Nest Sessions: Nick Thorburn on Underground Comics

Summary

Flightless Bird: “Nest Sessions: Nick Thorburn on Underground Comics”

Hosted by David Farrier (with co-host Rob)
Guest: Nick Thorburn
Date: May 7, 2026

---

Overview

This episode explores the quirky and subversive world of underground comics through the eyes of Canadian musician, writer, and illustrator Nick Thorburn. Nick shares personal stories about immigrating to America, delves into a passion for comics that transcend superhero clichés, discusses his new book “Pear Shape,” and reflects on whales, homesickness, and the art of popcorn. Alongside music and laughter, the crew samples American snacks, drinks, and digs into how different cultures shape creativity and confidence.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nick Thorburn’s Journey: Canada to America (00:17–04:28)

• Nick’s Background: Canadian, in the US almost 20 years, originally moved “for love,” stayed for opportunities and the eclectic people.

  • “I came for love. I stayed – Lord knows why I stayed when the love ran dry. I moved west.” (01:54 – Nick T.)
  • America “gets its hooks in… amongst the chaos, there’s so many good things… opportunities and people that are all fucking fascinating.” (02:15 – Host)

• Cultural Contrasts: “Tall Poppy Syndrome” in New Zealand and Canada discourages standing out. America, meanwhile, is more individualistic and encourages self-confidence.

  • “People cheer each other on. But it is a very individualized culture in America where you’re rewarded for pushing to the limit…” (03:27 – Nick T.)

• Cultural Adaptation: Nick shares how quickly he learned to blend in, adapting his language (e.g., “runners” to “sneakers,” “expiry” to “expiration”), and both he and the host connect over the compulsion to apologize and non-confrontational habits in their home countries (05:04–06:36).

2. Comics: Beyond Superheroes (07:21–15:59)

• Nick’s Comic Philosophy:

  • Not just about a vintage or style, but the philosophy of comics—especially the American roots of “underground” comics (e.g., R. Crumb, Freak Brothers) from San Francisco in the 1960s.
  • Nick’s early fascination: “From the beginning, … drawing was just my outlet. And it still is.” (08:51)

• Fantagraphics Obsession:

  • As a teen, Nick idolized Fantagraphics (the indie comics publisher). At 13, while on a family trip to Seattle, he called their office hoping for a visit.
  • Years later, he published his own book there—“a pinch yourself, holy shit moment.” (10:24–10:16)

• What Draws Nick to Underground Comics:

  • Humor, playfulness, and pushing boundaries. “The thing that hooked me with these kind of comics is the humor, is the playfulness.” (11:42)
  • Not motivated by gore, despite new book Pear Shape featuring “a man being sawed in half.” He loves Calvin and Hobbes, Archie, and comedic storytelling.

• The Penguin Book Incident:

  • Nick’s wordless “Penguins” book included “an exploding penis,” which became a viral news story in Australia when a mother accidentally bought it for her penguin-obsessed six-year-old.
  • “She went to the local...newspaper or the radio station as you do…and it made national headlines in Australia.” (13:31 – Nick T.)

• The Role of Comics as Storytelling:

  • Comics can tell stories in ways neither written word nor film can.
  • Nick distinguishes “graphic novels” (long, heavy, often autobiographical) from “comics” (shorter, gag-based, pure visual narration).
  • “It’s not a failed screenplay…It’s a comic book. And I think those distinctions are important.” (15:59 – Nick T.)
  • Example of “serious” graphic novels: Ducks by Kate Beaton (“a very harrowing, very serious story, very beautifully told…” (16:13))

3. On Cultural Identity, Belonging, and Humor (19:16–36:40)

• On Canadian-ness & the Ocean:

  • Nick’s music and comics often reference the ocean and island life; a connection rooted in his upbringing on Vancouver Island.
  • Anecdote about a famous orphaned killer whale (Suki/Luna) and Nick’s father, who served as a fisheries officer mediating between government and First Nations communities in Canada.
  • Reflection on similar stories from New Zealand (Opo the dolphin), with both animals tragically killed after becoming local fixtures.
  • “I do feel kind of like a man on an island. I guess I feel like a man without a home sometimes—like I don’t really belong anywhere.” (36:40 – Nick T.)

• Bonding Through Regional Traits:

  • Nick and host laugh about apologizing too much, “yeah-nah” indecision, and non-confrontational tendencies of both Canadians and Kiwis.
  • “If I stepped on your shoe and you apologized for me stepping on your shoe, that feels very Canadian to me.” (06:16 – Nick T.)

4. American Snacks & Rituals (29:52–35:03)

• Nick’s Popcorn Ritual:

  • Nick prepares his own proprietary popcorn seasoning (“umami is the leading kind of profile, and then you’ve got a little bit of a tang…and just a dash of sweet” – 31:05)
  • He brings house-made popcorn and tincture to the movies; has exes who “miss the popcorn, not me.” (31:28)
  • There’s a running joke about “toad venom” being in the seasoning.

• Spindrift vs. LaCroix:

  • Nick gushes about Spindrift sparkling water—its simple, real fruit ingredients, especially the “passionfruit, orange, guava” flavor.
  • “I go crazy for guava. I discovered guava last year at a farmer’s market and it just made me…opened a portal in my brain.” (33:28 – Nick T.)

5. Homesickness, Nostalgia & National Identity (35:09–36:44)

• Canadian “gentleness” is missed (“slightly more gentle way of existing”), though Nick isn’t a patriot and finds he doesn’t fully fit anywhere. Vancouver Island’s climate and temperament are special to him, but “sometimes I go back and it just drives me nuts.” (35:30–36:40)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Culture Shock:

  • “When I came to New York in 07, I was constantly being—it was being highlighted how I was saying words differently…I just wanted to fit in and not be teased. So I just adapted.” (05:04 – Nick T.)

