interviews

Tommy Guerrero

by Monte Vallier

Tommy Guerrero may be best known as one of the members of the infamous Bones Brigade skate team from the '80s. A lot less people know that he has been playing music for as long as he's been...

Ray Barbee: From the Bones Brigade to DIY recording

by John Baccigaluppi, Larry Crane

A few years ago, I was at the winter NAMM show, the insane dog and pony show of musical madness that it is. If you've never been, it's hard to imagine the spectacle of it all; death metalers...

Zea

by Larry Crane

Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world — plus some great music comes from there, like The Ex and Solex. While visiting there a while back, I asked Elisabeth of Solex who was...

Ill Ease: Motel Room Recording

by Pam Nicholas

Elizabeth Sharp records twisted bits of rhythm and melody under the name Ill Ease. After stints behind the drums in New Radiant Storm King and on bass in Skinner Pilot, Sharp decided to go solo and...

Hugh Pool

by Liz Bustamante

In an anonymous garage on a residential street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn sits Excello Recording. It's been there for 13 years, long before the parade of hipsters crossed the BQE. It's an enigmatic...

Jay McKnight: Behind the Gear with Magnetic Reference Laboratory

by Alex Kostelnik

Jay McKnight is the founder and operator of MRL — Magnetic Refer- ence Laboratory. If you've ever owned and maintained an analog tape deck you know MRL as one of the few sources for...

SM57 Mod: Modifying the Shure SM57 Microphone

by Steve McAllister

Dave Amels

by John Baccigaluppi

I first met Dave Amels of Bomb Factory and Vocé in Nashville at the NAMM show last year. People kept telling me "You need to meet Dave and interview him for Tape Op." We ended up chatting for a...

Hank Shocklee

by Philip Stevenson

Sometimes it's too bad Tape Op doesn't offer an audio version of the magazine. Whatever you might know or not know about Hank Shocklee, it's difficult without hearing him speak, to convey the...

Nick Mason: Behind the Scenes with Pink Floyd drummer

by Jeff Touzeau

Nick Mason's recent autobiography, Inside Out, recalls his unique experiences as the drummer for Pink Floyd during for over three decades — he is the only member to have remained with Pink...

Ana da Silva: Raincoats not required for home recording

by Pam Nicholas

In the post-punk landscape of the late '70s and early '80s, the Raincoats sounded like no one else. A British, all-female band that employed off-kilter rhythms, childlike melodies and searing...

Martin Bisi: Working with Eno, Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop...

by John Dylan Keith