Ben Pisano joins DJ Jules live in the KGNU studio for his first in-studio performance in nearly a decade. He introduces his indie rock/dream-pop project and promotes an upcoming November 6 show at the Chautauqua Community House, featuring synths, guitar, and electric violin. Between performing three songs (“Palindrome,” “Holden,” and “Revenant”), he discusses nervousness around recorded performances, thematic elements in his songwriting, and how relationships and unanswered questions shape his work. (Local Gold: 10/21/25)
DJ Jules: DJ Jules here, and I have a very special guest. We have an in-studio performance! Hello there, Ben.
Corsicana: Hi.
DJ Jules: How are you today?
Corsicana: I’m good. I’m really excited to be here. I haven’t done a live session like this in close to a decade.
DJ Jules: Close to a decade? Yeah—oh my gosh. Well, what an honor. Thank you for allowing me to do this with you.
Corsicana: Thank you so much for having me. I’m thrilled.
DJ Jules: Oh my gosh! So for everyone tuning into KGNU, will you please introduce yourself and let the listeners know why you’re here today?
Corsicana: Sure. My name’s Ben. I front a band, or project, called Corsicana. It’s sort of indie rock, dream-pop adjacent. The reason I’m here today is we are playing at Chautauqua Community House on November 6th, and we are really thrilled to be doing that. I thought [00:01:00] this would be a great opportunity to do one of these sessions, talk about the show a little bit, and hopefully spread some awareness.
DJ Jules: Have you ever played up at the Chautauqua Community House?
Corsicana: Yes—once last year with Corsicana, and then I play with Covenhoven as well. As part of the Covenhoven live band, I’ve been there three times now, and it’s been so lovely every time.
DJ Jules: Okay, so you’re going to play some songs for the KGNU listeners. What is the name of the first song you’re going to play for us today?
Corsicana: The first song I’m going to play is called “Palindrome,” and it is off of the most recent full-length record that I put out, which is called Kept.
DJ Jules: Wonderful. Let’s hear it.
Corsicana: Here we go.
(plays music)
DJ Jules: That was beautiful.
Corsicana: Thanks for having me. That was—
DJ Jules: Good. All right—great! We want it to be fun, right? It shouldn’t be scary and uptight and rigid.
Corsicana: There’s always a fear or nervousness element for me, but I think that’s also part of the fun. You don’t a hundred percent know what’s going to happen, and that—
DJ Jules: That’s exciting. So with that nervousness and fear, is that just for something like this—in-studio performances—or does that also translate right before you get on stage in front of an audience?
Corsicana: I think it depends upon the show, typically. The fear and the nervousness definitely seep in when it’s a taped or live something like this, you know, where it’s like, “Oh, there are listeners tuning in. Don’t mess up.” I think that extra element of knowing it’s being recorded is a little daunting sometimes.
DJ Jules: Yeah—it’s not as fleeting, because there’ll be this recording you can go back to, and people can be like, “Remember this? I heard this then.” Yeah. Well, we try to have fun here, and guess what? I mess up all the time. It’s fun. It’s good. But you didn’t—it was beautiful.
And listeners, if you are just [00:04:00] tuning in, this is the Afternoon Sound Alternative. We have a live in-studio performance with Corsicana. Corsicana is playing Chautauqua Community House on November 6th, and it’s going to be beautiful. Sounds just like that dream-pop vibe you can go and listen to and enjoy.
Corsicana: What’s cool about the Chautauqua show is we’re doing it without a drummer, but we’ll still have synth bass, guitar, synths, and then me on guitar and vocals. We’ll also be having Olivia Shaw on electric violin, so she’s going to really fill out the atmosphere. We’re really going to lean into the sort of washy, reverby-ness of it all, rather than the rock and indie rock.
DJ Jules: That’ll be really neat to add that element. Have you played with her before?
Corsicana: No. She did play on that record, on a couple songs, but we have never properly played a show together, even though we’ve known each other and been talking about it for [00:05:00] years.
DJ Jules: Oh, that is so much fun. It’s exciting—that’s going to be great. All right, you now have two more songs that you’re going to grace us with. What are they called, and let’s hear about them.
Corsicana: So this next one I’m going to play is called “Holden.” It’s also off of Kept, and in a brief few words, it’s about unhealthy patterns of fixation and recognizing those, pondering whether or not you are helpless to them, or if it’s something you’re able to pull yourself out of, or if it needs to be something outside of you that pulls you out of it. A lot of my songs have this theme of asking questions without necessarily having the answers.
DJ Jules: Oh, I love that.
Corsicana: The song after that I’ll be playing is called “Revenant.” That one is pretty close to me. It definitely revolves around a failed relationship—examining the reasons [00:06:00] why it might have failed in some sense, and then also reflecting on the fact that it will stay with me and define me as a person whether I want it to or not. It’s part of my history.
DJ Jules: I love that—it’s part of your story, right?
Corsicana: Exactly.
DJ Jules: And if that’s your catalyst—a failed relationship—there could be countless questions that go unanswered.
Corsicana: It’s very true. Songwriting for me is a way to sort of expel thoughts and also just, like I said, pose questions. I think that’s important—asking questions even if you don’t know if you’re going to get an answer to them.
DJ Jules: Okay, let’s hear these two songs. All right.
Corsicana:
(plays music)
DJ Jules: Beautiful. What a lovely vibe that just holds and contains.
Corsicana: Thank you.
DJ Jules: Yeah. Okay, and now let’s hear this third song that you have for all of us. Remind our KGNU listeners the name of this next track.
Corsicana: Sure. The song is called “Revenant,” and if you have to think of the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, then so be it. It’s a great movie—so be it.
