Interviews | No. 172
By Meredith Hobbs Coons and Amy Gwatkin
Clarissa Connelly, the Scotland-born, Copenhagen-based composer, first captured audiences’ attention with her 2018 release, Tech Duinn, and has been creating medieval-tinged multidimensional soundscapes ever since. Informed by her masters' level composition studies at the Rhythmic...
Mikko Gordon, operating out of London, England, is a vanguard engineer. He has an interesting list of credits, including ISLAND, Colouring, Pete Townshend, and Arcade Fire (WE). His work engineering The Smile's musically complex A Light for Attracting Attention (alongside Nigel...
SASAMI, born Sasami Ashworth, has been a sought-after "jack of all trades" in the indie music world since returning to her hometown of Los Angeles following graduation from classical conservatory at Eastman School of Music. From playing in Cherry Glazerr, to touring with...
A compelling Brooklyn-based Pakistani composer, vocalist, and producer, Arooj Aftab's 2021 album, Vulture Prince, brought her voice and music a lot of attention, as well as a Grammy for Best Global Music Performance. Her recent collaboration, Love in Exile, with Shahzad Ismaily...
In the mid-'40s, a new generation of musicians heralded the arrival of bebop. Here's why some of the most exciting jazz performances ever recorded still don't sound good, and how we might be able to fix it.
In the long and vast history of jazz, Charlie Parker stands as one...
In his 80s, John Cale is still (thankfully) releasing interesting music. He is a founding member of The Velvet Underground and a pioneer in drone music, as well as a producer for legends like The Stooges, Patti Smith, The Modern Lovers, Happy Mondays, Squeeze, and Sham 69. His recently...
The Blasting Room, a studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been in operation for 30 years. What began as a home base/practice room/band studio for the groups Descendents and All quickly became a busy recording spot, luring musicians from across the globe. Jason Livermore was there from...
Yuka Honda has been a figure in the New York City avant-garde and indie-rock scenes for decades. Releasing her first album in 1989, she has amassed over 268 recording credits as an artist, producer, remixer, and/or accompanist (with her primary instrument being keyboards). The...
Brad Cook has been making and recording music since he was a kid growing up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Throughout his 20-plus year career, he's toured with people like Sharon Van Etten and produced records by Bon Iver, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Hiss Golden...
After Tape Op's online editor Geoff Stanfield interviewed both Noah Lennox and longtime collaborator Pete Kember [#46] for the Tape OpPodcast about their work together, and their recent album Reset, he wanted to dig a little deeper into Noah's musical beginnings and process....
If you've been keeping up with the explosion of popularity around hardcore and heavy alternative music, chances are you've heard the name Jon Markson. After a decade in the trenches as a producer and performer in Brooklyn's punk and indie scene, he has returned to his...
When singer, songwriter and pianist Jon Regen met famed UK synth wizard and producer Matt Johnson after a Jamiroquai gig back in 2018, he had no idea the two would soon begin a fruitful partnership that would take them both into acclaimed, uncharted waters. With Regen, a new parent...
After Tape Op's online editor Geoff Stanfield interviewed both Noah Lennox and longtime collaborator Pete Kember [#46] for the Tape OpPodcast about their work together, and their recent album Reset, he wanted to dig a little deeper into Noah's musical beginnings and process....