Song Imploder with A.C. Newman of The New Pornographers feat. Anxiety and Depression

In this Song Imploder edition of our show (borrowing a format
from the podcast Song Exploder), Carl (who records as A.C.)
Newman walks us through “Whiteout Conditions”, a song created
when his sister was dying of cancer but when he had to get into
the studio.


Seems like it’s safe to say that when people are in a terrible
mental state, they are least equipped to do something as creative
as writing songs. But Carl isn’t like most people. The leader of
the Canadian group The New Pornographers says that he simply
can’t stop writing songs. There’s nothing elective about it. He
has 50 songs in various states of completion all loaded up on the
computers in his Woodstock, New York home.


He also talks about how despite battling depression and anxiety
his whole life, he’s still able to get up on stage and sing and
lead a band. It helps, he says, having Neko Case in his band
because he thinks audiences figure if Neko’s okay with him then
he must be an acceptable guy.


Purchase your copy of the Whiteout Conditions album at The New
Pornographer's website or on Apple Music. Follow A.C. Newman
on Twitter @ACNewman and The New Pornographers
@TheNewPornos. 


Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly
members of Maximum Fun. 


Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear
what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you
like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at
depreshmode@maximumfun.org.


Help is available right away.


The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255,
1-800-273-TALK


Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.


International suicide hotline numbers available
here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines


The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe
for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health
issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/


John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is
available here.


Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.


John is on Twitter @johnmoe.