My guest this week is Lisa Machac, who’s a music consultant with Little City Sounds and Director of the Omni Sound Project, which is an inclusive community for women and marginalized genders in audio engineering. Lisa’s writing has been featured in Tape Op magazine as well as a popular Substack newsletter. She’s also the creator and host of the Ref…

My guest this week is Stephen Schultz, who besides being an expert flautist specializing in Baroque flute, is an Associate Teaching Professor in Music History and Flute at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra.Stephen is also an advocate for hearing protection for all musicians as he’s learned to overcome …

My guest this week is Josh Young, who’s the founder and CEO of Atrium Music, as well as an Emmy-nominated supervising television and film editor. His credits include shows like Lego Masters, Big Brother, World of Dance, The Masked Singer, and many more.Atrium Music is a publishing and music library that licenses and places music in television, film…

My guest this week is Shelly Palmer, who’s an award winning composer, inventor, author, educator and a leading voice in technology. He is also an expert in Ai and it’s integration into the workplace. Shelly began his career as a composer for television, working with hundreds of brands, agencies, broadcasters, publishers and tech platforms on advert…

My guest this week is Michael Walker, who’s the founder and energy behind the Modern Musician program. You can hear all about his journey on Episode 411 from March 2022, but this time our discussion centered around Ai and how it can help or hurt the music industry in the future.Modern Musician recently incorporated its own Ai-driven helper bot, so …

My guest this week is engineer Alan Meyerson, who many believe is the top scoring mixer in film today.With more than 200 credits, Alan has worked with leading film score composers like James Newton Howard, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Danny Elfman, and has a particularly long-standing working relationship with the great Hans Zimmer that…

This week I speak with Randall Michael Tobin in Part 2 of our conversation. Randall founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977 and has worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio…

My guest this week is Randall Michael Tobin, who founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977. Since then he’s worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of,…

My guest this week is mixing and mastering engineer Nick Squids Squillante, who’s recent immersive mixes include “Rescue Me” by Dirty Heads, which went to Number 1 on the Billboard Alternative charts, and “Psycho” by Asking Alexandria, which also scored a spot at Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. He’s also done other immersive mixes…

My guest this week is co-founder and CEO of Moises Ai Geraldo Ramos.Moises is an AI-driven application that enables musicians to separate their tracks into stems, identify chords, adjust tempo or pitch without affecting other musical elements, and refine their audio with professional mastering, among a host of other features.Another feature is Voic…

My guest this week is Grammy-nominated producer-engineer-scoring mixer Jason LaRocca, who has recorded and mixed music for major motion pictures, games and television.Known for mixing the score of "The Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power" series, Marvel's "Morbius" and more, Jason recently mixed the Grammy-nominated albums "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Ba…

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of legendary guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television composer Wayne Kramer, who passed away recently. Wayne was far more influential than many realize as his band MC5 basically invented punk rock a full decade before it even emerged as a genre. The band and its albums became a m…

In this episode I take a big overview of the recent Winter NAMM 2024. Among the things discussed include:A bit of NAMM historyAttendance was up but several exhibit halls were emptyBig manufacturers that were no-showsThe biggest surprisesInteresting new productsProducts that were just more of the sameIs a NAMM show (or AES for that matter) even need…

My guest this week is a partner at Integral Studios and CEO of SymphonyOS, Megh Vakharia. Since 2016, he’s spearheaded product and data strategy as CTO of Integral Studio, one of the music industry’s leading marketing agencies. At Integral, Megh has worked with every major label and alongside artists of all sizes, from independent creators to today…

My guest this week the founder and CEO of Killphonic Rights, Caleb Shreve. Caleb began professional career in 1998 at Sony Music Studios in New York. As part of the Sony Music Special Projects team, he began working alongside artists such as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Destiny’s Child and Marc Anthony. In early 2003, Caleb left Sony to work inde…

My guest this week specializes in helping musicians and songwriters get their music into film and television. Chris started off as an award-winning music producer who saw how lucrative the income could be for artists with just one good sync placement. Chris not only teaches indie songwriters how to get their music heard by top music supervisors in …

A look back at how my predictions for 2023 fared, as well as my predictions for 2024.Yep, I'm going out on a limb this year!Happy New Year, and lets make this one the safest and most prosperous ever! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94111126, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600p…

It's been an eventful year in the music industry and that's what we'll review in the latest episode of my Inner Circle Podcast.We'll look at:The multiple streaming scams that popped upThe surprising outcome of the Ed Sheeran plagiarism lawsuitVenues suffering from not enough alcohol salesRecord labels losing influence because of data-analysisSpotif…

When I first started this podcast way back in March of 2014, the first person I thought to call was Dennis Moody. Including the inaugural Episode #1, he's been part of every anniversary podcast since, from #50, 100, 151, 200, 300, 400 (actually 399), and now 500. We worked a lot together over the years, and he's has become a great friend and super …

