Episode 1657 - Chad Kassem

Summary

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
Episode 1657 - Chad Kassem
Release Date: July 3, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 1657 of the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast, host Marc Maron engages in an in-depth conversation with Chad Kassem, the visionary behind Acoustic Sounds. This episode delves into Chad's passion for vinyl records, his journey from addiction to entrepreneurship, and the meticulous craftsmanship involved in remastering and reissuing classic albums. Their shared love for music and vinyl creates a compelling narrative that resonates with audiophiles and casual listeners alike.

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Marc's Journey into Vinyl and Introduction to Chad Kassem

Marc Maron opens the conversation by reflecting on his own deep-seated passion for vinyl records. He shares his early experiences with record collecting, the challenges of achieving the perfect sound, and the evolution of his collection over the years.

Notable Quote:
"I started getting into records and I started chasing the sound... It all started with that trip to Jack White's office."
— Marc Maron [00:05:25]

Chad Kassem is introduced as a leading figure in the vinyl industry, renowned for his company Acoustic Sounds, which specializes in remastering and reissuing classic records with uncompromised sound quality. Marc highlights Chad’s mission to save the world from bad sounds by ensuring every reissue meets the highest audio standards.

Notable Quote:
"Chad is on a mission and he's saving the world from bad sounds."
— Marc Maron [00:02:45]

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Shared Love for Music and Early Experiences

The conversation shifts to their mutual experiences with music during their youth. Both Marc and Chad reminisce about attending legendary concerts, such as Led Zeppelin and UFO, and the cultural impact these events had on their lives.

Notable Quote:
"Chad, you were really into the blues... I came up kind of a blues-minded dude."
— Marc Maron [00:14:29]

Notable Quote:
"Seeing Zeppelin was one of the few concerts where both of us were sober."
— Chad Kassem [00:18:19]

They discuss the camaraderie formed through shared musical interests and how these early experiences fueled their lifelong passion for high-fidelity sound and record collecting.

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From Addiction to Obsession: Chad's Personal Journey

Chad opens up about his struggles with addiction during his early twenties in Southern Louisiana. He recounts how the vibrant party culture and easy access to alcohol and drugs led him down a destructive path. However, a pivotal moment during a stint in a halfway house in Kansas became a turning point, compelling him to seek sobriety and redirect his obsessive tendencies towards music.

Notable Quote:
"The judge gave me the choice between jail or staying sober... I realized I really needed to stay sober."
— Chad Kassem [00:24:42]

Notable Quote:
"Music is like a natural drug that you can play at will."
— Chad Kassem [00:29:22]

This struggle and subsequent triumph highlight the therapeutic power of music and how it became Chad’s new addiction, driving him to excel in the vinyl industry.

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Building Acoustic Sounds: Licensing and Pressing Records

Chad details the origins of Acoustic Sounds, explaining how his dedication to sound quality led him to license records directly from master tapes. His insistence on using original analog sources distinguishes his reissues from others in the market, which often rely on digital sources that compromise audio fidelity.

Notable Quote:
"We just do things differently. We only work with the original analog master tapes."
— Chad Kassem [00:40:10]

He shares anecdotes about negotiating with major labels like Vanguard Records and securing master tapes for iconic albums, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the integrity of the original recordings.

Notable Quote:
"When you get a master, you have the opportunity to make it sound better than the original."
— Chad Kassem [00:52:15]

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The Art and Science of Mastering and Pressing Vinyl

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the technical aspects of mastering and pressing vinyl records. Chad explains the multi-step process involved in transforming master tapes into high-quality vinyl records, including cutting lacquers, electroplating, and creating stampers.

Notable Quote:
"Every step might be a small improvement, but together they make a significant difference."
— Chad Kassem [00:70:35]

He elucidates the differences between original pressings and Acoustic Sounds’ reissues, highlighting the subtle enhancements that result in a richer, more immersive listening experience.

Notable Quote:
"The difference is going to be subtle. Subtle in our business is HUGE."
— Chad Kassem [00:33:09]

Chad also critiques the practices of other reissue companies that compromise sound quality by using digital sources or applying the "smiley face EQ," which boosts highs and lows while neglecting the midrange.

Notable Quote:
"It's missing the mids. That's what we feel."
— Chad Kassem [00:54:00]

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Emotional and Ritualistic Aspects of Vinyl Listening

Marc and Chad explore the emotional connections listeners have with vinyl records. They discuss how the ritual of playing a record—taking it out, placing it on the turntable, and carefully setting the needle—enhances the overall listening experience. This ritual contrasts sharply with the passive nature of digital streaming.

Notable Quote:
"An album is about 20 minutes... it's like accepting meditation."
— Chad Kassem [00:75:25]

Maron adds that vinyl listening requires intentionality and mindfulness, allowing listeners to fully engage with the music in a way that aligns with their attention spans and emotional states.

Notable Quote:
"The ritualized behavior of vinyl is similar to meditation. It fosters a deeper connection with the music."
— Marc Maron [00:75:36]

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Challenges in the Vinyl Reissue Industry

Chad discusses the hurdles faced in the vinyl reissue industry, such as obtaining master tapes, dealing with deteriorating analog sources, and competing with established mastering engineers like Bernie Grundman. Despite these challenges, Chad emphasizes the importance of perseverance and maintaining high standards to ensure that each reissue meets the expectations of discerning audiophiles.

Notable Quote:
"If you release some great sound indoors, it's going to be good for everybody."
— Chad Kassem [00:67:43]

He also touches upon the "loudness wars," where modern recordings are overly compressed to achieve a louder sound at the expense of dynamic range and audio quality—something Acoustic Sounds aims to rectify with their meticulous mastering process.

Notable Quote:
"It's the loudness wars... they're recording and mastering this way."
— Chad Kassem [00:73:51]

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Marc expressing his admiration for Chad’s dedication and the transformative power of music in his life. Chad reiterates his commitment to preserving and enhancing the legacy of classic music through Acoustic Sounds, ensuring that each reissue delivers an unparalleled auditory experience.

Notable Quote:
"One day at a time, buddy."
— Marc Maron [00:80:09]

Listeners are encouraged to explore Acoustic Sounds’ offerings and appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into each vinyl reissue.

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Key Takeaways

• Passion Overcomes Adversity: Chad Kassem’s journey from addiction to founding Acoustic Sounds underscores the redemptive power of music.

• Commitment to Quality: Acoustic Sounds prioritizes original analog master tapes and meticulous mastering processes to deliver superior vinyl reissues.

• Emotional Connection: The ritual of vinyl listening fosters a deeper emotional connection to music, enhancing the overall experience.

• Industry Challenges: Navigating the complexities of licensing, mastering, and maintaining sound quality is paramount in the competitive vinyl reissue market.

• Advocacy for Analog Fidelity: Chad and Marc advocate for the nuanced and rich sound quality of vinyl, contrasting it with the limitations and compromises of digital formats.

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Further Listening

For those interested in diving deeper into Chad Kassem’s work and Acoustic Sounds, visit AcousticSounds.com and explore their extensive catalog of meticulously remastered vinyl records. Follow Acoustic Sounds on YouTube at AcousticSoundsKS for updates on their latest releases and special projects.

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Note: This summary intentionally omits advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the substantive discussion between Marc Maron and Chad Kassem.

Transcript

[Marc Maron]

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[Chad Kassam]

He.

[Marc Maron]

