Interviews

WE TALK AT LENGTH WITH RECORD-MAKERS ABOUT HOW THEY MAKE RECORDS.

Behind The Gear with  Roland's Paul McCabe

Interviews | No. 173

Behind The Gear with Roland's Paul McCabe

By Alex Ruger

I recently had a chance to chat with Paul McCabe, Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at Roland Future Design Lab, to talk about their new moonshot, Project LYDIA, as well as his views on AI in music that underpins its development. We first met at the 2026 NAMM Show where I...

Will Killingsworth & Dead Air Studios
Mar 6, 2026 NO. 171 Interview

Will Killingsworth & Dead Air Studios

If you know a thing or two about punk and hardcore from the last few decades, you’ll know the name Will Killingsworth. His band, Orchid, brought unbridled passion to the ‘90s screamo scene, while Bucket Full of Teeth explored more noisy experimental fringes. From his Dead Air Studios in...

h. pruz
May 12, 2026 NO. 171 Interview

h. pruz: Red sky at morning

When I recently interviewed Emily A. Sprague for this issue of Tape Op, she mentioned having played on an LP by artist Hannah Pruzinsky who goes by h. pruz. I’m glad Emily turned me on to pruz, as their new album Red sky at morning that Emily played on is a really beautiful set of...

Mocky
Apr 11, 2026 NO. 170 Interview

Mocky: Emotional Space

I first heard about Mocky [Dominic Giancarlo Salole] when interviewing Jamie Lidell [Tape Op#129], as they'd worked together on a number of Jamie's albums. A songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, he's also worked with Moses Sumney [#125], Vulfpeck, Kelela...

Marvin Etzioni
Apr 11, 2026 NO. 170 Interview

Marvin Etzioni: Unexpected Places

Possibly most recognized as the bassist for Lone Justice, the pioneering '80s country rock band, Marvin Etzioni had actually begun as their producer before joining the group and contributing his songs and expertise. He's since gone on to produce a number of artists, including...

Ambrose Bye
Apr 11, 2026 NO. 170 Interview

Ambrose Bye: Recording Poetically

Ambrose Bye laughingly calls himself a “nepo baby with a laptop.” As the son of internationally-renowned poet Anne Waldman, Bye practically grew up at the Buddhist-inspired school in Boulder, Colorado – now known as Naropa University – where Waldman and Allen Ginsberg started the...

Behind the Gear with Tony Agnello of Eventide
Apr 13, 2026 NO. 170 Interview

Behind the Gear with Tony Agnello of Eventide

On Temperance, a musical Reverb

Formed in 1971, Eventide soon became one of the first companies to build digital delays and other future-shaping audio processers. Their H910 Harmonizer may have changed the sound of records forever. Their SP 2016 was the world’s first digital audio...

Stella Mozgawa
Apr 11, 2026 NO. 169 Interview

Stella Mozgawa: As Relaxed as Possible

I met Stella Mozgawa a decade or so ago at Panoramic, the studio I co-own, when she played drums on Cate Le Bon's Crab Day LP, produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick and engineered by Samur Khouja. Over the years, I'd see more of this crew, especially Stella and...

Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records
Apr 11, 2026 NO. 169 Interview

Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records

Bob Attiyeh founded Yarlung Records over 20 years ago, and they have gone on to release almost 60 albums since then, all recorded in stereo, live, straight-to-tape, and almost exclusively using custom-built gear. Yarlung specializes mostly in classical music but has featured jazz and...