George Clarke (Deafheaven) with Jae Matthews (Boy Harsher)

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’re giving a nod to the heavier end of things with a conversation between George Clarke of Deafheaven and Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher.

Deafheaven is the impossible to pin down metal band that has pushed genre boundaries since breaking out with 2013’s epic Sunbather. They’ve been the subject of much debate in the heavy music community over the years, since they’ve wiggled elements of shoegaze and even Brit rock into the world of black metal. It’s been a fascinating journey to watch, as the band navigates its own muse, seemingly without regard to any genre lines that might exist. 2021’s Infinite Granite took a pretty huge leap toward a more accessible sound, while this year’s Lonely People With Power heads back into the darkness—even as it’s produced by the pop-leaning Justin Meldal-Johnson, whose name comes up in this chat.

The other half of today’s conversation is Jae Matthews, who’s also half of the darkwave-slash-coldwave band Boy Harsher. Deeply influenced by film, the duo’s most recent album, The Runner, serves as a sort-of soundtrack to a world they continue to imagine—one full of synths, beats, and lots of mood. As you’ll hear in this chat, Boy Harsher has been busy writing new material in a way they haven’t before. But in the meantime, Matthews contributed some striking vocals to a truly striking song on the new Deafheaven record. Check out “Incidental II” right here—you’ll need to listen to the entire thing to really get where it’s coming from.

In this conversation, Clarke and Matthews talk about DJing versus performing, about finding inspiration in solitude, about whether being sober hurts or helps a performance, and of course, about Matthews’ contribution to Deafheaven’s Lonely People With Power. Enjoy.

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Jae Matthews and George Clarke for chatting. If you like 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 was composed and performed by the Range. See you next time.

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