My guest today is Biz Morris, a multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning mixing engineer with credits like Lecrae, Tori Kelly, Kirk Franklin, PJ Morton, and Andy Mineo. For the last decade, Biz has represented independent Atlanta hip-hop label Reach Records as a Vice President and Head of Studio Operations.Biz started recording when he was 14 years …

My guest today is Bosco Kante who’s a Grammy award-winning artist, producer, creator of the world's first Tubeless talk box, and co-founder of ElectroSpit. Bosco has performed on albums by Kanye West and Dua Lipa and wrote the theme to the show "In Living Color."You’ve heard the sound of a talkbox before on hits by Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Zapp a…

I’ve had so many great guests over the 10 years and nearly 500 episodes of my inner circle podcast. I always enjoy revisiting them, as I hope you do as well. One of the best is from back in 2016 with hit mixer Josh Gudwin. Josh has mixed huge hits for Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, and Dua Lipa, among many others, and has won 12 Grammy’s for his work. H…

My guest today is award-winning sound supervisor, sound designer, and mixer Scott Gershin, who’s audio work has enhanced a variety of different visual mediums in film, broadcast, streaming and games.Some of Scott’s vast credits include major films like Pacific Rim, Hellboy 2, Chronicles of Riddick, Team America: World Police, Shrek, Star Trek, and …

My guest today is Bill Smith, who spent most of his career as a recording engineer and mixer before transitioning into audio archiving (you can hear him talk about recording and mix in Episode 160). Bill started at United Studios Archiving in 2020 until the company that owned the legendary studio decided to close it earlier this year. Since then Bi…

My guest today is Nichole Barsalona, who’s the director of Everyday Rebellion Entertainment artist management and the president of the non-profit Women In Music organization. Nichole grew up around music as her father Frank was a pioneering agent later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His clients included The Who, Led Zeppelin, Bruce S…

My guest today is country music singer and award winning professional songwriter Drew Ryder Smith, who’s also the owner of Gray Sound Recording in Nashville and Charlotte NC, working as a producer and senior mixing engineer. Drew is also the author of The Before You Record Course, which prepares new artists for their first recording session and wal…

Over the nearly 500 episodes of the Inner Circle I’ve had some incredible guests. One is the legendary engineer Elliott Scheiner, and this special replay is from way back on Episode 51 in April of 2015.You certainly have heard Elliot's work as he’s been instrumental in the sound of The Eagles, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Sting, Foo Fi…

I’ve had so many great guests on the Inner Circle Podcast, and it’s aways great to go back and revisit some of the best interviews. One is with Don Roeser, better known as Buck Dharma, lead guitarist and and one of the founders of the band Blue Oyster Cult, in an interview for podcast 227 back in 2018.Buck wrote and did the lead vocals on the band’…

Over the almost 500 episodes of the Inner Circle podcast I’ve had some excellent guests that are true legends in the music business. One is the late Al Schmitt, who unfortunately left us in 2021. Al won 20 Grammy awards over his long career, recorded and mixed over 150 gold and platinum albums, and even had his own star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame …

My guest today is Jesper Skibsby, the CEO and founder of radio monitory service WARM - the first global radio monitoring service focusing on serving the artists and indie segment of the music industry. WARM track and identify music played on radio, globally and in real-time. The vision behind WARM is to make detailed music data available to everyon…

My guest today is composer / plug-in developer Sam Fischmann from the plugin company Musik Hack. Musik Hack is the brainchild of both Sam and Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Stan Greene. Their first product is the innovative mastering plugin Master Plan.Sam is a seasoned software developer whose portfolio spans audio/DSP, Web development, an…

My guests today are Evan Dhillon and James Paston, two of the founders of the Ai voice cloning service Kits Ai. The company has launched tools for artists to safely create, license, and share their own voice models, opening new opportunities for fan engagement and monetization.Kits Ai has amassed over 100,000 users since launching, with their voice…

My guest today is Los Angeles session guitarist Andrew Synowiec, ,who has recorded for or performed with artists ranging from music industry icons The Who and Alanis Morissette to contemporary trailblazers like Lil Nas X and Meghan Trainor. Other recent collaboration credits include Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, Elton John, Seal, 98 Deg…

My guest today is vinyl pressing expert Dustin Blocker, who founded Hand Drawn Records in 2011 and Hand Drawn vinyl pressing in 2014. He’s also been named the first president of the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association, which is comprised of more than 30 companies from every level of vinyl production, including record labels, mastering, lacquer c…

My guest today is Bill McQuay, who’s an independent audio producer, NPR contributor, National Geographic Explorer and founder of Eco Location Sound.Before starting Eco Location Sound, Bill was Supervising Audio Engineer for the Library of Natural Sound at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and an audio producer for the Lab's Multi-media group. Prior to…

