hanging out with audiophiles

Robert Margouleff was there when some of the most soulful electronic sounds were EVER put onto tape. He's got a new audiobook out on Pushkin and it's just bloody great!!! use code SOUNDS25 for 25% off when you purchase at pushkin.fm/shapingsounds. Here's the book blurb: Shaping Sounds is a memoir about creativity, collaboration, artistic courage, and the lasting power of music. The heart of the book is the story of TONTO, the world's largest analog synthesizer, which Margouleff and his partner Malcolm Cecil built. From the first spark of the idea to how it shaped the sound of artists like Stevie Wonder, DEVO, Beck, and more, Robert leads listeners through his life in film, music, and tech. TONTO is the ultimate gear story, one that was made in service of creating something deep and raw, which feels very aligned with your ethos to understand how to make sound right. damn right! I LOVED this chat. Just blew my mind in so many ways. Hope it lands that way for you too :) Music from this episode comes from pod listener Dan Moore here's some bio stuff and a link to the BandCamp. Really delightful work SCHOOLS OUT! Here comes the Summer x

YO! If you like what I'm up to and want to support me then please consider joining the pattern. https://www.patreon.com/c/HOWA I am now sharing ALL my music there. All of Feb coming soon :) There are 35 tracks up so far and they are the deepest connection to my current musical mind. The best I have to give ! Now Let's get on with the show Welcome Anderson East! We've made some music together and so this isn't the first time we've had a good ramble but this time we are here to celebrate the release of his latest LP "Worthy" He's a great singer and fully engaged lover of the romance of music making. Record making! Link to his stuff! https://andersoneast.com ____________________________ The music that you'll hear peppered throughout this episode comes from a band called Vxriable And their latest release "taking no prisoners" I know one of the members Josh as he was so instrumental in the making of the live video for my show at Turner hall here in Nashville when I performed my latest album "places of unknowning" here is a link to a track from that He really put the hours in and I was super happy when I got an email from him about music he's made. I was taken aback in a great way. A man of many talents !! More Links! Official Website: https://vxriable.com Latest Release: TAKING NO PRISONERS (spotify) Bandcamp

Kicking off 2026 with a bang Congrats to my Emmy winning guests Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein for their epic work as the band Survive and notable of late for making the many hours of music that score the rather popular show Stranger Things which just wrapped for the last time with its season finale. Great to peek behind the curtain as it were as we get into the pure substance of their process. Unlock the clues in this episode and you too will certainly be up for an Emmy if you're as tireless and talented as them ! Thanks to Ableton for sponsoring this episode I get into the MOVE in a rare nitty. I took the box the climbing gym to do a little against the clock action here's a link to the move. I can really recommend it https://www.ableton.com/en/move/ Oh and HAPPY new Year !! Let's get on with the show :) !!!!!!!!! MOVE DISCOUNT CODE ALERT ! HOWAMOVE20 You lot can use this code at checkout for 20% off Ableton Move, valid until January 31, 2026.

As you know, I've been rather obsessed with the music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and that obsession doesn't seem to be fading anytime soon. So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Tim Story, who joins me on this episode of the podcast, played a major role in creating the remarkable record that's captivated me lately — 90. To make that album, Tim sifted through over 100 hours of unreleased material from Roedelius's archives — a monumental effort that resulted in this stunning compilation of tracks. I was fascinated to hear about the process behind it all, and equally happy to speak with Tim himself — a wonderfully charming and generous man, as well as a longtime friend and collaborator of Roedelius. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Music for this episode comes from Europe in Flames, whose new album One is out now. You can find it on Bandcamp — here's the link. https://europeinflames.bandcamp.com/album/one

Lovely to catch up with Kaitlyn to get a behind the scenes breakdown of the process that went into creating her latest LP "Gush" I was not expecting it to be made this way. Nope. I had no clue. I loved being so utter wrong about it! I challenge you to listen fist to the music and then guess how she pulled it off. Utterly wild. Love it. She tells me of the sonic coffee (what resets her ear palette) The inspiration of Lex ishimoto the dancer and reveals a secret as to who she'd like to sound like when singing. Again I was shocked! This was recorded in Feb 2025.. err.. sorry! took me ages If you dont know her work you're in for a treat. She has a very unique and delightful harmonious take on the construction and presentation of electronic sound that is quite a singular take. So rare to find someone that really found their own way through. She's never repeating herself it seems. There's a great range in the catalogue which to me is always the key to a truly great artist. A true seeker.