He says he's on a mission and he's saving the world from bad sounds. He does a lot of remastering of classic records, but he seemed like an interesting guy and a guy that I might have had some questions for. But I'm not full geek. I'm not full nerd. I don't go full nerd into much of anything. Because to be full nerd, you've got to really put your whole life into it. And you have a pursuit, a grail, a sense of perfection attainable, which Chad does. I'm just a guy that got into records. How long has it been, you guys? When did I start doing that? Was it, what, 12 years ago? I don't remember. It was part of this show where I started getting into vinyl like every other Guy my age or older, usually again, again. I'm the last year of boomer, so I don't suffer the full boomeritis. But I, you know, I started getting into to records and I started chasing the sound. Doing the tube thing. Remember there was some trouble. I had a tube amp wasn't working out, trying to get the right sound, spending some money. Didn't spend a lot of money at that time, but I decided to spend some money. It all started with that trip to Jack White's office. Well, those Macintosh 275s in the wall. But I worked around that. I didn't get a 275 for a while, but I got some tube amps and some speakers. I try and get the right sound. Spending that money. And it was always frustrating at the beginning because it didn't. It didn't sound as good as it should have for the price that I paid. Does anything. But then I kind of leveled off over the years and I kept amassing records. I was getting sent records, I was trading records in. I was buying new records. Now we've got like a few thousand records in there. I don't even know what I have anymore, but I know I have a lot of good shit. But then it gets to a point, well, I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to diminish it. I'm happy about my records. Like yesterday, I was talking about Del Shannon to Kit. Kit said I should cover Del Shannon's Runaway, which is a great song. And then I started realizing that he did a later record that was kind of a. Kind of a special record, kind of a psych rock record that I knew I had, but I couldn't remember one song on it. So I thought maybe I'd listen to that. And then that got away from me. But I did have the option. And I know some of you are thinking, like, just get on Spotify, just get on the, you know, itunes or whatever. But you know this. There is a difference in listening to records. And I still believe that there is a difference. Chad and I talk about that. I know some, you know, analog nerds or some antivinal guys are like, you guys are outta your minds. There's a reason we don't buy records anymore. And that reason is, eventually you're gonna need a new fucking house just for your dumb records. Again, not that much of a nerd. Some guys have tens of thousands of records. Like I said, I probably got 2,3000, and I don't know what I Have, But I know they're all in there. And I know I haven't listened to a lot of them more than once. Some not at all. So what is that about? Where am I at with it now? Well, the one thing I start to realize about getting older is that if you have this type of obsessive personality that doesn't lock in for a lifetime, you're just looking for something to occupy your passion, your life, and seek meaning, seek some sort of, not necessarily perfection, but close, right? Is that attainable? How long does it last? Like I said, I don't know if I'm a lifelong obsessive because now I'm starting to think, like, where are all these records gonna go when I'm gone? And I willed them to somebody. I willed them to the guy that got me most of the records. My records collection has been curated by me, by Dan Cook over at Gimme Gimme Records, and Lance over at Permanent A Bit. And then other record stores I go to, I take suggestions. There's so many records I knew nothing about, and I have them now, and I still know very little about them. But the real question is, is that, what is that about? Because now I'm on the other side of it now. I've got a lot of records. They still sound good, my system sounds good, but I just don't have the wherewithal to keep going with it. Because you get into this cycle where you, like, you go to the record store, you trade in a few records, you leave with five, maybe you listen to one and then they're on the floor, and then you're like, I got to fold those into the collection, but shouldn't I listen to them first? And now you're just sitting in a room surrounded by hundreds of records. And then you go upstairs and they're in your hallway, hundreds of records, and then you go into your office, and there in the office, hundreds of records, and. And they're all there. And they make me feel happy. I'm glad I possess them. It's like many of my books. But what is it really doing for me? What does it make me feel? Who does it make me be? How is it helping the core project of being happy? I don't know. I don't know. I just know that knowing me, because I don't have the courage or commitment to be an all in nerd, you know, I end up with a lot of things that I was very passionate about, you know, from, you know, sanding wood boxes. That was a brief one from finding the Perfect pick for my guitar. That wasn't that long, but it was pretty intense. And I think I landed somewhere. Certain plants around my house that I have a codependent relationship with. Like, why the fuck doesn't the lavender just grow straight up? Why are these trees not growing at all? I think, sadly, as I move into my later years, that a lot of things that I do and put my whole heart into, I'm doing just to be disappointed eventually. Is that a thing? Is that possible where you just hit this wall? It's like, what am I doing? I got a lot of records. I like. Got a lot of records. I don't know if I like. I got a lot of records that are just cool records that. That I don't listen to. But, like, I'm never going to have them all. I'm never going to know what I have. I'm never going to understand all this stuff. I'm glad I possess it. It's almost like you're curating a library that is just built on your tastes. And as that changes, or you become less interested in the curated collection, you're just sort of like, fuck, what is this library even for? I don't know. I don't know. I do enjoy it. I know people are like, well, you know, you should do what you enjoy. I enjoyed it for a while, but now there's no end to it. And the records coming in, I don't know how many I listen to. Sometimes I don't listen to records for weeks. But anyway, I am not too disappointed. I am a little overwhelmed. But that's another thing that I think I crave. I crave not just disappointment. I crave things that, you know, I want to feel shitty about. I crave things that make me hate myself. Because I think that, sadly, is. That's the basket my being lives in. And I gotta change that now. In changing that, does that mean that I just let it all go and start smoking weed? Does changing that means I clear the slate and just see who I am alone in my living room with a lot of empty record shelves and just a place where my stereo system used to be? Do I feng shui my fucking being? On an existential level? What do I do? Well, that's all speculative and, you know, that's the way my brain works. But I imagine I'll probably just go in and listen to that Del Shannon record and I'm going to talk to Chad here about the nature of analog, the nature of remastering, what makes sounds great, what records are great. What his operation is because he's a guy like me. He's. He's obsessed, but he's all in. You know, we're both recovering guys and some of it is kind of, kind of, you know, druggie bullshit, Just chasing something, chasing that perfect sound, chasing that perfect note, chasing that perfect woman, chasing that perfect, you know, high from getting on stage or gambling or whatever. When you got that bug, it's best you apply it to something that isn't dangerous. And I think the only way record collecting gets dangerous is if you get so many. And one day there's an earthquake that your seven or eight foot record shelf with 10,000 records that spans the entire length of your wall falls on you in a chair with your headphones on, crushing you. That is the only way out of the deep nerd obsession is to be crushed under the weight of thousands of records in the middle of listening to something that sounds perfect on your amazing system. Huh? Hey, I'm back at Largo for a comedy and music show on Wednesday, July 23. Tickets are at largo-la.com playing with a new set of characters, working on some songs, doing a Taylor Swift song if that is compelling. So now let's go ahead and do this. So, as I said, I read about about Chad Kassam in the New York Times, and he sounded interesting. He built a little empire out there in Kansas where he remasters records, he records live acts, he makes his own art for his covers. Well, he has an operation there, a printing operation. He's got his own remastering studio. He does. He only remasters from the analog tape originals. And he seemed like a pretty possessed dude. And I thought, well, maybe he can speak to my obsession. And again, I am jealous of any. Any true addictive nerds. Focus, passion, and compulsion to chase this thing down, whatever that thing is. And he's one of those guys. You can follow him on Instagram, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel Acoustic Sounds KS to get the latest on their releases. And this is me hashing it out with Chad Kassim. 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Hims.com WTF results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. What did your people say about the things we have in common? What'd they say?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, they said, you know, we both.

[Marc Maron]

Know Bill W. Yes, we definitely know.

[Chad Kassam]

Bill W. And that you were really into the blues.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, I came up kind of a blues minded dude, but I kind of, I kind of expanded as time went on, you know, once I got into. It's interesting because, you know, obviously the vinyl thing is what, what is the. What connects us. But you know, I had some records when I was in high school, a few hundred records, you know, and I had, you know, I dug some shit and then like, I don't know, I guess it's probably been 15 years, 20 years. I started getting back into the vinyl thing and then tracing that sound and, you know, getting pretty crazy about tubes and speakers and original pressings and which reissues sucked and which didn't. Which companies were doing bad shit pulling Stuff off digital, you know, I kind of went down the rabbit hole with it. But then what happens is you end up with a few thousand records and you don't even know what you have anymore.

[Chad Kassam]

Dude. I mean, everything you say. And I'm just laughing to myself inside because everything he said, I mean, of course, that's my life. And so many of our customers. There's so many of us out there. When you said that I had, you know, like a couple hundred records. When you were 15?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, I checked your Marant's 2270. You have a 2275. I had the 2270 when I grew up, so. I mean, I see that. I remember those days.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Those were days before the computer. I mean, all of us kind of had the same hobbies back then, you know, Even if you were the jock at school or the nerd or the pothead or whatever, we all had 100 records.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Two speakers.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And we would go and you'd listen to a side of an album. Right.

[Marc Maron]

And you had the cassette deck in the car.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. Alpine Pioneer.

[Marc Maron]

That's right. Jensen.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Triaxial speaker. Yeah, dude. And they were awesome, man. I'll bet you, you pull that out right now, it'll blow you away.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, I'm sure, you know, like, I remember it was a big deal. My buddy's dad owned a high end stereo place. I grew up in Albuquer.

[Chad Kassam]

I was gonna ask.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And he, you know, then it started getting really, the, the, the. The car audio started getting really high end, you know, and then there was probably, you know, like power amps that you kind of drill it into the floor and it was just fucking crazy. Dude.

[Chad Kassam]

Dude, I remember that, man.

[Marc Maron]

How old are you?

[Chad Kassam]

I was gonna say we gotta be the same age.

[Marc Maron]

60, 63, 61.

[Chad Kassam]

Okay.

[Marc Maron]

So it's the same shit. And the fucking thing it was like back then, you know, everybody was sort of on the same page with, you know, pop rock music. Yeah, yeah. Getting the same stuff, you know, it's like we. We just missed like Led Zeppelin. Like we were in high school.

[Chad Kassam]

I got to see him twice.

[Marc Maron]

Really? Would you have an older brother or something?

[Chad Kassam]

No. Well, I had an older cousin. I. If you want to get into some of that. But yeah.

[Marc Maron]

What?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, when I. When I was 10 years old, he brought me to see Humble Pie was.

[Marc Maron]

My first concert with Steve Marriott.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. And turned me on to green mescaline when I was 10.

[Marc Maron]

Wow.

[Chad Kassam]

So that was.

[Marc Maron]

So that's a. You just opened that young Mind.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I was a little bit. We're around the same age. I was just old enough to see him twice, so.

[C]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

Where, where you grew up?

[Chad Kassam]

Where? Yeah, I'm in from Lafayette, Louisiana. That's where the Cajun area is.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And I saw him in Baton Rouge twice, man. It was awesome.

[Marc Maron]

So that was like, what tour would that have been?

[Chad Kassam]

Like, like 75 and 77.

[Marc Maron]

Something like physical Graffiti around that time.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. I, I, I wonder. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I think into the outdoor, I think came out when I was in high school.

[Chad Kassam]

This is a little bit before that. Oh, presence, maybe. It might have been like physical and presence.

[Marc Maron]

Right, right.

[Chad Kassam]

Something like that.

[Marc Maron]

Holy shit. That must have been awesome.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, it was. And actually it was. Seeing Zeppelin was one of the only few concerts where both of them, I actually were sober, you know, I mean, just maybe a little. Couple of joints or something.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But, you know, I remember getting there. I remember. Oh, man, getting there was unbelievable. Where I look back, I was 13 years old. We, we had bootleg tickets that were made, and they were back when Xerox machines were just coming out.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So somebody went. It was sold out. Somebody went. And they made Xerox copies of the tickets, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And they were bad. You needed. We needed to take a Sharpie to fill it in to make it look, you know.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Right, right, right.

