“Honesty” is a buzzword many ascribe to their music. I might say it’s been weaponized at this point. Every musician wants to assure their listeners they are getting the artist’s unfiltered thoughts and feelings straight with no chaser. However, a lot of music falls short of this lofty goal, the listener unable to shake the feeling that something is being held back, or that there is a veneer lain over the music. This is not the case with LA singer/songewriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Commander-in-Chief of the band Talker, Celeste Tauchar.

She started the Talker project (named after a common bastardization of her last name) to get things off her chest unfiltered. No need to take my word for it, it’s right in the name of her 2024 album “I’m Telling You The Truth”. Celeste combines impressively intricate and pristine production with piercingly earnest lyrics (she sings in her song “Easygoing” about her relationship troubles: “I’ve never seen my parents kiss, that’s got something to do with it”) that never veer into eyeroll territory.

What’s perhaps even more impressive is her sonic versatility: On the same record, she can have heavily produced pop songs along side acoustic indie singalongs, with guitar driven rock tunes appended after. These different styles never feel out of place; On the contrary, they add to the projects’ cohesion, representing the different emotions and circumstances that went into each song. The commandment tying everything together: Radical honesty.

In this interview, Brylan sits down with Celeste to discuss her formative years as a band kid, the music she loves that inspires her (such as Wolf Alice, who she successfully converted Brylan to a fan of) and the emotional complexity of platonic relationships.

Later, Brylan puts Celeste’s puzzle solving to the test with some musical anagrams (which he hilariously screwed up), and of course deep dive into a few of Celeste’s songs, including the indie banger “Easygoing”

Don’t “Drag Your Feet” tuning into this interview!

Listen to Talker’s music!

Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/talker/1405017065

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/1wcTmtixisIzV10W69W6lm

Follow Celeste on Social Media!

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/talkerceleste

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@talkerceleste

Check out Talker’s website:

https://talkerceleste.com/

Songs used in this episode:

“Your Loves Whore” by Wolf Alice

“Moaning Lisa Smile” by Wolf Alice

“Old Enough” by Talker

“Easygoing” by Talker

“Knowitall” by Talker