The Sonic Road Podcast

06/12/2026

Nick DiSalvo of Elder on one of the central lyrical themes running through Through Zero — a vision of medieval peasant society looking up at the castle and realizing that image hasn’t changed much from then to now.

Nick describes writing from the perspective of people looking up at a structure of power they have no access to and thinking there has to be a better way to organize things — and how that image translates directly into the present day. The castle has changed shape. The billionaire class is less visible than the old aristocracy but no less dominant. The technocracy has replaced the feudal system in form but not in function. And the people, Nick argues, are still constrained in ways that are different from before but no less real.

It’s a rare moment in a music interview where a musician articulates the thematic and political thinking behind their lyrics with genuine clarity — and a strong window into what makes Through Zero one of the more substantive heavy rock records of 2026.

Through Zero is out now via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America, Stickman Records in Europe, and Bird’s Robe in Australia. Pre-order variants available through Blues Funeral Recordings, Stickman Records, and Levitation Records.

🎵 ORDER THROUGH ZERO:
Blues Funeral → bluesfuneral.com
Stickman Records → stickmanrecords.com
Levitation → levitation-records.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Sonic Road Podcast:
thesonicroad.com | linktr.ee/thesonicroad
📲 FOLLOW THE SONIC ROAD PODCAST: The Sonic Road Podcast
📲 FOLLOW ELDER: beholdtheelder.com |
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06/12/2026

Right on Slomosa & KEXP 🤘💥🤘

http://KEXP.ORG presents Slomosa performing live in the KEXP studio...

06/12/2026

Snag one of these masterpiece’s!

06/12/2026

“ I’ve been bringing up the big grunge bands a lot on the podcast lately.
Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, early Pearl Jam, even Nirvana. And it got me thinking that I owe you the bigger story — what that music actually meant to me, why I keep circling back to it, and how it eventually led to a friendship I never could have imagined as a kid”.📧

Subscribe for free to The Sonic Road Newsletter for a deeper dive on the episodes. 🤘

Sometimes a record is the only friend you've got. A look back at the movement that gave a generation its identity, and the shows that came with it. Part one of two.

06/11/2026

Badass! 🤘Temple Fang

🌈We’re beyond honered to join the mighty 💙 for a EU/UK run in Feb ’27, with the great joining us for the UK dates.
This is gonna be so epic, tix on sale friday.
🌈Follow the Rainbow!🌈

06/11/2026

Ready for this one 🤘👇🔊

🔥Tomorrow our live-session from drops onto the interwebs!!🔥🔥It felt a little weird writing that, as we’ve binged down endless hours of KEXP-sessions ourselves through the years. So needless to say it was a huge honour to be invited to do our own!!🤯Hope you’re psyched for this??🐫

Slightly intimidating standing between the lights we knew so well from the screen - but as soon as we started playing we got into it alright. We mixed the setlist up a little from the session we did (have you seen it yet??), but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out which ones got in🤫

We want to thank the lovely people of KEXP again for hosting us and making it all so relaxed! It was the best🙏

Pic by (at KEXP, Seattle)

06/10/2026

https://www.thesonicroad.com/p/revisiting-grunge-and-the-seattle-scene-of-the-nineties-part-1

06/10/2026

Nick DiSalvo of Elder on why writing lyrics is consistently the most difficult part of making a record — and what that process looked like specifically on Through Zero.

For a band whose music carries as much sonic and emotional weight as Elder’s, the challenge of writing words that genuinely add to that rather than just occupying space on the page is a real and specific one. Nick talks about the vulnerability of the lyric writing process, what makes it harder than any other part of making a record, and how he approaches putting personal and thematic ideas into language without losing what made those ideas worth exploring in the first place.

It’s an honest conversation about one of the least discussed but most important parts of how a song gets made — and one that any songwriter or creative person working through the same challenge will find immediately useful.

Through Zero is out now via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America, Stickman Records in Europe, and Bird’s Robe in Australia. Pre-order variants available through Blues Funeral Recordings, Stickman Records, and Levitation Records.

🎵 ORDER THROUGH ZERO:
Blues Funeral → bluesfuneral.com
Stickman Records → stickmanrecords.com
Levitation → levitation-records.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Sonic Road Podcast:
thesonicroad.com | linktr.ee/thesonicroad
📲 FOLLOW THE SONIC ROAD PODCAST:
📲 FOLLOW ELDER: beholdtheelder.com |
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06/09/2026

Nick DiSalvo of Elder on Through Zero, 20 Years of Making Music & Life in Germany | Ep. 34

Nick DiSalvo — vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of Elder — returns to The Sonic Road Podcast for a full conversation ahead of the band's seventh studio album Through Zero, out May 29th via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America and Stickman Records in Europe. Blues Funeral Recordings Elder

06/08/2026

Nick DiSalvo of Elder on something every working musician in 2026 will recognize immediately — the point where creating music starts feeling less like the thing you love and more like a computer job.

Nick talks candidly about how the modern reality of being in a band has become increasingly tied to screen time — digital production, social media, label administration, emails, and all of the surrounding infrastructure that now comes with making and releasing music. He works for a European record label in addition to playing in two active bands, and despite having none of the usual adult responsibilities that eat up most people’s time, he still barely finds room in his daily life to sit down and just play guitar.

The distance between the pure act of playing music and the reality of what sustaining a music career actually requires in 2026 is something Nick identifies clearly — including a song on Through Zero that addresses exactly this feeling, when making music starts to feel very far removed from the reasons he started in the first place.

It’s a conversation that will resonate with any musician, creator, or artist trying to protect the thing they love from the demands that build up around it.
Through Zero is out now via Blues Funeral Recordings in North America, Stickman Records in Europe, and Bird’s Robe in Australia. Pre-order variants available through Blues Funeral Recordings, Stickman Records, and Levitation Records.

🎵 ORDER THROUGH ZERO:
Blues Funeral → bluesfuneral.com
Stickman Records → stickmanrecords.com
Levitation → levitation-records.com

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Sonic Road Podcast:
thesonicroad.com | linktr.ee/thesonicroad
📲 FOLLOW THE SONIC ROAD PODCAST:
📲 FOLLOW ELDER: beholdtheelder.com |
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