Music Makes You Think | Interviews with musicians

Music Makes You Think is for people who experience music a little more deeply than the average listener. All articles are written by Julie Simmons and most were previously featured in other publications.

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Band photo of Mashrou' Leila, lebanese band

Lebanon's Mashrou' Leila: How the "Night Project" Came to Light (Part 1)

What does Mashrou' Leila mean?

3 days ago7 min read

In this photo from the artists, Brae is standing behind Joey. Brae is wearing a NY Yankees baseball hat and Joey is wearing a pink beanie hat. This image is most likely from when they were 22 years old (or younger).

Interview with Joey Valence & Brae: How They're Succeeding Without the Music Industry

How old are Joey Valence and Brae? What we should be asking is how they're selling out shows across the globe without being managed by a record label.

Oct 20, 20223 min read

Image of Josh Dun singing into a microphone. This is probably from the Clancy tour (2023) in which he sang backing vocals on "Leave the City"

Interview with Josh Dun: How twenty one pilots’ Drummer Found His Voice

Josh talks about challenging himself to do more interviews to singing to becoming a dad.

Sep 26, 20257 min read

Neyla Pekarek is shown playing cello and singing into a mircophone. This image is meant to show her getting out on her own.

Interview with Neyla Pekarek, Cellist of The Lumineers, as She Steps Out on Her Own with "Rattlesnake"

In this rare interview, Neyla talks about the solo project that confirmed her departure from The Lumineers.

Sep 17, 20256 min read

ABOUT
JULIE SIMMONS

Julie Simmons is an American music journalist and creator of Music Makes You Think.

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10 Things I Learned About Running a Music Group for 10 Years

music makes you think header_edited_edit

It’s not about me.
Most active members are voyeurs.
People like to comment most about their youth, personal flexes or answer questions about specific words in songs.
People are, in fact, capable of having opinions without offending others.
1,200 seems to be the optimal number of MMYT members to maintain a harmoniously active group.
The most insightful comments are the ones where people spent time collecting their thoughts.
Apparently, there are thousands of different questions you can ask about music.
Fridays and Thursdays are the most popular days for posts to be read.
Some members stay in the group even though they never comment and rarely check the daily questions because they “just want to know something is still there.”
I can’t prove it but it must be good for the brain to be conjuring answers to daily questions hours, days and even weeks after the question was asked.

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