[Chad Kassam]

So Baton Rouge from Lafayette is about an hour.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, and so we're like, okay, it was 6:30. The concert started at 8.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

It's an hour, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So we're like, we got bootleg tickets. We're 13 years old. Are we gonna.

[Marc Maron]

You don't even know.

[Chad Kassam]

We're gonna hitchhike.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And so we, we rolled up two Marlboro packs of cigarettes full of joints. And when we finished that last pack, we go, are we going? Come on. One, two, three. Yeah, let's go. So we had to walk all the way to the main street hitchhiker. We got a ride to, to, to, to Baton Rouge. The guy that picked us up was in a Volkswagen, little Beetle.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And he's like, hey, I just saw Randy Newman and Lafayette, and I'm going back to Baton Rouge. I said, good. I said, well, where are we going? We're going to see Zeppelin at the LSU assembly center. Whatever. Because, well, I'm in college. I'll drop you off right in front. So he lit up a joint of some ragweed.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

We're like, put that shit out, man. And we blew him away. By the time he's like, man, stop. You know, he dropped us off and then on the way back, we had to. It's dark, you know, how are we going to get home?

[C]

You know?

[Chad Kassam]

So luckily, you know, the cars are going slow because all the traffic, we run into a guy I know. You remember those big, you remember the biggest Lincoln Town Cars?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, with the big, like, boxy front end?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My friend is somebody I knew had one of those and the whole back seat was empty, so we got like a limo ride back.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

[Chad Kassam]

But we were, we were shitting bricks, you know, like, how are we going to get back?

[Marc Maron]

But the concert was great.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, it was good, you know, but I, I remember like the Gong and then I remember that they, they lit up Led Zeppelin and fire. And then they had the disco balls back then. That was the big light show.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah, you know, that was it.

[Chad Kassam]

The disco balls and then the fire. Led Zeppelin, the Gong and, and, you know, you know, I remember it as best I can, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I, I remember we went up to Denver from Albuquerque. We drove, whatever that is, like almost 10 hours for this Sunday Jam 2 at Mile High Stadium. And it was like heart, Ted Nugent, the cars, the Rockets and UFO.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, UFO. Man, I love me some UFO.

[Marc Maron]

Especially that old shit, man, from the 70s. I didn't even know about that shit until recently because they're reissuing that stuff. Yeah, like the UFO from like 1971, 72 Phenomena. Fucking great. It's great, man. It's so much better than like, 70s UFO, later. 70s, yeah. Where they kind of do the metal pop, you know. But the old stuff, that's fucking great.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, I, when, when, when I went see ufo, there was a band that they were opening for. It was AC dc.

[Marc Maron]

Dude. I saw ACDC open for Journey.

[Chad Kassam]

Really? Huh.

[Marc Maron]

Crazy.

[Chad Kassam]

But I would, I was going to see UFO and I'm like, who are these guys?

[Marc Maron]

Me too. I was going to see fucking Journey. And I, I, I talked right now, like, I, I listen to ACDC every week. Yeah, I still listen to acdc, all the Bond stuff.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, it was Bond. It was 78 when I seen him.

[Marc Maron]

I think I saw him in 77 because they were still open and I think that was like their first US tour.

[Chad Kassam]

Okay.

[Marc Maron]

And I talked to the bass player of Journey. He said that, no, we opened for them. And I'm like, this, that's not possible because Journey was huge in 77, dude.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, I don't know, but, but I guess I just didn't know who ac.

[Marc Maron]

Me neither. And it was like, the best.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

It was crazy.

[Chad Kassam]

I remember. Yeah. You know, a lot of these concerts. I remember going and getting there and in line more than. Or leaving. And we were in Tennessee when we saw them, and they were searching people, and the guy just had bags of reefers and, like, you know, that he'd be taken. And he pulled out. Out of my cousin. My cousin had a. A coat on.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And he pulled out a half a Quaalude, you know, and he goes, what's that? My cousin said, oh, that's an aspirin. He goes, yeah, sure, pal. And he threw it in a puddle of water.

[Marc Maron]

I remember we snuck in. We went to see Jethro Tahl at the civic center, and my buddy Chris put a half pint of Southern in his sock, and we jumped over a wall and it broke and we had to go to the fucking medic. Fucking mess.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, man. But that was the shit we. Hey, but it was fun, though, right?

[Marc Maron]

I think it was fun. You know, it was so long ago now. It's so weird when you get to be this age. So what was the journey for you, you know, from, like, having a couple of hundred records in a Marantz 2075 to, you know, being this, you know, this very specific and very revered maker of reissue vinyl?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, that's an interesting.

[Marc Maron]

The name of the company is Acoustic Sound.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, Acoustic Sounds. But we have about 10 companies under acoustic Sounds. And I'll go through it, but, you know. Yeah. So, I mean, basically, I'm from Louisiana.

[Marc Maron]

How'd you get out of there? When did you. When did the shit hit the wall?

[Chad Kassam]

When I ended up getting in a lot of trouble, and it was all over drugs and alcohol, you know, because if you know anything about southern Louisiana, I mean, the bars didn't close when I grew up. There were 24 hours. The culture is just party, party, party, dance, have a good time, you know, pass a good time. And. And I didn't know when to go home. Like, if the bars didn't close, I'm not. You know.

[Marc Maron]

And you can drink when you're 12, right?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, exactly. No, seriously, we could go to the store. You know, these little mom and pop stores. You just say, oh, that's for my daddy, or whatever. And they didn't care. In fact, I was just down there with my daughter, and they. They still have Dak Drive through daiquiri.

[Marc Maron]

Sure. Just walk around with the. The daiquiris.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. So I. I got in trouble. And the. In the judge said either four years in jail or four years and supervised probation if you go to drug treatment.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So they found this place in Salina, Kansas. This was my second halfway house. This was about my fourth treatment.

[Marc Maron]

How old were you?

[Chad Kassam]

I was about 21.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

About 22. So I did it all between 10 and 21, you know, so I drank a lifetime worth. Sure. Parted a lifetime worth in those years. So I, I. They sent me there. I get there and I look around, and 3/4 of the people in the halfway house were from Louisiana.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

I went to halfway house in Iowa before that. Three fourths were from Louisiana. And so the one in Kansas, I even saw people I knew.

[Marc Maron]

And Louisiana is manufacturing the young drunks of the time. Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. The good export business. So I got there and I realized that I had, I had to. I knew that if I didn't, I knew I had to stay sober. Basically, if I didn't stay sober, they were going to put me in jail for four years. So, like, you stay sober, you attend the meetings and you do everything and you won't have to go to jail, but if you, if you don't, we'll put you in jail for four years. So I realized I really needed to stay sober, and at least till I got out of the halfway house. But then after I got out of the halfway house, I still had four years supervised probation.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So then I realized this is, you know, if I get high, I'm gonna end up being in trouble. You know, I just can't control myself. I wasn't good at, you know, like, you know, doing a little bit here and there, clearly.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

It's hard to do. Yeah. You know, as, you know, so. So anyway, I went to my parole officer and he said, listen, we have something in Kansas that's a little bit different than other states. If you do your two years well, we'll write a letter to the state of Louisiana, which doesn't have this law. You'll have to do the four in Louisiana no matter what. But we'll ask for forgiveness for the last two years. I said, well, shoot, that's nine months away. Might as well stay in Kansas. I need to stay sober. I can. So I stayed and I did. Well. And so we wrote the law. The parole officer wrote somebody in Louisiana letter, and then he got a letter back from Louisiana one day, calls me, says, chad come in the office. He goes. I read the response, and he goes, I know how to read and I know what it says, but I can't believe this. I've been doing this for 40 years. I've never had a response like this. Yeah, need to get down here right away. We'll call your lawyer. So I'm like, okay, okay. So I go over there, I read it, I said, well, it looks like, you know, it's. It's a full pardon, you know. He goes, yeah, yeah, I know, but I've never. Let's call your lawyer. So we call my lawyer, you know.

[Marc Maron]

And he's to see if the good news is real.

[Chad Kassam]

Right, right. I guess he didn't believe it, you know. So the lawyer, he's like, he just goes to laughing, you know what I mean? Like, you like that, boy? Like, yeah. So I never asked any questions. You know, my father didn't have like mafia connections or anything, but I know a lot of people like my father. Yeah, that might have helped.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So he got off.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. And so. But then I. At that point, I'd been sober. The longer you stay sober, you know, the clearer your mind gets.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And you realize that if you start getting high again, you're just going to end up in the same situation that.

[Marc Maron]

Is like, it's when. When people don't get it. I mean, because that is it, you know, that's really just first step shit, you know, And. And like, you know, I. I had a. The woman who got me sober, you know, who got me in, she said that the first step is the only one. You have to work perfectly. And that's. And it's something you can't. You can only get to that point where you're like, I can't do any of it because I. There's, you know, I don't think. I don't ever think about having one drink. I don't ever thinking about just getting a buzz for the day, you know, when you're thinking about it, it's like, well, that's going to be my life.

[Chad Kassam]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

This is what any person that wants to know if they're an alcoholic or a drug addict needs to know if it's your priority. If it's like the main thing you think about the first thing, and the main thing then, dude, that tells you right there.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But just that knowledge, if I do any of it, one thing that. It's just like, it's all bets are off, you know, it's just like you can't do it safely.