• On Underground Comics:

  • “There’s an emphasis on ‘important comics’…that graphic novels are serious. I tried to wrap my head around that… Until I did this new one, Pear Shape. I just decided that’s not who I am. I want to do a comic that’s just a pure comic…and it could only be in this medium.” (15:04–15:59)

• On Humor & Creativity:

  • “Humor is big for me. With music, the songs you'll hear, there's a comedic element, playful way in, I think, to emotion.” (11:44 – Nick T.)

• On Belonging:

  • “I guess I feel like a man on an island. …I feel like a man without a home sometimes. Like I don’t really belong anywhere.” (36:40 – Nick T.)

• On Food Rituals:

  • “I have exes come up to me, say, ‘I don’t miss you at all, but I miss that popcorn.’” (31:28 – Nick T.)
  • About Spindrift: “I go crazy for guava…I discovered guava, like last year…and it just made me—it like opened a portal in my brain.” (33:28)

---

Music & Artistic Output (from 36:53)

• Nick performs live:

  • “David Geffen's Jackson Pollock” (41:38) – Inspired by an art heist.
  • “Ready to Die” (45:32) – From his early band The Unicorns, reflects on mortality, high school angst, and creative beginnings.
    • “It’s one of the first songs I wrote…It’s kind of nice to go all the way back sometimes…” (37:00 – Nick T.)

• Upcoming:

  • New album “The Cream” with Mike Stroud (Ratatat), releasing June 5th.
  • Comic Pear Shape out June 16th on Fantagraphics—“a huge privilege and honor to be in the fold.” (40:10–41:13)

---

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• 00:17–04:28: Nick’s background & reasons for staying in America
• 07:21–15:59: Origins, philosophy, and appeal of underground comics
• 10:24–10:16: Fantagraphics “pinch yourself” moments
• 13:31: Penguins book controversy in Australia
• 16:13–18:07: Distinguishing graphic novels vs. comics
• 20:00–29:16: Whale (Luna/Suki) story and meaning of ocean imagery
• 29:52–35:03: Popcorn rituals, Spindrift vs. LaCroix, snack culture
• 35:09–36:44: Homesickness, national identity, and nostalgia
• 36:53–49:35: Music performances, creative process, and wrapping up

---

Tone & Style

The episode is marked by gentle humor, self-deprecation, and warm cultural curiosity—a mix of wistfulness, nerdy enthusiasm, and irreverence. Nick is articulate and reflective, with a dry, quick wit; the hosts are enthusiastic, friendly, and occasionally awed by Nick’s creative range.

---

Summary prepared for listeners who want the insight, anecdotes, and laughter—without having to rewind for the popcorn recipe or the tragic whale.

Transcript

[Nick Thorburn]

And I still had david gaffins jackson.

Holly,

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Welcome to our studio.

[Nick Thorburn]

Great place.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

No, we're just talking off mic that you are not an American. You are a. Gasp. Canadian.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's true. I'm secretly Canadian. I try to slip through under detection.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

But how long have you been here for now?

[Nick Thorburn]

Next year would be year 20.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. You've adapted.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Is that longer than you've spent in Canada?

[Nick Thorburn]

I would need five more years to, I think, make it even.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's scary when you hit those points where you realize there's more time behind a thing than in front of it.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes.

I'm constantly doing those equations in my head.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

Um, because you think about, like. Yeah. When you were a kid in the band you liked or. Or the music. You met a. A guy, you know, who. Who made a record in. You know, let's say it's 99 and you meet a guy who put out a record in 84. You're like, oh, this guy's a dinosaur. But then now you think, that's 15 years. That's. Yeah, that's nothing.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

That's 2010.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah. I don't like doing that.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Which. Speaking of. Can you introduce yourself?

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes. Very quick. Speaking of old dinosaur. Yeah. My name is Nick Thorburn. I make music, I draw and I write. Other little secret expressions of the self, but the primary one is music. Yeah. I've had many bands over the years and records released.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Is that what brought you to the States? Originally, music side, it was for love

[Nick Thorburn]

I came for love I stayed Lord knows why I stayed when the love ran dry I moved west.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

Kind of a familiar tale, I think.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

You go as far west as you can and then.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And then you remain.

[Nick Thorburn]

Then you remain.

Yeah.

Right. I'm, like, wedged against the Pacific Ocean. I got nowhere to go.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

America kind of does that, though. It gets its hooks in, like. There's so many. Amongst the chaos. There's so many good things here, I think, and so many. Sounds cheesy, but opportunities and people that are all fucking fascinating. And you stay.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes. For all my misgivings, the questionable history of the country, the people. There are some really special people here that I think have persuaded me to stay, I think.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Does that opportunity not feel like it's there in New Zealand or Montreal?

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's a good question. I'll let you go first.

[Nick Thorburn]

Well, I think. I think we have a similar expression in both regions. The Tall Poppy Syndrome is what we call it in.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Absolutely. Yeah. Same thing.

[Nick Thorburn]

Called something else.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, no, same thing.

[Nick Thorburn]

Same.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

It's more of a mental.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, no, I agree. It's this idea that you can't get too big for your britches or you're sort of getting a bit arrogant and there's this idea that people will cut you down. And I think it's over egged. Like, I don't think it's anything like it was. Yeah, but it's certainly something you never really feel here. Like, I think America has given me more confidence that I wouldn't have had in New Zealand, given my personality. Because everyone is so like, yeah, yes, it kind of is a bit infectious.

[Nick Thorburn]

People cheer each other on. But it is a very individualized culture in America where you're rewarded for pushing to the limit of what you can do as an individual, I think because it props up this project of individualism which, which really.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's also shitty.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's very. I think it's detrimental ultimately. But I think there's a balance to strike.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And I think. And the other thing I think about New Zealand is it's just small. So like doing a podcast, something as simple as just doing a podcast in New Zealand, it's just hard to find. Even though you're out on the fucking Internet, it's just hard to find an audience.

