On episode 239 of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul Holdengräber is joined by musician Jason Pierce. Jason’s band, Spiritualized, is preparing to release their latest album, Everything Was Beautiful. Jason joins Paul to discuss the making of that album and his influences as an artist.

Jason unpacks the Kurt Vonnegut quotation from which the album draws its title and he tells Paul about the unique experience of producing an album under the conditions of the pandemic. Jason and Paul’s fascinating conversation covers Leonard Cohen, album design, Jason’s upcoming return to touring, and more.

Everything Was Beautiful: https://spiritualizedband.bandcamp.com/album/everything-was-beautiful

“Always Together With You”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME0ji3o05UQ

Jason Pierce is an English musician and the frontman for the band Spiritualized. Pierce formed Spiritualized in 1990 and the band has released eight studio albums. Their latest album, Everything Was Beautiful, will be released in 2022.

Paul Holdengräber is an interviewer and curator of public curiosity. He is the Founder and Director of Onassis LA (OLA), a center for dialogue. Previously he was the Founder and Director of LIVE from the NYPL, a cultural series at the New York Public Library, where he hosted over 600 events, holding conversations with everyone from Patti Smith to Zadie Smith, Ricky Jay to Jay-Z, Errol Morris to Jan Morris, Wes Anderson to Helen Mirren, Christopher Hitchens to Mike Tyson. He is the host of “A Phone Call From Paul,” a podcast for The Literary Hub.