hanging out with audiophiles

There's so much to learn from Sarah Davachi. I've certainly found my short interaction with her and a humble dive into her catalog to be very enlightening and enriching to my process. She's someone that has a very considered approach to sound, a very respectful approach, I would say. Someone who's had a kind of consistency to her journey through it all and who brings such wonderful tones to our ears from often incredibly old and rarely heard instruments. That's certainly the case on her new record, "The Will of Tongues," which is a very ambitious and at times brutal sonic landscape that is both a powerful presentation of the static tones from organ, string and reed and of more traditional songs that are served out of nowhere and complete the meal like celestial sorbet. It's a wonderful listen, and I was fascinated to have a chance to have a brief conversation with her. Dig it! Music comes from an old pal of mine from the Berlin days "Phtalo" and a new EP called "Neurodivergent Lifestyle" jolly good fun! Find it here: https://phtalo.bandcamp.com/album/neurodivergent-lifestyle-ep

I'm really happy to have made the acquaintance of Robert Logan, my guest on this show, who was introduced to me by listener Ody Constantinou. Ody also helped me edit this interview—something I've never done in nine years of podcasting. Though he did a wonderful job, I'm going to return to editing future episodes myself, as shaping the audio is such a core part of the show's identity but I wanted to give Ody a huge shout-out for introducing me to Robert and helping put this episode together. Here's Ody's info unmaskedsound@gmail.com @ghostmeet on Mastodon Robert is a phenomenal, Emmy-nominated composer with an incredible sense of texture, which is something I value more and more in music these days. We had a great philosophical ramble. My cup of tea of an afternoon! Check out his album Otherscapes —it features 132 unreleased tracks spanning 2006 to 2026 for just $10. Highly recommended. https://robertloganmusic.bandcamp.com/album/otherscapes-unreleased-works-2006-2026 Music that you'll hear peppered through the episode comes from Peter Jonason Wonderful stuff from an album that's coming soon Check his work here! https://peterjonason.bandcamp.com/

I am so happy to have Tim Exile back for round two. This time, we're diving into an exciting new music creation environment that he's been diligently building at a rapid-fire pace. It's called Karst link here https://app.karst.systems/ it's already running in the browser, with plans for plugin and standalone this year and it's showing an incredible amount of promise as a replacement for Reaktor going forward. It's a wild, ambitious idea, so it's no surprise it came from Tim, who is such a fearless and ever-creative soul. It was an absolute joy to chat with him about how Karst was built and programmed from the ground up in just a matter of months using the latest technologies, and what he ultimately hopes to achieve with it. We also discuss the incredibly challenging health issues he's had to face, his new space in London and general get lost in the sauce of the ramble :)

Flipping Summer madness!!! Yeah it feels like this holiday has gone on for months already. We took in a bit of Cornwall and caught up with the UK family. Cornwall was a very wise choice as it has a microclimate that allowed a little escape from the insanity that London heatwave. You know what? I did a pretty good job of disappearing completely albeit without a full phone detox. I feel that might be needed soon. Someone threw out a stat that we only have 300 months of free time in our lives. Best not to spend all of that on the phone. Im such a sad addict at this point it's not funny. Anyhow that's beside the point. Back in the bubble of the music space, I made a little computer only setup in my space to see if I can't use it to focus on a different kind of making and perhaps even the FINISHING? Lets see. I go on about that a lot in the intro so I'll not linger on that now. Needless to say I wish you all fulfillment and success however that looks to you. This episode is with the excellent Nicholas Semrad. He's aheady had many a musical life. You may have seen him playing alongside Cory Henry, Lauryn Hill or Mark Guiliana. You may know him as a patch maker for Sequential or Yamaha. Perhaps you know him for his film and TV work. He's highly accomplished and a touring beast. Currently he's slathering on the make up on a 6 month Empire of the Sun gig. He's a total beast and yet a wonderfully humble and chill individual. Ive had micro hangs with him before on the road but never a long form one on one until now. So it's a treat to have the chance. Give it up for for Mr Semrad!!!