[Nick Thorburn]

This would be the biggest podcast In New Zealand. 10 years.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Insanely so. Yeah, there's a few. There's a few that will. Will. There's a few New Zealand podcasts that get huge. But generally like this would be in New Zealand would be like a bigger one.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Decent New Zealand audience still we.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Do you say half of our audience is New Zealand.

[Nick Thorburn]

Oh, cool.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Because they're always calling me out when I say something derogatory or ignorant about my country.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

So David grew up Christian, homeschool boy.

[Nick Thorburn]

Okay.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

So I'm a bit out of the loop on some certain things.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

So he'll be like, we don't have refrigerators or food trucks in New Zealand.

[Nick Thorburn]

This is like a dog situation.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

A little bit dog toothy. I love that. You know that film so good. But yeah, occasionally I'll learn that my. Surprisingly my upbringing was not the same as everybody's got it.

[Nick Thorburn]

That's funny. That's a funny way to realize. Well, similarly, when I came to New York in 07, I started, how I adapted, I think so quickly is that I was constantly being. It was being highlighted how I was saying words differently. You know, I would talk about my runners instead of my sneakers. I would talk about the expiry date instead of the expiration date. Anytime I said A thing that people. It would flag, people would. It would hit their ear funny and they would tease me for it. And I just wanted to fit in and not be teased. So I just adapted and I stopped, you know, I stopped saying sorry and I stopped. I stopped saying all of these things that would kind of get a. Get a laugh. And I know it was a good natured thing when it would be brought up, but I just want to, like, fit in and be left alone.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I get it. The sorry thing, always apologizing is a very Kiwi thing as well.

[Nick Thorburn]

And the way. And the accent, like that long vowels way.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

You get it?

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

The thing I always find about New Zealand that we do. We're so worried about saying no to something. We say, yeah, nah. So if you say like, do you want to go to dinner tonight? Be like, yeah, nah. Like. But Americans will hear the yeah and go, that's a yes. But we're too worried to give you a no. So we give you a little yeah in front of it.

[Nick Thorburn]

Well, there's a passive aggressiveness to that too. Right. And a non confrontational thing that Canada definitely suffers from. Collectively, I think this idea of like. Like, if I stepped on your shoe and you apologized for me stepping on your shoe, that. That feels very Canadian to me.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. That's kiwi and it's really fucked up.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's good to feel seen.

[Nick Thorburn]

We should bond. Yeah. Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It is very similar. I was saying as well. Before we started rolling, Canada was the only, like, family trip my family's taken. When I was like seven, all the farriers went to Toronto and Vancouver.

[Nick Thorburn]

Okay.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And it was great. Mounties. Wow.

[Nick Thorburn]

You really did the.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I would the whole country and we never traveled again.

[Nick Thorburn]

That was it.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

So one family trip. Yeah. But I loved it there. I love Canada. It's a great place.

[Nick Thorburn]

You're like, wow, they have. Because you went right from homeschooling to.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

Trip. So you're like, they have buses and.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh, my God.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Electricity.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Electricity. Niagara Falls. That blew my mind, that place.

[Nick Thorburn]

Oh, my God.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Anyway.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This isn't a show about Canada.

[Nick Thorburn]

No, it's not.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's about America.

[Nick Thorburn]

That's right.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

In this particular show. Do like to sort of be schooled on something we don't know about. And I understand you have a particular passion for a certain type of comic.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Comics in general or just specifically vintage.

[Nick Thorburn]

Not so much a vintage or a style, but kind of a philosophy. You know, I think when most people think of comics, they think of obviously superheroes.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. X Men, Superman, yeah, we've gotten to

[Nick Thorburn]

a point where I think people can also think of Art Spiegelman and Dan Clowes and a lot of stuff that's even been made into movies and kind of crossed over into the mainstream. Like Ghost World, the Dan Clowes comic that became a movie and all that. So. Yeah, so underground comics is kind of the thing that has a very American. It's rooted very much in really like a lot of it in. In San Francisco in the 60s, like R. Crumb and Freak Brothers and. And that sort of stuff. That's kind of where I. Yeah, that was like a big opening. Obviously my entry to. To comics was the superhero stuff, but.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

But as a kid you were into comics.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah, big time into comics. And an illustrator and a. And a. Well, I was drawing as a kid. I wasn't an. Imagine if I was 11 and called myself an illustrator.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

It's Canadian. Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

No, I would just draw all the time. I mean, from the beginning, it was way before music, way before anything else. Drawing was my. Was just my outlet. And it still is. And so once I got into the kind of crevices of comics with Crumb and then pulling deeper into kind of more contemporary stuff. At the time, in the 90s when I was a kid, a lot of the stuff from Fantagraphics, the publishing company that put out some Crumb stuff, and they put out some Dan Clowes and Pete Bagg with Hate. And that stuff just started to open up a whole world to me.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And.

[Nick Thorburn]

And yeah, I remember being on a family vacation in seattle. I was 13. Cause it was just down the border, you know, on the other side of the border near Vancouver island, going to Seattle. And like, this is where fan of graphics. This is where fan of graphics are. And I remember I went to a payphone and I like found their phone number in the back of a comic. And I tried to call them and get set up a. I wanted to see their warehouse or something. I had no idea.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Set up a date.

[Nick Thorburn]

It was just this fantastical, mystical place. And then. So then cut to like eight years ago and I put. I published a book with fan of graphics.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh my God.

[Nick Thorburn]

Published this? Yeah, and you guys can have it. So that was a real.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh, like it's a pinch yourself, holy shit moment.

