Valentine’s Day casts a slight pall on the conversation, as we sit down just ahead of Titus Andronicus’ latest record, A Productive Cough. There’s a lot of talk about art and punk and life, and how long one can sustain a rock and roll career without reaching the jet setting heights of a Led Zeppelin or U2. It’s a conversation Patrick Stickles has always been open about. The band’s driving force and sole consistent member has often openly wondered whether each album might be its last, but has continued to release new records on a regular schedule. The band’s latest is a stylistic departure from the group’s earlier work, with “no punk bangers,” as he puts it during our conversation, followed up by a stripped down, nearly acoustic tour. “Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is how you grow,” he says. But Stickles and band maintain the ethos on which the project was founded, seeking to find a personal connection with its loyal fanbase, continuing to evolve nearly a decade and a half into the group’s existence.

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