Robert Margouleff was there when some of the most soulful electronic sounds were EVER put onto tape. He's got a new audiobook out on Pushkin and it's just bloody great!!! use code SOUNDS25 for 25% off when you purchase at pushkin.fm/shapingsounds . Here's the book blurb: Shaping Sounds is a memoir about creativity, collaboration, artistic courage, and the lasting power of music. The heart of the book is the story of TONTO, the world's largest analog synthesizer, which Margouleff and his partner Malcolm Cecil built. From the first spark of the idea to how it shaped the sound of artists like Stevie Wonder, DEVO, Beck, and more, Robert leads listeners through his life in film, music, and tech. TONTO is the ultimate gear story, one that was made in service of creating something deep and raw, which feels very aligned with your ethos to understand how to make sound right. damn right! I LOVED this chat. Just blew my mind in so many ways. Hope it lands that way for you too :) Music from this episode comes from pod listener Dan Moore here's some bio stuff and a link to the BandCamp . Really delightful work SCHOOLS OUT! Here comes the Summer x

Yes, I have seen him out there on the road and had the good fortune of interacting with the Hotchip fellas from time to time over my years in the business as we are all english and of similar age upon this green earth. How are they these Hotchips? I can say that they are some of the nicest fellows you could meet Joe's exceptionally sincere and has an enviable discipline when it comes to making music. He has the patience that requires to finish work in abundance and he takes pride in the process which really shows in the wide body of work that he's produced both as a solo artist collaborator and of course with his excellent contributions to Hotchip's output He knows his stuff but with such a humble delivery he never flexes it in any kind of vulgar manner. A true gent of the electronic music scene. Get ready to hang to a very nice man Hope you enjoy this catchup with the wonderful Joe Goddard

YO! If you like what I'm up to and want to support me then please consider joining the pattern. https://www.patreon.com/c/HOWA I am now sharing ALL my music there. All of Feb coming soon :) There are 35 tracks up so far and they are the deepest connection to my current musical mind. The best I have to give ! Now Let's get on with the show Welcome Anderson East! We've made some music together and so this isn't the first time we've had a good ramble but this time we are here to celebrate the release of his latest LP "Worthy" He's a great singer and fully engaged lover of the romance of music making. Record making! Link to his stuff! https://andersoneast.com ____________________________ The music that you'll hear peppered throughout this episode comes from a band called Vxriable And their latest release "taking no prisoners" I know one of the members Josh as he was so instrumental in the making of the live video for my show at Turner hall here in Nashville when I performed my latest album "places of unknowning" here is a link to a track from that He really put the hours in and I was super happy when I got an email from him about music he's made. I was taken aback in a great way. A man of many talents !! More Links! Official Website: https://vxriable.com Latest Release: TAKING NO PRISONERS (spotify) Bandcamp

Welcome Charl of Telepathic Instruments :) you've doubtless seen this fun looking box known as orchid floating around the interwebs in various high-impact ads and also you may have noticed its notable collaboration with the famed musician Tame Impala, who was the brainchild behind the device. I've always been curious about the Orchid, and we chat about its evolution and history and reveal what it was originally for and how it came to be a real box.

Kicking off 2026 with a bang Congrats to my Emmy winning guests Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein for their epic work as the band Survive and notable of late for making the many hours of music that score the rather popular show Stranger Things which just wrapped for the last time with its season finale. Great to peek behind the curtain as it were as we get into the pure substance of their process. Unlock the clues in this episode and you too will certainly be up for an Emmy if you're as tireless and talented as them ! Thanks to Ableton for sponsoring this episode I get into the MOVE in a rare nitty. I took the box the climbing gym to do a little against the clock action here's a link to the move. I can really recommend it https://www.ableton.com/en/move/ Oh and HAPPY new Year !! Let's get on with the show :) !!!!!!!!! MOVE DISCOUNT CODE ALERT ! HOWAMOVE20 You lot can use this code at checkout for 20% off Ableton Move , valid until January 31, 2026 .

