The National’s Matt Berninger on the Music That Made Him

Next month, Matt Berninger of The National will release Serpentine Prison, his first solo album, produced by the legendary Memphis multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones. On this episode, Berninger chats with Pitchfork Staff Writer Sam Sodomsky about the songs that shaped him as a musician and informed the new album, touching on his childhood infatuation with Olivia Newton-John, The Smiths and U2 records he blasted while getting pelted with golf balls at his first job, and The National’s early aspirations to emulate the Silver Jews.