Song Exploder and the Art of the Edit

Join Song Exploder podcast producer Hrishikesh Hirway, with Miyuki Jokiranta, for a conversation about music, story, the art of the edit … and his top three most coveted musician-guests. (Plus: a whisper of West Wing Weekly, which Hirway also co-hosts.)

Miyuki Jokiranta and Hrishikesh Hirway — Photo: Jon Tjhia

'Here's a way for everybody to recognise that if all of these are songs that are successful in some way, but there are all these unique paths to get to them, then clearly, there's no rules. Because if there were, then every episode would be exactly the same.'

Hrishikesh Hirway

Hirway is fascinated by the art of editing. Through Song Exploder, his uniquely revealing music podcast, Hirway works with musicians – from Björk to U2, The National, Chet Faker, Courtney Barnett, Carly Rae Jepsen and Iggy Pop – to unpack their tracks piece by piece, exploring how their songs were edited into being.

Hirway is the host of the podcast, but sees his role on Song Exploder as primarily that of an editor. In the process of building each episode, he works with each artist on their core concept and their choice of song – then, after recording, he edits meticulously to remove himself from the conversation, directing focus on the artist as they share how they brought their chosen song to life.