Bonus Episode: Lipps Service Live! Pt. 2 With Hamilton Leithauser, Jackson Hamm of Telescreens, and Thesaurus Rex
Podcast: Lipps Service with Scott LippsPublished On: Sun Jul 13 2025
Description: On this very special bonus episode of Lipps Service, Scott sits down with three of the six acts who performed on June 4 at the historic New York City venue The Bitter End for our first-ever live event – LIPPS SERVICE LIVE! The live concert was a reflection of Lipps Service podcast, as the night will brought together past and present NYC-bred music, including three legendary acts – Ed Kowalczyk of LIVE, Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen, and Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello and Casa Gogol, featuring Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth – and three of the best up-and-coming bands of the city’s contemporary music scene – Jackson Hamm of Telescreens, Thesaurus Rex, and Torture and The Desert Spiders. To reflect on the amazing night and live show, Scott sat down with Hamilton Leithauser, frontman Jackson Hamm of Telescreens, and frontman Calvin Rezen and guitarist Varun Jhunjhunwalla of Thesaurus Rex in this episode. (Go back and check out part one with Ed, Eugene, and Torture!) Starting with Hamilton, he talks about his newest album, This Side of the Island, his take on the ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’ era, the early days of The Walkmen, and he shares his favorite song on the new album. Next up, Jackson gets into the band’s early days playing at The Bitter End, his favorite local bands, what it was like opening for Franz Ferdinand on tour, and his take on the new Turnstile album. To close, Calvin and Varun discuss how the band formed, their musical influences, how they write thought-provoking lyrics, and they list their top 5 NYC bands. Tune into this exciting episode of Lipps Service, learn about the artists, hear their thoughts on the live show, and check out footage from LIPPS SERVICE LIVE! on all Lipps Service socials, in case you missed it! CREDITS (Instagram handles) Host @scottlipps Edited by @toastycakes Music by @robby_hoff Produced by @whitakermarisa Recorded at Melrose Podcasts NYC Sonos makes it so easy to fill your home with incredible sound! Check out the new Sonos Ace headphones, which are Bluetooth-enabled and have three buttons. The content key allows you to play, pause, accept calls, and control the volume. Plus, they feature noise cancellation and voice assist! These headphones are exceptionally well done and sound incredible, whether listening to your favorite playlist, chatting on a call, watching a movie, or even recording a podcast like this one. They sound particularly fantastic when listening to Lipps Service! Sonos has great gifts for everyone on your list. Visit sonos.com/Lipps to save 20% on select products. Hamilton Leithauser 00:00 - Start 00:30 - Lipps Service Live! at The Bitter End 01:00 - Intimate vs. big venues 02:00 - The Carlyle Hotel 03:32 - The joys of the 2000s 05:39 - The 2000s 06:30 - Meet Me in the Bathroom documentary and era 08:00 - The early Walkmen days to the current marketing of records 09:44 - The economics of being in a band 10:45 - Being next in line to The Strokes 13:00 - The Walkmen reunion 14:00 - Going solo and This Side of the Island 14:45 - Playing music for his wife 17:20 - Redoing his record 17:40 - Honesty in lyricism on new album 18:00 - Funny tour story 20:15 - Favorite song on new album 20:45 - One song that embodies NYC 23:26 - New music Jackson Hamm of Telescreens 00:33 - Paying homage to Telescreens 01:15 - The Bitter End 04:00 - Contemporary NYC scene 05:50 - Favorite NYC band right now 07:50 - New Turnstile album 10:33 - Rock being shocking 11:37 - AI 13:02 - Pressure to hold the rock ‘n’ roll flag in NYC 14:00 - Franz Ferdinand 15:42 - Early road stories 18:12 - Top 5 films Calvin Rezen and Varun Jhunjhunwalla of Thesaurus Rex 00:45 - How the band formed 01:55 - Influences 04:15 - AI 05:59 - Lyrics 09:23 - Thought-provoking lyrics 11:09 - Finances of an indie artist 16:15 - Top 5 NYC bands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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