My new album PLACES OF UNKNOWING has arrived link to LP (release date July 18th 2025) https://lnk.to/placesofunknowing WOO!! Let's get on with the show! Meet Pascal :) What a treat it has been to welcome this man into my life Not only did he give me confidence and skills to play the piano for the first time in my life, he toiled to transcribe my vocal multitracks and save them from dying on the hard drive. He sat with me and the recording crew in the studio for 5 hours to assist our cellist as this same song took shape With patience and encouragement that's very rare and deeply contagious. Speaking my language just as fluently as the classic players He's been the bridge to many lands This new LP - Places of Unknowing that's OUT July 18th 2025 Would not have existed without Pascal. It's as simple as that. He set the ball rolling and helped me so so much along the way. I was watching the live show footage last night. The concert of the record that was performed in Nashville March 2025 with a wonderful group of musicians. Some of them were professional like Rob Burger, Ethan Jodziewicz and Lee Vinson but many students joined from Blair college of music. Pascal was working at the school at the time and drummed up interest, found us a room to practice in and kept it all together with so little time. He not only found all these great players but he then remade arrangements from the album for woodwind Beautiful arrangements. I was in tears last night. Just thinking of that night and all the time leading up to it It took so long and so much energy to pull it together. Life has moved from that time and now Pascal is leaving to MIT in Boston with his wife and kids I couldn't be happier for them !!! I mean come on. MIT!!! He really is one of the most inspiring people I've met and I'm so happy to get to share this pod and the window it opens to his world. With one grammy under his belt already, watch out for him This will not be the last time you hear about Pascal. He's the real deal. Im very lucky to call him a friend x ____ I thought it might be useful to share some links to musicians Pascal references in this chat as many are new to me and maybe to you too :) LINKSSSSS!!! https://miguelzenon.com/videos/ https://www.daniloperez.com/video https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geri_Allen https://www.aaronparks.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Mehldau https://www.kurtrosenwinkel.com https://milestilmann.bandcamp.com/album/3d-concepts Thomas Adès: In Seven Days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2B4KOGyTTk https://www.donnachadennehy.com/discography Louis Andriessen - Hoketus (1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=palDwGpg3ME

ITS OUT!!! YES!!! It's hard to believe tbh after all this time but indeed the first song from my long talked about LP "Places of Unknowning" is OUT There's a vinyl pre-order (and digi pre-thing) for the full album and links to stream this early track the "The Center" here: https://todo.ochre.store Video from the live performance of The Center here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxUxtHkE1 You might be curious how it all came to be.... Where are these wild and powerful words coming from for example? Well I'm glad you asked since I got to sit down and record a chat with my delightful wife Lindsey Rome who wrote this record with me. Specifically, she wrote the words and I set them to music. A marriage of it's own! She's A lady I adore A lady I am constantly inspired by. A lady that has no end to her creativity. She's written a lot of material with me at this point and it's always been super rewarding to work in this way but I will say that NOTHING I've made with her has ever been like this. I felt like I was handed these precious truths and intimate revelations to try and merge with the realm of music. The fact I know her so well and care so deeply was both the only way to make this so rich and potent but also proved to be quite a challenge to get right. Needless to say Im mightily excited finally get to share the fruits of our collaboration at long last. It really was a team effort between the two of us and all the more sweet to send it off as a document of this time Hope you enjoy hearing how it all came to be from my best friend and true love Lindsey Rome

