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For almost a decade, Meg Duffy has weaved intimate lyrics with imaginative melodies as Hand Habits while also contributing their talents as a guitarist to albums and touring lineups for artists including Kevin Morby [Tape Op #151], Weyes Blood, Sylvan Esso, and more. Their initial forays into home recording, as with their first LP, Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void), have evolved into co-production collaborations, including Fun House with Sasami Ashworth (SASAMI) and Kyle Thomas, as well as their most recent EP, Sugar the Bruise, with Luke Temple [#126]. Through these experiences, a stint as a School of Song teacher, and years of session work (self-recorded or overseen in studios), they have absorbed a wealth of creative recording techniques and accumulated uniquely talented techie friends along the way who have enlivened and deepened their work with their builds. One could call it gifts of circumstance. Tape Op caught up with Duffy over Zoom, interrupted once by a rogue metal fabricator friend delivering a custom-made pedal board for Hand Habits’ summer tour.

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