Herb Deutsch, 1932-2022
by Alex Maiolo
I’m sure a lot of you are asking “who was Herb Deutsch and what does he have to do with rock ‘n’ roll?” The short answer is sometimes it’s the people behind the...
interviews
We talk at length with record-makers about how they make records.
Tegan and Sara: Keeping it Simple & Getting Weird
by Sadie Dupuis
Tegan and Sara Quin released their first record, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999, and in the decades that followed they’ve since touched on every pop sub-genre that excites them – punk,...
John Plymale: No Right or Wrong Way
by Larry Crane
Years ago, I met John Plymale at one of our TapeOpCon events. He currently lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and has helmed amazing projects including the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk, and the Meat...
Metric
by Roman Sokal
For over 20 years, the Toronto, Canada-based intellectual alternative pop/rock group Metric have been perking up listener’s ears with daring and blissfully created music. Fronted by...
Clarke Rigsby: A Varied Career
by Larry Crane
A longtime staple of the Phoenix recording scene, Clarke Rigsby runs Tempest Recording out of a modest-looking but impressively outfitted space behind his home in Tempe, Arizona. He’s worked...
Xenia Rubinos: Regaining Spirit
by Geoff Stanfield
Xenia Rubinos could just as easily be on a bill with Flying Lotus and The Boredoms as she could with Erykah Badu and Esperanza Spalding [Tape Op #147]. Her unique genre-mixing of soul, punk, jazz,...
The Boxmasters are…: Billy Bob Thornton & J.D. Andrew
by Larry Crane
You might be most familiar with him as an actor, but Billy Bob Thornton has been playing drums, singing, and writing songs since he was a teen, long before he stepped in front of a camera. His early...
Gaelynn Lea Tressler
by Ian Brennan
Gaelynn Lea is one of the most original musicians and songwriters working today. She also happens, by chance, to be a wheelchair user. Incredibly prolific, she has released three solo albums, as well...
Jesse Ray Ernster & Bob Clearmountain on Mixing: “We’re in!”
by John Baccigaluppi
Bob Clearmountain is no stranger to the pages of Tape Op, as we’ve chatted with him in issues #84 and #129. But when Marlene Passaro at Apogee Digital asked us if we’d be interested in a...
Niko Bolas: No Right or Wrong
by Nicolay Ketterer, Roman Sokal
Niko Bolas is a class act. For over 40 years he has operated as an engineer, mixer, and producer. One look at his extensive discography immediately evidences the fact that he is beyond skilled and...
Suzy Shinn: Soaking Up the Sun
by Sadie Dupuis
Suzy Shinn was just a little kid in Wichita, Kansas, when she began exhibiting the instincts that have since made her a rising star producer and songwriter. “I forced all my friends to be in...
Lyle Lovett
by Larry Crane
During the early pandemic lockdowns my wife, Jenna Zine, and I searched out interesting online streaming performances as a way to keep connected to the experience of going out to see live...