Julia Steiner (Ratboys)

Julia Steiner from the band Ratboys is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Ratboys originated in the dorms at the University of Notre Dame and have put out six albums since forming in 2010. This year's release, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, is an absolutely fantastic rock record, and we talked about making that as well as watching Super Bowls as a band, having a personal stake in your stories, iPods, obsessive iTunes maintenance, The Beatles' “Lady Madonna,” and so much more. Really a great episode, check it out!

Milo Aukerman from the Descendents is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. In summer 1987, I went to a Descendents show at First Ave in Minneapolis for what was to be the band’s final tour. Halfway through the show, the band announced they were recording a live album. That album became the classic Liveage! record, in my mind an all time great live record. Milo and I talked about that as well as Tom Lehrer, Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe ('), getting turned onto music by Rodney on the ROQ, LA bands like The Dickies and X, his science career, his time in Madison Wisconsin, coming back to the band after a long break, and 40 years of their classic record I Don’t Want To Grow Up. This was a huge one for me, and Milo was awesome. Check it out now, and subscribe!

Courtney Marie Andrews is my guest on the first That’s How I Remember It of 2026. Courtney is a great songwriter, poet, painter - a true artist who does a lot of things. We talked about love and grief on her great new record Valentine as well as light affecting memory, Marin County, the musical Annie, playing covers, Warren Zevon’s Preludes, and poetry vs. songs. Really enjoyed this and happy to be back with new episodes of THIRI. Listen and subscribe!

For Those I Love is a project by Irish artist David Balfe, and he is the guest on this week's episode of That’s How I Remember It. I first became acquainted with David from his self-titled 2021 record that went on to win the prestigious Choice Music Prize for "Irish Album of the Year." He’s back with another great record called Carving the Stone and we talked about both LPs as well as recording conversations, the word “stotious”, housing issues in Dublin, writing about violence, and the first night we met in Dublin. David is a fantastic writer and thinking and I was so pleased to have him join me here. This is the last episode of 2025, see you next year for more great conversations. Listen and subscribe!

Rhett Miller is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. The Old 97s frontman has a cool new solo record A Lifetime of Riding by Night, which came out in October. We talked about that as well as remembering lyrics, teaching songwriting, persistence, The Kingston Trio, vocal surgery, Strangeways Here We Come, chain wallets, our mutual trip to Joshua Tree in 2012 and the time we met at a CMJ panel. I’ve known Rhett a long time now and really enjoy speaking to him, this was a great conversation. Listen and subscribe!

Ryan Miller of Guster is the guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. We recorded it live this past August at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine as part of Guster’s very inspiring On the Ocean Festival. It was an amazing day and great to sit down with Ryan and talk about the last Guster record Ooh La La, The Scorpion’s “Still Loving You”, high school bands, writing songs on new instruments, Matt Johnson and The The, working with new producers, Guster’s college rep program and community building in this modern age. I came away from the weekend in awe of all Guster had put together and it was super great to speak with Ryan about the way they’ve approached things.

Dave Hause is the guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I first met Dave as a member of the band The Loved Ones, and we went on an epic tour of the States in 2008 together. Since then, he’s made a bunch of solo records, including the very excellent Dave Hause and the Mermaid LP, which came out in September. We talked about the new record as well as The Hooters, Billy Joel’s “Angry Young Man”, being a roadie for Sick of It All, hardcore as folklore, sobriety, remaining accessible to younger people, his annual Sing Us Home festival, and so much more. Dave is an awesome and thoughtful artist and friend, and this talk was really great. Listen and subscribe.

This November, I'm going out on tour with my friend Patterson Hood. We're calling it the Devil in the Details tour, and we're gonna be appearing on the same stage at the same time playing our songs with one auxiliary musician, a guy named Ben Hackett. This tour is gonna be magical, and I'm already excited about it. In fact, I'm so excited about it that I decided to dig into the vaults and re-air the first-ever episode of That's How I Remember It, which featured a conversation between myself and, you guessed it, Patterson Hood. So if you can, I hope you'll come hang out in one of these places: Seattle, Portland, Bend, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Dallas, and Austin. The devil's in the details indeed. Get more details of the dates at craigfinn.net. This episode originally ran on June 8, 2022. For the first episode of That’s How I Remember It, I spoke to Patterson Hood, one of my all-time favorite songwriters. Patterson’s work with the Drive By Truckers has examined life in the Southern USA and beyond, lyrically tearing down old monuments while constructing new ones to more worthy recipients. We talked about turning memories into mythology, honoring deceased friends, and how his classic song "18 Wheels of Love" might be built on a shaky foundation. We also reminisce a bit on the Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady “Rock and Roll Means Well” Tour from 2008. Huge thanks to Patterson for being my first guest. I’ll be talking to Brian Koppelman, Fred Armisen, and other great guests in weeks to come, so please subscribe and keep listening to That’s How I Remember It.

Conor Oberst is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. I’m very excited about that because I’m a huge fan. I talked to the BRIGHT EYES songwriter about his excellent last record Five Dice, All Threes as well as Don McLean’s "American Pie," La Bamba the movie, 120 Minutes, Billy Joel, signing to Grass Records as a high school student, his creative relationship with Alex Orange Drink, Aksarben and so much more. I’d been really looking forward to this conversation, and Conor was predictably great. Listen and subscribe!

Matt Berninger from The National is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It. Matt checked in from a tour bus at the End of the Road festival in the UK and we talked about his great solo record Get Sunk, lyric monitors, Rizzo from Grease, roller skating, hotel bars, reading novels to plot your future, memory as fantasy and collage, writing about childhood, early 2000s NYC, and Nabokov cocktails. He also shared a traumatic Valentine’s Day story. So happy to have Matt on the show, it was a really fun conversation. Listen and subscribe!