Ever wondered how a band accustomed to working closely had to navigate creating an album while separated by a pandemic? Join Aloud's principal songwriters Jen and Henry as they peel back the inspiration, challenges, and triumphs of an album written and recorded during tough times.
- Listen to Apollo 6 at https://aloud.bandcamp.com
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A questionable yet wild theory about magic mushrooms aiding human evolution and the seminal classic Withnail & I collide to form "Stoned Ape" — the closing track on Apollo 6 and the final episode of season 2.
Thank you very much for listening and for your support! Apollo 6 is available to stream everywhere.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
29 Dec 2023
Whispers in the Ceiling Say Things I Don't Want to Hear
We all know folks whose relationships deteriorated during the pandemic lockdown. "Stranger in the Alps", the penultimate track on Apollo 6, drew inspiration from such breakdowns. Join Henry and Jen as they talk about the writing and recording of this song, plus the unexpected role Walter Sobchak played in titling this song.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
22 Dec 2023
I Was Always Born Out of Time
Henry and Jen illuminate the genesis of the album's namesake, "Apollo." They share how an old mission control recording from NASA's Apollo 17 mission, a lyric from a Fiona Apple record, and intrusive thoughts of imminent demise converged to form an uplifting and existential composition.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
15 Dec 2023
They Had the Whole Universe Reclining in Their Hair
Jen and Henry unravel the backstory of the song "Ride On!" Surprisingly, the source of inspiration for this track came from an unexpected very place—unique in the Aloud catalog—thanks to a well-timed subscription to a streaming service during lockdown. They also delve into the heavy influence of 60s French pop, odd time signatures, and how maintaining a loose, fun atmosphere in the studio for this song was important.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
8 Dec 2023
There Must Be Something Real to Be Found
In this episode: Jen and Henry dive into the depths of "Big Blue." Henry shares how his Twitter dependency over the pandemic served as grist for the creation of "Big Blue". The episode also explores how the July 2021 protests in Cuba became the emotional trigger point for the writing of this song.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
24 Nov 2023
Where Do the Summers Go? (No One Knows)
Jen and Henry unravel the story behind the Side A's closing track, "The Origin of the Hourglass is Unclear." As the oldest and most collaborative composition on Apollo 6, the duo recounts the divergent perspectives which met during its creation in Jen's parent's garage one winter in North Carolina. "Hourglass" not only inspired the segues between tracks on the record, but also led to two other songs, "The Ghost at the Feast" and "The Noise that Roared in the Space Between Worlds".
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
17 Nov 2023
The Orphan Children of the Sun
As the dawn breaks, Henry shares with Jen the story of awakening early in the morning, endeavoring to reconnect with his inner songwriter. Through the pages of a Carl Sagan book, the serendipity of a gas pump's "Word of the Day," the comforting ritual of making coffee, and a reflective stroll through their neighborhood, Henry reveals the surprising sources of inspiration which breathed life into "Morning Moon".
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
10 Nov 2023
Sky is Big and Blue and So Am I
Jen and Henry dissect Apollo 6's third track "Meditation for the Housebound." They discuss the sonic experimentation behind the recording, the joy of blindly receiving recorded parts from bandmates, and the incorporation of new sounds to Aloud's palette.
Jen shares the personal inspiration behind the song, revealing how being housebound during lockdown and coping with anxiety led to her discovery of meditation.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
3 Nov 2023
The Cement in my Soul it Stays
Jen and Henry dive into the heart of Apollo 6's first single, "The Comeback Kid." This track marked a turning point in the album's creation, as it was not only the first song expressly written for Apollo 6, but also a test run to see how well or not they could adapt to remote recording.
Learn the origins of the song's lyrics, which emerged from Jen ad-libbing over a looped riff before the final lyrics were… uh… cemented… and how this single became the catalyst for the musique concrète-inspired sound effects throughout the entire record.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
27 Oct 2023
I Need a Serious Way to Spread Some Joy
Good god, it's finally happening after eight long years: Season 2. Jen and Henry kick things off by talking about what led to writing and recording the new Aloud album Apollo 6, Henry's writer's block, and the album's opening track "Somewhere To Be'.
• Listen to Apollo 6 on Bandcamp: https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6 (https://aloud.bandcamp.com/album/apollo-6)
• Sign up for Aloud's weekly e-mail list: https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/ (https://www.allthingsaloud.com/email-list/)
21 Jan 2021
The War on Whiplash: Frank Hegyi's War
* BONUS EPISODE: The long lost third episode of the Aloud podcast, recorded 5/19/2015. In the van on the way back from a gig, Frank spends his final 30 minutes as Aloud's drummer orating an epic takedown of the Academy Award-winning film, Whiplash. (Spoiler alert: he hated it.)
11 Mar 2015
The War on Sustenance
You say pecan, I say pecan. Charles Murphy joins the podcast as Aloud shares tales of eating on tour, getting sick on the road, bad burritos, and Jack White's (not Jack White's) famous guacamole recipe.
19 Jan 2015
The War on Songwriting
Jen and Henry chat about their first songs, share strikingly disparate experiences writing "Back Here With Me Again", and Charles and Frank read some of the pair's questionable teenage lyrics as poetry. Plus: upcoming Aloud shows in Boston and NYC.
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