Interviews

In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, there are a number of talented engineers, producers, mixers, mastering engineers, gear builders, studios, and more. It's a thriving community of creative people, if you hadn't noticed, and one of the folks I'd been curious about for...

You’re likely already familiar with Jeff Zeigler’s résumé. He’s produced and engineered records by Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs [Tape Op#102], Laraaji [#141], Chris Forsyth, Nothing, Mary Lattimore [#158], and the list goes on. In recent years, he has taken new creative leaps, shifting...

Emily A. Sprague may be best known as the primary songwriter and vocalist for the band Florist, who have released five albums since 2016. But she also composes and records ambient-adjacent electronic music, primarily using modular synthesizers, and is about to release her fourth...

Located in (yes) a former meat market, Pete Min calls Lucy's Meat Market in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, his two room recording studio and home. Artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Real Estate, Lake Street Dive, Orville Peck, Chris Dave, The Monkees and others have used his...

With the goal of releasing records recorded at the highest fidelity with minimal processing, Doug Fearn and brothers George and Geoff Hazelrigg began Outer Marker Records a few years ago, using DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recorders as opposed to the more typical PCM (Pulse Code...

Liz Pelly is the author of the book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist. It's a well written and well researched book, and a fun read even though the subject is pretty dark. Spotify, and music streaming in general, have changed not only how we...

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...

Rob and I used to warm up for high school jazz band practices with an endless vamp of “Too Many Puppies” by Primus on drums and bass, respectively. In our small town of Waynesboro, Virginia, the turn of the ‘90s saw the thump of Led Zeppelin morph into the churn of Slint as we...

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...

I was fortunate to meet Dennis Weinreich several years ago while he was in San Diego, California, visiting his daughter. Looking for a studio to do some work from while away from his home in London, he came by for a tour of my spot (Rarefied Recording). As we chatted, I became...

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...

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...