Really happy to share this chat with Luke as a celebration of the NEW RELEASE of our LP https://surl.li/fqimbs "A companion for the spaces Between Dreams" There are digital and physical copies YES both vinyl and cassette I'm happy to say! This music was made crafted here in my studio in Nashville, it's a guide for those liminal spaces you may find yourself in so to speak and it's been a real treat to put together Luke is a special one and it was lovely to get a focused time to sit and chaat. We had a nice jam too and generated loads more amazing sound. Feels like such an easy thing for us to get on the same page. We get into how Luke found his path and along the way he mentions a lot of amazing pedal steel players I thought I'd best compile them for reference as they are pretty special ! Cheers y'all Weldon myrick pedal steel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LjxPOdRnJ0&list=RDEMuPD_UFE0zk-WjCWb0iisKQ&start_radio=1 Buddy Emmons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0fk2KkBc2M&list=RDp0fk2KkBc2M&start_radio=1 David Lindley lap steel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Q-447zVPY&list=RDV4Q-447zVPY&start_radio=1 Greg Leisz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k-oPe13gzM&list=PLuxRYQaerlLJ4_QCkkpCY53EQnmswvOy4 Hayden Pedigo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn5wfH_erZ0&list=RDXn5wfH_erZ0&start_radio=1 Anthony philips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAm7WpjK6tk&list=RDEMS7XhuggzWddIhmF3utkRVQ&start_radio=1 North Americans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBq4Qfh_diI&list=RDxBq4Qfh_diI&start_radio=1 Jeff Newman - Luke watched these tapes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LcpIBJUCbI&list=PLGaigx75v1m8tYNIcSy_TYYUoxzDtS9yi Ralph Mooney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nn8T2AEy50&list=RD3Nn8T2AEy50&start_radio=1 Lloyd Green and JayDee Maness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqQ7CMJypPg&list=RDDqQ7CMJypPg&start_radio=1 Charley Pride featuring Lloyd green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef61bmiiC44&list=PLM_I2E3hMy7Om7HwI-WfowvinWs5smIAE&index=2

As you know, I've been rather obsessed with the music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius , and that obsession doesn't seem to be fading anytime soon. So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Tim Story , who joins me on this episode of the podcast, played a major role in creating the remarkable record that's captivated me lately — 90 . To make that album, Tim sifted through over 100 hours of unreleased material from Roedelius's archives — a monumental effort that resulted in this stunning compilation of tracks. I was fascinated to hear about the process behind it all, and equally happy to speak with Tim himself — a wonderfully charming and generous man, as well as a longtime friend and collaborator of Roedelius. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Music for this episode comes from Europe in Flames , whose new album One is out now. You can find it on Bandcamp — here's the link. https://europeinflames.bandcamp.com/album/one

Was a mighty pleasure to chat with the alchemical Lucrecia Dalt. She's playing with THOSE forces. Sculpting the slippery into sound. Both primal and refined. This is not free noise by any means, it's a crafted and highly tuned set of worlds that all feel both intimate and deliberate at the same time. Wonderful music. Wonderful art. In your face and unapologetic. Bravo!!! Her new album is called "A Danger to Ourselves" Out Sept 5th Here's a Bandcamp link. Hightly recommend you check it out. It cuts deep. https://lucreciadalt.bandcamp.com/album/a-danger-to-ourselves ** Shout out to Dana Wachs for the intro here. She's doing sound for Lucrecia during her live dates and she's opening too. Love to see it

Lovely to catch up with Kaitlyn to get a behind the scenes breakdown of the process that went into creating her latest LP "Gush" I was not expecting it to be made this way. Nope. I had no clue. I loved being so utter wrong about it! I challenge you to listen fist to the music and then guess how she pulled it off. Utterly wild. Love it. She tells me of the sonic coffee (what resets her ear palette) The inspiration of Lex ishimoto the dancer and reveals a secret as to who she'd like to sound like when singing. Again I was shocked! This was recorded in Feb 2025.. err.. sorry! took me ages If you dont know her work you're in for a treat. She has a very unique and delightful harmonious take on the construction and presentation of electronic sound that is quite a singular take. So rare to find someone that really found their own way through. She's never repeating herself it seems. There's a great range in the catalogue which to me is always the key to a truly great artist. A true seeker.

