The first time I interviewed Will Oldham, it was in-person at a Toronto café on August 19, 2006. He’d played an in-store at Rotate This (Queen & Bathurst location) earlier in the day, and I was told I had 25 minutes to ask him about his then new album, The Letting Go. It was a magazine assignment, but I also planned to use it for my young campus/community radio show, and so we pretended we were live on the air, early on a Wednesday morning (it aired on September 13, 2006). I abided by the 25-minute limit, turning my minidisc recorder off once the interview was done. Will and I then chatted in that noisy café for close to three more hours. In a way, we’ve been bonded ever since, having had many of the most enjoyable, insightful conversations I’ve had with anyone since I began interviewing people for a living.

The new Bonnie “Prince” Billy album, The Purple Bird, is out January 31, 2025. There’s a connection between how this record was made and that long, informal talk Will and I had, so I thought I’d share my first interview with him.

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