{"id":17368,"date":"2019-11-26T09:08:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T15:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=17368"},"modified":"2019-12-09T09:46:34","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T15:46:34","slug":"derailed-podcast-music-icarus-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/derailed-podcast-music-icarus-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"How ex-members of Icarus Himself created the soundtrack for Derailed<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, a podcast about trains doesn\u2019t seem like it would work.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re a rail enthusiast or an eight-year-old, it\u2019s a rather niche topic. But Wisconsin Public Radio\u2019s Derailed<\/em><\/a> is the opposite: an engaging and informative<\/a> exploration of Wisconsin\u2019s failed attempts to bring high-speed train travel to the state. Much of that has to do with the fantastic reporting of Bridgit Bowden and Shawn Johnson. But credit is also due to Derailed<\/em>\u2019s sound wizards, Karl Christenson and Brad Kolberg.<\/p>\n

Madison music fans will know Christenson and Kolberg as two-thirds of Icarus Himself<\/a>, an experimentally inclined indie rock trio that amicably dissolved a few years ago. The two share a space in the labyrinthine WPR offices, where they served as technical directors for Derailed<\/em>. Each are longtime producers for the network, dating back to their Icarus Himself days. Among other things, the pair spearheaded Set List<\/em><\/a>, a WPR program that highlighted Wisconsin musicians. But despite their experience in both worlds, creating music for a podcast is much different than a rock group.<\/span>\n

\"Icarus
Icarus Himself: Karl Christenson, Nick Whetro and Brad Kolberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/span>\u201cWith a band, you eventually settle on the ideal version of a thing,\u201d Kolberg says. \u201cBut here, a given track is used up to, like, 10 times.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Christenson came in. As Derailed<\/em>\u2019s primary composer, it was his task to create a soundscape that fit with Bowden and Johnson\u2019s extensive reporting without overtaking it. Better still, they could avoid falling back on bland, royalty-free stock music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted it to be a mix of organic and digital,\u201d Christenson says. He recorded the guitars and drums at his home studio, and later added synthesizers using the rig he keeps on his desk at WPR. Sometimes it sounds like NPR\u2019s Serial<\/em>, and sometimes it sounds like Radiohead\u2019s Kid A<\/em>. The music is amorphous enough that it pulls off the tricky task of acting as audio wallpaper (\u201cvanilla sound,\u201d as Kolberg puts it) without getting stale.<\/p>\n

Musically, the Derailed<\/em> soundtrack shares a lot with Icarus Himself. Christenson\u2019s score is unintrusive and slyly sophisticated, the work of someone who\u2019s spent much of his adult life manipulating sound. But unlike their pair\u2019s old band, the music would only be a supporting character here.<\/p>\n

Much of the work was tempering the \u201cpolitical wonky things,\u201d Christenson says. And given that Bowden and Johnson had hours\u2019 worth of reporting and research to comb through, there were a lot<\/em> of wonky political things. The pair would work almost like an assembly line, with Kolberg assembling episodes on one side of the room and Christenson composing music on the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d continue with my work, and he\u2019d be over here writing a new piece of music on the fly and then just tweaking it to the specific needs of the episode,\u201d Kolberg says. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole batch of tracks that just sort of came together like that spontaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds pretty rock \u2018n\u2019 roll to me, especially for public radio. And speaking of: Christenson doesn\u2019t rule out the possibility of a future Icarus Himself reunion. The main roadblock is that frontman Nick Whetro currently lives in Iowa City<\/a>, where he operates a food cart<\/a>. For now, the six (soon seven<\/a>) podcast episodes will have to tide over fans.<\/p>\n

Derailed <\/em>isn\u2019t just a fascinating listen<\/a>. It\u2019s also an impressive musical project, the result of two talented artists bringing an exciting array of sounds and ideas to the table. There\u2019s no high-speed rail travel in Wisconsin, but we do have a pretty great podcast about it. And the music is awesome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On paper, a podcast about trains doesn\u2019t seem like it would work. Unless you\u2019re a rail enthusiast or an eight-year-old, it\u2019s a rather niche topic. But Wisconsin Public Radio\u2019s Derailed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":17375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5155,5151,5152],"tags":[11311,19,11019,11309,11310,54,2884,62],"yoast_head":"\nCreating the soundtrack for WPR's podcast 'Derailed' - The Bozho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Producers Karl Christenson and Brad Kolberg, ex-members of Icarus Himself, created a soundscape that fit with the extensive reporting without overtaking it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/derailed-podcast-music-icarus-himself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating the soundtrack for WPR\u2019s \u201cDerailed\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two-thirds of Icarus Himself scored the podcast.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/derailed-podcast-music-icarus-himself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bozho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thebozho\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-26T15:08:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-09T15:46:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DerailedMusic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Creating the soundtrack for WPR\u2019s \u201cDerailed\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Two-thirds of Icarus Himself scored the podcast.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thebozho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thebozho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Whitcomb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Bozho\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thebozho\/\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/thebozho\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thebozho\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/logo.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"The Bozho\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Bozho\",\"description\":\"Seeing things. 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