Took me a while this one. Sadly, as many of you may know, I lost my Dad. It was a very long time coming and I was "prepared" but of course death has a power that yields a unique power and the grief has hit in waves. The first week was a kind of exhaustion, then I got to feel the sadness and the reality hit me in a new and more profound way. I talk about it here in the pod so I'll not linger too long in text form. Needless to say, it's been an intensely emotional time. Shortly after this news I was thrown into full preparation for the first live show for the LP that is going to be announced (finally!) next month. I was grateful to have my passions engaged in deep musical focus. Thanks to my wife and the amazing players that can to support me, the show was a truly beautiful event. Not one I'll forget. So with all that going on, the pod has taken the back burner. I had been meaning to air this Bibio episode for a long time. A whole other perspective on the man compared to the first encounter. I hope you enjoy the west country rambles! Thanks to all of you that shared your kind words with me about my Dad love you guys x

What a treat it was to speak with the absolutely wonderful Suzanne Ciani who's really a unique and outstanding woman in the world of electronic music. We get into her early use of psychedelics and chat about spirituality and the inner "little voice" which is her guide in all things. We discuss eternal sounds, how her LP "Seven Waves" was constructed from a huge manuscript. We listen to her snoring cat and chat tennis. In fact there's a lot of tennis talk here which is definitely a first and an area Suzanne is very passionate about. Of course we talk about the exceptional Don Buchla and some of the excentric ways in which his modules behave even from one unit to the next. We also explore his attire. It's amazing to think of the time she came up in time when synthesizers were first emerging and nobody had heard these vast, pure and electric vibrations that were really unlike anything that had come before. In this day and age so much it's taken for granted and yet it all returns in the end to the sea. To the ocean waves which of course she's so known for coaxing in synthetic form so deftly. Im so glad I got to spend a little time with the brilliant Suzanne Ciani. ____________ Thanks to Ableton for their kind support. They are the show sponsors and I do a little nitty ad slot showing off the excellent MPE control possibilities of the Push3 when paired with a compact 7U modular rig via the expert sleepers ES10 ADAT to Euro 8 in 8 out module. Check the push at ableton.com And in fact they are offer a healthy discount to HOWA listeners. It's a coupon code VALID TIL THE END OF FEB 2025 Use code HOWAP320 At checkout for 20% off the Push3 !!!

Id often hear about this man during my stint in Berlin in the mid 2000s. Mostly that he had an amazing live show... who was this man? There was a sense in my mind that he was a gothic mystery, a dark figure that coaxed mystical melodies from the tarot and such but it seems like he's a sensitive and passionate follower of his own North Star. His upbringing in Denmark really captured my imagination. Partly just reflecting on the simpler times and remembering my own childhood in the sticks and how music was such an elixir to a world with a lot less demands on the modern, dwindling attention. T he power of radio to educate and mix it up, when things were all jumbled together a little would be one example of the way it was different then. We get into that and I think it's actually a huge deal. I would argue it's the reason we have the music of Trentemøller at all. Anyway I'm running into a pool of the past here. I suppose sometimes that's what a chat will do. Funnily enough I find his music to be exploring contrasts, paradoxes, and themes of reminiscence without nostalgia. Quite a challenge! There's something familiar to the tones (especially the chorus which is a major sonic stamp on this music. It turns out Anders owns over 50 chorus pedals!!! I mean WHAT?) but the drums are fresh and the sound is vital in a refreshing way. Dare I say it almost feels light. Much lighter than I'd imagined it being. Also he's a song writer first and foremost and although the tone palette is crucial, the song always ends up being the main event and I tip my hat to the man for this. It's not easy! Lovely stuff. Hope you enjoy our rambles. ____ Music for EP133 comes from Clocks and Barometers. The music you hear peppered through the episode is from a record called "learning through investigation" Clocks and Barometers is a collaborative project between Dive Reflex Service and Lupo which began in the summer of 2023. Excellent stuff which I shall not try to describe seeing as they kindly provided me with a link so you can jolly well go and have a listen!! HERE is the link

