you don’t know his name. Krug is maybe best known for his shots of Lana Del Rey, and he also did the iconic cover of Tame Impala’s The Slow Rush. He and Ruban go way back, having worked on artwork and photos for Unknown Mortal Orchestra over the years—and maybe in the future?
In this great conversation, these two chat about the making of Curse, working together on UMO’s Sex and Food record as well as other UMO stuff, the ridiculously over-the-top reaction of Ruban’s fans to his dabbling in AI artwork, and the joys of David Lynch. Enjoy.
0:00 – Intro
2:20 – Start of the chat
3:02 – On making Curse and music as therapy
10:20 – Nielson on AI tools and the reaction from UMO fans
16:50 – UMO's "analog-only photography" policy at shows
21:42 – How Krug and Nielson first met
25:45 – Nielson's cape phase
26:42 – On UMO’s Sex and Food and the color blue
27:50 – Sex and Food's original title was...
31:51 – On SB mixes, Hanoi, Curse, and other non-traditional UMO records
34:45 – On David Lynch and the power of cinema
36:00 – The story behind The Slow Rush artwork
40:41 – Predictions on the next UMO record
44:02 – On "darky, spooky aesthetics"
Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Ruban Nielson and Neil Krug for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!
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