[Chad Kassam]

Exactly.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, and that's the revelation. Thank fucking God you get that. Like, you know that. Cause that, that, that's going to keep you Sober in the worst of times.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. I mean, you know, listen, man, thank God, to me, music is like a natural drug.

[Marc Maron]

Totally.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And you can get it at will. You can play it. Somebody said, well, that records $100. I says, yeah, it's an original, dude. Or it's a great reissue. You can play it over and over again, get a natural high over and over again at will when you want, and still sell it if you ever have to.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And get more and get more.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, what a gram of cocaine would last you. What a night, you know?

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And not even a good night, you know, Come three or four in the morning, you're gonna need another gram.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. Or even if you wanted to try to sleep. That's the worst, dude, of all the drugs, cocaine. I don't know. It's miserable. It really. Did you really. Other than the beginning, right?

[Marc Maron]

I know the beginning is it too. Yeah, but that's a good point about music. Because what I usually say about music outside of the other arts, you know, like, I'm a comic and I play some music, but music's magic, man. Because, you know. And you know this because, you know, you guys just reissued Steely Dan Asia. And is that. Is that you grow with the music. The magic never goes away. You know, Sometimes you get tired of it or you know it too well, or just drops into a groove in your brain that, you know, either you like it or you don't. But if it's great music, it'll grow with you and you can always go back to it.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, for sure. For sure.

[Marc Maron]

So when did you, like, shift your obsession from drugs to music?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, that's pretty much exactly what happened. And the person, the. The. The. The cousin that. That brought me to the concert definitely shouldn't have been giving me mescaline that 10.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And I could be upset with him, but he's also the person that turned me on to music.

[C]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. So basically, I just switched addictions, you know, And I got there, I was cooking as a hobby. I know. Not cooking. I was cooking to survive. Barely make insulin. Insulin, they call it.

[Marc Maron]

So I'm sorry, I'm thinking Salinas, California.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, no, I mean, it's. Everybody says Selena.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And so. And everybody asked me, why Saline? No, no. Why Selena?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But anyway, so I got there, I was cooking. I was taking the extra money I was saving, and I was just trying to rebuild my collection.

[Marc Maron]

How much? You only had. Oh, so you lost it?

[Chad Kassam]

No, no. What happened is my dad said, chad, I'm bringing your car from Louisiana. Is that. What do you want me to bring? Is there anything you want me to bring to Kansas? I said, well, dad, bring my stereo, which was a Marantz 22. 7.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Bring my turntable. Bring my albums.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, when he got there, you know, I had like, the hundred records that everybody had, Right. But, you know, of course there were. You know, I went through my party days, so I wanted to replace them, so I just started by replacing.

[Marc Maron]

They were all fucked up.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. They all scratched.

[Marc Maron]

You know, always flipping that record over with food on your hands or using.

[Chad Kassam]

The thing as a tray.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

To clean the pot.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. So I just started by re. You know, trying to rebuild my collection and add to it. And then I went home to Louisiana and I went see one of my old friends. And he said, hey, look at my stereo. You know, And I'm like, wow, that's cool. That looks like. Nice. He said, yes, sit down and listen. And then he pulled out these, you know, audio file pressings.

[Marc Maron]

The mobile fidelity.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. The original. The original. So the early one. So I'm like, Beatles and stuff. So I'm like, wow, those are cool. He said. I said, I bought some of those. And I couldn't ever hear the difference.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

He says, all right, Chad, sit down right here. And I go, okay. And I moved a little bit. He goes, no, I need you to sit in the middle.

[Marc Maron]

Right in the center.

[Chad Kassam]

Right in the center. I said, okay. And then I kept talking because, you know, I talk. And he goes, chad, if you don't be quiet, you're never gonna hear it. He said, all I'm asking you is to give me one song. Keep your mouth shut, listen to one song, and we'll talk after. And he kind of guided me. He said, chad, the difference is going to be subtle. Subtle in our business is huge.

[Marc Maron]

Right, right.

[Chad Kassam]

Don't. I was expecting the band to jump out of the speakers and start playing for you.

[Marc Maron]

That's why that can happen.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, you know. Yeah, but, you know, that's why I wasn't really hearing the difference. I was expecting. My expectations were too high.

[Marc Maron]

What song?

[Chad Kassam]

You know what, man? I get asked that, and I. I can't really remember, but it was a. It was an early mofi. It probably was Beatles, maybe.

[Marc Maron]

Little Feet.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Oh, man, I love me some little feet.

[Marc Maron]

They put out that first Little Feet record. Yeah. Mofi did in there.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Yeah, they. Well, they did the. The live one, the Waiting for Columbus Wait, which is the greatest.

[Marc Maron]

The greatest.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So a. Greatest live Too. But he played something.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

It blew me away.

[Marc Maron]

Did he play the original too? Did he play both?

[Chad Kassam]

No, no, he didn't. A B Y just explained to me what to listen for. And I got it.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

I got it. Like the light bulb just went off. It was like shining bright, you know. So when I got back to Kansas, I went to the store and he also explained that most of them were very valuable, very hard to find. And so I get back to Kansas.

[Marc Maron]

They had a shitload of mobile fidelity.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. You know how much a shitload is?

[Marc Maron]

Like 50, 60.

[Chad Kassam]

A small amount. More than a buttload. Yeah, about a shitload of those would be about 100.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So I, I, I called him and he's like, oh my God, you know, that one's going for 100, that one's going for 200. They had all the, uh, cures, the original UHQ hours.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know what I mean?

[Marc Maron]

When did they go bad?

[Chad Kassam]

When did they go bad?

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

When did mobile fidelity.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, so, so later on they went out of business and another company bought.

[Marc Maron]

Them and that's when they started using digital source.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Or a digital process.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I, you know, the way people ask me this a lot and I, what I say is we just do things differently, you know, they, No.

[Marc Maron]

I just was wondering because I got a bunch of those old ones. I probably about 15, 20 of the old ones. And, and then, you know, when I started talking about them a bit, I was getting some of the new ones. And that was before the, the controversy in the small world of people that give a. But, but I was just curious, you know, when that happened. But we don't need to get into that. So you get 100 of these things?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, I get a hundred of them. And, and, and, well, I'm buying them. Of course, I'm still really like making barely over minimum.

[Marc Maron]

And you're still dealing with the 2270.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So, like, it's still, it's not limited, but, you know, it's not high end.

[Chad Kassam]

Right, right. It's, it's, it's, it's fun stuff to have, you know, it's fun stuff to have. And it's like a bedroom, you know, like a, a second home system or another bed.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But so I do the best I can. I buy as much as I can, you know. And so I just started buy selling and trading, you know, buy, sell, trade, like all I want.

[Marc Maron]

Records. Yeah, records.

[Chad Kassam]

Right, right. Yeah, basically. I mean, it's not that much different than when you buy a pound of reefer. You know what I mean?

[Marc Maron]

No, I do it all the time, dude, because people. People send me, you know, and sometimes I'm like, well, you know, this isn't for me.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But it's good.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And I'll go down to my guy at the record store and I'll trade him for some OG shit. And, you know, and then you kind of build it out. It's all barter.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So basically, I just buy, sell, trade, buy, sell, trade. And the next thing you know, I have a little apartment, and the whole thing is full of records. I mean, when I say. Even the bathroom.

[C]

Yeah, okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Even the bathroom.

[Marc Maron]

I know, man.

[Chad Kassam]

So, in fact, one of my first employees. You're making me think about it. I told her I was coming on your show, and she's like, oh, my God. She said, he's my favorite. I listened to him. And this girl's so cool. She's. She goes to all concerts everywhere.

[C]

Yeah, she's.

[Chad Kassam]

And she made. She did well in life as well. But she. Anyway, she was my first employee. We were typing on a typewriter. Okay, so like this, we're talking 1986.

[Marc Maron]

Okay. So you go from, you know, buying and selling and listening to records. You never opened a record store?

[Chad Kassam]

No.

[Marc Maron]

Did you ever get into seven inches or. No, no, no. Just vinyl lps. You got a house full of records and you're into it.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And. And so what is the decision? To. To. To take it to another level? Why did you decide to do that?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, the. The. The next. Everything was the next natural step. Yeah, it's just the neck. To me, it was the next natural step.

[Marc Maron]

Do what's in front of you.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. And. Right. And the next natural step was to reissue an album, you know, like these albums, through a.

[C]

You.

[Marc Maron]

You were going to reissue on a label that you created, which I guess was Acoustic Sounds, but through it.

[Chad Kassam]

Acoustic Sounds, the label, our label, is Analog Production.

[Marc Maron]

Okay, Analog Production.

[C]

But you.

[Marc Maron]

But that first record, you got to go to another record press.

[Chad Kassam]

You got to go. Got to go to. We went to Vanguard Records. Now, how that happens? I went record. It was Virgil Thompson, Plow that Broke the Plains. It's a classical record.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

So. And of course, you know, I'm from the swamps of Louisiana. I didn't grow up on.

[Marc Maron]

Why that record?

[Chad Kassam]

Because it was highly recommended on the Absolute Sounds recommended list.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And it sounded incredible.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But the reason how that happened is I went to buy a big record collection in New York and It didn't work out, but I had a pile of cash on me. So I go to the guy, and the record collection doesn't work out, but I have a couple of days in New York, so I went to Vanguard Records, the famous Vanguard label, and I went to see Seymour Solomon, and I said, hey, I'd like to license this record. And I had that cash on. I put the cash on the table, and he backed away like I'd put a gun on the table. It was so funny, you know? And he's like, okay. Then he brought me in the other room and he introduced me to David Baker, who ended up being a friend and great jazz engineer. And that was my first record. And what do you do? You do, you know, your second record, your third record.

