On September 19th, 2024 music critic Aida Baghernejad sat down with Jamie Stewart of the renowned band Xiu Xiu for an in-person listening session and conversation at dublab. Stewart shared formative and influential music from across their lifetime and prolific career. Aida Baghernejad is a 2024 Thomas Mann Fellow. This talk was organized by the Thomas Mann House Los Angeles and dublab.

Xiu Xiu is an experimental band formed in 2002 by Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. The band’s music is characterized by its intense emotional content, blending elements of post-punk, noise rock, experimental pop, and industrial music. Xiu Xiu is known for its raw and often confrontational lyrics, exploring themes like trauma, despair, love, and politics. The band’s sound is distinctive, often featuring unconventional song structures, dissonant melodies, and a wide range of instrumentation, including electronics, strings, and percussion. Their style can be described as challenging and boundary-pushing, often incorporating harsh noise and contrasting it with moments of delicate beauty. Xiu Xiu’s work is also marked by its collaborative nature, with various musicians contributing over the years, but Jamie Stewart has remained the constant creative force behind the project. The band’s prolific output includes numerous albums, EPs, and collaborations, reflecting their evolving and experimental approach to music. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart, Angela Seo, and percussionist David Kendrick. The band’s name comes from the Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which has influenced the sound of their music, according to Stewart.

Aida Baghernejad is a journalist who studied media studies in Berlin, Barcelona, and London. Her work focuses on how cultural products such as music, film, and social media content influence the socio-political state of the world. In addition to numerous contributions for Die Zeit, Der Tagesspiegel, Missy Magazine, and others, she also co-hosts the podcast 55 Voices for Democracy, a collaboration between the Thomas Mann House, the Goethe-Institut, dublab radio, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

James Stewart is an American musician and writer best known as the principal writer, performer and engineer in the experimental band Xiu Xiu.

Hyunhye (Angela) Seo is an artist exploring experimental composition and expression of sound and its manifestations within space and body, known for her role in the experimental band Xiu Xiu.