John Richards
John Richards is the host and producer of The Morning Show with John on 90.3 FM KEXP Seattle, and online at kexp.org. He is also KEXP's assistant program director.
Richards is the owner of his own record label (Loveless Records), does A&R work with the TAO Music Group, and undertakes an assortment of music consulting projects. He lives in Seattle, where he has a toddler who loves the Pixies.
-
Appearing with members of Beirut and The National, Shugo Tokumaru performed his first-ever studio session this past fall at KEXP. The Japanese guitarist spoke through a translator and played his eccentric style of experimental pop music.
-
Normally, The Gaslight Anthem performs as a four-piece rock band, but in a session from KEXP, frontman Brian Fallon came alone with an acoustic guitar. Fallon opened up about his songs and what it means to abandon adolescence, both as a performer and as a person.
-
Legendary bluesman T-Model Ford plays on his own terms. Now in his 80s, Ford has seen all the life you could see, and even spent years on a chain gang for killing a man. So when T-Model Ford yells, "Jack Daniel time!" in this session from KEXP, you know he's going to follow through on a hefty swig. -
The Welsh band Los Campesinos! blasted through four songs in record time during this studio session from KEXP. Throughout the performance, the group played its acerbic but infectious pop with the unabashed joy of a bunch of schoolkids on the last day before summer.
-
Carter Tanton, of the band Tulsa, sat in the middle of a room with only his guitar, but his powerful voice filled every inch of it. In a session recorded by KEXP, he flew through three covers by The Carter Family, The Kinks, and Townes Van Zandt, and talked about singing in subways.
-
The band exudes youth in countless ways: Its members seem almost unaware of their influences, in a way that sounds something like originality. Beat Pyramid mixes post-apocalyptic punk with the empty darkness of Joy Division, as well as dry wit and frantic bursts of experimental sound.
-
When The Helio Sequence set up in KEXP's studio with just one guitar, one drum kit, and two microphones, few expected such a full sound to emerge. Many challenges faced the band as it made Keep Your Eyes Ahead, yet its end result on CD and in the studio reveal focus and power.
-
Singer Brandon Summers' vocal cords had been severely damaged following The Helio Sequence's last album and tour, necessitating a long period of recovery. Wrapping shoegazer rock in '60s doo-wop, "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" is his passionate plea to maintain focus in the face of long odds.
-
British Sea Power has a reputation for insane live performances, yet the band was working on only two hours of sleep when it came into KEXP. Supporting the new album Do You Like Rock Music?, the sextet showed no signs of slowing down on this set of anthemic rockers.
-
Justice's primitive, mutated fusion of pop, rock, and dance music practically pushes listeners' fists into the air with its heavy beats and unforgettable hooks. "D.A.N.C.E." exemplifies that sound perfectly, functioning as one of the most insistently catchy songs to surface in years.