[Nick Thorburn]

Moment. Yeah, so. So yeah, I did bring some comics as like visual aids. But like, you know, this was like. Is one from Arcade from 75.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And wait, so what. When you were a kid, what was appealing? Like, what kind of stories are these telling that are Perhaps a bit different to like the super mainstream X Men and Supermans and Batmans of the world.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Was it the weird Gory.

[Nick Thorburn]

So I have a new book. I feel like I'm not doing super promo apologize for it, but we're allowed

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

to promo ourselves in America.

[Nick Thorburn]

Great. Right.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Okay.

[Nick Thorburn]

So this is my new book that's coming out in June called Pear Shape on Fantagraphics. And it is very gory.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

The man being sawed in half by two other people.

[Nick Thorburn]

He's sawed in half. He's. It's a really, you know the expression like it's all gone pear shaped. So this would maybe suggest that I do like gore, but I actually. Gore is not the thing that motivates me. In fact, you know, in addition to the Marvel stuff, when I was like younger, like 12 or whatever and 11, I really loved Calvin and Hobbes, even like as a young kid, like Archie comics. So, you know, I think I just want funny. Oh, nice. Wow, that's good.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

My son is named Calvin.

[Nick Thorburn]

Oh, wow.

Okay.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Got a mega fan.

[Nick Thorburn]

So you get it. Yeah. I mean, and he, he was such a inspiration. I think I even wrote Bill Watterson a letter when he stopped publishing, like a thank you letter. And then I got a form letter back that was like, bill Watterson is no longer doing Calvin and Hobbes, so he can't. I was like, I know I was writing to. That's the reason I'm writing to thank him for his. I was such a nerd. So I think I love, you know, humor is big for me with music, the songs you'll hear. There's like a comedic element, playful way in, I think to emotion. So I think for me the, the thing that hooked me with these kind of comics is the humor, is the playfulness.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And it's also, it's a different way to like you have storytelling and song, but it's a different way to tell stories, isn't it? In like this kind of form, like this interplay of like words and imagery.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah. So that one actually has no word. Penguin. The penguins. The goal was to try to tell these little stories without any text, which

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

is so challenging as well.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah. There was like an exploding penis on one of the pages and there was this like big story in Australia, actually this big like news story. Some woman, she had like a six year old kid who loved penguins, was obsessed with penguins. And so she found this book maybe on Amazon or something, but she ordered it and then sitting with her six year old son, and the first page she opens to is this like. Like herpes infested penis that is exploding into a million pieces. And she, like, I guess she went to the local. I don't know, the newspaper or the radio station as you do.

Yeah.

And it went. It made the, like. It made like national headlines in Australia.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

That's amazing.

[Nick Thorburn]

I was like, interviewed for it.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Some penises.

[Nick Thorburn]

There's some. Yeah. Those aren't even the. The ones I love. Many penises in there.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Wound its way back to you here. That's incredible.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

I do like the very influential comic that you find. Like, I remember being a kid going to the convenience store and there was a comic called Skin Eaters.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Whoa.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

That was about peeling skin off and eating it and.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Still remember that cover.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Such an intense concept just sears itself into your brain as a kid.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Because you want to be shocked as a kid, don't you? Or you want to be surprised and

[Nick Thorburn]

you're curious and you want to know where the edges are. You know, you want to know what's off limits, what's dangerous, and you want to go as close to that edge, I think, as you can. And then maybe even a bit further if you're a real freak.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I didn't grow up with comics because homeschooled. But when I discovered that the devil's work. We don't have those in New Zealand. We don't have comics in New Zealand. Since I got to America, I've discovered them, but I feel like the only ones I've really gotten into, like, Grant Morrison stuff, I guess, more adults, sort of. He does a thing called you get the filth. He did this amazing comic and some of Alan Moore's stuff, which is, I feel like, just like the biggies. But I do like how with comics, it's just you couldn't tell some of the stories that you tell in graphic novels or comics in any other format.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Like, it just wouldn't work. And it wouldn't work with words, wouldn't work with moving images. And there's something really cool about that.

[Nick Thorburn]

That's what I'm interested in. So I made that book in 2018, Penguins. There's this emphasis on important comics and lesser important and that graphic novels are like. Yeah, there's that novel in the title. I mean, it's like serious. Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Telling a story of people.

[Nick Thorburn]

Typically autobiographical. It's like heavy subject matter. And I tried to wrap my head around that as a way to tell a story. And I was sort of blocked for years until I did this. The new un. Pear shape. I Just decided that's not who I am. I'm just one. I want to do a comic that's just a pure comic. And it could only be in this medium. It's not a. It couldn't be adapted into a film ever. It's not a graphic novel. It's a comic book. And I think those distinctions are important. You know, there's a place for graphic novels. I love them, but I love the media, like, what you're saying, where this thing could only be. This thing.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's not a failed screenplay that I tried to. That I was like, I guess I'll turn this into a comic.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

No, exactly. Like, it's very specific and very clear what it can be.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Can you talk through the distinctions between graphic novel and comic, Personally, Like a

[Nick Thorburn]

graphic novel, you know, Good example. There's a really good one from Canada called Ducks by Kate Beaton. And it tells the author's story about being on the oil fields in Alberta and just the destitution, just. It's just a, you know, late capitalism, just, like, just extracting resources from the world at, like, without any care or consideration. And then you've got these. So These shitty conditions, and then you've got these people that are just kind of at the edge of society and how they behave, and they behave kind of poorly. And in her case, she was assaulted, and so it sort of tells her story. It's a very harrowing, very serious story, very beautifully told, and, you know, an essential book. And, like, there's so many like that that are so good, and it's big, and, you know, it's like. It's 300 pages or whatever, and you feel like you're. You're reading a novel in graphic form. And so then a comic, you know, to me, like, one of my favorite comics is Nancy Ernie Bushmiller. It was a comic strip in the newspaper. Started out as another character, and Nancy was just the niece of this main character in, like, the 30s or the 40s. And then it just went until his death, and then it even carried on after that. But it's just a gag, you know, it's a gag comic. There's no, like, greater goal. I mean, sometimes there is with Calvin and Hobbes, I think there was, like, he was touching on some, like, deeper

