Glen Hansard on Don+t Settle - (Vol 1 Transmissions East), Bob Dylan, Busking and Capturing Songs in the Moment (#282)

In this episode of the XS Noize Podcast, Mark Millar is joined by Glen Hansard for a warm, honest and deeply reflective conversation about his new live album, Don+t Settle - (Vol 1 Transmissions East).

Recorded at Berlin's historic Funkhaus with his road-hardened live band, the album brings together songs from Glen's solo career, The Frames and The Swell Season, captured with almost no fixes. Rather than a standard live album or greatest-hits collection, Don+t Settle - (Vol 1 Transmissions East) feels like an artist taking stock in the present — revisiting songs from different stages of his life and finding new meaning in them.

Glen talks about the rain-soaked show in The Hague that sparked the idea, bringing the audience onto the stage, reintroducing himself as a rock musician, and why the rawness and imperfections of the performances were essential to the record.

The conversation also goes far beyond the new album. Glen reflects on writing "Didn't He Ramble" for his father, why "Carrickfergus" made the record, the Bob Dylan cassette that changed his life, and what busking taught him about holding an audience.

He also looks back on The Commitments, Once, being recognised as Outspan in the street, Bob Dylan phoning after his Oscar win, and the growth of Dublin's Christmas Eve Busk.

It's a generous, open and thoughtful conversation about music, family, memory, performance, and why this new chapter feels less like looking back and more like planting a flag in the present.

Listen to episode #282 of the XS Noize Podcast now.

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