I chat with six missing aka TJ Dumser who's a man of many talents Known for award-winning sound design, mix for web, film + surround , remote voice-over recording and of course his music which is waht we chat about most of time. His soothing sounds reached me over the interwebs and I was lucky enough to get the chance to remix a number of his called "sitting beachside" Which you can find here https://sixmissing.bandcamp.com/track/sitting-beachside-feat-clariloops-jamie-lidell-remix After this experience I was keen to know more about what made him tick so we got on a call and it was recorded, edited, mixed and such and now it jolly well exists as a sonic companion for your walking, train riding, horse riding activities. Perhaps you're even sitting beachside, in which case you win! Here's a link to TJ :) https://www.sixmissing.com

A fascinating and frankly bonkers translation has taken place Taylor Deupree's original album Stil., released in 2002 was made with 100% digital techniques with a heavy dose of microsound, layering and looping. It now exists as something wildly different and yet painstakingly based on that work. This new iteration is a 100% acoustic version which takes it from Stil. to Sti.ll This is a rare form of digital to analog conversion and should only be attempted by festidious and slightly insane people! Sti.ll, released in 2024, is a complete reimagining of Stil., recorded entirely with acoustic instruments, such as clarinets, vibraphones, and cellos, played by live musicians. This new version abandons digital sound manipulation in favor of human performance, where sounds previously made with software are recreated through physical instruments and microphones. The transformations go beyond just switching mediums; the acoustic textures bring warmth and depth, making it an entirely new and distinct experience, while retaining the essence of the original. Who would attempt such madness? Taylor Deupree (wiki-ish) is a prolific electronic musician, sound artist, and founder of the record label 12k. Known for his contributions to the microsound and minimalist electronic music movements, Taylor's work often blends digital and acoustic elements. His music is characterized by its delicate, detailed textures and use of repetition to create slowly evolving soundscapes. Joe Branciforte (wiki-ish) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and Grammy award-winning recording engineer and producer based in New York. He is the founder of the record label Greyfade, which focuses on process-based composition, electronic and acoustic minimalism, and alternative tuning systems. Joe's expertise spans both electronic and acoustic music, making him adept at bridging these worlds in innovative ways. His work often involves live electronic processing of acoustic instruments, and he has collaborated with renowned artists like Kenneth Kirschner and Theo Bleckmann. His technical mastery and creative vision were key to bringing Taylor Deupree's acoustic reimagining of Stil. to life in Sti.ll, where he played an integral role in transcribing and arranging the complex digital compositions for live instrumentation. So good to chat with these masters about a project of such huge scope. We discuss this album at length and also Taylor's collaboration with the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto links: https://www.taylordeupree.com https://josephbranciforte.com MUSIC from the show: from the email I received: Last year Miet Warlop and me (Micha Volders) went to Dhaka, Bangladesh to make a visceral musical performance with young students. It opened the Dhaka Art Summit and we played for a curious Bengali crowd of thousands. This city is a whole other universe, it's loud, it's overcrowded, it's vibrant. I work on a daily basis with young artists but I rarely experienced this kind of hunger, joy and motivation from these young students. We rehearsed 3 weeks in a row on this huge ghetto sound system placed middle on the road in the city, to a point where local residents were fed up and sabotaged our (already super shabby) P;A system by cutting all the wires, It was challenging, it was exciting and it was touching. So one year later we made a record out of the recordings of this venture : it's called ICCHĀ ——> check it out here

Kazim Rashid is an artist, manager, and creative director based in Berlin and London. I found out about him through my good friend David Okumu who is our magical, mutual connection. Aside from his work as a manager, Kazim is chief creative officer at Resident Advisor, the world's largest and most influential electronic music platform. His work often focuses on collaborating with artists, record labels, and brands to help them achieve their goals in the music industry. We get into the current state of things for artists navigating the changing tides of music commerce. Strap in! Music for this episode comes from a chap I met in Berlin thanks to Hainbach. Mr Ayjay Nils plays Viola in the Berlin Phil and is a great improviser :) A rare combo! He's also super into weird and wonderful electronic music which is featured in this show. It's all from an upcoming album Here's his Bandcamp to check the action! https://ayjaynils.bandcamp.com