The Guestlist With Sean Cannon

Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz talks about egalitarianism in music and how she went from math major to major label employee. Mark and Jay Duplass discuss the positives and negatives of being successful filmmakers and family men.

Speedy Ortiz frontwoman Sadie Dupuis has experienced a lot of transition over the last year. The idea of transition is a recurring theme throughout this conversation, whether it's regarding her former life as a math major or her newfound flamboyance as a frontwoman.

Mark and Jay Duplass usually field film and TV projects involving family and identity. As it happens, they've built a small empire by focusing on those two things. It's no surprise those topics came up in earnest during this conversation.

Craig Finn talks about the difference between making music with The Hold Steady and making music on his own, as well as how his attitude has changed relative to those creative endeavors. Mike Birbiglia talk about his life story, because he wrote a story about his life — and turned it into a movie.

This interview with Mike Birbiglia is not for the faint of heart. I'll just go ahead and say that you shouldn't listen to it if The Backstreet Boys make you sick to your stomach.

For Craig Finn, it's not so much about raging and pounding beers these days. His solo records — which contain what he calls "age appropriate music" — seem to reflect that fact.

"Saturday Night Live" alum and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan discusses his one-year stint on the show and some of the reasons he didn't make it to a second season. Jesse and Sebastien of Death From Above 1979 talk about why they couldn't have made a second record if they hadn't broken up first.

Death From Above 1979's Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler are brothers. Maybe they aren't genetically or legally related, but the bond is there. It's palpable, and it shows in this conversation about their reunion, their latest record ("The Physical World"), and the joy of Merle Haggard.

Brooks Wheelan opens up about his time as a "5 to 1" guy on SNL, his former career as a biomedical engineer, and his recent quest to "become an adult."

Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies talk about realizing rock and roll could be a career and sitting in the back of the tour bus with the black musicians in the US. Colin Newman of Wire discusses the differences between British punk and American punk.

Wire was so secretly influential in American music that frontman Colin Newman didn't even know it for a couple of decades. We discuss the reasoning behind that, as well as the band's history and the differences between punk in the US and the UK.

The Zombies are quietly one of the most influential rock bands of all time. Part of it is the songwriting. Part of it is the production on their masterpiece, "Oddesey

Wayne Kramer of the legendary proto-punk outfit The MC5 talks about his time in prison on drug charges and gives you the lowdown on The MC5's surprisingly religious roots. We're also jump starting the Secretly Canadian Records 20th anniversary celebration with a chat from founder Chris Swanson.

Secretly Canadian has grown from a bedroom label to an indie rock behemoth over the last 20 years, with three other labels, a distribution arm, a publishing division, and a management company. Chris Swanson was there for it all. We talked about the label's past and present.

The MC5 and guitarist Wayne Kramer used to take people to church, so to speak. The incendiary proto-punk band's fervency and social conscience were second to none. But it's still hard to believe that their schema was influenced by the actual church.