The Art of Longevity

The Art of Longevity

Author: The Song Sommelier Language: English Episodes: 50
The Art of Longevity, hosted by The Song Sommelier, sits at the crossroads of music, history, and the often-unseen business behind it. This isn't a typical interview podcast; it's a series of candid, in-depth dialogues with artists who have built careers spanning decades. Each conversation explores the real journey-how these musicians have weathered the industry's constant shifts, creative droughts, and commercial pressures to not just survive, but to continue evolving and connecting with audiences. We get into the specifics: the collaboration that saved a career, the business decision that changed everything, the fanbase that grew quietly over years. The discussions move fluidly between past triumphs, current projects, and future ambitions, always grounded in the artist's personal definition of success. It's about the resilience required to make art for a lifetime. Tune in for these uniquely honest reflections on what it truly means to last.
Episodes
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 7: Jesca Hoop [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:16
Jesca Hoop describes her new record as "a vote of confidence...an investment in myself as an artist and authority over my vocation and life's path." Asked to unpack that, she goes straight to the unsettling fear beneath…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 6: Kurt Vile [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:29
I caught up with Kurt for the Art of Longevity at his home in the leafy, trail-threaded neighbourhood of Mount Airy ("there's like one coffee shop, one grocery store kind of thing"), where, if you're a local dad with a c…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 5: Broken Social Scene [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:09
There’s a point in every long music career where survival becomes more interesting than success. Not survival in the purely commercial sense. Not chart positions, algorithmic reach or streaming milestones. But survival o…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 4: The Twilight Sad [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:32
After seven years between records, The Twilight Sad have returned with It’s the Long Goodbye, an album forged through grief, survival and renewal. Was it all worth it? Well, listen for yourselves. And do keep in mind tha…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 3: Midge Ure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:08
From his early days with proto-punk pop band Slik, through his tenure with ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock’s Rich Kids, the creation of Visage, and touring with Thin Lizzy, to his major league success with Ultravox, and then…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 2: Ladytron, with Daniel Hunt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:57
Ladytron have never followed a conventional path to longevity. That’s good, because there isn’t one. This band has worked through cycles - creative surges, enforced pauses, patches of momentum, a hiatus, and reinvention.…
The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 1: Ólafur Arnalds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:22
Ólafur Arnalds reflects on creativity, the changing music landscape, and the deeper emotional connection we risk losing in a hyper-digital world. This conversation unfolds less like a traditional interview and more like…
The Art of Longevity Episode 87: Karnivool [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:12
In an era dominated by playlists, TikTok, Reels and Shorts, reduced attention spans and endless content, Karnivool doubled down on the album as a complete statement - the album as the antidote. As Drew Goddard says. “In…
The Art of Longevity Episode 86: Guilty Pleasures, with Sean Rowley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:33
I gave Sean Rowley a call after writing up an article on “Unguilty Pleasures” (see Chill Gonzales episode 64) - Gonzales' campaign against music snobbery and treatise on the pleasures of Enya's music. It became clear tha…
The Art of Longevity Episode 85: Idlewild, with Roddy Woomble [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:41
Emerging from Edinburgh’s music scene in the mid-1990s, Idlewild carved out their place in a British rock scene choc-a-bloc with guitar bands (the halo of Britpop) through a combination of emotional intensity and literar…