Last month, renowned journalist, producer and radio host Jenny Elescu presented the 100th edition of LSQ podcast with an interview with Samuel T. Herring, frontman of the band Future islands. Then Episode 101 with Brittany Howard came out. And then episode 102 with Idles frontman Joe Talbot.
“For what it's worth, episode 103, featuring Dhani Harrison, will be released next week on March 5,” he notes. “And I have upcoming episodes with Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ty Segall and Gossip's Beth Ditto, among other awesome ones this spring.”
For many music fans, that the show has lasted this long with no signs of slowing down is worth a lot.
SiriusXM host since 2006 and ex Rolling rock An employee and contributor for over a decade, Eliscu has built a distinguished reputation for herself as a widely experienced journalist with a passion for music and leading artists. Started in 2017, LSQHis milestone — and the episodes since — are a feat of longevity in an era of shrinking music journalism and traffic-driven celebrity-chasing. Independently produced, these lengthy interviews are a rarity these days in any medium, as well as a service to artists and audiences looking for more insight behind the music.
Looking back at the list of names Eliscu has interviewed on the podcast, it's a who's who of music's most influential artists in and around indie rock: Conor Oberst, Jack Antonoff, Courtney Barnett, Steven Van Zandt, Angel Olsen, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Johnny Marr, Tegan and Sara, Caroline Polachek, Leon Bridges, Sharon Van Etten and many more. But LSQ, what made it such an important destination for artists is her investment in every interview, delivering long, in-depth conversations in the kind of casual tenor that feels more like close friends than a reporter and subject. It's no accident. Many of her subjects are either friends or become after.
“Talking to Jenny Eliscu makes you feel like the most interesting person in the room thinks you're the most interesting person in the world,” says Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara. “With her years of experience, Jenny is not afraid to dig deep, but you trust the process because along with great questions and great listening, she exudes memorable insights from her vast knowledge and love of music. Jenny knows more about the music that influenced most of us to become artists in the first place than we do, so no interview is ever formulaic. You kind of learn something about yourself in the process.”
“I first met Jenny over a decade ago and honestly, she made me feel so comfortable right away that it didn't feel like a first meeting,” adds Beach House's Victoria Legrand. “It felt like we had always known each other. Interviews with her always felt like natural conversations, and as simple as that sounds, it's a true skill. Her deep love for art, music, love – and her deep care and support for the relationships forged are incredibly beautiful. She is a pillar of strength and peace and I am lucky as an artist to call her a friend.”
“Jenny has a remarkable way of disarming an artist in an interview,” says Christian Stavros, founder of Little Operation Management, whose artists Angel Olsen, Devendra Banhart, King Tuff and Bethany Cosentino have all been featured. LSQ. “I think it's because she's also an artist in the way she approaches interviews. She has a way of connecting and relating, but she also has a directness to her questions that bring real insight to the process. I am a huge fan and have the utmost respect for her talent. And I know, for the artists I work with that she's had on her podcast… they'd all agree that it never felt like work, but more like a great hangout.”
Outside LSQ and hosting on SiriusXM, Eliscu executive produced the 2021 Netflix documentary Britney Vs. spears and is currently in production on another major music documentary to be released later this year.
Talk to me Advertising sign spending about 100 episodes with LSQand the wider music media landscape.
If you listen back to old episodes of the podcast, what do you notice most? How has the show changed?
When I started the series in 2017, the goal was to create a space for longer audio interviews with artists. I've been lucky enough to have amazing outlets for other types of interviews over the years – covers for Rolling Stone, festival talks for Sirius XM, and everything in between – but I still longed to capture more thoughtful, extended conversations where artists could they talk about their past lives and the moments that shaped their approach to their art. I wanted to know about childhood music lessons and first gigs and first attempts at songwriting and all that evolutionary stuff. And getting those questions answered is still my favorite part of this podcast.
I often think of a story Aaron Dessner of the National shared in his interview for the second episode, about when he and his brother Bryce were six years old, how they discovered a dusty old drum in the basement furnace room, and it was this In 1959 the blue glitter of Slingerland that their dad had gotten for his bar mitzvah. He was a successful jazz drummer before the twins were born, so they learned about this part of the family history. Aaron started playing drums soon after. Or the story Michelle Branch told in episode 50 about how she was so persistent as an unsigned teenage singer-songwriter that she drove a neighbor's golf cart to a Sedona restaurant to deliver her demo tape to some record executive she overheard eating there. Or Future Islands' Sam Herring in episode 100, recalling the first time he tried to freestyle, aged 14, to one of his favorite KRS-One tracks. “You just have to start and not stop,” his older brother had told him. He freestyled for about 20 seconds and then jumped up and down on his bed, excited to do it. I love these kinds of stories!
All of this is to say that the show itself really hasn't changed much since it started, because I still really enjoy doing this particular type of interview, and there are so many other artists I'd like to ask about these things. However, I've learned from experience that it's best to stick to one interview per episode (some past episodes have had two). I also spent a lot of time in the early seasons trying to include vintage audio from my pre-podcast archive, but as a one-person operation, that proved too difficult to do on a regular basis.
How do you choose artists for your interviews? What makes a good interview subject?
The selection process is really just watching the artist's work and learning about their history and then following my gut from there. Sometimes I've already interviewed the person before, so I've had a chance to see how smart or funny or sensitive or charismatic they are, and I can imagine a longer interview being interesting. But I think all artists are potentially great interview subjects if you can get them comfortable enough to open up.
You've worked across music media and journalism. What do you like best about the podcast format?
I love that the podcast itself takes so many different forms, whether it's immersive high-production storytelling or more informal chat shows or a simple interview series like LSQ. I like that the podcast still feels a little more DIY and spontaneous, as you can make episodes as long as you want, as often or as infrequently as you want, and that's fine. And podcast listeners are the kind of dedicated audience that supports more sophisticated, niche programming, and I'm always excited to be a part of that exchange.
What do you think is the key to your success as an interviewer? We have quotes from artists and their management praising you. How do you create this kind of comfortable setting?
I think the key is openness and genuine curiosity. It can be tempting to read or listen to every interview the person has done, but I prefer to err on the side of less preparation so that I actually ask questions without preconceptions about the answers. And I try to convey a sense of ease about the interview process, to make the experience more like a conversation over coffee with a friend who cares enough to listen carefully and ask thoughtful questions.
You've been making music for almost three decades now. The music industry changed so much in that time from CDs to piracy to streaming to social media… What about your work—besides where you did it—changed? Why do you think it's important to host a space for these kinds of long-form interviews?
Yes, the music industry and the media landscape around it has come through so much since I started in the 90s. It was amazing to work at Rolling Stone in the early to mid-1990s, before print really started to wither, because you could spend meaningful time with the artist you were writing about and get a couple of focused, long interviews. But as the internet and social media took over, things changed and artists didn't have to rely on that type of press. Don't get me wrong, I think it's ultimately better for artists to be able to communicate with the public without media scrutiny, but it certainly changed things in major ways. For a while I felt there would be fewer opportunities for larger journalistic work, but I've found that both podcasting and documentary have opened up exciting avenues to share artists' stories in greater depth. That's the next frontier for me: Working with artists to help tell the stories they care about, in ways that allow them to sustain their writing.
Would you share some more names on your LSQ Artist Wish List?
Erykah Badu, PJ Harvey, Mac DeMarco, Mitski, Thundercat, Jarvis Cocker, Jonathan Richman, Run The Jewels, Fiona Apple and so many more.