My guest today is holistic artist coach Wendy Parr, who’s personal and professional experiences led her to become a coach that helps artists lose perfectionism, overcome resistances, follow their inner vision, and curate a life and career they love.With over 20 years coaching top music artists like Melanie Martinez, Sara Bareilles, Marc Bassy, and …

My guest today is Sam Gribben, the CEO of the music learning platform Melodics. Melodics is a software platform that teaches you to play keyboards, pad controllers and electronic drums. Melodics uses gamification of practice to encourage you to keep working at getting better.Prior to founding Melodics, Sam was CEO of the DJ software company Serato,…

My guest today is producer/engineer Ed Stasium, who was an essential element in the New York punk and alternative rock scene in the 70’s and 80’s, having worked on seminal albums by The Ramones, Talking Heads and Living Colour. He has also worked with a wide range of artists such as Mick Jagger, Pretenders, Soul Asylum, The Smithereens, Motorhead, …

My guest today is producer/engineer Ed Stasium, who was an essential element in the New York punk and alternative rock scene in the 70’s and 80’s, having worked on seminal albums by The Ramones, Talking Heads and Living Colour. He has also worked with a wide range of artists such as Mick Jagger, Pretenders, Soul Asylum, The Smithereens, Motorhead, …

My guest on this episode is artist manager Zack Zarrillo. Zack is co-founder of Alternate Side, a full-service music company that represents over 30 artists in the alternative/rock/pop/electronic/metal genres. He also co-founded Bad Timing Records, and he began writing his popular music blog "PropertyOfZack" when he was just 16 years old. The blog …

My guest on this episode is engineer, producer and avid gear collector Pete Min. Pete is owner of Lucy’s Meat Market studio, and Colorfield Records, a label where he collaborates with some of LA's best musicians to create one-off LPs made entirely within his studio.Pete’s worked with major artists, including Feist, Diana Ross, Strokes, Third Eye Bl…

My guest on this episode is Paul Sampson, who’s the founder and CEO of the music licensing service for creators, Lickd.Paul started in the entertainment business working for a small television production company, where he encountered difficulties licensing music multiple times, which made him want to understand the nuances and problems of music lic…

My guest on this episode is Vickie Nauman, who’s expertise crosses between music and technology, finance, gaming, and the digital business economy.Vickie’s built one of the first DMCA-compliant services at taste-making station KEXP in Seattle, developed music tech work experience in licensing at MusicNet, which was one of the first legal digital se…

My guest on this episode is Evan Price, who’s an artist manager, educator, branding specialist and CEO of Artist Collective. At age 14, Evan started his first promotion company, and eventually went on to managing rappers and 9-piece bands in Chicago.He launched Artist Collective out of the dorm room of Columbia College Chicago while obtaining his B…

My guest on this episode is Eric Boulanger, who’s the founder of The Bakery mastering studio as well as a professional studio violinist. A protege of legendary mastering engineer Doug Sax, Eric has mastered GRAMMY-winning or nominated projects for a variety of popular and legendary artists.Not only that, he’s a studio violinist with performances an…

My guest on this episode is Eric Boulanger, who’s the founder of The Bakery mastering studio as well as a professional studio violinist. A protege of legendary mastering engineer Doug Sax, Eric has mastered GRAMMY-winning or nominated projects for Green Day, Hozier, Selena Gomez, Colbie Caillat, OneRepublic, Imagine Dragons, Neil Young, The Plain W…

My guest this week is David Packouz, who may have the most interesting back story of just about any guest I’ve had on this podcast. David is the CEO of Singular Sound and creator of the innovative Beat Buddy drum machine pedal, which gives guitar players easy control of drum loops and songs when they play live.But there’s a lot more to his story. P…

My guest this week is Ryan Schwabe who’s a two-time Grammy nominated, platinum certified mixing and mastering engineer. In 2020, he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Baauer’s "Planet’s Mad," and in 2023 he was nominated for Best Sound Engineered Album, Non-Classical for mixing and mastering Baynk’s "Adolescence." Ryan i…

My guest this week is Tony Simerman, who as a kid would go to work with his Dad, who was the manager of The Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C. There he’d hang out backstage where he was lucky enough to see every major hard rock and metal show in the 70s and 80s, and make many musical friends over the years.Fast forward to 2023, and Ton…

My guest this week is Josh Rogosin, who stumbled into NPR headquarters in 1999 on his way to mixing shows at The Shakespeare Theatre in downtown DC. Since then, he has been at the controls for all of NPR's flagship newsmagazines and gathered sound in far flung places like Togo, Cambodia and Greece for the Radio Expeditions series. Josh has engineer…