In this episode, John and Stewart sit down with producer, engineer, musician, song writer, studio owner, and the Godfather of Jangle Pop, the one and only, Mitch Easter. Mitch has always been and continues to be a staple of the Indie Rock scene in North Carolina and beyond. First operating out of Drive in Studio located in his parents' garage, and in 1994 moving to his current studio, the Fidelitorium. Mitch has worked with a laundry list of seminal artists, including R.E.M., Helium,...

In 2018 the H9000 Harmonizer®, Eventide’s flagship multi effects processor, won a TEC award for best signal processing hardware. We had the team behind the H9000’s design and development on the podcast in Episodes #66.1, #66.2 and #66.3 to talk about the process of designing, building, and testing the latest in Eventide’s revered Harmonizer line. Now we’re back to talk about what’s new at Eventide and the 2023 TEC award for best signal processing software awarded to their revolutionary...

In this episode, we’re delighted to talk with industry legend, Thom Panunzio. Getting his start as an assistant at NYC’s Record Plant, Thom went on to work in every facet of the music business. He’s produced, mixed, and engineered albums for Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Joan Jett, Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Alice Cooper, and Aerosmith just to name a few. He helped design The Hit Factory in NYC, A&M Studios in LA, and the Thom Thom Club in Santa Monica, and was the Executive...

Mastering engineer extraordinaire Greg Calbi is a dear friend and was our guest on Gear Club Episode #2 way back in January of 2017. Over the last 50 years Greg has mastered a seemingly endless list of albums across every genera of music, and it’s almost a certainty he’s had a hand in the making of one of your favorite records. In this episode Greg and I got to chat about Sterling Sound moving from Manhattan to its new facility in Edgewater NJ, his workflow from converters to compressors to...

In this episode, we sit down for a conversation with renowned rock photographer Bob Gruen. Bob has been documenting the artists, concerts, and clubs that have come to define rock music, and is responsible for some of the most iconic images of the idiom. Listen in as Bob talks with hosts John and Stewart about his artistic philosophy, his move from film to digital, and being a part of music history.

This month, we’re thrilled to have David Mansfield on the show, a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger with a long and storied career. We have each worked with David for a long time, and know firsthand the talent and depth he brings to all the music he touches. Growing up in New Jersey and beginning his career in local bands, he started playing with Bob Neuwirth at The Bitter End and, at 18, joined Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. From there, he went on to tour and record...

In this episode, we talk with Jorma Kaukonen, electric guitarist extraordinaire for Jefferson Airplane, vocalist/blues picker for Hot Tuna, prolific solo artist, and all-around great guy. At 81 years young, Jorma is still writing, teaching, and gigging with no signs of slowing down. Listen in as we chat about his early career playing Bay Area clubs with Janis Joplin, life in The Airplane, his guitar mentors, speedskating, touring, and teaching guitar at his Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio.

Michael Imperioli is an Emmy award-winning actor, writer, novelist, and musician best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO series "The Sopranos". Since 2006 Michael has fronted the indie rock band "Zopa", and is currently working on a new album with our very own John Agnello. In this episode, Michael talks with our hosts about the parallels between acting and music performance and production, his musical influences, writing songs and screenplays, working on the new record,...

In this special Gear Club episode, we celebrate the post-Beatle life of John Lennon, who would have turned 82 this year on October 9th. After The Beatles broke up, John and Yoko moved to New York where John produced, recorded, and played songs that spoke to the post-60s generation as they struggled for justice and an end to war. John Lennon impacted the lives of all those he came across, and that impact continues to live on. To mark the occasion of his birth, we’ve collected first-hand...

Dave Darlington is a Grammy award-winning engineer, producer, mastering engineer, and musician who has recorded, mixed, composed, and played in just about every genre of music. He’s worked with the likes of Wayne Shorter, C+C Music Factory, Sting, and Miles Davis among many others. In this interview, Dave takes us through his journey to becoming an engineer, the joys and trials of running his own studio, Bass Hit, shares his recording ethos and inspiration, and gives some key advice on how to...

In this episode, John & Stewart chat with GRAMMY award-winning engineer and producer, Steve Marcantonio. Steve is a staple of the Nashville music scene but got his start in New York at The Record Plant under the instruction of the likes of Roy Cicala and Jay Messina. Listen in as Steve discusses his journey through the ranks at The Record Plant, his move to Nashville, and shares some insights on how to get a leg up as an engineer.

