News

“There’s a handful of people I’ve met in my life who I instantly felt, ‘Ahh, this is gonna be a lifetime friendship, OK, done. Meeting River was like that.”

Watch a very special episode of the LaunchLeft podcast as Rain Phoenix and special guests, Flea, Dermot Mulroney, and Michael Stipe celebrate and remember the life and music of River Phoenix who would have turned 50 on August 23rd.  

Tune in tonight as Michael speaks with Athens-Clarke County, GA Unified Government Mayor Kelly Girtz on a virtual Community Conversation chat between 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. to coincide with the launch of the Athens Music Walk of Fame.

From our dear friend for many years, Michael Plen, radio promotion executive nonpareil and on the side an awesome photographer (he’s making his iconic print available for a limited time at the link below his recollection— and this time it is signed by Berry Buck Mills and Stipe): Aug. 18, 1983 “Shea Stadium. R.E.M. opening … Continued

“I remember sitting at the kitchen table on Little Oconee Street in Athens, (Georgia),” Mills explains. “There’s a turnaround in the song that’s inspired by part of a Simon & Garfunkel song (“Mrs. Robinson”) that I heard, and I started building the song around that. Sometimes the first line is the hardest line and once … Continued

Back in the olden days, helping to plan a tour of Europe was always among the funnest endeavors of my role with the band: way ahead of time, a year or more, always with our agent Bob Gold, in London off in a room with lots of air, great lighting and old (hardcopy) maps.

Continuing celebrations around the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury Festival this year, the band’s historic headline set from the Pyramid Stage in 1999 will be released globally next Thursday (August 6).

Michael & Aaron Dessner catch up with Jonathan Clarke of Q104.3’s Out of the Boxvia Zoom to discuss their song “No Time For Love Like Now” on Q104.3’s Out of the Box …

Gazing at this photograph taken from above the grounds of #SlaneCastle and the epic R.E.M. concert 25 years ago Wednesday, I have a few memories flashing across my mind. It was the first show after the brief stoppage of the tour in central Europe

Mike & Michael sat down for a chat with Ross Golan in NYC last year on @AndTheWriterIs on the occasion of the 25th anniversary release of Monster–they covered a lot of ground from the early Athens scene through Monster’s release. Listen here. #andthewriteris

Watch the 21st Anniversary re-broadcast of the documentary for “A Stirling Performance” on YouTube here: https://found.ee/REM-StirlingYT. Subscribe to the R.E.M. Youtube channel for the latest updates: http://found.ee/REM-youtube-r  

On July 19th – 21st, 1999, R.E.M. played three nights of concerts at Stirling Castle, Scotland. No band this globally renowned had played Stirling Castle before. These concerts were documented in “A Stirling Performance.” As well as interviews with the band , the documentary offers an affectionate insight into the historic city & charming people … Continued

Michael is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Masthead Magazine where he talks about a topic we can all relate to: “self.” “I believe the difficult but necessary changes we are in the midst of now will bring us closer to a version of ourselves as caring, community-based, empathetic creatures, with a … Continued

CBC Radio interviewed Michael and Aaron Dessner of Big Red Machine about their new single, “No Time For Love Like Now” today and you can listen to it here.      

“I discovered Big Star through Peter Buck’s record collection. They had made two of the best records ever made by a band, as far as I’m concerned.” – Mike Mills Rolling Stone has premiered the Craft Recordings episode of The Memphis Masters on Big Star, which includes interviews with Mike and Jody Stephens of Big … Continued