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Indie Rock Interviews Podcast

Talking Tracks: Nimbus by John Thornburg

The project is a concept album about a(n abusive) relationship that happens over the course of only one date.

Dan Ray June 4, 2021
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Talking Tracks: Nimbus by John Thornburg June 4, 2021

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Chris Butcher

Twice a month on Talking Tracks, we interview local artists about their latest drops — song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more in depth, and it’s all the people who live right in our city. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Now, we’re teamed up with LiveMo to bring you special, live set editions of the podcast.

Seattle indie-rock musician and Asterhouse frontman John Thornburg released his sophomore solo EP, Nimbus, on February 11, 2021. In this live episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and John break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — a concept album about a(n abusive) relationship that happens over the course of only one date. (That’s why all the songs have timestamps.)

This episode was recorded at the Ballard Homestead with sound by Sean Aragon.

Listen and subscribe to the full interview below, and then click through our photo story for all the best moments. Download the LiveMo app on Apple and Android to stay updated on future live episodes.

Track listing:
1. Silver Spoon (November 18-6:00 PM) – 15:05.
2. Dreamland (November 18-9:36 PM) – 26:50.
3. Next to Me (November 18-11:01 PM) – 41:45.
4. Orchards (November 19-Midnight) – 58:50.
5. Spooky Kid (November 19-2:14 AM) – 1:15:45.
6. Shadow Man (November 19-3:33 AM) – 1:26:55.
7. Nimbus (January 1) – 1:36:50.

On Talking Tracks, Dan Ray interviews musicians as they play through their albums or EPs track by track. On this episode, indie-rock musician John Thornburg.
Each episode of the podcast streams live on LiveMo, a hi-fi audio streaming app. Pictured here, LiveMo Co-Founder Fernando Turrent.
Nimbus, a concept album about an entire relationship that happens over the course of one date, is Thornburg's second solo EP. He can also be found fronting Seattle indie-rock band Asterhouse.
Fellow Asterhouse member (and John's younger brother) Russ Thornburg plays guitar and keys for this performance.
Bassist Julio Posada. Posada also plays bass in Asterhouse.
Each episode, host Dan Ray plays a game with the musicians. This time, she gives Thornburg a word after each track and asks him to come up with his wackiest date idea based on the word. Posada answers most of the date questions.
The word for track two, "Dreamland," is "housing." Posada suggests having a date in the weirdest room in your home. In this case, he chooses the laundry room.
Many of the songs on Nimbus deal with themes of abuse. "Next to Me," says, "Our parents beat us black and blue, but I wouldn't mind being battered next to you." Thornburg said he has not been a victim of abuse himself but took inspiration from people close to him who have shared their stories.
Thornburg said his inspiration for "Next to Me" was an image of two children being abused, internalizing that abuse and thinking its their fault, then taking that out into the world. As they grow up, they're unable to let that feeling of blame go.
Sean Aragon on sound.
The first three songs on Nimbus deal with the romantic, outward portion of the date. The next three songs shift to the main character's internal dialogue as he begins to lose his mind. The final and title track serves as an afterward of hope in regaining sanity.
This podcast is recorded at Ballard Homestead, a venue space in residential Ballard managed by non-profit arts organization Abbey Arts.
The Doors are a major influence for Thornburg. As a child, he would sing the "adult" songs at his parents's parties. An irreverent sense of humor still ripples through Thornburg's music and personality.
Thornburg wrote the majority of Nimbus on the piano. He then turned to creating drum loops and production.
Russ opened the podcast by playing a doom-metal version of the Friends theme song. Throughout the episode, Russ continues to insert the riff from the song and answer to "Ross" instead of "Russ."
Thornburg's lyrics vary from the metaphorical to literal stories of abuse. In track four, "Orchards," he sings, "I've killed the president," which he said is an analogy for having done it all.
Ray says fifth track "Spooky Kid" is her favorite track. It's an upbeat tune about murder. Thornburg said he wanted to write a happy-sounding song with troubling lyrics and that he pictures the song as intrusive thoughts in the narrator's head instead of actual events.
For the last game, the word is "direction." Posada tells the story of a time he was driving and his GPS fell into the seat next to him. He quickly reached down to get it, wiped it on his back sweat to get it wet, and stuck it back to the window.
Sixth track "Shadow Man" is the first song Thornburg wrote for the EP. He said he came up with the concept for the EP after all the songs were written, upon noticing they tell the story of a relationship gone wrong.
Final track "Nimbus" was inspired by the Columbine shooting. The song tells the story of a mother finding out her child has been killed. While it doesn't have to do with a date specifically, he said he wants to convey the feeling of hope present in the track — even after a bad date, there's still hope for the next one.
Throughout the podcast, Ray and Thornburg talk about getting sandwiches after the show. They didn't get sandwiches, but they did get Dick's Drive-In.

Photos by Chris Butcher.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).