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

ideas and stuff, but generally, like, more entertainment. Felt like.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah, not in a disparaging way, just simpler.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

It's not trying to say too much, or it's contained a little bit more.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's contained and maybe it's A little more hidden. Its meaning is maybe a little more hidden.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I think in New Zealand, like growing up in the paper we had was Garfield and it was Calvin and Hobbes. We had those little tiny elements of those. And fucking Dilbert, who is that guy? Ends up just being a Nobby Gilbert took over.

[Nick Thorburn]

I remember when Calvin and Hobbs ended because Dilbert was the replacement that was.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And the guy that made Dilbert, I think was a complete valiant.

[Nick Thorburn]

Just like totally great guy.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Great.

[Nick Thorburn]

Like, I love his politics.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. I didn't. I was shocked when I found out. I'm very late. Found out about his politics. It was just such a. Oh, my God, that's Dilbert.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

I like Dilbert posters down.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

You had to take my Dilbert posters.

[Nick Thorburn]

So I was always a Dilbert hater because in my. This was like 95 when Calvin and Hobbes ended and Dilbert took over. So I was like 13. And I felt like Dilbert was personally responsible for like killing. Like, I didn't literally feel that, but this was the thing that I always looked forward to that time. And then when I got to like take the funny pages and it was like, what the fuck is this? And it was just so. I always had an axe to grind with that guy. So it felt vindicating when he came out. It came out that he was like

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

being a pretty bad sociopath, like terrible guy. You mentioned penguins.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

You and I might be wrong on this, but I feel like your music and comics and everything. You like the ocean, right? You like little ocean creatures?

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Is that fair?

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes. I think it's just embedded in my DNA a little bit.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And I might read this somewhere. It might be right, it might be wrong. And I'll get to my point of why I'm raising this, but when you were a kid, you maybe there was like a famous whale in Canada or something.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Can you just talk through that a little bit? It was like a meaningful for you. And I also know this whale met a bad end as well.

[Nick Thorburn]

The whale did, unfortunately. So my dad was a fisheries officer, which is a title that doesn't exist outside of Canada.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I think we have it in New Zealand.

[Nick Thorburn]

You do.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

We have fisheries.

[Nick Thorburn]

We should just start our spin off.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

We care about the Commonwealth. We're meant to. Although in saying that in New Zealand, we don't really care about. We still have bottom trolling, which is crazy. But we're meant to care about the ocean and how many fish we're getting out.

[Nick Thorburn]

This is the passive aggressive thing.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

You just pretend to care and Whilst ruining everything.

[Nick Thorburn]

Avoid the sticky conversations. Well, so the whale. It's quite a tale. It's a long story. But this whale did show up in this little inlet where my dad worked, and he had to deal with it. It was like, there's a killer whale just showed up here. It's like bumping into the boats. It's like it's being a nuisance.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

So it wasn't stranded. It was just hanging out.

[Nick Thorburn]

They didn't know it just had showed up. It showed up in this. In this little tiny, like, village on the coast of Vancouver Island. Nobody knew where it came from. Quickly they discovered it had gotten lost. It was a calf or, like a baby whale. The story was that its uncle had had taken.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Don't know why that's funny.

[Nick Thorburn]

It feels weird that they have uncles and aunts, but, you know, these whales

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

are not genetically just, like, relationally uncle, right?

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's like when you say you have an uncle, it's his dad's friend. It's his buddy. Yeah, he doesn't have a real uncle, but so his uncle took him fishing. So they left the pod and then the. The theory is that the uncle met his, like, end somehow on this little excursion, and the whale got stranded, lost, and was like, ended up in this little bay. Didn't know how to get home. And then was. You know, they're very personal, personable creatures and social animals. And so it started to interact with humans. And obviously there's a novelty factor of like, oh, this whale. Feed it and it'll hang around, it'll keep coming back. And so my dad had to be this in between. Between the animal and people and keep it separated. But was also there was the. The first nations band in the area was like, that is the spirit of our chief, Chief Maquinna, who had died very recently and said, I'm gonna come back as an animal.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh, holy shit.

[Nick Thorburn]

And I think he even said a whale. And so there was then you have the government, who's historically the bad guy in these stories. My dad is working for the government, so he's really between a rock and a hard place here where he's truly one of the purest souls there is. Was trying to do the right thing by the first nations community here, by the whale that needed to be reunited with its family and also keep all of these looky loos that were coming in to as tourists to, like, drop their baby in the mouth of the whale and, like, feed it cereal.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. And as news spreads, probably more and more people coming for this, like, tourist attraction.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah, it became a bit of a circus. So I got to go out there with my dad while he worked and see the whale.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And how old were you then?

