Episodes
Published 04/26/24
Despite being based in the country music capital of Nashville, BAYBE melds metal, hip-hop and pop elements into her own carefully crafted artistic vision. In this special episode of Signal Path, she spoke with Marc Young at the Shure booth of this year’s (rather noisy) NAMM music industry trade show. They discussed her wide-ranging musical influences, her meticulous attention to her spooky aesthetic, and why Nashville isn’t just for country music anymore.
Published 03/05/24
Published 03/05/24
Hannah V is a London-based producer, pianist and songwriter known for her collaborations with the likes of Rihanna, Stormzy, Yola and JP Cooper. Marc Young met up with her at the London Podcast Show to discuss how her multicultural upbringing in Germany and India influenced her early musical education, her transition from classically trained pianist to key member of Rihanna’s backing band, and how she once composed a track for Netflix’s Bridgerton series in just a matter of hours. This...
Published 11/08/23
Famous for its holistic approach, the record label International Anthem has put out more than 60 albums over the last 10 years. Working out of Chicago, they’ve focused on progressive jazz as well as experimental genres, creating tactile products that look as good as they sound. Thomas Banks from Shure speaks with Dave Allen and David Trainor about how they recorded an entire album by Brandee Younger and Dezron Douglas remotely using just one mic at the height of the Covid pandemic.
Published 09/21/23
Nita Strauss is an LA guitar hero who has shredded for Alice Cooper, Demi Lovato and many more big stars over the years. In this episode, Laura Davidson speaks with Nita about her origins in the Los Angeles music scene, taking her mom backstage to meet Alice at the Hollywood Bowl, and how the Shure GLX-D+ wireless system for guitarists makes her wild performances possible.
Published 06/26/23
Is the SM58 the most popular microphone of all time? Quite possibly, yes. This stage stalwart can truly handle anything thrown its way: from Mitski's drama to Frank Carter's screams and Run-DMC's rhymes. Listen to a special edition of Signal Path as part of the Shure Iconic Mic Celebration this month to discover how the SM58 has set the industry standard for live performance for more than half a century.
Published 05/08/23
Rob Price is the CEO of School of Rock, a wildly successful chain of hundreds of music schools around the globe. In this episode of Signal Path, he joins from his RV 'Barry Vanilow' while on the road after SXSW. Price discusses the School of Rock's novel method of teaching kids how to play their instruments through group performance, how the music community has become vital in post pandemic times, and a new initiative to support young songwriters.
Published 04/05/23
Under the moniker Circuit des Yeux, Chicago-based artist Haley Fohr creates avant-garde music that defies easy categories. She speaks with Andrew Anderson about her operatic vocal style, comparing microphones to paintbrushes and her acclaimed album -io. Known for her impressive four-octave range, Haley also offers a few tips for singers.
Published 03/15/23
Bandleader and trumpet player Emma-Jean Thackray has quickly become a crucial part of the UK's contemporary jazz scene. Zakia Sewell speaks to her about her early musical inspirations and producing the tracks on her dazzling debut album Yellow.
Published 01/03/23
London-based producer, vocalist and DJ Coby Sey has developed a distinctive presence with his shifting, post-genre vision of club music. Zakia Sewell speaks to him about his debut 'Conduit' and how he's at the forefront of a groundbreaking DIY movement.
Published 11/07/22
For the latest episode of Signal Path, Zakia Sewell speaks with Colin Stetson, a multi-instrumentalist composer best known for his radical, full-body approach to playing the saxophone with Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, Laurie Anderson and Bon Iver, as well as his eerie scores for films like Hereditary and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Published 10/18/22
A titan of electronic music, DJ and producer Jeff Mills helped shape the rise of techno like few others. Zakia Sewell speaks to the audio trailblazer about his early days in the Detroit Underground Resistance, his residency at the world famous Tresor club in Berlin, and his most recent forays into electro-jazz fusion.
