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Jessica Pratt cracks open the sunny veneer of the California dream

Jessica Pratt
Renee Parkhurst
/
courtesy of the artist
Jessica Pratt

On the surface, Los Angeles can seem like a sunny, glittering paradise. Palm trees, beautiful people and endless sunshine abound, but the California dream has a dark side, too. That's what Jessica Pratt was interested in while she was working on her latest album, Here in the Pitch.

The LA-based artist immersed herself in books about the state's seedy history, and she found inspiration in the work of experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger.

In this session, Pratt talks about her fascination with the conflict of light and dark in California's mythos, and about how the real and metaphysical mix in her songwriting to create an atmosphere that feels like something between a California dream and a California nightmare.

Set List

  • "Life Is"
  • "Better Hate"
  • "Get Your Head Out"

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She is also involved with Canada's highest music honors: Since 2017, she has hosted the Polaris Music Prize Gala, for which she is also a jury member, and she has also been a jury member for the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.
Miguel Perez is an assistant producer at KERA. He produces local content for Morning Edition and KERA News. He also produces The Friday Conversation, a weekly interview series with North Texas newsmakers.