Matt Wallace is a producer, engineer, and musician with over 30 years in the industry, working with the likes of Maroon 5, The Replacements, Faith No More, O.A.R, and Paul Westerberg. Lately, Matt’s been working extensively on new and catalog mixing in ATMOS from his studio in Van Nuys, CA. In this interview he takes us through the technical and artistic aspects of ATMOS mixing, his production philosophy, working with Faith No More and The Replacements, and why making records isn’t about the...

In this episode, we talk with Grammy award-winning guitarist and vocalist, Peter Frampton. As a teen, Peter got his start in music with bands The Preachers and The Herd, co-founded Humble Pie at 18, and went on to have a solo career that has spanned 21 albums and more than 50 years. Peter chats with John and Stewart about his most recent record; Frampton Forgets The Words, his writing and recording process, early influences, and his love of playing live.

This is part two of our interview with world-renowned guitarist Steve Vai, whose new record, Inviolate, was released on January 28, 2022. In this episode, we dive deep into Steve's creative process, where his ideas come from, and how they transform into music. He also talks about his years with Frank Zappa, his work as an in-demand sideman, and his orchestral compositions. To hear all about the record, and Steve's three-neck guitar, the Hydra, check out his part one interview.

Steve Vai is a Grammy award-winning musician, composer, producer, and inventor of the Hydra: a three-neck, 36 string beast of a guitar with a steam-punk attitude and endless possibilities. Steve shows just what the instrument is capable of on his newly released album, ‘Inviolate’. In this episode, John and Stewart chat with Steve about his creative process, his fantastic new record, and the inspiration and design behind the Hydra. This is part one of a two-part interview. 

This is part two of our interview with veteran Engineer and Producer, Ed Stasium. In this episode, Ed talks to John and Stewart about his time in LA, working with Mick Jagger, Living Colour, Motörhead, and The Smithereens, and shares a story about how editing drums saved his life.

Ed Stasium is a musician, engineer, and producer with a career in music that spans almost 50 years. Getting his start at Tony Camillo's New Jersey studio, he went on to record Gladys Knight, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Living Colour, The Smithereens, Mick Jagger, and Motörhead, to name a few. In this episode, Ed gets in-depth about recording Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train to Georgia," his time with The Ramones, the first Talking Heads record, and his role in the building of NYC's Power Station.

Bill Schnee is a musician, producer, award-winning engineer, and more recently, a writer, with his new book "Chairman at the Board." With over 50 years in music, Bill has plenty to share, having worked with Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, and Whitney Houston, to name a few. In this episode of Gear Club Podcast, he sits down with John and Stewart to talk about the writing of the book, his early years as a musician and young engineer, his recording ethos, and more.

In this episode, Eventide founder Richard Factor takes us to outer space on a Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Richard is the founder and president of the SETI League: a non-profit, membership-supported group of amateur skywatchers hoping to catch signals of intelligent life from outside our solar system. Richard walks John and Stewart through the inception of SETI, the hows and whys of this galactic search, and one story about a real-life tin foil hat.

With a career spanning over 5 decades, Terry Manning is an accomplished audio engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has worked with the likes of Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Shakira, Joe Walsh, Lenny Kravitz, Shania Twain, and Bryan Adams - not to mention his quintessential role in Big Star’s debut album, #1 Record. For the full experience, watch this interview on our YouTube or at gearclubpodcast.com

Brendan Benson is a musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and founding member of The Raconteurs. As a solo artist, he’s released seven studio albums, most recently “Dear Life” released on Third Man Records in 2020. Brendan talks with John and Stewart about the recording of Dear Life, his writing process, The Raconteurs, and over 20 years of making music, from Detroit to Nashville. This interview was recorded at Sear Sound in January of 2020.

In this episode, Dweezil Zappa and our hosts take a closer look at his father Frank Zappa’s vast music catalog, his gear, and some of his more unconventional instrumentation choices. All in an effort to explore Dweezil’s approach to tackling his father’s work in his show, Zappa Plays Zappa. They’ll also delve into more details of Dweezil’s multi-faceted online music platform, Reward Music. For the full experience, watch this full interview on our YouTube channel & check out Part 1 at...

In this episode, our hosts talk to Grammy award-winning guitarist & son of Frank, Dweezil Zappa. Dweezil recently launched Reward Music, an online platform for artists to host their website, engage with fans, sell music/merchandise, all while keeping 100% of sales. Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll go more in-depth with Dweezil on his career & his father’s music & legacy.

As a renowned music supervisor for film and television, Randy Poster is known for his work with directors Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips, and Sam Mendes, among many others. He has had his hand in a countless number of works including The Irishman, The Queen’s Gambit, Boardwalk Empire, The Hangover, Divergent, The Wolf of Wall Street, Lost, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Tiger King, and Joker, just to name a few.