Interviews | No. 173
By Larry Crane and Matthew Coughlin
There are a few engineer/producers I've met along the way where I've meant to get an interview with them for ages, but for some reason it takes so much longer for us to find the time to do it. Trina Shoemaker has been one of these elusive folks ever since we first met in New...
Stu Epps is a British gem with an illustrious musical career as a recording engineer, producer, and manager. He has worked with some of our favorite British artists, like Led Zeppelin, Elton John, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, and The Firm. He began his career at 15 years old in London...
Lord Huron first caught our ear with their 2012 release, Lonesome Dreams. The album's lush presentation, harmonies, and tinges of surfy guitars made it both decidedly West Coast-sounding and, at the same time, otherworldly. In 2025, the band released its fifth...
Many might know actor/producer/writer/director Adam Goldberg from having been in films like Dazed and Confused and Saving Private Ryan, or TV shows such as Fargo and the reboot of The Equalizer with Queen Latifah. But what you might not realize is that he’s been putting out music, most...
For over two and a half decades, Marc Daniel Nelson has built a career rooted in musicality, technical rigor, and a deep respect for the lineage of recorded sound. A Grammy-winning producer, mix engineer, and creative director, Marc’s work spans an unusually wide spectrum – moving...
In 2026, Fela Kuti became the first African artist ever awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys, something that I formally proposed in 2020 but took over five years to be realized. Fela took his rightful place alongside such giants as Frank Sinatra, Sister Rosetta Tharpe...
For a certain breed of bored and angry teenagers at the dawn of the ‘90s, nothing made us feel more alive than Florida death metal. Pumped out of Morrisound Recording in Tampa at an alarming rate, albums by Obituary, Death, and Cannibal Corpse raised the bar on sonic extremity, opening...
Rachel White is an engineer, guitarist, and producer who has lent her talents in the studio to Weezer and Panic! At the Disco, among others (she has even contributed backing vocals to the latter on tour). Now mostly keeping busy as a producer in her own studio space in the Mount...
Kito, whose given name is Maaike Kito Lebbing, has a music production career spanning three continents, from Australia, to Europe (London), and to the United States by way of Los Angeles. In that time, she has produced music for many iconic artists, such as Mabel, Jorja Smith, and...
Tom Hull, better known as Kid Harpoon, has produced, co-produced, and co-written with an impressive list of high-profile artists over the last 15 years or so, including Harry Styles, David Byrne, Kings of Leon, Miley Cyrus, Inhaler, Florence + the Machine, Shawn Mendes, and Maggie...
As a studio owner in Austin, I used to cash in on the SXSW (South By Southwest) music festival and conferences. Creative-use spaces in close proximity to the festival were at a serious premium, and for a few years in the 2010s I could make six months' rent in two weeks. It meant...
"They said that the little man couldn't do it. 'Oh, you can't dig 35 feet below your home.' But I did it, one step at a time, man." Thus began our conversation with Robert Lang. Outside of Seattle – in Shoreline, Washington – there's an iconic...
On the suggestion of Tape Op's Sales & Operations Director, Corey Reidy, I decided to check out the career of Jeff Rosenstock. His early bands, The Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Bomb the Music Industry!, built up grassroots followings via a DIY ethic, and, as Corey told me, “He...