Tape Op Magazine - Issue #45

Interviews

Eric Valentine

By J.J. Wiesler

When I first walked into Barefoot Studios, a shark and a beautiful mutt greeted me. Elsie, at times affectionately called "the Pooper", runs off to announce my arrival. Welcome to the world of Eric Valentine. Any misconceptions of a flashy Hollywood producer's private studio are...

Interviews

John Parish: Working with PJ Harvey, Giant Sand, more...

By Craig Schumacher

John Parish is a well-respected musician and producer. He has made records for and with PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse [Tape Op#12], the eels, Giant Sand, Dominique A and Tracy Chapman, to mention a few. In the fall of 2003, John and his family rented a home in Tucson for three months so his wife could...

Interviews

The Residents: 30 Odd Years and still going...

By Roman Sokal

For over thirty years, the legendary, prolific and influential art group known as The Residents has been making interesting rock 'n' roll, pop and symphonic music and films that are never old. Their modus operandi is intellectual, logical, experimental, existential and yes, sometimes...

Interviews

Studio Security

By Anthony Collins

There is an epidemic sweeping the music industry. No, it's not an STD or computer...

Interviews

Jacquire King: On Eric Valentine and Tom Waits

By J.J. Wiesler

When I first met Jacquire, he was working at Toast, a studio in San Francisco. He had...

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

FEBRUARY 21, 2026 INTERVIEWS

Chazz Lyons: Surviving in Paradise.

BY LARRY CRANE

One afternoon, late last summer, I found myself walking down a dead end street, two blocks off the famous Waikiki beach in Hawaii, looking for the address where I was to meet the owner of a local studio for an interview. In a small condo I found Chazz Lyons with a collection of recording gear and digital drums set up in a spare room, along with his friendly parrot Koa. Chazz's unassuming Janisha Music has turned into a casual yet productive career, serving not only local songwriters and singers but also people traveling from the continental US and Japan. It's a nice perk when you have the fabulous beaches, weather and Mai Tais in between your recording sessions!

FEBRUARY 21, 2026 INTERVIEWS

Chris Muth: Behind the Gear with Dangerous Music

BY RICH WELLS

Chris Muth of Dangerous Music knows his stuff. Formerly a mastering gear designer at Sterling Sound in New York City, Muth now co-owns Dangerous Music with partner Bob Muller, a unique combination recording studio/boutique gear manufacturer. The Dangerous studio has recorded artists ranging from the Rolling Stones and Rosanne Cash to free-jazz monster Charles Gayle, whereas Dangerous the gear-maker provides a line of über-high-end analog summing, metering, mixing, and monitoring boxes. Tape Op spoke with Muth about his design philosophy, as well as the nuts and bolts of attaining perfection in audio.

FEBRUARY 21, 2026 INTERVIEWS

Larry Levine

BY GREG SULLIVAN

[ image larry1 type=center ] Amidst the flash and glitz of the expensive, superficial hype that sells today's hits to the mainstream, it might seem as if the art of songcraft is at an all time low. Larry Levine remembers a different time. Pop music's golden age might very well have peaked by the late 1960s, with the sound of the teenage pocket-symphonies recorded by Levine and producer magnate Phil Spector. Sweating out chart-topping hits by the dozen, the two created a body of work that will be preserved in a state of timeless austerity forever in the annals of American music history. Gold Star Studios in Hollywood was the launch pad for much of this work. Mr. Levine spoke to Tape Op about the history of Gold Star and the sessions he worked on there with Spector, reminding us that in the end it's what you are recording, not what you're recording on, that really counts.

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

COLUMNS

by Larry Crane

GEAR REVIEWS