ifitbeyourwill Podcast #209 • Hello Shark

A life shaped by piano, repetition and the pulse of electronic music. Christopher Barnes talks about the long road to Gem Club, the spaces between records, and the quiet architecture of Emerald Press. Twelve years on, the music finds its way back.https://iamgemclub.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

Somewhere between the prairies and the mountains of northern British Columbia, Shiloh Lindsey found a voice in songwriting. On this episode of If It Be Your Will, we talk about growing up surrounded by music, the influence of family, the early days of For My Smoke, and the long, sometimes discouraging road of making music independently.After nearly a decade between albums, The Western Veil arrives as a deeply personal collection shaped in part by a life-changing motorcycle accident in 2024. Shiloh talks about recovery, rediscovering music, and the strange process of writing songs that sometimes reveal more than you knew you had to say.We also get into the connection between music and the people who hear it — that rare feeling when something deeply personal becomes something shared.Stay to the end for a live performance of “Failing Hail.”https://shilohlindsey.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

On this episode, Lincoln Halloran talks about the return of Hello Shark after ten years away, the personal experiences behind The River, and finding his way back to songwriting. We get into the early DIY days, sobriety, old friendships, and how time changes the way we see ourselves and the people around us. An honest conversation about making music, looking back, and figuring out what comes next.https://fatherdaughterrecords.com/collections/hello-sharkSend us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

With WHY?’s new album, Oh Golly / Yes Lord, on the horizon, Yoni Wolf reflects on decades of making music that refuses to sit still. Moving between alternative hip-hop, indie rock, sampling, and richly layered arrangements, WHY? has built a catalogue that rewards listening to the whole record, not just the individual song.Yoni talks about the long, sometimes uncertain process of making an album: four-track experiments, finding a record’s shape, sequencing songs, and working with collaborators who help bring ideas to life. We get into the self-doubt that follows a finished record into the world, why positive feedback doesn’t always quiet the inner critic, and the moments when music connects with someone who needs it.It’s an honest conversation about songwriting as a way of documenting a life, making peace with uncertainty, and carrying on regardless.https://whywithaquestionmark.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

Formed in California’s high desert, Heavy Gus make fuzzy, grunge-soaked indie rock that balances scruffy guitar noise with unexpected flashes of melody, humor, and tenderness. On their forthcoming second album, the trio revisit the loose, live-wire approach of Notions, but life has changed: Dorota Szuta and Stelth Ulvang are now navigating parenthood alongside the creative intimacy of being partners and bandmates. New singles “Super Soaker” and “Past Lives” reveal two sides of that tension, one sticky, volatile, and loud, the other reflective and bittersweet. Heavy Gus leave the contradictions intact.https://www.heavygus.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

Julia Holter has never been content to leave a song alone. Across a career spent blurring the boundaries between experimental composition and pop, she has built elaborate musical worlds, then found ways to unsettle them. On Materia, that impulse turns inward: old ideas are revisited, familiar structures loosen, and music becomes something fluid, open to revision.On this episode of If It Be Your Will, Holter traces the path from her early experiments and studies in composition to the increasingly expansive, emotionally intricate records that followed. We talk about orchestration as a way of thinking, the strange relationship between control and intuition, and what changes when you stop treating a composition as a finished thing.A companion to Something in the Room She Moves, Materia finds Holter continuing to question how music takes shape — and what might emerge when you return to it with fresh ears. Our conversation moves through creative uncertainty, the long life of an idea, and the possibilities that appear when you let a piece become something you didn't originally imagine.Sometimes the most revealing way forward is to take things apart.Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

What if the things that scare you are also the things you need to move through?On this episode of If It Be Your Will, SHEAL — the musical project of Toronto-based songwriter Sheilagh McNab — talks about stage anxiety, trusting her instincts, and learning to make room for both solitude and connection. We trace the path from Courage Again to golden hours and the new home-going chapter, exploring how motherhood, memory, and the quieter moments of everyday life find their way into her songs. It’s a conversation about letting go of old expectations, finding your footing, and figuring out what it means to feel at home in your own life.https://www.instagram.com/sheal.musicBMWjt9T0R8sHB1ai8IHKSend us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

On Prettiest Flower, Emily Nyhuus spent nearly eight years figuring out what Reveal Party was trying to say. The result is a record about becoming yourself, but also about the strange detours that get you there: an imaginary character who gradually turns out to be you, songs rewritten until they finally feel true, and a musical world that refuses to stay in one genre. We talk about Midwest emo, Neutral Milk Hotel, crushes, songwriting, burnout, perfectionism, and why some records need years before they're ready to leave your hands.https://revealpartyonline.bandcamp.com/album/prettiest-flowerReveal Party's sophomore album, “Prettiest Flower,” blends her Midwest emo and lo-fi pop influences with elements of stadium rock and eclectic instrumental folk, creating a cohesive, self-referential, and wistfully nostalgic tour de force.The record tells a coming-of-age story rooted in the trans experience, presenting a raw yet tender autobiography where truths are revealed between the lines and space is given to unspoken feelings. It explores the ache of transformation, the dreams simmering beneath the surface of a chrysalis, and the anxiety of being both larva and butterfly, marking an ambitious and emotionally resonant new chapter for this self-described professional yearner.- Livia WendlandSend us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

London singer-songwriter Natalie Shay joins If It Be Your Will for a chat about guitars, Taylor Swift, stage fright, songwriting, and figuring out how to become comfortable taking up space. From picking up her first acoustic guitar to playing for thousands of people, Natalie’s story is full of unexpected turns, big pop instincts, and a very human dose of nerves. We talk about finding confidence, learning to talk between songs, writing from instinct, and why sometimes the best way through your fears is simply to throw yourself into the deep end. A fun, honest conversation with plenty of music, laughs, and North London energy.https://natalieshay.co.uk/Send us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc

THAO returns with Show Me, her first album in six years, and it’s a record about what happens when you stop trying to keep parts of yourself at a safe distance. We talk about divorce, desire, queer identity, family, Vietnam, community, and the uncomfortable work of changing how you move through the world. We also get into collaboration, the many forms her storytelling has taken, and the difference between telling your story and actually letting someone see you. This is a thoughtful, funny, deeply human conversation with an artist still willing to question herself.https://thaothaothao.comSend us Fan MailSupport the showlinktr.ee/colleyc