[Nick Thorburn]

I was a teenager that. So I was, I was a bit older. But it, you know, it went on for. It went on, I think the whale, at some point they just sort of threw up their hands and said, okay, the whale. This is just where the whale lives now. Because the difficulty finding a way to get the whale reunited with its pod. Cause these are like whales that, well, they travel so far they're resident, but they do do a huge journey along the coast. So you had to like, time this reunification. It just didn't work. And it's a very sad story and very complicated.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Support for Flightless Bird comes from Wild Alaskan. Now, we have talked about this on the show before, but we're not big fans. We're not experts at buying fish in the supermarket.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Buying fish is hard. Especially I grew up in the Midwest. You don't have access to a lot of good fish in the Midwest. So it was never something I was taught as a kid at the grocery store, didn't see my, my mom, didn't eat fish.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Same thing for me growing up. Yeah. And fish is one thing that you want to get good fish.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Right. And as I got older and started appreciating food more, I do like fish a lot, but I still have no idea how to buy fish at a grocery store.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And that is where Wild Alaskan company comes in. It's the best way to get wild caught. Perfectly portioned, nutrient dense seafood delivered directly to your door. And trust me, you haven't tasted fish this good.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Yeah, you just got a big box of Wild Alaskan. I saw it when I dropped you off after the Magic Castle.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's the best. I ordered a whole lot of different, like, portions and sizes and it's so, so good.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

And you've been cooking it on the stove top.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I just did some salmon in my air fryer. Air fryer is very novel to me. We don't really have that in New Zealand. So air frying the salmon. Ah, that's so good.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Wild Alaskan fish, they're 100% wild caught, never farmed. Which means there's no antibiotics, no GMOs or additives. Just clean, real fish that support healthy oceans and fishing communities.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's also sustainably sourced Wild caught from Alaska. Every order supports sustainable harvesting Practices and your membership delivers flexible shipments, expert tips and truly feel good seafood.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

And if you're not completely satisfied with your first box, Wild Alaskan company will give you a full refund. No questions asked, no risk, just high quality seafood.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Not all fish are the same. Get seafood you can trust. Go to wild alaskan.combird for $35 off your first box of premium wild caed.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

That's wild alaskan.combird For $35 off your first order. Thanks to wild alaskan company for sponsoring this episode.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Well, the reason I bought it up as well is because in New Zealand we had a dolphin, opo. And there was like kids book written about it. Opo, the friendly Dolphin. And it was a dolphin that just turned up. And everything you've just said clocks the same as opo. Yeah, it was like people having to figure out, scientists having to figure out what we can do to get this dolphin back with its pod. Can't do that. How you stop people. Because humans just want to fucking pat. They'll pat a fish like they want to pat a cat. Not that a dolphin's a fish, but it's like people want to touch and that's not great. So just dealing with all of that and then ended up just being okay, OPO lives here now. It's always going to be here. And OPO ended up dying from I think too much like touching or. There was a theory at one point that someone was fishing with like dynamite and like let off an explosion and Oppo was too close and got fucked up with that.

[Nick Thorburn]

Jesus. Fishing with dynamite. That sounds like a theory.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

That's not a common in New Zealand, but that's one of the theories on how.

[Nick Thorburn]

And then all the fish just flo to the service.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

To the service. But that was like. And that was national news the day Oppo died. And just knowing what I knew about you and that whale, I sort of thought of that as well. Because the whale ended up d. It died.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yes, in a bad way. It was hit by the rudder of a boat.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Just got chopped up into like a million pieces.

[Nick Thorburn]

No, I think one. But it was just a fatal head blow to the head. And my dad had a theory that the whale wasn't happy. I want to make it clear that like the first nations, the Muchala, I think I'm pronouncing that wrong. But the community there, my dad was working with them and they had reasons to be suspicious of the government because certain section of the dfo, the Department of Fisheries, I think there was some. And I don't want to be getting the facts wrong here, but there was the Vancouver Aquarium, where certain whales were being sent to live in captivity. And I think there was a fear that if we can't reunite this whale with its pod, we're gonna put him

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

in the apartment, it'll be taken and put in a tank.

[Nick Thorburn]

I think there was suspicion whether how hard they would try. And so my dad was in a really difficult situation, but he handled it really well and respectfully. And at the end, it was just kind of an unfortunate situation and it was an accident.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I think it's just the consequences of having a ton of people around a creature like that. Yeah. And did that kind of lead a bit to your love of ocean related things? Was that part of that journey or.

[Nick Thorburn]

A little bit. I mean. So the first Islands record, there is a song titled Suki. That's the name of the whale the local first nations gave the animal, but it was known as Luna in, like, the. In the press or whatever. So that First Islands record uses more a setting than a theme, I guess, with the ocean. And it kind of tied into that because the whale was still alive when we made that record.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, right. And then imagery is occasionally popping up in your comics as well, with penguins, I guess.

[Nick Thorburn]

So penguins to me is. I don't even think of them as aquatic. I think of them as just a sad. I think the fun way in for that was it's just a bird that can't fly. I mean, it just feels like a curse, you know, it feels like a cruel, cruel nature.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. Pathetic. It's so sad.

[Nick Thorburn]

Oh, weird. Yeah, that's good that I brought

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

something. Okay, credits, we're out. No, it is. It's sad that these birds can't fly. It is something a bit like, God, I wish you guys could fly.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's their one thing.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah, don't have it. Another thing we like to do in this show is I want to be educated about sort of American drinks and snacks. Oh, yeah, I understand. You're bought in something I brought very important to you.

[Nick Thorburn]

Well, it's very. It is important to me, but it is very much. It's very niche. These are homemade. I don't know if that freaks you guys out.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It does.

[Nick Thorburn]

Okay, good.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

There's a level of trust here.

[Nick Thorburn]

And they're in, like, these little drug bags. So. This is just popcorn.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This is popcorn. I do this. We have this in New Zealand, But.

[Nick Thorburn]

But it's what. I brought my own, so just so you know I'm not poisoning you. A smaller bag Differentiate.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

But okay.

[Nick Thorburn]

This is my proprietary blend. It's the seasoning that we love.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Popcorn.

[Nick Thorburn]

I do love.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

I have a text chain with people about popcorn.

[Nick Thorburn]

You do?

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Okay, yeah. Rob will sometimes go to a cinema to buy like good cinema popcorn to take home. I've seen people and watching stuff.

[Nick Thorburn]

Rob is one of those. I've seen people go to those fields three just to buy the popcorn.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

They do. Good popcorn.

