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...
It is remarkable how I discovered Marc Jonson. Quite randomly, on a Sunday afternoon a few years ago, I found a box of CDs on the sidewalk in my Brooklyn, NY, neighborhood. Being a music lover constantly in search of new albums to inspire my life, I noticed one CD in particular when...
A drummer can make or break a session, and I have always loved getting their perspectives on the recording process as well as the variety of roles they play in the studio. After several solo records and appearances on records by Dave Holland, Brittany Howard, The Fearless Flyers, Chris...
In 2010 on St. Patrick's day, my friend, Patrick Sansone (of Wilco), took me to watch Liam Hayes perform at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. We were introduced after the show. I had no idea at the time how expansive Liam's career in music had been, or what a prolific songwriter he...
When we first interviewed Steven Wilson in 2009 for issue #73, he had just released his first solo album, Insurgentes. Since then, his prog rock group Porcupine Tree has been on hold/hiatus, and his fifth solo release, The Future Bites, came out this year – a sometimes harrowing look at...
One of electronic music's prevailing visionaries; Amon Tobin began producing in the south coastal town of Brighton, England, debuting with the album Bricolage in 1997 – a seamless union of downtempo jazz/jungle fusions. It was the beginning of a career defined by a...
Well-known as a pianist, vocalist, and songwriter, Harry Connick Jr. found himself with a cancelled tour, left at home seeking "comfort, peace, and truth throughout the process of making music." He played all the instruments and recorded himself at his home studio and then...
Was this record really recorded in a garage?
Yes, it was. I now dub it the Mirage Garage. It's my back house here in Pasadena [California]; a little shack out back where I have all of my instruments and a modest recording setup.
Did you guys rehearse these songs, or was it more...
Since the early 2000s, PHO, born Leonardo Rojas, has navigated his dynamic career through the grand corridors of hip-hop, funk, and soul. By 2015, he was already considered one of the top 40 DJs in the world. Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, he is equally as likely to be found behind the...
It's been 40 years since SoCal brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald, then only 17 and 13, first released music as Redd Kross – okay, the band was actually called Red Cross initially – but, cease-and-desist orders aside, that's one hell of long time for a creative relationship to...
Plenty of engineers and producers migrate from one side of the glass to the other: at some point, an engineer realizes she's happier on the technical side, or a producer discovers his knack for getting the best out of bands in the studio. These changes often happen more organically...
At this point, Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover are the Melvins. They've recorded over 29 studio albums in all types of spaces and show no signs of slowing down. I caught up with Buzz and Dale for a couple of days on their "double bass player tour" (with Jeff Pinkus and...
I'd met engineer/musician Toshi Kasai and Melvins drummer Dale Crover when they spotted me at a NAMM Show years ago. We had a blast chatting, and while editing the Melvins' interview for this issue I realized I'd better get Toshi's perspective on his long...