[Marc Maron]

So, okay, so you go from. So you were a collector. You were deep in. So you're buying collections of records.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, collections. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And then you go through them and you take the ones that were meant or the ones you new were valuable, and then you move the rest and trade them out.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, you first keep the ones you want.

[Marc Maron]

That's right. So you're full. Full record nerd, you know, doing the collector thing. And so when you go to Vanguard and you license that record, at that point, you don't have equipment to press, right?

[Chad Kassam]

No, no, no.

[Marc Maron]

So what do you do? So you get. So when you license it, you get the master tapes.

[Chad Kassam]

Yep.

[Marc Maron]

And so that. That part of that license at that time was you get access to them.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. We make it clear when I. Every time I license, I tell the company, I says, listen, man, I. Unless you're going to give me the master tape, we don't have a deal. So if you're not going to give me the master tape, don't worry about the paperwork because we don't want to waste your time.

[Marc Maron]

But how does that work? Because I don't understand that. So are they on a loan, the master tape?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, they'll send it to you. You tell them where you want it sent.

[Marc Maron]

So they make a copy?

[Chad Kassam]

No. Well, they make. No, I want the master. If they want a copy to make for them to keep for safekeeping, then.

[Marc Maron]

Do you keep the master? You send it back.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, you got to send the master back.

[Marc Maron]

Okay. So it's a. It's a loan from the license.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, I just say, hey, man, I want to do this Doors album. And then they say, okay. And I say, okay, I want the master. This is where I want it sent.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And, you know, you might ask them to send it To a place that they don't normally send it to.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

They go, no, maybe not there. We send to these mastering engineers. Yeah, but. But if they won't give me the master tape, I won't do the deal.

[Marc Maron]

Right. So, so that first thing. So the first thing. Like, like I'm not totally clear on how, how it all works because I'm kind of fascinated with it and, you know, I know enough. So you do this album and then you release that and. And you see that there's a demand for it with record collection.

[Chad Kassam]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

And how was it different than the original pressing?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, first of all, we went and got the original three track.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Which is like. Is the master. But nobody cuts directly from three track because it's a little bit difficult.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But my mastering engineer said, hey, I can do this directly from three tracks. So you bypassed one step. Yeah, because actually a two track is still a master. But he cut it from original three track. We pressed it on the best virgin vinyl. Clearest, quietest, flattest and the best plating.

[Marc Maron]

Who pressed it for you?

[Chad Kassam]

RTI out here in Camarillo, California. Don McInnes at RTI.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And this was in 1990? 1991.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

First album. So we started in 86, basically. I mean, I started collecting in 1984. That's the year CDs came out. So it's kind of significant that I've been going against the grain since day one. But in between that time and 90, we reissued our first album.

[Marc Maron]

And what was the reaction?

[Chad Kassam]

I mean, we sold it. We sold enough to make me want to do another one. And then we did another one and you know, what was the second one? The next one was a Classical God Shock Latin American Symphone, which is classical. And then another one called Songs of the Auvergne.

[Marc Maron]

Do you like classical?

[Chad Kassam]

Not, not. I mean, I, I do, yeah, I do, but it's not my main thing. It's just. It's what I got started.

[Marc Maron]

Why? Why, why that?

[Chad Kassam]

Because, you know. Good question. The, the, the. I was reading the magazine. The Absolute Sound.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And the absolute sound, you know, was if you were a real audio file, like it was your bible. Stereophile in the Absolute sound was your bible.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And there was a guy there that would make his recommended record list and he would pick his best sounding pop, best sounding classical, best sounding jazz.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And if he picked a record, you could be assured it was going to really be natural sounding.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And all of the people that read the magazine wanted these records.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So that's How I got into classical, of course. I mean, like I said, man, I'm a Cajun, man. I didn't grow up. There's not a Claude Boudreaux and the Appaloosa Symphony, you know what I'm saying? In Louisiana, you know, we listening to Cajun Zydeco Blues.

[Marc Maron]

Clifton Chenier.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, man, now you're talking. Yeah, now you're talking.

[Marc Maron]

That's the best. You ever reissue any Clifton?

[Chad Kassam]

No, but I recorded a couple of his guitar players. I mean, recorded.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And I would love to do Clifton, but I. You know, my customers, they're really wanting jazz and classic.

[Marc Maron]

There's a Clifton box that was pretty good. I think it only came out on cd, but it was great, man. Yeah, some of that stuff is. And then there was Buckwheat Zydeco later, and that was pretty good. And then you got the. The Meters.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, the Meat, dude.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, dude.

[Chad Kassam]

I grew up in all that. We thought a lot of things, Alan.

[Marc Maron]

Tucson.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, now you're talking, man. Now, a lot of these bands were our bar bands. We just thought they were cover bands.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

We would go drinking and Clifton would be playing, or Buckwheat would be playing.

[Marc Maron]

Professor Longhair.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, that was more like Alan Tosin and Professor. That would be in New Orleans more.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But we had our swamp pop and our blues and our Cajun and our zydeco, and we just grew up. We thought that was everywhere. We didn't know that we grew up in one of the most unique places in the world, and we took it for granted. I had to leave Louisiana to really learn about the culture and the music and how significant and how unique it is. And now I know more about all of it. Swamp pop, I mean, you know, Slim.

[Marc Maron]

Harpo and Slim's the best.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. And Lightning Slim. Lester was one of my personal friends. We recorded Lester many times. So now I know a good amount about it all and. And I love it. And I would love to do Clifton. I don't know if you know this, but it was his hundredth birthday this year. Oh, really? Yeah. And he. They just. On the jazz festival did a Sonny Landreth.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

David Hidalgo. Oh, yeah, yeah. Marsha Ball and cj, his son played. And. And they're coming out with an album. And the Stones did a song. One of the songs.

[Marc Maron]

The Stones did a Clifton song.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, no. Yeah, yeah. So it's very exciting for me.

[Marc Maron]

Well, that's interesting. So, you know, you have done some recording. Like, what was that? Now I'm spacing. The name. Who. Who's that dude in something? Mark Records.

[Chad Kassam]

Marquis Knox?

[Marc Maron]

No, no, the dude in Chicago that had the record store that recorded Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and he did those.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, who do Man Blues?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

We reissued that from Del Mar.

[Marc Maron]

Delmark. Yeah, yeah, because that guy was, you know, he. You know, he was a dude that wasn't necessarily a recording engineer, but he was recording those guys.

[Chad Kassam]

Bob Kesner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's actually originally from Kansas.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

It was amazing.

[Marc Maron]

You were. You reissued Huda Man Blue.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, Y.

[Marc Maron]

That thing sounds pretty clean on the fucking. On the original.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, wait till. I'm gonna send you. I'm gonna send you ours and I'm gonna send you something else. I'm gonna send you ours and a diaper.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I mean, like. Well, let's go back. So you do the classical ones, and, you know, you're basically following the lead of the magazine, so, you know what people, what's in demand? But you're still pressing out here with your buddy out here, right?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Right, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

When do you decide to take it into your own hands and get the equipment?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, like I remember I was saying everything was the next natural step. So me and the guy at rti, Don, we joined. We partnered on a mastering facility.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So now we can cut our own records.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So I'm like, don, listen, we ought to buy a lathe and start cutting our own records. Can we put it in rti, you're pressing plan? He goes, sure. So we bought it from the guy that owns Wilson. The speakers? Yeah, Dave Wilson.

[Marc Maron]

He's in Utah, right?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, we went to Utah and bought the lathe from him, moved it to Camarillo.

[Marc Maron]

Why'd he have a lathe?

[Chad Kassam]

He had. He reissued some albums and he recorded.

[Marc Maron]

A lot of albums before he just went with speakers?

[Chad Kassam]

No, he was doing it the same time.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. And so. So we bought it from Dave Wilson, who makes, you know, the greatest speakers, and we. We brought it to Camarillo and we cut for 14 years inside of RTI because it's nice to be able.

[Marc Maron]

You just were in the building with your own equipment?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm still living in Kansas, but I'm half owner of the mastering facility inside of rti.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

So that way you can master the record and plate it at the same place. So you can plate it right away, which is really important.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, you didn't have that stuff, right?

[Chad Kassam]

They did. And so why is that so important? Because every. Like when you Cut a lacquer.

[Marc Maron]

So let's make sure that we, we, we, we step by step. There's. So you get the master tapes.

[Chad Kassam]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

And then you re engineer it, which is. Are you remixing it?

[Chad Kassam]

No, no. Remixing would be if you have a multi channel tape, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

A bunch of tracks.

[Marc Maron]

So that's already done. The mix is done.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. You got two track master.

[Marc Maron]

Okay, so what's the challenge for you?

[Chad Kassam]

Okay. Now sometimes you get a 2, 2 track just to start from the beginning and just to kind of help explain what you were asking. Sometimes you get a master two track analog master. And it doesn't need any mastering. Like the recording is just so good.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Don't touch it.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

You know what I mean? Like you.

[Marc Maron]

How do you know that?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, years it tells you, you know, you play it. It sounds really nice, really natural. And it also, it does take a good mastering engineer to know when not to, to touch it.

[Marc Maron]

What, what do you do when you master?

[Chad Kassam]

Okay, so let's say you get a recording. Most of the time it's a little bright, it's a little dull.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. So they might add a little treble boost the high end. Okay. Or if it's got too much high end, they may roll off a little bit of the top.

