Episode 138: John Vanderslice

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Episode 138 of Look At My Records! features an interview with indie music legend John Vanderslice.  John is well known for his work engineering records for bands like Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie, and Sleater-Kinney at his all-analog studio Tiny Telephone in San Francisco. After almost two decades, the studio closed its San Francisco location and John moved south to Los Angeles, where he opened his own backyard studio called Grandma’s Couch.

In addition to his engineering work, John has recorded and released about a dozen records of his own material - all on analog equipment. The pandemic imposed lockdown finally forced John to experiment with digital recording software like Ableton.  The end result is his latest release, eeeeeeep, his first batch of songs recorded entirely through digital means. It’s an excellent EP! Tune in to hear about John’s experience recording the EP on a computer, how he uses his digital studio as an instrument, his favorite memories from Tiny Telephone San Francisco, his relationship with David Berman, and a whole lot more! This episode features records from Spirit of the Beehive, Porches, Lomelda, Robyn Hitchcock, and Eleanor Friedberger!

Stream eeeeeeep on your platform of choice. You can also purchase it via Bandcamp. Check out John’s website and keep up with him by following him on Instagram and liking him on Facebook.