Stella Mozgawa

Interviews

Stella Mozgawa

By John Baccigallupi, Ali Lee Hollon

I met Stella Mozgawa a decade or so ago at Panoramic, the studio I co-own, when she played drums on Cate Le Bon's Crab Day LP, produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick and engineered by Samur Khouja. Over the years, I'd see more of this crew, especially Stella and Cate. Stella may be best known as the drummer for Warpaint, but she is also a very busy and in-demand session drummer and producer as well. One of the last sessions we did before the pandemic was in the fall of 2019, for Kurt Vile with Cate producing, Stella drumming, and Gabe Wax engineering. These tracks ended up on Kurt's Back to Moon Beach record a few years later. Cate and Stella stuck around for a few days after the session, and I enjoyed their company and having them around the studio. They have both kept busy these past few years, and Stella and I have recently reconnected a few times, including one memorable surf session where the incoming tide pulled us...

Turbo

Interviews

Turbo

By ELTON , Geoff Stanfield

Atlanta-based producer and songwriter Chandler Durham, professionally known as Turbo, has been behind hits from Travis Scott, Gunna, Lil Baby, Nav, and Young Thug. His signature productions are e...

Mike Viola

Interviews

Mike Viola

By Andy Reed, Charlie Weinmann

Mike Viola is a musical powerhouse, in every sense. His fearless approach to songcraft and record making is uncanny. He also has the ability to deliver them with an impressive vocal performance. Mike ha...

Gear Geeking

Column

Gear Geeking

In the previous issue, I mentioned my gear rack that’s the control-room equivalent of a...
Why I Like Attended Mixing

Column

Why I Like Attended Mixing

I never began recording other people's music in order to spend ten-hour days working...
Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records

Interviews

Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung Records

By John Baccigallupi, Ian Brennan
Bob Attiyeh founded Yarlung Records over 20 years ago, and they have gone on to release...
Pete Caigan

Interviews

Pete Caigan

By Nils Schlebusc, Larry Crane
Pete Caigan, the studio manager and chief engineer for a revamped Utopia Studios...
Remembering Terry Manning

Interviews

Remembering Terry Manning

By Blake Morgan, Sherrie Manning
Terry Manning [Tape Op#58] had already changed my life before I ever met him. Like many of...
Behind The Gear with Johannes Russ of Ableton

Interviews

Behind The Gear with Johannes Russ of Ableton

By Dana Gumbiner, Gerngross Glowinski
We recently had a chance to meet up with Johannes Russ, Ableton's Head of ABL...

MOST RECENT

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man
Sep 16, 2025 BLOG

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man

Fruit Bats, the moniker of Eric D. Johnson's musical endeavors, has just released Baby Man. The album is follows the 2023 release, A River Runs to Your Heart, and is a bit of a departure in that each song is presented in its starkest form. Intimate recordings of acoustic guitar or acoustic piano bring the songs on Baby...

New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”
Sep 14, 2025 BLOG

New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”

Yi-Mei Templeman is friend of Tape Op who records under the name Yeemz. She’s a songwriter and composer who plays cello, piano, banjo, guitar, and sings. Back in issue #162 she reviewed DPA’s 4099 cello mic for us.

She recently released her first full length LP, Blame The Gods, that she recorded at Panoramic with producer Leroy...

Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast
Sep 4, 2025 BLOG

Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast

Larry Crane and the Revolutions Per Movie podcast host Chris Slusarenko chat about Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii!

They discuss the genesis and all the different versions of this film (including the super frustrating screensaver version of Live At Pompeii), Chris's recent accidental hallucinatory viewing of the film...

Justin Gray: Immersed
Aug 31, 2025 BLOG

Justin Gray: Immersed

Justin Gray’s new album, Immersed, was created specifically for immersive surround formats, such as Dolby Atmos, with considerations beginning from the initial writing and production stages. Although I consider this an “engineer’s album” in many respects, that title alone wouldn’t be doing it justice. Aside from being an engineer...

About The Cover Art for Issue #167
Aug 31, 2025 BLOG

About The Cover Art for Issue #167

When we published issue #167, we, of course, credited Hazel Morishige for the cover art, but I forgot to credit the individual pieces of art that Hazel had cut out of previous issues of Tape Op for her collage, so I thought it would be fun to explore Hazel’s collage a bit more in-depth and show the entire piece of art since...

New Deftones LP: Private Music
Aug 26, 2025 BLOG

New Deftones LP: Private Music

The first time I saw Deftones live was at the Cattle Club, a small 250 person capacity club in Sacramento, CA, in the early 1990s. The Cattle Club was a total dive that sounded pretty bad, but promoters Jerry Perry and Brian McKenna, with sound engineer Eric Bianchi, made the best out of what they had to work with. Besides...

Superchunk's new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, is out now!
Aug 22, 2025 BLOG

Superchunk's new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, is out now!

The new Superchunk album is here, and – no surprise – it rocks. I interviewed singer/guitarist/songwriter Mac MacCaughan way back in 2009 [Tape Op#76], in Seattle as they prepared to play the Bumbershoot festival. It was great to meet Mac and Laura Ballance (bass), as they are also the founders of my fave label, indie stalwarts...

New Music From John Cale, Gunna, The Black Keys, and More!
Aug 9, 2025 BLOG

New Music From John Cale, Gunna, The Black Keys, and More!

There was some good music released this past week from Tape Op interviewees!