[Marc Maron]

And you can do that, right?

[Chad Kassam]

And you can do that. And the mastering engineer is the last chance that anybody has to make it sound presentable to the finished listener.

[C]

Yeah, right.

[Chad Kassam]

Because the recording engineer just recorded and he hands it off. Now the mastering engineer, he's, he's a professional and he is an artist and he, he's the last chance that you can make it sound as good as you can or as pleasing to the crowd.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And now the only thing with me is I'm one more step. I'm like the mastering engineer because when in a way I, I hire the best, but once they do it, I have them send it to me and then I press it and I compare it to the original. And then I call him. Hey, man, you did a great job. Or hey.

[Marc Maron]

Okay, so you've got the original lp and then you take the plate or you take a, you do a test press.

[Chad Kassam]

Okay, so I skipped over.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Okay, so, so what did the guy. The mastering engine does? He puts the tape on the, on the reel to reel player.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then he cuts. There's a cutter head that cuts into a lacquer.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, it's like the, instead of a cartridge, removing the sound from. It's cutting the sound into it. Right.

[Marc Maron]

And that's a piece of metal.

[Chad Kassam]

It's a piece of metal with lacquer that's been slathered on.

[Marc Maron]

That becomes your mold.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

For the vinyl.

[Chad Kassam]

Yes. Okay. So then you take that and then you played it, like, with silver and different. And nickel, you know, you make, you know, so the lacquer is grooves. You can play the lacquer and then they spray, like, a silver, like they, they, they spray it like that. And then, then they pull those parts apart.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then now it's sticking out. It's. Well, they'll call that a master or a father.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Because it's sticking out, you know, mother, father.

[Marc Maron]

Right, right. As opposed to in.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

And so then you, you do a, you played it again in electro, for electroplating. And then you pull that apart again, and now you can play it. That's called a mother.

[Marc Maron]

Okay, so that's a, it's a, it's on metal.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So it, you know, but it looks like a record. It works like a record.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. But on metal. It's metal. So then, now you pull us a stamper from that, and you pull that apart. Now it's sticking out again.

[Marc Maron]

So that, that's what you can press with.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Then that presses into the vial.

[Marc Maron]

But you can play the mother.

[Chad Kassam]

You can play the mother to see.

[Marc Maron]

If the master's good.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So that's when you do a comparison.

[Chad Kassam]

No, no, no. I, I, I want to listen to the finish.

[Marc Maron]

So you got to press a record, right?

[Chad Kassam]

No, not hardly anybody does.

[Marc Maron]

It's a test pressing.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, hardly anybody does. I mean, they got to get the test pressing to make sure there's no flaws.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But I use the test pressing as well to make sure that the mastering it beats the. Out of the original.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, I want to cream the original.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Now, you know, sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's very hard, and sometimes it's in the middle, Right?

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Like, it's easy to beat a bad job. Yeah, it's, it's, it's not hard to beat a pretty good job. Sometimes it's hard to beat a really good job because sometimes we're competing with the same guy. It's Bernie Grundman competing with himself. Like, for instance, the Asia record we did. Bernie did the original.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then I had him do the reissue.

[Marc Maron]

And what did he say when he heard the master? You know, like, with his ears. Now, he, without having, you know, Fagan and Becker in his head.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. He, he he's such a good guy, man. He, he, he, he listened to the original and he said, hey man, I think I can do some things better. Our equipment's a little different, a little bit better now. And, and he did. And you know, we got it better. I mean, we didn't. The original still good. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the original MOFI did that too.

[Marc Maron]

I think they did a version, didn't they?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, the original mofi.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But that, that one, they didn't do a particularly good job.

[Marc Maron]

I'll be honest with you, with the mofi records. The ones I have, the original ones, they sound a little compressed to me.

[Chad Kassam]

The, the older ones are the, well, you know, they, they, they do something. The original mofi. I'm not talking about the current mofi and I don't really want to talk. I mean, listen, the Mobile Fidelity is a company that I looked up to that really got me started in all this. So I owe a great deal of gratitude.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

To the, to the original label. But, but now that I know more and I listen more and I compare more, they're not as good as I thought they were.

[Marc Maron]

I don't think so.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

I mean, I'm talking about the old ones.

[Marc Maron]

No, I know.

[Chad Kassam]

Just so I don't.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And so what they do is there's a, what's called a smiley face EQ and it's a way to kind of trick people into thinking it sounds better. They boost the highs and, and, and the lows and they kind of suck out the mid range and it makes like a curve, like a smiley face and it, it's a way of making something seem better to people.

[C]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

But it's missing the mids.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I guess that's it. Yeah. And didn't they do a half speed recording? What does that mean?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, half speed means like the, it's cutting at half speed. Like they can't even listen to the music because it's playing at half.

[Marc Maron]

Why do they do that? What's the benefit?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, because I think they think the longer the stylus maybe is cutting the lacquer, it, the, it's transferring more information. I think that's what they, but it's really not just the half speed that's, that's good or bad, it's more of the smiley face. Right. Or what the mastering engineer chooses to do.

[Marc Maron]

Interesting because like I've done side by sides and you know, with the original MOFIs and with the record and I find that at worst, the, the. The record, not the. The original pressing. Sometimes a little high endy, but it still fills out better.

[Chad Kassam]

You like the originals?

[Marc Maron]

Well, I mean, you know, I can see how they take off the high end. I mean, that, that seems to be a bigger problem is that, you know, you get, you know, it's a little. It's a little. A little shrill sometimes on the good equipment.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, what you gotta always remember is every case is different.

[Marc Maron]

Sure. And your original record might be worn out, even if it looks like it's not.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. So every case is different. Like, but, you know, but sometimes you'll start to develop a pattern or something. You think if you. If you play 10 originals in a row and every time you compare it, you like the original. Well, you're gonna like the originals, you know?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, that's it. I always say that it's like no matter how much equipment you get, it's all relative to your old ears that, you know, like, you can keep chasing whatever you want, but your ears are just your ears, dude. And they're not getting any better.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, they're not. That's certainly for sure. But. But you know, you, you. I do a lot of ab in. You know, I mean, that's my job basically. Like, if you said, well, what do you do the most of now? And it's like, I make sure our records sound better than the original. Now sometimes I really think, just because I think they sound better than the original, sometimes people like the original, but sometimes too, they have an emotional attachment or they paid a lot for it. You know what I mean? So there's a lot of things changes.

[Marc Maron]

The way you hear it.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, exactly. Your mind plays with you. You know what I mean?

[Marc Maron]

And sometimes that original, like, you know, I talked to Fogarty once about how he mixes, you know, how he was producing. And a lot of times these older records were really made for people to listen to in their cars. They weren't really thinking about, you know, how to do the master, whatever. They're like. I asked John, you know, how does he produce? He says, well, when the singer's singing, you put that up front. And when the guitar player's playing, you put that up front. It's all about that AM speaker in the middle of a dashboard. But those records, those fantasy records. Hold up, dude.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, my God. I love the credence.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, but they're so clean, man.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, they awesome, man. They awesome.

[Marc Maron]

How's that? Like, I didn't know if it was the vinyl or what, but you play some of those old credence. That shit's like a jazz record. And how he separated.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, dude. Like the first album when he plays Susie Q. Yeah. It's like the guitar amp is your speaker is the guitar.

[Marc Maron]

That's crazy, man.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah. No, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. We just reissued like 24 of their songs cut at 45 RPM box set. Yeah, we just did that. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Was that for the DVD reissue?

[Chad Kassam]

Really?

[Marc Maron]

So you just did it?

[Chad Kassam]

Just. Well, we. We released this in, I think 2002. And we had it available for years, but we ran out of it. But we asked the label, hey, can let us press it one more time? And they were like, sure.

[Marc Maron]

Well, yeah, now John gets most of the money, I think.

[Chad Kassam]

Good for him.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So when you, you know, in your experience, because you've done a lot of records. So if people want to look at the records, they go to acoustic sounds.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Acousticsounds.com and that's.

[Marc Maron]

But that's an umbrella company.

[Chad Kassam]

Umbrella because we have our own pressing company called Quality Record Pressings.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So our reissue labels, Analog Productions.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

So the main company's Acoustic Sounds, the reissue labels, Analog Productions, our pressing plants, Quality Record Pressings. We have our own printing facility. We can do everything from the microphone to the master.

[Marc Maron]

You have a studio as well?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. I bought a Church in 1997. That's all old vintage churches.

[Marc Maron]

Who have you recorded in there?

[Chad Kassam]

I've recorded Gate Mouth Brown, Tony Joe White. We've recorded. We had 21 blues concerts. We had it 21 years in a row. Where we have blues concerts, where we'd have CJ Cheniere, we'd have Gate Mouth.

[Marc Maron]

All in the church.

[Chad Kassam]

And you record them Tab and wa.

[Marc Maron]

All the Mostly live recordings.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah. And. And we're just going to start relist them now. The first one we're going to do is Tony Joe White.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Who's absolutely one of my favorites.

[Marc Maron]

That's great. And so when you started doing this stuff, like you can. It's all. You're, you're. You've got control of all of it now. You can do whatever you want. But do you do any. Are you sought after for the sound? Like, do you do any new guys?

[Chad Kassam]

I will record. I mean, I'm into the blues, so I'll record like the latest guy we record, his name is Marquis Knox.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And he's a young kid from St. Louis. He makes up the song on the spot.