Welcome Philip Weinrobe the optimist. It's downright infectious to hang with this chap. His bright-eyed, freewheeling attitude is not something that can be put on. Well at least, I feel you know when it's an act. In Philip's case it's interwoven into his worldview. What I'm saying is. He's really that guy and it's a wonderful thing! I was happy to learn of his wigglesome ride through this thing called life that led him work with some of the modern greats like Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Tomberlin, and Theo Katzman (Vulfpeck) ______________ Dipping into the Phil links: Don ellis was mentioned in the chat. I wasn't aware. He was the real deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf8kfgJ_ZBk Phil teaches - sonic scoop walk through of a mix. So much to learn here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ-Fc_Nm_H8 Alanis Morissette made an ambient record :) Phil was involved https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Storm_Before_the_Calm ____________ music that you hear peppered through the show comes from David Carlisle You can find the music here and directly show some support: https://davidcarlisle.bandcamp.com/ His instagram is: davidbloodyhaynes ______________ During the intro I float the idea of sharing my latest studio experiments on Samply to you at the Patreon hub. Interesting ?

My new album PLACES OF UNKNOWING has arrived link to LP (release date July 18th 2025) https://lnk.to/placesofunknowing WOO!! Let's get on with the show! Meet Pascal :) What a treat it has been to welcome this man into my life Not only did he give me confidence and skills to play the piano for the first time in my life, he toiled to transcribe my vocal multitracks and save them from dying on the hard drive. He sat with me and the recording crew in the studio for 5 hours to assist our cellist as this same song took shape With patience and encouragement that's very rare and deeply contagious. Speaking my language just as fluently as the classic players He's been the bridge to many lands This new LP - Places of Unknowing that's OUT July 18th 2025 Would not have existed without Pascal. It's as simple as that. He set the ball rolling and helped me so so much along the way. I was watching the live show footage last night. The concert of the record that was performed in Nashville March 2025 with a wonderful group of musicians. Some of them were professional like Rob Burger, Ethan Jodziewicz and Lee Vinson but many students joined from Blair college of music. Pascal was working at the school at the time and drummed up interest, found us a room to practice in and kept it all together with so little time. He not only found all these great players but he then remade arrangements from the album for woodwind Beautiful arrangements. I was in tears last night. Just thinking of that night and all the time leading up to it It took so long and so much energy to pull it together. Life has moved from that time and now Pascal is leaving to MIT in Boston with his wife and kids I couldn't be happier for them !!! I mean come on. MIT!!! He really is one of the most inspiring people I've met and I'm so happy to get to share this pod and the window it opens to his world. With one grammy under his belt already, watch out for him This will not be the last time you hear about Pascal. He's the real deal. Im very lucky to call him a friend x ____ I thought it might be useful to share some links to musicians Pascal references in this chat as many are new to me and maybe to you too :) LINKSSSSS!!! https://miguelzenon.com/videos/ https://www.daniloperez.com/video https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geri_Allen https://www.aaronparks.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Mehldau https://www.kurtrosenwinkel.com https://milestilmann.bandcamp.com/album/3d-concepts Thomas Adès: In Seven Days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2B4KOGyTTk https://www.donnachadennehy.com/discography Louis Andriessen - Hoketus (1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=palDwGpg3ME

He lives across the street and happens to be one of my fave musicians ever. Sometimes life is just like that right? He's played in so many rolls over the years both as a solo artist and film composer and as a player backing the heaviest like Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, John Zorn and this bloke Jamie Lidell Yep, he's opened me up to so much great music and is one of the best improvisers I've ever heard. Just flowing with the music. He sits at the piano and he's away. With the muses that circle him. Great to present this audiobook length chronology for the archives. Rob has been such an important part of my musical world here in America. He's all over my upcoming album "Places of Unknowing" and throughout this chat I play excepts from the record that were played by the man himself. here we go!!!

