Interviews | No. 172
By Sam Retzer and John Baccigaluppi
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...
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...
Sonny Smith, of Sonny & The Sunsets, has been called a "San Francisco garage rock hero" by Pitchfork and "an institution" by SF Weekly, who asked, "Is there a more iconic San Francisco album?" of Sonny's first with the Sunsets, Tomorrow is Alright....
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...
As a child of Nigerian immigrants, a queer Black person, and a proud advocate for social change, Joy Oladokun has been combating her “constant Little Sister Syndrome” to become a musical force in her adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee. With five studio albums to her name, including...
Around the time of their 2024 album, Loss of Life, I sat down for a chat with MGMT's co-founders, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, to discuss the recording of the album, all their collaborators, synth solos, and their longtime working relationship with...
I met Stella Mozgawa a decade or so ago at Panoramic, the studio I co-own, when she played drums on Cate Le Bon's Crab Day LP, produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick and engineered by Samur Khouja. Over the years, I'd see more of this crew, especially Stella and...
Bob Attiyeh founded Yarlung Records over 20 years ago, and they have gone on to release almost 60 albums since then, all recorded in stereo, live, straight-to-tape, and almost exclusively using custom-built gear. Yarlung specializes mostly in classical music but has featured jazz and...
For over four decades, David Lowery has been an innovator and thought leader in the music business. As musician, he's the founder and leader of both indie rock legends Camper Van Beethoven and the successful band Cracker. He's also a writer, producer, studio owner, educator...
We recently had a chance to meet up with Johannes Russ, Ableton's Head of ABL Products Unit (Move, Note, and Core Technology), to talk about their new portable music-making tool. Our conversation was held at Different Fur Studios in the Mission in San Francisco a few days in...
Atlanta-based producer and songwriter Chandler A. Great, professionally known as Turbo, has been behind hits from Travis Scott, Gunna, Lil Baby, Nav, and Young Thug. His signature productions are easily recognized, and he has an innate ability to distill songs and their...
Pete Caigan, the studio manager and chief engineer for a revamped Utopia Studios Bearsville, is a longtime Woodstock-area resident and busy guy. Utopia is a multi-use space that is deal for video/film shoots, live recordings, album sessions, and more. The Lumineers recent album...
