Foremost, a disclaimer: You should listen to this audiocast if one of the following statements pertains to you:

1. You like Little Dragon

2. You’ve never heard of Little Dragon

3. You’ve heard of Little Dragon, but think you don’t like them

4. You like awesome music

5. We are friends

Awesomeness Personified. Click here to listen to the podcast

Wow this one took a long time. I was wildly excited to both conduct and release this podcast, but it was…ambitious. I am not an editor and the finished product evolved primarily through a sputtering series of glitches and my own technical incompetence. But I love it. And that’s the main thing that comes through. Two people talking passionately about something they love. I am very critical of my work, but I must admit, I think this is really cool.

For the uninitiated, Little Dragon is an indie/electronic band from Sweden (though I’ve been coached to refer to it as Electronic Soul. Not really sure who else is in this genre, but I want more. It is quite fitting for these guys). I’ve been aware of them for a few years, but this year they released their 3rd studio album, Ritual Union, a brilliant work that demanded a thorough exploration of their entire catalog. This process (along with an epic concert) brought me to an emphatic conclusion - Little Dragon is one of my favorite bands of all-time.

Really do have so much love for these guys

In the midst of this discovery period, I was randomly, perhaps divinely, graced by Genevieve Harder. Genevieve and I live in the same neighborhood. We met one morning at a coffee shop on Divisadero when I noticed that she was making calls and emails on behalf of the band. Although I am by no means a shy person, it takes a very special circumstance for me to insert myself into someone else’s morning coffee. But on that morning, that’s exactly what happened. It turned out that Genevieve was a manager for the band. We spent the next hour carrying on about our mutual love for them and talking about their recent show at the Mezzanine just a few weeks earlier. Obviously since Genevieve had a personal relationship with them, I couldn’t resist engaging her on favorite songs, shows and stories from her time with the group. The conversation lasted almost an hour, but I wanted so much more. I asked Genevieve if we could have a similar conversation in the form of a podcast and she obliged.

Ms. Genevieve

The first three podcasts I’d done were pretty intellectual with a pretty clear link to Nopa. When I decided to start doing Nopa podcasts, this wasn’t necessarily what I envisioned, but it’s exactly where I wanted to end up. It embodies the music that we listen to, a fortuitous meeting at a neighborhood coffee shop, with one of our regular guests. It is, in a sense, a more authentic depiction of community than I could’ve possibly conceived. It is real life and the joy of working at place that anchors and values its neighborhood. 

It is a bit longer than usual, but that’s only because there is awesome musical interludes woven throughout. Feel free to download the podcast and listen and re-listen at your leisure. On a run, on a bus, on a plane… All Dragon Everything! I hope you enjoy!