ITS OUT!!! YES!!! It's hard to believe tbh after all this time but indeed the first song from my long talked about LP "Places of Unknowning" is OUT There's a vinyl pre-order (and digi pre-thing) for the full album and links to stream this early track the "The Center" here: https://todo.ochre.store Video from the live performance of The Center here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxUxtHkE1 You might be curious how it all came to be.... Where are these wild and powerful words coming from for example? Well I'm glad you asked since I got to sit down and record a chat with my delightful wife Lindsey Rome who wrote this record with me. Specifically, she wrote the words and I set them to music. A marriage of it's own! She's A lady I adore A lady I am constantly inspired by. A lady that has no end to her creativity. She's written a lot of material with me at this point and it's always been super rewarding to work in this way but I will say that NOTHING I've made with her has ever been like this. I felt like I was handed these precious truths and intimate revelations to try and merge with the realm of music. The fact I know her so well and care so deeply was both the only way to make this so rich and potent but also proved to be quite a challenge to get right. Needless to say Im mightily excited finally get to share the fruits of our collaboration at long last. It really was a team effort between the two of us and all the more sweet to send it off as a document of this time Hope you enjoy hearing how it all came to be from my best friend and true love Lindsey Rome

I got hip to Cristobal's work thanks to my recent TV addiction. I inhaled all 3 seasons of the white lotus and I think I was only able to get so greedy because of the EXCELLENT music. I usually get repelled by TV scores tnh. I feel like I know the tricks and the tones and the emotional devices and I end up paying attention to them in a bad way. My agitation stops me from getting swept up and carried away. Not so with this man's work. I just felt like it was so deeply connected to the lands and the mystery and power of our animalistic shadows that ride in the narrative. I was taken aback and taken away. It's been a long time since I found myself loving a soundtrack. I had to know more and thankfully Cristobal (I butcher his name in the pod btw to my shame!) has been fantastic to chat with. I reached out, we set a date to chat and it just flowed. I love that. Hope you enjoy the fascinating insights he shares. He's so humble about his ways but he clearly is no pushover, knowing what he believes in and fighting for that. I loved this hang. Hope it gets to all to at least buy a shaker if you don't own one!

Took me a while this one. Sadly, as many of you may know, I lost my Dad. It was a very long time coming and I was "prepared" but of course death has a power that yields a unique power and the grief has hit in waves. The first week was a kind of exhaustion, then I got to feel the sadness and the reality hit me in a new and more profound way. I talk about it here in the pod so I'll not linger too long in text form. Needless to say, it's been an intensely emotional time. Shortly after this news I was thrown into full preparation for the first live show for the LP that is going to be announced (finally!) next month. I was grateful to have my passions engaged in deep musical focus. Thanks to my wife and the amazing players that can to support me, the show was a truly beautiful event. Not one I'll forget. So with all that going on, the pod has taken the back burner. I had been meaning to air this Bibio episode for a long time. A whole other perspective on the man compared to the first encounter. I hope you enjoy the west country rambles! Thanks to all of you that shared your kind words with me about my Dad love you guys x

I met Matt Ross-Spang thanks to Mark Rubel. Mark was an amazing knowledge and super generous chap who sadly died not so long ago. RIP to that legend. I'll never forget that trip to visit some of America's most amazing studios. We toured most of the iconic rooms in Memphis which is the city where Matt Ross-Spang has always resided. We went to Sun where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Howlin' Wolf all recorded and then on to Sam Philips recording service which Matt helped restore to its former glory. What a place! Just full of history and so beautiful both aesthetically and sonically. Matt has had quite the journey. He started interning at Sun Studios as a teen and now he has been awarded the key to the city of Memphis! Somewhere in the middle of this wild ride is what we spend of our time chatting about in this pod. From humble beginnings to mixing Elvis, getting those Grammy's and the key to the city of Memphis, Matt has seen and heard an awful lot of good stuff! ________________________ Music for this episode comes courtesy of Indy500 check it here: https://indy500.bandcamp.com/ ________________________ This episode is sponsored by the MLC or The Mechanical Licensing Collective. They're a nonprofit organization that's revolutionizing how creators get paid their mechanical streaming royalties from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music in the U.S. Every month, The MLC collects the streaming data and royalties from those platforms, matches the money to the creator who has earned it, and then pays out the royalties due. With over $2.5 billion in royalties distributed and more than 50,000 Members worldwide, The MLC is already making a huge impact. And the best part? Membership is completely free! Don't leave money on the table — visit TheMLC.com today to sign up!