[C]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

When we start recording, he'll just come up with a whole song that makes sense, like, you know what I'm saying? And he's great. I introduced him to Billy Gibbons and he took him on tour with him. Oh, yeah, right.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Have you seen Jack White's Operation?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, I have. I have. You know, we reissued the Elephant album. They called us Jack Whites. People call me. They go.

[Marc Maron]

Did you remaster it?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

What do you think of it?

[Chad Kassam]

I thought it came out good, you know, and I think they did too. What. What we did is we got the original master tape. We had Ryan Smith at Sterling master it. We played it, we pressed it, we put it in. You know, we did pressed it as a uhqr, and it's done.

[Marc Maron]

Well, what's a uhqr?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, it's called. It stands for Ultra High Quality Record.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

It's what we consider the highest quality record. No expense spared. We. There's no spare. No expense in making everything I could ever think of. Of making the absolute best record ever made goes into this thing. And we're. We're also doing. We got the rights. We're doing the Marley catalog, and we're doing UHQRS on them.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, really?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, it's his 80th birthday. The release date for the first two was, like, yesterday.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. And so we're doing those on, uh.

[Marc Maron]

Have you seen Kate Simon's book? The photographer? I'll show it to you in the house. She just put out a whole book of the. Of Marley photographs and. And of that time and all those musicians. Beautiful.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, man.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Maybe you can, like, hook that up on the site. But so, but with Jack, he's got a full pressing operation too, doesn't he?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, he. When he first opened his pressing plant, I think it was in 2017.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

He invited all the other pressing plants to go and have a party, which was cool. So all the pressing play was almost like a convention for the US Pressing people. So we went up there, and he has a nice pressing plan. And we. Yeah, we know them and he does. He loves blues. And we work with Ben.

[Marc Maron]

His guy.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, his guy.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I know that guy.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, he's cool.

[Marc Maron]

And then what was that old, like? I took a tour of a record pressing plan, I think, in Nashville. What's that old one? That's UPI Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

United Urp.

[Marc Maron]

Urp.

[Chad Kassam]

United. United Record Pressing.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

That was kind of cool.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Yeah. They, they, they, they. One of the oldest and one.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I got it all. He. I got this. This. That's a chunk of vinyl before it got pressed.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah, Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

A super chunk.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah, yeah, it's. What, what title is this?

[Marc Maron]

It's a. I think it's a super chunk record.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, they.

[Marc Maron]

I always like that thing.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, the, the glob. Yeah, we call it Puck.

[C]

Yeah, the Puck before it goes.

[Marc Maron]

And I watched him do that stuff. Now, the colored vinyl, where, where you stand on that.

[Chad Kassam]

We, I, I really feel that the color is. Colors got a bad rap, basically. In the old days it was bad.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Black was always. But, you know, black is a color.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, right.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. But I mean, it comes clear, a milky natural state of the vinyl. And that's why we use that in our, uh, cure. Our uhqrs.

[Marc Maron]

Clear.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, it's a clear, milky white.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Cause that's the natural state. Black is actually carbon. Yeah, that's put in it. So why put an additive in it? You know, that's what we feel. Yeah, but, but colors is. They're better. I don't, I don't talk shit on it anymore because it deserves. It's better. They've gotten better and everybody's using it. And we get our vinyl from Thailand and, and we have a guy, he's out here, he does a great job and really cares about the quality.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

There's a guy. I can't remember his name. I'll show you when we go back in the house. It does very specific pressings. And I feel like he's down south where he's pulling from blues artists down there, but I can't remember the label. But he creates boxes. But it's like once a year kind of thing. I don't remember his name. I'll have to show it to you. But in your experience, have there been records that you, you know, outside of. Of knowing what records are in demand that you wanted to save?

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Like, I gotta redo that record, man.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, yeah. There's a lot of times I'll do records that I know I'm not gonna make money on. But, you know, they're, they're important to me. Like, I'm. I'm gonna be doing. I'm trying to get the rights to do a Bobby Charles and, you know about. You know, Bob. Bobby Charles wrote See you Later, Alligator.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah, sure.

[Chad Kassam]

And he wrote Walk into New Orleans.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And a song called But I Do. He's. He's kind of like our Tony Joe white or our J.J. kale down in the Swamp. Like he. Oh, you know, he performed on the last Waltz. Actually, like. I mean, like, not. Not.

[Marc Maron]

You know, they didn't record him.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, he was. He was great. So it's a great album that. It's the band that backs him on this album.

[Marc Maron]

It's the band back in the day.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, Back in the day.

[Marc Maron]

Like when they were back in John Hammond and stuff.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, when they were in Woodstock. When they were in Woodstock.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. So, you know, I love this album. I'm gonna do it, man. If I lose, I lose.

[Marc Maron]

Bobby Charles.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, Bobby Charles. I think you'd love it. I mean, you listen to, you know, Davis.

[Marc Maron]

Jesse Ed Davis, Jeff.

[Chad Kassam]

Jesse Ed Davis.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

I mean, it's. It's the real stuff, man. It's. It's like Laid Back, man.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So, yeah, I'll do records that I think that deserve to be done and deserve to get the best treatment, you know.

[Marc Maron]

What about some, you know, major popular records where you're like, I could do that better?

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, I think we can do most any record better.

[Marc Maron]

But what was the story with the Doors record? What'd you do? The first Doors record?

[Chad Kassam]

We did a box that. We did them all. We did them all. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And you were able to get the masters?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, that was a. Kind of a funny story. We. We love Jeff Jam. Paul. Paul. He's the manager of the Doors, and he loves. A lot of these guys are our customers.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know what I'm saying? Like, a lot of these guys, what helps us get the rights to this is they know our work. And in fact, the White Stripes called us.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

They go, we would like. Because, you know, our UHQRs are the. The top records. We only want, like, the Most. The top 25 classic rock or whatever. And so they wanted their record sitting next to mine. Sit next to the other ones.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

So, yeah. So we. Here's a funny story. So I called Jeff and I said, hey, Jeff, we want to do the Doors. He goes, yeah, okay. He says, you know, we love what you do. And I said, well, just Jeff, you know, remember, we only use the original masters, you know. And he's like, yeah, okay, we'll make it happen. So we make a deal and gets to the end. And they're like, well, they don't want us in the master. And I'm like, well, you know, you remember our conversation? He goes, yeah, I sure do. He says, you know, I'm on your. You know. He goes, I sure do. I said, well. He said, but it's going to be trouble. And I said, well, Then just forget it. And he's like, really? You're going to walk away? I says, yeah. And he goes, huh? And then I said, jeff, you know, remember. And he's the. Reminded me, I forgot I said this, but I like the line. He goes, jeff, remember, the name of my label is Analog Productions.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know what I mean? So we need the analog. So we got the deal done and now we've great friends and we license other.

[Marc Maron]

What, they couldn't find the masters or what was the problem?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, you know, people would rather not send the masters for obvious reasons.

[Marc Maron]

You know, they don't want to get lost.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, they don't want to get lost. They don't want to get destroyed. I understand. I mean, I. But you know, we, we work real closely with these people and we have a lot of respect for them. They're. They're doing a good job for their artists.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And. But I'm thinking that if I release some great sound indoors, it's going to be good for everybody.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And so. So that, That's a funny story on. On how. And it happens often, you know, and.

[Marc Maron]

People are cagey or they. They're reluctant to send them.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. They're reluctant to send the master.

[Marc Maron]

And when you get a master, I mean, how many of them are deteriorating? I mean, it seems like some of the. Doesn't that deteriorate those tapes?

[Chad Kassam]

Some of them do. Some of them have been played to death. Some of them, like the 70s tapes, like the late 70s, have what they call sticky shit and they stick together and you have to bake them. The tapes from their early 50s are unbelievably good.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, and the tapes, they changed the formula. I. I think I've heard this story. It might not be. I mean, if it's wrong, I'm just passing on information. I heard. But like, they banned whale oil and that was. They used whale oil in the 50s. Yeah. Well, no, probably the 70s, because the tape of the 50s and 60s is perfect.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Now, again, you could probably pull one up that somebody didn't treat right or didn't store right or plate it to death, but for the most part. So a lot of the tapes in the 70s, late 70s, is that. Has that sticky. So you have to bake it and it's. It's not. They're not in good shape.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, and what do you do with that then?

[Chad Kassam]

Well, it's. It's like sticky. You can't play it. It'll ruin it'll even make it worse if you play it.

[Marc Maron]

But how do you use it?

[Chad Kassam]

So you bake it.

[Marc Maron]

Okay.

[Chad Kassam]

And when you bake it, it goes back to the way it was, and then you have, like a couple of weeks to use it.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then maybe a month later, if you wanted to use it again, you have to bake it.

[Marc Maron]

No shit. But the sound is usually okay.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Yeah, it's usually okay. I mean, it's. I mean, but, you know, like I said, everything usually is the right correct word. Yeah. It's not always sure.

[Marc Maron]

And like, in terms of like what. Because I've, you know, I, in my limited record collecting, have grown to understand that some companies, you know, do reissues that really aren't that good. And. And the reason generally, that I've been told, is that they don't take from the masters. They'll either take from a digital source, maybe even a CD or another record. And. And then you lose. You know, you're. You're kind of. You lose two or three steps there, of course.

[Chad Kassam]

So you. You start right there. You've already lost a step right there to me. You want to do everything. Like, there might be 20 steps you can take. Like, I call it my recipe. I'll give anybody my recipe, but nobody ever follows it. It's only like, not even 20, maybe five, 10 things. But they'll always forget one or two or cheap.

[Marc Maron]

They won't do a test press.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. Or they won't compare it, like.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

They'll do a test pressing normally. But even that. So what. What happens is, this is what I say. Every step might be a small improvement. Right. Every step is. But you add 20 small improvements, that makes a good one, good improvement.

