Podcast
Gear Club Podcast
Hosted by John Agnello & Stewart Lerman · EN
Gear Club Podcast is hosted by engineer / producers John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) and Stewart Lerman (Patti Smith, St. Vincent). Each episode of the podcast features an interview with a key player in the audio industry, and also offers tips and guidance to the next generation of engineers and artists. The podcast is an informative, yet irreverent, look at the art of recording by leading practitioners of the art.
24episodes
Episodes
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#104: The History Of Eventide with Founder Richard Factor
2w ago00:45:56Tap to summarizeIn this episode we present the history of Eventide, makers of revolutionary audio products for over 50 years, as told by founder and owner Richard Factor. Eventide's history stretches back to 1971, but Richard was tinkering with audio electronics well before that, paving the way for some of the first Eventide products. Richard takes John and Stewart through the early history of Eventide, from its founding and naming to its first groundbreaking products, among them the first remote tape machine transport control and the first digital audio device, the 1745 Digital Delay Line. From there it's on to the dynamics-defying Omnipressor, the psychedelic Instant Flanger and Phaser, and the arrival of the venerated Harmonizer line of pitch shifters. It's a fascinating and fun oral history of a company that continues to define innovation in audio. As always, we encourage you to like, subscribe, share, and leave a comment. When you do, it lets us reach a lot more listeners, and our biggest goal at Gear Club is to share these incredible stories with as many people as possible.
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Record of the Week: Peaches en Regalia
4w ago00:16:46Tap to summarizeIn this Record of the Week, John and Stewart dig into "Peaches en Regalia" by Frank Zappa, the opening track from his 1969 masterpiece Hot Rats. They break down the recording techniques Zappa used across the album and how those techniques shaped one of the most celebrated instrumentals in rock history. Along the way, John shares his own story of accidentally reinventing the same trick decades later, and why Hot Rats still sounds like nothing else ever made.
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Record of the Week: Fat Old Sun
May 2600:17:57Tap to summarizeHere's Record of the Week, where we listen to records that inspire us and made us wonder, how did they do that? This week: Fat Old Sun by Pink Floyd. John & Stewart hone in on production techniques used to create the piece, and dissect the wacky, experimental nature of this song in Atom Heart Mother in comparison to later Pink Floyd albums.
Transcribe →Record of the Week: Fat Old Sun
May 2600:17:57Tap to summarizeHere's Record of the Week, where we listen to records that inspire us and made us wonder, how did they do that? This week: Fat Old Sun by Pink Floyd. John & Stewart hone in on production techniques used to create the piece, and dissect the wacky, experimental nature of this song in Atom Heart Mother in comparison to later Pink Floyd albums.
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#103: Pearl Jam, Lollapalooza, and Life in the Studio with Tom Beaujour
May 601:01:11Tap to summarizeIn this episode we talk with author, producer, engineer and musician Tom Beaujour. Tom's career started as a writer for Guitar World Magazine, going on to found Revolver magazine and Guitar Aficionado, and most recently co-writing The books Lollapalooza and Nothin' But a good time, Oral histories of two pivotal moments in rock music. In tandem with his writing Tom has been recording and producing albums for the likes of Nada Surf, Juliana Hatfield Three, and Doug Gillard. We chat with Tom about writing his latest book, striking a balance between journalism and record making, and hear some great stories about the insanity of the Lollapalooza festivals.
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Record of the Week: Out of the Blue
Apr 900:15:08Tap to summarizeThis week on Record of the Week, we dig into one of the most overlooked and mysterious songs connected to The Band: "Out of the Blue," tucked away on The Last Waltz Suite. Robbie Robertson's lead vocal, the unusual arrangement, and the lack of clear information about who actually played on the track all make this song a real puzzle. John Agnello and Stewart Lerman sit down with David Mansfield - violinist and multi-instrumentalist for Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue - to dig into the mystery. We discuss Robbie Robertson's voice and his role in The Band's harmonies, the Garth Hudson keyboard signatures buried in the track, why the rhythm section doesn't sound like Levon Helm or Rick Danko, and what the song tells us about the final days of one of rock's greatest groups. We also get into The Last Waltz recording sessions, John Simon's revelation that nearly every note in the film was replaced in post-production, the relationship between The Last Waltz and Bob Dylan's Renaldo and Clara, and the Rolling Thunder Revue's place in Dylan and The Band's shared history. 0:00 Intro: Record of the Week 0:12 Discovering "Out of the Blue" on The Last Waltz Soundtrack 1:26 The Mystery of Robbie Robertson's Solo Vocal 2:22 Who Is Actually Playing on This Track? 3:30 Why Are No Other Band Members Singing? 4:06 The No-Show Sessions at Shangri-La 4:49 Analyzing the Rhythm Section: Levon Helm and Rick Danko 6:43 Robbie Robertson or Richard Manuel? The Vocal Question 7:34 Rolling Thunder, Before the Flood, and the Band's Final Days 8:11 Bob Dylan's Contentious Rights Battle Over The Last Waltz 10:01 The Tension Between Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm 11:11 Identifying Garth Hudson's Musical Influence on the Track 13:03 The Post-Production Secret: Every Note Replaced in The Last Waltz 14:12 Outro: Final Thoughts
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#102: Rick Chertoff: The Producer Behind Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne & Decades of Hit Records
Mar 801:11:54Tap to summarizeIn this episode John and Stewart sit down for a chat with friend and mentor Rick Chertoff. Rick is a Producer and songwriter whose career started in A&R for Clive Davis's newly minted Arista records in 1974. From there, he went on to be senior VP of A&R at Columbia records, started his own Blue Gorilla record Label at Polygram, and all the while produced songs and albums for Cyndi Lauper, The Band, Joan Osborne, Sophie B Hawkins, and many others. In this interview Rick discusses his path through the music industry, gets in depth about the writing and recording of Cyndi Lauper's smash first album She's So Unusual, and shares behind the scenes stories from a career filled with hit records.
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#102: Rick Chertoff: The Producer Behind Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne & Decades of Hit Records
Feb 2701:04:07Tap to summarizeIn this episode John and Stewart sit down for a chat with friend and mentor Rick Chertoff. Rick is a Producer and songwriter whose career started in A&R for Clive Davis's newly minted Arista records in 1974. From there he went on to be senior VP of A&R at Columbia records, started his own Blue Gorilla record Label at Polygram, and all the while produced songs and albums for The Kinks, Air Supply, Cyndi Lauper, The Band, Joan Osborne, Sophie B Hawkins, and many others. In this interview Rick discusses his path through the music industry, gets in depth about the writing and recording of Cyndi Lauper's smash first album She's So Unusual, and shares behind the scenes stories from a career filled with hit records.
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#101: Tad Kubler: In the studio and on the road with The Hold Steady
Jan 2901:04:07Tap to summarizeIn this episode John, Stewart, and myself sit down with Tad Kubler, best known as guitarist and songwriter for the best bar band in the world, The Hold Steady. John and I have both made records with the band and it was awesome to catch up with Tad about gear, guitars, and all things Hold Steady. We also got into Tad's production and engineering work, his burgeoning home studio, and his writing and demoing process.
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#100: 100th Episode Extravaganza: Shocking Moments with Lennon, Prince, Bob Dylan and Studio Legends
Dec 401:18:30Tap to summarizeFor our centennial episode, we took a trip down memory lane and revisited all the interviews we've shared over the years. We gathered some of our team's favorite moments—stories that inspired us, moved us, and reminded us why we love making this show. We're incredibly proud of everything we've created together, and we hope you can feel that joy and gratitude in this special episode. Thanks for being here, and we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed putting it together!
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