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...
I've been a devoted studio rat for years, but I've also toured doing live sound and, increasingly, I've found myself working in postproduction audio. For me, all of those experiences inform the other. Tape Op may focus solely on studio recording; but, for a long time...
While motorcycling through the Appalachian Mountains, on my way to the 2015 Summer NAMM show in Nashville, I made an overnight stop in Jim Thorpe, PA, one of the most beautiful towns in the U.S., according to several national publications. Inside the former firehouse in the historic...
Not only is Susan Rogers a record producer, engineer, mixer, and audio electronics technician, she has a doctorate in psychology (having studied music cognition and psychoacoustics) from McGill University. As an engineer Susan really got her start working with Prince from 1983 to 1988...
Flood (aka Mark Ellis) could be called one of the most mysterious record producers working in the business by name alone, not to mention that most special way his ears hear music, and the extraordinary gift with which he translates that sound onto record. From revolutionizing U2's...
How does a Memphis-born teen become an intern, and eventually chief engineer, at Sun Studio? How does the same guy go on to record Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Chris Isaak, Drive By Truckers, the Rival Sons, and Kris Kristofferson, as well as win a Grammy? And how the heck did he follow...
Tindersticks' recording journey began over two decades ago, in a kitchen in Kilburn, London, where the band made demo recordings for their debut album (by the same name). These days the band's creative meeting place is Le Chien Chanceux, a studio located in the 200 year-old...
John Dwyer is certainly prolific. His main band, Thee Oh Sees, have released 18 studio albums since 1997. His side project, Damaged Bug, has two albums out. He co-owns Castle Face Records, where most of his output has been released. He tours frequently, and Thee Oh Sees are legendary...
Gary Rhamy speaks in a booming radio voice, which must come naturally to someone who's been in broadcasting for so long. He has been recording for over 40 years in Youngstown, Ohio, opening his own studio, Peppermint Productions, in 1971 along with partner Del Sinchak. Peppermint...
Imagine a studio where they shut the doors 40 years ago and left everything as it was. It's just not possible, right? Think again. Over the last year Nic Jodoin, with partners Brittany and Justin Barsony, have reopened Valentine Recording Studios — a place that has been closed up...
Brad Laner is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, engineer, and producer whose discography is as varied as it is in size. Long before he formed the influential band Medicine, he played drums, guitar, and electronics for Steaming Coils, toured and recorded as the drummer in Savage...
"I'm elusive, even to the people who work for me," Dan Wilson says via phone from an airport-bound taxi, after his management team finally secured a coveted interview slot for me. If the famed singer/songwriter seems hard to get a hold of, it's for good reason. For...
I remember the first time I heard Lush. Their sound was dreamy, frenetic, layered, and sounded unlike anything I had ever heard before. They were different, but had a strong pop sensibility. When I saw them live I was impressed by the sheer joy emanating from the stage, both during and...