Backstage at The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co., KUNM Music Director Jessica Allen sat down with Ben Kweller before his May 11th performance, and ahead of his new album release Agarita. What followed was a conversation about the things we’re all quietly after.
Kweller’s Cover the Mirrors was created in the years following the death of his sixteen-year-old son, Dorian– a loss he describes as expanding his entire spectrum of feeling. Here, he talks about grief as a superpower he never asked for, God as a placeholder word for the thing music actually touches, and sitting down to write Oh Dorian as a sad song and receiving a happy one instead. For Kweller, the cup is never half full or half empty– it's teetering over the edge.
Paired with a live set, this is a piece about what love does after loss, and the strange, stubborn beauty that keeps breaking through. Recorded live at The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co. for KUNM's 505 Backstage series. With deep gratitude to Ben Kweller for his openness and generosity, and to our partners The Lensic 360, The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co., and The Noise Company.
Hear the full Radio piece above, and watch a selection from it here:
Performed by: Ben Kweller
Interview by: Jessica Allen, KUNM Music Director
Live Recording Engineering by: Oscar Martinez, Austin, TX
Audio Engineering by: Roman Garcia
Videography by: Renata Bonney
Ben Kweller's KUNM Artist-Curated Playlist
