Musician Interviews & Conversations

Some of the most honest conversations about music happen far away from the press cycle — in rehearsal spaces, gear shops, podcast studios, and green rooms after the show. This category collects in-depth interviews and long-form conversations with musicians, songwriters, producers, broadcasters, and the people who build and repair the instruments they play. Whether you're curious about the creative decisions behind a specific album, the business realities of touring and recording, or how a working musician actually pays the bills, you'll find more substance here than a typical promo Q&A.

Who We Talk To & What We Ask

The interviews here range from New York drum legends to indie singer-songwriters to second-generation super-producers carrying on a family legacy. We've sat down with live sound professionals who swear by in-ear monitoring, violin shop owners who've spent decades keeping instruments alive, and cover artists who've figured out how to make YouTube pay. The conversations tend to go long, and that's the point. A few recurring themes you'll find across these pieces:

• The craft of songwriting and arranging — where ideas come from and how they survive the recording process
• Gear decisions: what artists actually use on stage and in the studio, and why
• The business side — licensing, touring economics, streaming royalties, and building an audience without a label
• Broadcasting and music media careers, from MuchMusic to the podcast era
• Album-specific deep dives, where artists walk through the creative decisions track by track
• Niche scenes and subcultures, from Twin Peaks tribute acts to convention circuit performers

From Legends to Under-the-Radar Lifers

Not every interview subject here is a household name — and that's deliberate. Liberty DeVitto played on some of the best-selling rock records of the 1970s and '80s. Stephan Plank grew up watching his father Conny shape the sound of krautrock and electronic music. But you'll also find working musicians like Steve Vargas and Musky Rice talking candidly on the Taker Wide Podcast about what the gigging life actually looks like, or a pianist named Noam Haddad breaking down the economics of monetizing cover songs. Big names and overlooked names, united by the fact that they all have something worth saying.

If you've ever finished a record and immediately wanted to know how it was made — what was scrapped, what almost didn't make the cut, what the band was arguing about in the studio — this is the section of the site built for you. Pick an interview below and dig in.