Base Camp Beta

Jon Nicholson aka SSPS aka DJ Porkchop aka Gigi Black aka part of Excepter joins us for a wide ranging trip. Jon is a fixture of the New York scene, but we spend the entire time talking about his early period in Chicago - Ron Hardy playing the high school function, skinheads and ravers, pool hopping, records to get the punkers slam dancing, and about a million other things. Episode on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O83kGFX7uw SSPS Bandcamp https://ssps.bandcamp.com/album/the-l... JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta

UNLOCK THE FULL EPISODE patreon.com/basecampbeta Shawn and Chris compare and contrast two legendary Italian free improv groups - Musica Elettronica Viva and the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - and spin out talking geodesic domes, west coast cybernetics, hippies, aquariums, the circuit of capital, and North By Northwest (1959). A very Base Camp Beta episode.

Jake Muir joins us this week to talk about RPG-style world building with sound, field recording, Argeïphontes Lyre, and his unique approach to source material destruction. Check out Jake's work https://www.jakemuir.org/about and his latest record 'Pareidolia' https://enmossed.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta Video episode https://youtu.be/S7yTKhmDvkw

Shawn and Chris are back in da gear z0ne with an episode talking all about Compressors - what they are, how they work, and how to use them. We look at some of the historically important compressors, talk about compressors as feedback devices, and naturally bring up dialectics. JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta

Scott Kiernan and Victoria Keddie join us this week for a deep dive into the history of ESP TV, their long-running multi-disciplinary avant-garde public access variety show (say that five times fast!). We talk cross-country mobile broadcasting, the joys of setting up a 501(c), and the latent spirituality of the DIY ethos. Check out the ESP TV archives at https://www.esptv.com/ and please join our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

UNLOCK THE FULL EPISODE patreon.com/basecampbeta This week Shawn and Chris dive into the idea of the techno album and why it so often feels unfulfilling or like a paint-by-numbers exercise. We also talk about two examples of techno albums that succeed as exceptional albums - Regis' "Penetration" and Porter Ricks's "Biokinetics" - and why they stand out. We also talk eclipses, if compilations can count as albums, and the constantly changing definition of an album.

This week we're joined by our friend Drew Lustman aka FaltyDL to discuss the king of music software Reason, growing up in Connecticut, and about a million other things. Check out the video version of this episode at our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubvF_XA56_Q Check out Drew's new label project Freak Technique and the Be My Baby EP https://faltydl.bandcamp.com/album/be-my-baby-ep And of course JOIN THE PATREON for bonus episodes and more patreon.com/basecampbeta

Dina Pearlman joins us this week to talk about one of the undisputed pioneers in synthesizer history - her father Alan R. Pearlman. We talk about Alan's early experiments in electronics instruments (the "Tactovox" from 1948), hanging with Timothy Leary, and chart the course of ARP as a company through the 1970s. Check out the fantastic work done by Dina and the ARP Foundation here https://alanrpearlmanfoundation.org/ and of course JOIN THE PATREON for bonus episodes, etc. https://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

Just Shawn and Chris today. We had every intention of talking music but got sidetracked and spend the first half of the show talking about seafood and 'tinned fish'. Later we talk some Serge as Shawn spent the past week at NYU making Serge dub and getting the most out of two (!) Wilson Analog Delays. JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta

Arnau Sala, esteemed musician, artist, and zine-maker, joins us to discuss the politics of degrowth, advanced meditation techniques, and the joys of shallow listening. Scope his multimedia label Anomia here: https://soundcloud.com/anomiaprod And a friendly reminder to join our Patreon! http://patreon.com/basecampbeta

A very freeform episode today. We talk about pizza for maybe too long and then talk a lot more about movies - mostly centering on David Lynch, but with a nice amount of John Carpenter and James Bond in there for good measure. To hear the full episode JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta

Lea Bertucci joins us this week to talk graphic scores, playing with foil, and the dawn of music. This podcast was recorded and broadcast in 432 Hz for ultimate sonic wellness. Check out Lea's work: http://lea-bertucci.com/ Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

Elizabeth Davis aka Wilted Woman joins us this week to talk the comics/noise scene, recording music on flip phones, and how to make music commodity again. Check Lizzie's work out https://virtual-slap.net/info and her latest record 'Flowers' https://wiltedwoman.bandcamp.com/album/flowers and of course JOIN THE PATREON www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

We're joined this week by producer, musician, technologist, distributor, and CD burner extraordinaire Keith Fullerton Whitman to talk digging for Japan-exclusive Duran Duran mini CDs in the West Village, fine Digitech products, and the kindness of strangers. Video for this episode at our YouTube here https://youtu.be/FMC7VurjMbE Check Keith's work at https://keithfullertonwhitman.com/ JOIN THE PATREON https://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

It's a heat wave all over Europe so in this PATREON EXCLUSIVE episode Shawn and Chris talk celsius vs. farenheit for far too long before moving on to talk about some of the pieces of gear that have most marked their own music. To hear the full episode join the Patreon patreon.com/basecampbeta

Inter-disciplinary artist & musician Julia Santoli joins us this week for a wide ranging discussion covering room acoustics and feedback, ritualism in performances, teaching ethnomusicology, and building a global community of artistic radicals. Check out Julia's website here https://www.juliasantoli.net/ and JOIN THE PATREON patreon.com/basecampbeta

M. Geddes Gengras joins us this week to talk about recording with The Congos, the late 00s LA scene, and childhood sports memories. Make sure to check out Ged's fantastic new record Guest List on Hausu Mountain: https://mgeddesgengras1.bandcamp.com/album/guest-list and join the PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

Shawn and Chris dive in to the legendary Roland SH-101. We talk about why it is such a beloved piece of gear - both in terms of its sound and its usefulness as a studio and live instrument - and look in to some of our favorite tracks using the 101 - from Chicago and Detroit jack tracks to minimal wave, IDM, and italo-disco. Part 2 of this episode is available on the Patreon: https://patreon.com/basecampbeta

Our good friend Nick Klein is back getting the much coveted BCB hat trick. We talk about how different these three eras that Nick has been on the show (2019, 2023, and now 2026) feel and more generally about the interesting questions facing mid-career artists. We talk innovation, community, and also a bit about the increasing difficulty of running a record label in a world full of tariffs and trade barriers. Check Nick's work out at his website https://nickklein.work/ and JOIN THE PATREON https://www.patreon.com/basecampbeta

Base Camp Beta pivots to video - and what better guest to join us than Kiernan Laveaux! We talk J-rock fashion, getting in to Midwest house and techno, learning to DJ, and The Crow. Video is on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/qDTszD_xKBc Thanks to Public Sound Studio publicsound.net/public-sound-studios Join the Patreon www.patreon.com/basecampbeta