[Nick Thorburn]

They do. So what I do is I bring my little tincture with my secret blend and then I go to the movie theater.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And now you obviously can't give away the ingredients, but what is the vibe of this?

[Nick Thorburn]

I would say umami is the leading kind of profile. And then you've got a little bit of a tang and tart and just a dash of sweet.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

How long have you been manufacturing this for? For friends, family, yourself.

[Nick Thorburn]

I keep it personal. It's. I haven't like franchise it yet, but

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I guess pretty good.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's been about 10 years.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This is great.

[Nick Thorburn]

I'll have X, you know, exes come up to me, say like, I don't miss you at all, but I miss that popcorn.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

You need bags.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

How are you? Are you making pop Microwave popcorn? What's your process?

[Nick Thorburn]

I use kernels on the stove, but. But I do like to just go to the movies, order a popcorn, ask for no butter, and then add my own. Oh yeah, because there is, you know,

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

you'd just be carrying this around in your pocket and just sort of shake it into.

[Nick Thorburn]

I have a little tincture that's great. With a little dropper.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Because there's some liquid to it.

[Nick Thorburn]

There's. There's some liquid and then there's nutritional yeast is, is the like dry component that's in there.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This is great.

[Nick Thorburn]

Oh, and there's toad venom.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

So in about 35 minutes you guys are going to get this podcast is going to get. Going to get weird.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Really weird. And you've got a beverage to wash this down with.

[Nick Thorburn]

Is there a difference? I do have a beverage for you. Sorry, I only have one. Sorry, Rob.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

We'll share.

[Nick Thorburn]

Those are hard to come by.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

The spindrift. Yeah, the specific flavor. This is passion fruit, orange, guava, non alcoholic. I didn't think you could get an alcoholic spindrift for a while.

[Nick Thorburn]

You could. There was a brief period where they had spiked spindrifts. I remember seeing them at Albertsons, but they.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Outrageous stopped. This is an island punch.

[Nick Thorburn]

I didn't even, you know, I'm not doing these things consciously. The flightless bird Penguins, the island thing.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Main ingredient in this kiwi.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

What is it about spindrift that you. That you enjoy?

[Nick Thorburn]

Look, I don't want to say you have to bleep all this out until they agree to send me a shit ton because I'm not giving free publicity, but it's just really good. I don't know how they do it. I mean. I mean, I do know how they do it because I've infused my own fruit and soda water.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh, really?

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

So you're infusing everything in your life.

[Nick Thorburn]

I'm an infusion alchemist.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Except all these little potions that you're injecting into everything.

[Nick Thorburn]

I go crazy for guava. I discovered guava, like last year at a farmer's market, and it just made me. It like opened a portal in my brain.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This is great.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's crazy.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

This is a great flavor. Yeah, I. A little sip.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah. It's crazy how good that is.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Now, the other main brand, I feel like certainly in Los Angeles. What's the other main fizzy one that everyone has? Lacroix.

[Nick Thorburn]

La Lacroix was the one. The writers room from like 2015.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Or is there a distinct. Like, is there a distinction between the two?

[Nick Thorburn]

Between Faygo without. I'll probably get sued for this.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Oh, wow.

[Nick Thorburn]

Allegedly. Yeah, it's Faygo without the sugar.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I've never heard that before.

[Nick Thorburn]

Apparently it's bottled in the same. It's bottled in the same facility in Michigan or it was.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

That is great. Allegedly intel to have.

[Nick Thorburn]

So. So those are like essences of varying. It's very like, what is in this? We don't really know that. It's, you know, kind of like my popcorn. It's proprietary. But the spindrift, it just tells you, like, in this. I don't want to be giving these fuckers free advertising.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I do this sometimes. I just be talking about something enthusiastically and it's like I'm doing an ad right now.

[Nick Thorburn]

I don't.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

And they're not g anything for it, which does enrage me.

[Nick Thorburn]

I guess I'll can send them this

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

episode and then they'll reach out, offer you the ad. But you've already done it. Like Invisalign off.

[Nick Thorburn]

They.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

You got an offer to do Invisalign and so frustrating.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Already started Invisalign.

[Nick Thorburn]

Right.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

As a 43 year old.

[Nick Thorburn]

It's just pre like squeezed fruit in there. And that's kind of it. I mean, unless it goes well with

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

the popcorn as well. I have to say, this is a great. This is a Great combo.

[Nick Thorburn]

Okay.

Okay.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

If we're just watching a movie right now, it'd be perfect.

[Nick Thorburn]

Should we just put another TV right here?

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

We've got a TV right here.

[Nick Thorburn]

Put Nirvana the band on and just Dog Tooth or Dog Tooth.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Is there anything you really miss about Canada when you're here? Because when I think New Zealand, it's like, New Zealand makes a really good coffee. We have some really good oceans and so it's really beautiful jumping in the ocean there. What is it about Canada that you're like, oh, man, I wish I had a bit of this around.

[Nick Thorburn]

Canada's got a lot of problems, but I do think in general we talked about the bad side of that sort of non confrontational, sometimes passive aggressive way that Canadians and maybe New Zealanders can express their feelings. But I do sort of miss this slightly more gentle way of existing. But, you know, I'm not a patriot. I'm not a. I don't have any national sense of identity. I have my own experience and my own experience is particular to Vancouver island, which is by the ocean. And I do feel very drawn to that particular climate, I guess. And I guess I miss. I guess there's just a certain temperament that I sometimes miss. Although sometimes I go back and it just drives me nuts because it's like, it's time to go, it's time to go. So I do feel kind of like a. A man on an island. I guess I feel like a man without a. A home sometimes. Like I don't really belong anywhere.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I get it. What does it say? Home is where the heart is, isn't it? That's what they say.