Published 08/23/22
Listen to a very special episode of Signal Path with George Clinton. Zakia Sewell speaks with the funk legend behind the groundbreaking musical groups Parliament and Funkadelic to explore his extraterrestrial impact on planet Earth.
Published 07/21/22
Under her guise Gazelle Twin, England’s Elizabeth Bernholz explores the boundaries of art and music. Zakia Sewell speaks with her to find out how she deftly weaves unsettling electronics, ethereal vocals, folk horror and social commentary into such a potent audiovisual package.
Published 06/14/22
For the latest episode of Signal Path, Zakia Sewell speaks with Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. Known for her artfully experimental, deeply intimate brand of indie pop, the vocalist and guitarist more recently wrote the bestselling memoir ‘Crying in H Mart’, a thought-proving exploration of growing up as a Korean-American and dealing with the grief of losing her mother.
Published 04/25/22
Welcome to a refreshed Signal Path! Our new host is Zakia Sewell, an award-winning broadcaster and DJ who has appeared on the BBC, NTS, Tate and Boiler Room. Welcoming a new batch of sonic innovators, she will explore those defining moments that influenced how they think about sound. For our inaugural reboot episode, Zakia chats with modular synth legend Suzanne Ciani. Among the few women on the frontline of electronic music in the 1970s, she went on to become one of the most celebrated...
Published 04/04/22
The multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter FINNEAS is the creative mastermind behind some of the biggest hits by Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello and many more. In the podcast, he explains the difference between producing his own songs and those of his superstar little sister, why he likes to incorporate random audio samples into many tracks, and the Grammy nomination for his first solo album, ‘Optimist’. This episode was recorded remotely with the Shure SM7B and MV7...
Published 01/10/22
At the vanguard of Bristol's pioneering trip-hop scene in the mid-1990s, English singer Martina Topley-Bird has built a rich career from creative collaboration. In the podcast, she discusses how her approach to songwriting has evolved over the years, her recording tips for vocalists, and her brand new album 'Forever I Wait'.
Published 11/03/21
Jax Anderson is an alt pop chameleon refusing to be pinned down. In the podcast, she discusses her genre agnostic approach to making music, how she tackles universal themes as a queer artist on her new concept album, and the creative inspiration she found while on a cross-country musical road trip. This episode was recorded remotely with the MV7 Podcast Microphone.
Published 09/04/21
Known for her blistering blues-rock chops, the Texan guitarist Emily Wolfe is branching out with her new album 'Outlier' to incorporate more pop sensibilities. In the podcast, Wolfe discusses the new creative direction she's taken, an upcoming tour supporting Joan Jett, and how a mean guitar teacher inadvertently helped her become a multi-instrumentalist.
Published 07/04/21
Alexander Hacke is a member of the seminal German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten. Besides his efforts alongside Blixa Bargeld, he also regularly records with his wife, Danielle de Picciotto, and has contributed to countless other creative projects over the years. In the podcast, Hacke talks about how he’s kept busy during the pandemic, how playing a coiled spring on the latest EN album gave him carpal tunnel and why somebody named DAVE keeps telling the band what to do.
Published 06/02/21
Casey Driessen is an American fiddler on the move. After playing with Steve Earle and Bela Fleck in Nashville and teaching at the Berklee College of Music, he recently took a nine-month journey exploring musical traditions around the world with his instrument. In the podcast, he discusses his roots in bluegrass and jazz, how he came to embark on his Otherlands project and how he managed to fit his fiddle into a Japanese jam session.
Published 04/21/21
Alicia Bognanno is the creative force behind the indie rock band Bully. In the podcast, she discusses her background in audio engineering, how having that expertise has influenced her approach to making music and what it was like to drop her latest album "Sugaregg" in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Published 02/23/21
Nick Meehan is the director of the Institute for Sound and Music (ISM), a non-profit initiative based in Berlin dedicated to sound, immersive art and electronic music. In the podcast, he discusses his earliest audiovisual adventures in Boston, the ISM's plans for a cultural center in the German capital and what it's like to watch Brian Eno create ambient music on the fly.
Published 01/05/21