Not So Oblique Strategies

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...

It’s Sunday night in Manhattan at Irving Plaza, and Dan “The Automator” Nakamura takes the stage behind a mouthwatering wall of synths, across from Kid Koala [Tape Op#159] and his three turntables. Deltron 3030 is back to rock the same stage where they made their New York debut 25 years...

The story of Regina Spektor is one of a truly self-made artist. In 1989, at nine years old, Spektor and her family emigrated from Moscow to the Bronx in New York. Her love and affinity for playing the piano found her studying in high school at the Manhattan School of Music, and as she...

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...