[Nick Thorburn]

I think that workers that was on an Airbnb, some needlework.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Eat, Pray. What does that Eat?

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Live, Laugh.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

You're gonna play some songs. Before you do, I think you're gonna tell us about one of them.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Three songs. You've got three songs.

[Nick Thorburn]

I got three in the chamber. The one I can talk about. The first one I'll do is called Ready to Die. And it's from the. It's one of the first songs I ever wrote from my first band that I had with two other fellas called the Unicorns. And that record came out in 2003. So we were in high school. You know, my friend Alden and I started this band and we took it as far as it could go, but it really. It burned kind of bright and we had one record and then we just. That's all we could kind of do. But it has this sort of. It kind of works. For the band, I mean, it's called the Unicorns and it's this mythical thing. Like did it ever exist? And you know, it's kind of maybe extinct and who knows? But so it's sort of a fitting thing. And Death was a big. For some ridiculous reason, death was kind of the concept we were going with on this album.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

It's a big one.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

High school motif.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah, I guess we were a little bit. Yeah. Moody and. And that sort of thing. So the album opens with a song called I Don't Wanna Die and it ends with a song called Ready to Die. And so it kind of ties in. And that band broke up and I started with the drummer Jamie. We started a band called. We started Islands. And the first song in that is called Swans, but in brackets, Life After Death. So sort of this biggie notorious big thing of like the life after the thing and then. Yeah. On an island in the sea. This weird sort of subconscious thing where I was almost like foretelling my future. But yeah, it's just one of the first songs I wrote and so I thought it was. It's kind of nice to go all the way back sometimes before music.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

What are you doing now?

[Nick Thorburn]

So I have a new record with my friend Mike Stroud, who had a band called Rattatat previously. And we've been working on this record for a little while and it's finally coming out. So it's very exciting. And it's called the Cream. We have two songs out and Taste of Cherry and Goodbye and the album is available for pre order and it's kind of a blend of Rat a Tat and Islands, but kind of Kinksy elo Beatles sort of thing, I guess. Overrated, but. No, just kidding. But 60s sort of thing. We want to go even further back in time, but it's a fun. It's a really fun record. So I'm really, really excited about that. That's coming out June 5th and then 11 days after June 16th, an album my comic Pear Shape on Fantagraphics is coming out. So cherry and pear, you get all your fruit.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

I also, I do love that you are releasing on this favorite label that you had as a kid. Like that's pretty special.

[Nick Thorburn]

It feels really special.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

They finally took your call from the phone box.

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

Did you get to go to the

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

warehouse and see they let you in.

[Nick Thorburn]

Yeah, I went to the warehouse years later to. To when Penguins came out and they let me grab a bunch of stuff which was exciting.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Just running around on the shelves. Yeah.

[Nick Thorburn]

And I still all the time order. Like, I'll always. If I go to a great secret headquarter really nearby, I always go there comic book store and pick up comics. And we'll always find good stuff on Fantagraphics. So I'm, like, still a fan. It feels like two versions of myself. It's a very kind of surreal thing. It's like, oh, I'm actually. Actually in the club here, but I feel, like, still like just such an outsider who just loves the work that they do. So, yeah, it's a huge, huge privilege and honor to be in the. In the fold. Awesome. Yeah.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Fucking A. Thank you.

[Nick Thorburn]

Thank you guys so much for having me. That was really sweet.

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

Thanks for coming in. I mean, it's, like, amazing to be able to do this because you can just listen to you play music. It's like, great. You're gonna eat popcorn, right?

[Nick Thorburn]

You have something to snack on while I play. All right. This song's called David Geffen's Jackson Pollock from the last Islands album. What occurs?

I found David. Geffens Jack Jackson

Pollock.

It fell off a truck near the beach. At least that's where I got. Tried to move it for a record $200 million. But these jackals, these vampires years, they offered me something much smaller. There was a notice information leading to the return of this abstract impressionist work, or whatever

you call

was David Geffens Jackson Paulet. So when I showed up, lifted my coat up to reveal the painting pig suddenly rolled up afraid that this might happen took out my box cutter Their faces slackin as it pushed against the canvas

I knelt down

as I climbed back in what might have been the world's slowest getaway. But I still had David Geffen Jackson Holly. I still had David Geffens Jackson Holly. And I still had David Geffens Jackson Hollywood.

Okay, this song is called Ready to die off the unicorns album from 2003.

I woke up thirsty on an island in the sea I woke up hungry with hungry cougars surrounding me I hit the soft spot in the soft spot of my head it made me tired so I sung from my bed I'm ready to die I'm ready to die I'm ready to die A sort of switchblade Anyway, you cut it. I'm not afraid I know I'm gonna get his o Maker of such fine products as palm trees and the dead

[Co-host (male, possibly American)]

sea

[Nick Thorburn]

don't pardon me there's nothing rude Things conclude, Things conclude As I slurred that chorus the ghost got Biggie small Sounds like a drill the death Sweat suits me A death threat provides a thrill I've seen the world Kissed all the pretty girls and said my goodbyes and now I'm ready to die. Look what they've done to my song look what they've done to my song well, it's the only thing that I could do half right and it's turning out all wrong look what they've done to my song look what they've done to my brain, mom look what they've done to my brain where they picked it like a chicken bone and I think I'm half insane look what they've done to my son Wish I could find a good book to live in Wish I could find a good book oh, well, if I could find a real good book I'd never have to come out and look at what they've done to my song

[Host (likely New Zealander female)]

La.

[Nick Thorburn]

They done to my song maybe it'll all be all right, mom maybe it'll all be okay well, if the people are buying tears yeah, I'll be rich someday, Ma look what they've done to my song look what they've done to my song look what they to my song where they tied it up in a plastic bag and they turned it upside down look what they've done to my son.