You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs and,
piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.
My name is Tao Nguyen.
Justin Vernon founded the band Bon Iver in 2006.
Bon Iver's released four albums and won two Grammys, including Best New Artist.
came out in August 2019.
And in this episode, Justin breaks down a song from it called Holyfields.
He's joined by producers Chris Messina and Brad Cook.
We spoke to him in July from his studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where the song started.
They finished it at Sonic Ranch Studio in Tornillo, Texas, on the border of U.S. and Mexico.
This is Justin Vernon.
My name is Brad Cook, and I was a producer for this record.
Brad and I go so insanely far back that it's kind of impossible to explain,
but our musical language is pretty deep.
I think at this stage in the game, we've been making songs together for 20 years.
When me and Brad were growing up, we were finding...
life meaning out of listening to all the Bob Marley records and learning about humanity through his lyrics and through his music and attitude.
And so that was a really huge impact on me.
That was really the high point of seeing what music can do in the world and why it's more powerful than maybe we even give it credit for at times.
I'm Chris Messina, and I produced, mixed, and engineered this record.