Interviews

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Interviews
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Riffs and Rolls His Way Into Some Good Ol’ Sonic Double Trouble on Vinyl With the Debut 180g 2LP Edition of Trouble Is… 25
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 02, 2022

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, the pre-eminent teenage guitar phenom of the 1990s, is essentially all grown up now at age 45 — but he’s still a kid at heart, albeit with a lifetime of playing his signature blend of blues, rock, and soul well under his belt. What better way to bridge the gap between the gunslinging days of yore with the wizened experience level of the here and now than with Trouble Is… 25, a complete re-recording of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s platinum-selling sophomore album Trouble Is…, which was originally released in October 1997 on CD and cassette, but never on vinyl. Shepherd got on Zoom with AP editor Mike Mettler to discuss how his dad first introduced him to vinyl, what the re-recording process for Trouble Is… 25 entailed, how sitting on an amplifier at a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert was a “defining moment” in his life, and how mindful he is of sequencing his albums for vinyl playback — and, of course, much, much more. . .

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Interviews
Keyboardist Bill Payne on Little Feat’s First New Studio Album in 12 Years, Sam’s Place, and Why He Loves the Recent Slew of Historical 2LP & 3LP Warner Records Reissues That Show How Willin’ the Band Is to Embrace Their Rich Vinyl Legacy
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 05, 2024

Bill Payne is a glue guy — as in, the co-founding keyboardist of Little Feat is the connective tissue that sweetens the musical pot of everything he touches, something that’s in full effect on Little Feat’s new 145g studio LP, Sam’s Place. In a recent Zoom interview with AP editor Mike Mettler, Payne discussed how Sam’s Place came together so instinctively, what some of his favorite vintage Little Feat tracks are on vinyl and why, and how the band mixes complexity and beauty together to create such a signature sound. . .

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Interviews
Legendary Recording Engineer Roy Halee Talks About the Making of Paul Simon's "Stranger To Stranger" Album
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 03, 2016
Stranger to Stranger Paul Simon's most recent record and his finest in years, both musically and sonically had him reuniting with his original producer Roy Halee. The two hadn't worked together for many years.

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Interviews
Masters of the Art of Mastering Part 1
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 31, 2006

Editor's note (please read!).

This story was written in the late 1980's. I don't remember the exact date. At the time, Greg Calbi and Ted Jensen were working for Sterling Sound. Between then and today (2005), Calbi left Sterling and went to work for competitor Masterdisk for a few years. He later returned to the new Sterling Sound (www.sterling-sound.com), a sprawling complex on Manhattan's west side near the "meat packing district," where Ted Jensen and George Marino also work as part of one of the most distinguished teams of mastering engineers anywhere in the world.

So much has changed since this piece was written. Vinyl has made a comeback, digital has improved, and more people are willing to go on record extolling the superiority of analog and vinyl. I'm not sure if these two guys will go on record on it, but perhaps we'll hear from them and if so, we'll let you know.

Please keep in mind the dated nature of so much of what you're about to read. However, despite being "ancient history," I think this story remains a good read and I hope you agree.-MF

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Interviews
Masters of the Art of Mastering Part 2
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 31, 2006

Editor's note (please read!). This story was written in the late 1980's. I don't remember the exact date. At the time, Greg Calbi and Ted Jensen were working for Sterling Sound. Between then and today (2005), Calbi left Sterling and went to work for competitor Masterdisk for a few years. He later returned to the new Sterling Sound (www.sterling-sound.com), a sprawling complex on Manhattan's west side near the "meat packing district," where Ted Jensen and George Marino also work as part of one of the most distinguished teams of mastering engineers anywhere in the world.-MF

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Interviews
Meet Jordan Kurland— Brilliant Corners Artist Management Founding Partner And Record Collector
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 01, 2021
I first met Brilliant Corners Artist Management Founding Partner Jordan Kurland back in 2017 at my friend David Hyman’s former home Northern California, holding in his hands a new Transfiguration Axia cartridge.
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Interviews
Meet Lux, Age Nine, "King of the One Dollar Record Bins"
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 14, 2015
A friend of mine recently alerted me to his friend's son, Lux, who is a nine year old record collector and vinyl enthusiast.

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Interviews
Meet Malachi Lui, A 12 Year Old Very Serious Record Collector
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 03, 2018
A friend of AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer texted a few weeks ago "There's a kid on WFMU who sounds like you! He's talking about vinyl and different pressings and mastering engineers". Fremer responded "cool". Then came another text: "He just name checked you!"

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Interviews
Meet Randy Thornton, Walt Disney Records’ Supervising Producer and Musical Historian
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 31, 2020
Annette Funicello’s The Doors connection, Walt Disney’s role in creating famed Sunset Sound Recorders and 15 year old Ron Howard’s role in “The Haunted Mansion” Record album released when the Disneyland attraction first opened are only a few among the many fascinating items gleaned from my interview with Randy Thornton, long-time Walt Disney Records Supervising Producer and Musical Historian.

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InterviewsRMAF 2015
Meet U-Turn Audio's Founders
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 04, 2015
U-Turn Audio's three founders were at this year's Rocky Mountain Audio Festival but I almost missed them.

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InterviewsNews
Mercury "Living Presence" Reissue Series Cut From 3-track Analog Masters From Analogue Productions
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 26, 2018
Tom Fine, re-mastering producer of the first two soon-to-be-released Analogue Productions Mercury "Living Presence" titles talks with AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer about the all-analog mastering process, with lacquers cut by Ryan K. Smith from the original 3 track master tapes.

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Interviews
Michael Fremer and Joe Harley Interviewed By Colorado Public Radio's Scott Carney
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 19, 2014
Last Thursday morning April 17th Joe Harley (Audioquest V.P. and record/reissue producer) and I visited Colorado Public Radio Studios where OpenAir host (and vinyl fanatic) Scott Carney interviewed us about vinyl for a show that would air on Record Store Day.
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Interviews
Mike Peters on the Eternal Love, Hope, and Strength of Listening to The Alarm on Vinyl
Mike Mettler  |  May 01, 2025

We lost a true hero the other day. Mike Peters, frontman of the iconoclast Welsh alt-rockers The Alarm, passed away at age 66 on April 29, 2025, in Dyserth, Wales, following a three-decades-long battle with cancer. In a previously unpublished interview conducted in 2024, AP editor Mike Mettler and Peters discuss his favorite record shops he went to while growing up in Wales, the importance of understanding sleeve notes, and why early Alarm records were quieter on vinyl than they should have been. . .

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Interviews
Minus K's David Platus Takes the Stand On Behalf of His "Negative Stiffness" Isolation Technology
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 17, 2012
While effective isolation from both air and ground borne vibrational energy is important throughout the audio playback chain, it is essential for vinyl playback. It can be built into a turntable in the form of spring or "O" ring suspensions but current thinking downplays that in favor of separate isolation stands rather than incorporating it into the turntable itself.

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Interviews
Movie Music Recording King: Shawn Murphy Part 2
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 30, 2005

M.F.: I remember when we were working on "Tron" we were in London in the Royal Albert Hall, we had about 108 pieces waiting, and the guy's sitting up at the organ waiting, while a fight broke out between Wendy Carlos and her associate on one side, and a guy named John Mosley who we'd hired to supervise the recording sessions. And there was a copy of the score being pulled back and forth till it just about ripped in half, so that was a swell time.

S.M.:All about how it was gonna be done?

M.F.:How it was gonna be miked, and.....

S.M.:Yeah, you see that's not the time to have the discussion.

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