William Basinski (The Disintegration Loops) with Sondre Lerche

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got two guys who might seem miles apart musically, but who are fans of each other’s work nonetheless. It’s Sondre Lerche and William Basinski.

Lerche is the Norwegian pop master who’s released a ton of amazing records over the past couple of decades. He’s flirted with jazzy sounds and more straightforward chamber pop, and he’s also spent time doing soundtrack work. His career took an interesting turn recently with a starring role in the stage musical Moulin Rouge!, which kept him away from his own music-making for a while. But he returns now with Acrobats, a gorgeously rendered album on which he tries to reconcile falling in love with life in what feels like a cruel world. (Don’t worry, you can still sing along.) Check out the song “Little Kids” from Acrobats right here.

You know what you probably won’t be singing along to? William Basinski’s breakthrough ambient masterpiece The Disintegration Loops. If you’re not familiar, The Disintegration Loops came about when Basinski began recording the sound of some of his older works, which were on magnetic tape, decaying. Looped over the course of about five hours, the sounds are mesmerizing and occasionally scary. They were finished on September 11, 2001, and became inextricably linked with the terror attacks of that day. They’ve since been reissued several times, and now the loops are even being performed live by symphony orchestras, a topic that’s touched on here. There’s a lot more to Basinski’s career than I can touch on in one paragraph, but check out The Disintegration Loops if you never have—it’s an experience.

So why are these two guys chatting, one a pop maker and the other making floating soundscapes? Well it turns out that Lerche is a fan of Basinski's, and he even referenced The Disintegration Loops in a 2022 song called “Avatars of Love.” The two have since met and become friends, as you’ll hear in this chat. They talk about Lerche’s time in the musical, about Basinski’s music being performed by actual humans, and of course about how the world is a fucked-up place. It is! Enjoy.

0:00 - Intro

02:39 - Start of conversation

02:53 - On visiting a NY film & music art exhibition at the Hudson Yards

04:04 - On William’s unreleased music archives, and the Williamsburg music scene

07:01 - On Sondre’s lead role in the Moulin Rouge musical, his new album, and how theater compares to creating music

11:04 - On Sondre’s tour schedule, performing his new record live, staying healthy, and connecting with fans

15:02 - On William’s shows in churches, and his new projects

18:31 - On finding new things through the Instagram algorithm, past life regressions, and how that inspired William

20:03 - On releasing Sondre’s new album, Acrobats, its themes, and embracing connection and being present

22:23 - On Sondre referencing William’s work in a new song, “Avatars of Love,” and other artists who have references William

24:55 - On Sondre’s process while writing “Avatars of Love”

27:33 - On The Disintegration Loops’ cultural impact

30:29 - On the movie “Ed Wood,” and thinking about how their work will be remembered artistically

32:19 - On feeling excited by their own work, and how The Disintegration Loop changed William’s career, and the most important performances of his career

34:54 - On the process of performing the loops live

36:28 - On how Sondre runs marathons to William’s work

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Sondre Lerche and William Basinski for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff over 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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