John Cale
MiXology (volume 1)

John Cale [Tape Op#156] released MiXology (volume 1), a collection of unreleased tracks and alternate versions of songs from his POPtical Illusion and Mercy albums. Fans of Cale will enjoy this look at his process and...

Gear Geeking
Aug 2, 2025 NO. 168 GEAR GEEKING

Gear Geeking

For the outboard rack in my personal studio, I drew up plans and tasked my cabinetmaker to custom manufacture the equivalent of a kitchen island, with a countertop that’s cantilevered above the backside of a cabinet, except that the cabinet has three 19-inch equipment bays on each side instead of doors and shelves. I ordered...

Geek Geeking
Aug 1, 2025 NO. 167 GEAR GEEKING

Geek Geeking

The most popular sound absorbing materials for home studio acoustic treatment are rigid fiberglass (e.g., Owens Corning 703) and open-cell polyurethane foam (e.g., Auralex Studiofoam). Foam is much easier to apply as it's easily reshaped with common cutting tools and it sticks to walls and ceilings with spray or tube...

LET'S DIY

Build a tube Mic Pre

interview

Build a tube Mic Pre

Scott Hampton

WORDS OF WARNING

To build this unit requires a fair amount of experience as a DIY-er. In addition, this circuit requires voltages that can cause serious death if mishandled. The kit greatly simplifies...

How to Build a Microphone

interview

How to Build a Microphone

Joel Cameron

This microphone is largely based on a posting I found on the internet showing how to modify Realistic (Radio Shack) PZMs for better performance. I have simply finished the design so people can build a...

Build Your Own Spring Reverb

interview

Build Your Own Spring Reverb

Scott Hampton

Simplified Reverb Tank Overview

A modern reverb tank consists of drivers, transmission springs, pickups, and a shock mounting system. A signal is driven into the drivers (attached to one end of each spring,...

Telephone Microphone

interview

Telephone Microphone

Steve McAllister

Step One: Get a phone. The best ones are the old rotary types. Thrift stores have 'em, usually for $3 or less. Specifically, you want a handset that has an un-screw-able mouth-cap and ear-cap. Also,...

STAFF PICKS

Gear Geeking
Sep 13, 2025 NO. 169 GEAR GEEKING

Gear Geeking

In the previous issue, I mentioned my gear rack that’s the control-room equivalent of a kitchen island. I wanted active cooling for the rack, but routing an air-conditioner duct to that location was impossible, so I opted for the simpler solution of utilizing vent panels as intakes with exhaust fans in the three upper rear...

Why I Like Attended Mixing
Sep 13, 2025 NO. 169 END RANT

Why I Like Attended Mixing

I never began recording other people's music in order to spend ten-hour days working alone. The early Covid lockdown really brought that home for me. Even though I'd been mixing remotely for many years, all of a sudden all of my work was remote. I was massively grateful that I had been building up the skills needed...

Turbo
Sep 11, 2025 NO. 169 INTERVIEWS

Turbo

Atlanta-based producer and songwriter Chandler Durham, professionally known as Turbo, has been behind hits from Travis Scott, Gunna, Lil Baby, Nav, and Young Thug. His signature productions are easily recognized, and he has an innate ability to distill songs and their presentations down to their essence. I caught up with Turbo from...

Mike Viola
Sep 11, 2025 NO. 169 INTERVIEWS

Mike Viola

Mike Viola is a musical powerhouse, in every sense. His fearless approach to songcraft and record making is uncanny. He also has the ability to deliver them with an impressive vocal performance. Mike has worked as a producer, engineer, songwriter, composer, performer, and A&R for countless projects over the years. Working...

Gear Geeking
Aug 2, 2025 NO. 168 GEAR GEEKING

Gear Geeking

For the outboard rack in my personal studio, I drew up plans and tasked my cabinetmaker to custom manufacture the equivalent of a kitchen island, with a countertop that’s cantilevered above the backside of a cabinet, except that the cabinet has three 19-inch equipment bays on each side instead of doors and shelves. I ordered...

Chris Tabron
Jul 13, 2025 NO. 168 INTERVIEWS

Chris Tabron

I met Chris Tabron in New York at the AES Convention in 2019. We stayed in touch over social media, and I started to realize this was a compelling music maker whose discography was as all over the place as my own. When I asked Larry and John at Tape Op if they’d be up for an interview with Chris, they asked if I’d want to...

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man
Sep 16, 2025 BLOG

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man

Fruit Bats, the moniker of Eric D. Johnson's musical endeavors, has just released Baby Man. The album is follows the 2023 release, A River Runs to Your Heart, and is a bit of a departure in that each song is presented in its starkest form. Intimate recordings of acoustic guitar or acoustic piano bring the songs on Baby...

New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”
Sep 14, 2025 BLOG

New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”

Yi-Mei Templeman is friend of Tape Op who records under the name Yeemz. She’s a songwriter and composer who plays cello, piano, banjo, guitar, and sings. Back in issue #162 she reviewed DPA’s 4099 cello mic for us.

She recently released her first full length LP, Blame The Gods, that she recorded at Panoramic with producer Leroy...

Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast
Sep 4, 2025 BLOG

Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast

Larry Crane and the Revolutions Per Movie podcast host Chris Slusarenko chat about Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii!

They discuss the genesis and all the different versions of this film (including the super frustrating screensaver version of Live At Pompeii), Chris's recent accidental hallucinatory viewing of the film...