Gear Club Podcast

Take a closer look at Queen's epic song with John and Stewart. With aggressive guitars, rich vocal harmonies, and an over-the-top premise, the track is classic Queen. Ogre Battle also marks a pivotal moment in the band's evolution, as their recordings reached a new level under the guidance of producer Roy Thomas Baker.

In this episode, I sit down with Grammy winning producer and engineer Kevin Killen. We first interviewed Kevin in episodes 46 and 47, where he talks about his career in recording studios from Dublin to NYC, and working with Peter Gabriel, Kate bush, U2, Elvis Costello, and a host of others. If you haven’t already, go check ‘em out. Since then, Kevin has moved to his personal studio, and is teaching as an adjunct professor at the NYU Clive Davis Institute and Steinhardt School. He’s also been busy working with the likes of Tony Levin and Cara Dillon, and recording drum sample packs for Toontrack at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. Listen in as he catches us up on all of it.

Everyone at Gear Club was saddened to hear of the passing of The Left Banke’s Steve Martin Caro, singer of Walk Away Renée. Eventide co-founder Steve Katz worked with The Left Banke back in the 60’s and related some details of Walk Away Renée’s recording to Gear Club. This episode is a reprint of that Song of the Week, followed by Steve Katz’s memories and insights into the recording!

David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" stands as perhaps the pinnacle of his theatrical ambitions - and it's this week's Record of the Week. Join John and Stewart and learn about the impressive band behind the recording - Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, Woody Woodmansey plus Yes's Rick Wakeman on piano! If you've seen “The Life Aquatic” with Steve Zissou, then you're in for a treat as Stewart reminisces about remixing "Life on Mars?" for the film.  

In this special episode, we pay homage to an artist who’s a Member of the rock and roll hall of fame, has won Seven Grammys out of 38 nominations, sold over 150 million albums worldwide, with three of those in the Grammy hall of fame. In their almost 40-year career they’ve played almost 1500 concerts, released 38 albums, have a supposedly endless vault of unreleased material, and have nonetheless remained an enigma. We’re talking about the one, the only, Prince. Listen in as we talk to the engineers who worked most closely with Prince in the studio on seminal albums across different eras of his wide-ranging career. There are amazing stories, pivotal moments, and behind the scenes insights into the work and personality of an artist very few people got to know up close and personal. 

Paul Prestopino was a musician, inventor, and technician with a long and varied career. From 1970 until its closure in 1989, Paul was a technician at the Record Plant in NYC, a venerated studio that helped produce an endless stream of hit records and launched dozens of careers for the engineers and producers that worked there. While working at the studio, Paul, known to everyone as “Presto,” was charged with the maintenance and care of the recording equipment, but he also played on dozens of albums for bands like Aerosmith, The Hooters, Alice Cooper, Slade, and Edgar Winter. He was also an integral member of the bands of Peter, Paul, and Mary, John Denver, and The Chad Mitchell Trio. Paul was part of the lifeblood of the Record Plant, and his passing in 2023 was felt deeply by those who worked with him at the studio. Our very own John Agnello organized this special memorial episode for Paul, where we interview Record Plant alumni and Paul’s brother, Greg Prestopino, to pay homage to a man who touched so many lives through his work and music.   

Our guest is Doug Wimbish, one of the most renowned bass players of all time, known for his work with a wide range of artists, including Living Colour, Tackhead, Sugarhill Gang, Mick Jagger, Annie Lennox, and many more. He is also the founder of WimBash, a series of community-based charity events supporting music education. In this episode, John and Stewart talk with Doug about his extraordinary journey through the music industry. They discuss topics such as his start at All Platinum Records, the birth of Sugar Hill Records, recording "Rapper's Delight", his life-changing encounter with Jaco Pastorius, and his experiences touring with music icons. Doug also shares his thoughts on mentoring young musicians, the evolution of bass playing, and the importance of giving back to the music community. 

To celebrate Bob Dylan’s birthday, we’ve compiled a special Gear Club episode that offers a behind the scenes look into Dylan’s Life and music. Bob has been described as a shape-shifter, a song and dance man, and the Shakespeare of our time. Over his 60 plus year career, he’s written more than 500 songs that have been covered by over 2,000 artists. He’s played nearly 4,000 concerts. He’s won 10 Grammys, an Oscar, and a Nobel prize in literature. But who is this guy? What’s he like to work with? Listen in as Chris Shaw, David Mansfield, Toby Scott, and Steve Addabbo share their recollections of the man on stage and in the studio.

Producer and Engineer William Wittman was one of our early guests in 2017 with a two parter, Episodes #15 and #16, where he discussed making seminal records with Cindy Lauper, Joan Osborne, and The Outfield, his time coming up through NYC recording studios, and his work/prank relationship with our very own John Agnello. In this episode, I catch up with Bill about making records with his band Too Much Joy, drum mic techniques, the things we like about in the box mixing, and working at the famed Van Gelder studio in Englewood, NJ.

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, Pavement, Wilco, Ben Folds Five, Pylon, and Polvo. He’s also an active musician and writer, releasing music for almost a decade with his band "Let’s Active" and currently as a solo artist. In this episode Mitch discusses building, operating, and outfitting his recording studios, the joys and perils of tracking to analog tape, producing the first R.E.M. records, and why it’s not always a good idea to fix everything in a recording.

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 equalizer plugin, SplitEQ. Russell Wedelich is the VP of development and director of signal processing at Eventide and had a heavy hand in writing the DSP code that went into the H9000. He’s also the lead DSP engineer responsible for the SplitEQ plugin and its patented technology. Russ and I got to chat about what went into developing SplitEQ, the new Eventide H90 Harmonizer pedal, and the culture that makes Eventide so consistently innovative. For more from Russell and the rest of the H9000 team check out Gear Club Episodes #66.1, #66.2 and #66.3.

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 VP for Universal Music and head of A&R at Geffen Records for many years. Thom talks with John and Stewart about his time on staff at the Record Plant, his favorite mixing desks, his reluctant entrance into the world of A&R,  and how the industry and technology has changed over the course of his almost 50 year career. 

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 clients, and the unique changes, challenges, and expectations of modern mastering.

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 with Dylan over many albums, and in his 50-year career has worked with an endless variety of artists, including Sting, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Bobby McFerrin, David Byrne, The Wainwrights, The Roches, really the list goes on and on. He’s also composed an equally extensive list of music for film and television, including The movies “Heaven’s Gate” and “The Apostle” and, most recently the Showtime Limited Series “George & Tammy”. In this episode, David discusses his early career and influences, touring with Dylan, his scoring and composition work, and demonstrates the Psaltery, one of the more unique of his many instruments.

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, and whether you can know if a project is going to be a hit.

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 accounts from the producers and engineers who worked most closely with John as he wrote and recorded songs from “Imagine” to “Starting Over”. These people include Shelly Yakus, Jack Douglas, Rod O’Brien, Ed Stasium, Jay Messina, and Greg Calbi.

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 get ahead in the industry. 

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.