Interviews | No. 175
By Danielle Goldsmith and Joao Gonzalez of Abrelume
Melina Duterte began recording her own music armed with little more than a laptop, a budget mic, and a fascination with how records are made. As Jay Som, she crafted a distinctive sound defined by textural, layered guitars, and soft, intimate vocals. Since then, Duterte has expanded...
Tod A. Maitland has worked as production sound mixer on over 100 films since 1978, with known directors such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, and Oliver Stone. His work has been nominated six times for an Academy Award for Best Sound (including Bob Dylan’s music...
Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician through and through, though that may not be the role that comes to mind when we first think of him. For over ten years, he has created and hosted multiple podcasts, most notably Song Exploder and its Netflix series, for which he has courted such iconic...
A founding member of The Fab Faux, a highly regarded Beatles tribute band, Jack Petruzzelli has an even longer path as a session and touring musician. He has collaborated extensively with artists such as Joan Osborne, Patti Smith, Ian Hunter, Rufus Wainwright, Vanessa Paradis, Curt...
Boy from Ohio goes to Guinea to study djembe drumming, boy meets girl in Chicago who studied in Mali, couple moves to New York for boy to follow Sxip Shirey in the Bindlestiff Family Circus, and couple builds a beautiful, world-class studio in a Hasidic neighborhood next door to a shul....
As I mentioned when I interviewed Stella Mozgawa in Tape Op#169, I first met Cate Le Bon when she came into my Panoramic House Studio to work on her 2013 album, Mug Museum. Since then, I have enjoyed seeing Cate every few years when her orbit intersects with mine. She has a calm...
Steph Marziano has produced Sir Chloe’s Swallow the Knife, Jasmine 4t’s You Are The Morning, Vundabar’s Surgery and Pleasure, and Jenny on Holiday’s Quicksand Heart. Additionally, in her early days, she assistant engineered on albums for big names such as The Prodigy, Sam Smith, and...
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...
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...