[Marc Maron]

Right, Right.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. So they might be small each step, but. So they started with a copy.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And they started with digital.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. Of course. Cheaper. It's easier, it's faster. Okay. They don't really understand what you and I understand. They don't really care. They don't understand you could play them the two albums and they might not hear the difference themselves. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But also, they just might be in it for the cash grab. Well, hell, you know, I mean, all of a sudden people are buying records and it's hard to find, like Iggy Pop, the Idiot, you know, the original, or not the Idiot or Lust for Life or whatever. Because I remember that was a record that I. I owned. I didn't have the original, and I bought a reissue. And then when I got the original, I did an ab. I was like, holy fuck. You know, they just wanted the record out there. Because a lot of people who are buying records now are not discerning people. They're just people want to get records.

[Chad Kassam]

Right, right. A lot of people, they buy it, they play it, they might not even open it. Some of them are buying it to put on the wall.

[Marc Maron]

Sure.

[Chad Kassam]

But someone like you, it sounds like you would be one of our typical customers. I can tell from everything you've told me. And you know, some people care. And the difference, the difference is important to a lot of us. Yeah, but a lot of, a lot of people it's not.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then you're right that some of the people that are making it, they don't really either get it. They're trying to save money, they're wanting to get it out fast.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And then there's people, you know, you could look at any, anything like a fast food restaurant versus a high end.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And do you now, like, you know, a lot of people, they'll get some science going about the lack of difference between, you know, digital and vinyl. And I, I believe when I listen to it, like I have a lot of records and a lot of them are pretty shitty, you know, in terms of sound, but that's, that's what they were dealing with, you know, just the nature of the game. But if I listen to digital versus vinyl, I still believe that there is a bigger sort of, you know, separation and shaping of sounds. And I do think it has a different tone to me for sure.

[Chad Kassam]

Okay. Just how do you feel? Yeah, you know, forget like the. I don't, don't show me specs and stuff. Yeah, yeah. How do you feel?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know, if, if what happens is, as I say, you put on a CD and even dogs leave. Leave the room. You know what I mean? Because subconsciously it's an irritating. It's a bright, clinical, sterile computery, you know.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

It's. It's not, it's pushing you out of the room. It's not drawing you in the room.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

The record will draw you in. I've never cried listening to a cd. You know, if you put on a good record, my hair or my arms will stand up. I'll maybe shed a tear.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Because there's, there's more emotion. But you know, that, that brings up another subject, man, and is all the new recordings, they're all compressed, man.

[Marc Maron]

I know.

[Chad Kassam]

I don't know who can do anything about it, but it's on a. They, it's baked in. They're recording it and mastering this way.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And it just, you know, you turn it up to one and it's too loud already.

[Marc Maron]

It hurts the loudness ears a little bit.

[Chad Kassam]

It's the loudness wars.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. And also, like, you can't, you know, I mean, but there's also different intentions, you know, with pop music now. You know, I, I don't. I think it's done for effect. You know, they're, they're, they're making, you know, crack as opposed to coke.

[Chad Kassam]

I get what you say, and I hope, I hope the audience does, but.

[Marc Maron]

They probably do, you know what I mean? If you cook it down to it just its most kind of almost violent effect to have a sensory experience. So the sensory experience is different. It's not necessarily nuanced. It might be heavy on the bass. They really want to give you that crack eye as opposed to kind of easing in with something more pure. But also the ritual that you have, whether it's five or 20 steps and, and also, I think another element of vinyl is that it is a ritualized behavior. You know, even when we did drugs, you know, you got your little box, you got, you got your stuff.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, I love it.

[Marc Maron]

And, and it's the same with records. And, you know, some people.

[Chad Kassam]

You're right, you're right.

[Marc Maron]

Some people say it's an old guy thing or what. But I think that if you're into that, the, the. The sort of pastime of vinyl, that there's a ritual to it.

[Chad Kassam]

For sure. There is.

[Marc Maron]

And then you want to play with your needles and tubes and whatever that, you know, you're going to shape your sound, how you're going to shape it. It's all relative to your ears. Again, like, I got those two systems in there.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah, they both good. It's just like, you know, one's Mexican food and one's Japanese, you know, like, you know, some. And I like having it all. I like the vintage. I like quad electrostatics. I've like, you know, dynamic speakers. I mean, I like, I like tubes. I like. I. You know, you're right about the ritual. To me, an album is about 20 minutes, usually 20, 22 minutes aside. To me, that's the perfect amount of time. Like, let's say, you know, me and you. Hey, you want to listen to a side of a record?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Well, you know, we'll get our drink or whatever and we'll sit down and will listen, and our attention span is fine for 22 minutes. Now, have you ever listened to. Have you ever sat and listened to a whole cd?

[Marc Maron]

It's like an hour and a half.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I, I'm sorry, I've never done that.

[Marc Maron]

And then you don't feel like the last 10 songs really need to be there, right?

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, dude. Yeah, you said it to me. You know why? A lot of the albums that came out when vinyl was king or more classic. The albums that came. Cuz those only could put six or seven songs. Yeah, they only put the best.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Then once they started CDs, they would put extra songs because they could. But that weakened your experience on thinking this is a classic album.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

Right. And so, but what I'm saying is decide one side of a record is the perfect amount of time to just give yourself. It's almost like accepting religion or meditation.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And you, you, you can give yourself to that record for 22 minutes and then afterwards we go, wow, man, that was good. You want to hear the other side or you want to hear something else?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

But the cd, it's the ritual, man. It is, it is. And the timing of it just happened to work out. Right now we're doing the Marley Marley stuff.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

We're really good friends and work on Miles Davis. We just did Kind of Blue. Now we're doing the Birth of the Blue which was the four other songs that were recorded at the, the same time. Not. Okay, the same band. When Kind of Blue, which was the bestselling jazz album of all time, was recorded like in 59 and they recorded five songs for Kind of Blue there was four other songs that were recorded by the same band in the same studio about eight months before. So those songs have always been released as like an add on to compilation or they do three songs in mono. They were never released with the, the, I don't know the word integrity that it should be, you know, together. So we're like, we want to master off the original master tape. Of course they didn't really want that. The Sony doesn't let their masters out anymore. But they had a three track. So I convinced them if you use the three track and make me a two track master, which is a master. You still have your master.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

And they go, oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense, we'll do it. So we made the jacket look like if it had came out in 1959. We had Ashley Khan, the guy that wrote the book on Kind of Blue.

[C]

Right.

[Chad Kassam]

The liner.

[C]

Oh good.

[Chad Kassam]

And we, we mastered it. I bought Doug Sachs mastering facility that was here in la. He did like the Wall and all, all the biggest records Doug did us all custom tube electronics. We cut it on our system off the original master, played and pressed at QRP and Salina, and we've sold over 13,000 of them already, man.

[Marc Maron]

Wow.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah. So, yeah, we do the Doors, Credence Marley, Steely Dan. We did the pretty much complete Beach Boys.

[Marc Maron]

How was that? How was listening to those masters?

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, they were great. The one that will blow you away is the. The album Surfer Girl.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

The song in My Room.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

That will knock your dick in the dirt.

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

You know what I'm saying?

[C]

Yeah.

[Chad Kassam]

I mean, that is unbelievable.

[C]

Oh.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, man, I gotta get some. You gotta give me those records.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, no, man. For sure. We gotta hook you up, man.

[Marc Maron]

Well, thanks, buddy. It's good talking to you, man.

[Chad Kassam]

Oh, for sure, man. I tell you what, you know, I was a little nervous. I said, I don't know how this is gonna go, but we have so much in common. That worked out. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

One day at a time, buddy.

[Chad Kassam]

Yeah, you know that's right, man.

[Marc Maron]

There you go. He's sending me some records. I'm gonna listen to him. Gotta take that time, too. Gotta take that time to sit and listen. He came in, he listened to my system. I don't know if he was being nice about it, but he said it sounded pretty damn good. I'll take his word on that. I don't know what he would have said. I feel like he's an honest guy. I think it is pretty good, but. Yeah. So I'm back in. I'm fully back in. You can follow the Acoustic Sounds KS YouTube channel and read that profile in the New York Times titled the wizard of Vinyl is in Kansas. Hang out for a minute, folks. People, this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game, shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out well? With the name your price tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill, too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help find you options within your budget. Try it [e-mail] and now some legal info. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Hey, speaking of vinyl albums, back in 2019, we did a special album for Record Store Day featuring some of the best live performances from the podcast. Full Marin listeners can now hear the compilation for the first time with songs by Amy Mann, Jason Isbell, Nick Lowe, Jay Mascis, Melissa Etheridge. And more do you might if I sit down next to you? I remember you from school? You seem to have a real good heart? You really shouldn't drive?

[Chad Kassam]

You had too much to drink? You should not be alone? Where all you're gonna do is think?

[Marc Maron]

So take my number? Where I can take you home? We can find a cup of coffee we can sit all night and talk? But there's a diner always open just around the block? Take my number but I can take you home? Take my number, honey I can take you home? That's available now. For full Marin subscribers to sign up, go to the link in the episode description or go to wtfpod.com and click on WTF Plus. And a reminder before we go. This podcast is hosted by Acast. This is some pretty clean. It's weird when you go from dirty to clean. You know, bouncy sort of fourth position Strat funky thing that kind of I. I stay on it. I stay on the groove. Boomer lives monkey and la Fonda cat angels everywhere.