Gearbuds

Buddies, this is a fun one. Dave and Hank use this week’s episode to do some catching up on our gear (and meatball) worlds.

For Hank, this means lots of Craigslisting, which of course leads to lots of Craigslist belly-aching, as well as dissertations on the Silvertone 319 and Scott Baxandale, the Arturia Microbrute SE, Universal Audio, and even some Zildjian and DW drum stuff. The dudes also close it down with a little desert island thought experiment as well as the question - what’s a COVID Hawk?

Also discussed: EVH, boxes of boxes, free sounds from the BBC, The Kinks, and Can’s Tago Mago.

Shimmer is the chorus pedal of reverb.

Mike Maimone is a poster child for grit, hustle, and road-dogging. The singer, songwriter, monster keyboardist, and recording/mix engineer works as hard as anyone in the industry, is prolific to match, and anyone with an interest in making a career in music can learn a thing or two from this episode.

Mike talks us through getting his start in a reggae band at Notre Dame, living on couches in control rooms in Chicago, joining Company of Thieves, forming Mutts with his CoT bandmate, and his current solo endeavors in Nashville with the new records Borrowed Tunes and isolation:001. Mr. Mutt also shines a light on connecting with the LGBTQ community as a gay man in the music industry, changing the chords in cover tunes, the choices we make in pursuit of our careers, and sometimes just saying ef the data.

Also discussed: Hank’s new old Silvertone acoustic and new new Universal Audio Apollo x8p, Brian Jones, Todd Terje’s “It’s Album Time!”, new pedals from Boss, Strymon, JHS, and Voodoo Labs, and Black Bobbin teaming up with Benson for a pink sparkle Preamp.

Don’t sell your drums for beer.

Seventy-freaking-five episodes! Hank and Dave celebrate this milestone in style by welcoming the truly bad ass Megan Davies to be our newest buddy. Megan is an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, guitarist, and bonafide YouTube sensation, currently sitting at just under 1.5 MILLION subscribers.

We get into her background in music, the nuts and bolts of covering hit songs, how she made it to Nashville, YouTube tips, the joy of family bands, when being a musician is more than just playing music, following the path of what’s working, and doing as much as you can yourself until you can’t. Of course we also have to deep dive the tech toys, including how BAE is bae and giving love to Kemper, Martin, Neumann, Urei, and the venerable Chandler TG2.

Also discussed: the Waves Wetter Knob plugin, Bob Dylan docs, Hank’s “Most Important Band” Idles, Emily King, and sobbing through Hanson concerts.

Watch your input/output levels.

In further proof that our friends are *way* cooler than we are, this week we welcomed Grammy-nominated Platinum producer and mix engineer Sean O’Keefe to the show.

Sean is thoughtful, insightful, and generous throughout the chat, leading us through his musical background, getting his start with his brother’s guitar (that also made it onto some famous Fall Out Boy recordings), taking a break to join This Is Me Smiling, and ultimately learning to listen to his calling as a first-call music maker.

Some of the topics we covered: the wild story of Hey There Delilah, the joy of car testing a mix, working in Gravity and Smart Studios, mixing in the box with an analog 2-buss, using trim plugins to control gain staging, solo vs. in-context tones, using samples, and building up a clientele via the scene you’re in. Because we’re sentimental fools, we also had to get in a little reminiscing about how we all met as young(er) pups.

Also discussed: Jim Croce, Captain Beefheart, and the magic of Jon Brion.

Now go home and memorize ya’ ****in’ patchbay.

Big gear news requires a big gear episode, and you can bet your fanny this episode delivers. Hank and Dave keep it short and sweet while discussing Hank’s holy grail curved line vintage Ampeg SVT bass amp, the new Native Instruments Machine+, Black Bobbin’s limited edition Old Blood Noise Effects Black Fountain v3, Matt Tytel’s Helm synth plugin, and the utter joy of Mono cases.

We also touched on Gordon Lightfoot, Yoko Ono art (replete with an absolute dump truck of an ass), Sparklehorse’s Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, Hank’s newly published Reverb article, Rigshare, OfferUp’s acquisition of LetGo, an unfortunately predictable Sturgis BFI update, future Dave’s Doc The Pedal Movie news, Hank moaning about gear listings, and tricking your bandmates into loosening up in the studio.

It is okay not to be okay.

Happy Labor Day, buddies. This week we are beyond stoked to welcome Robb Jibson to the show to talk through the evolution of his personal labor of love, the company So Midwest, Inc.

On top of his journey to becoming a major fixture in the lighting and visual design world (get it?!), Robb guides us thought his recent work with the Red Alert Restart Campaign, touring and designing with diverse acts such as Incubus, Train, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Slint, & Tom Jones, putting virtual fans in MLB stadiums, creating the intro experience for the Chicago Bears, and even that one time he and Hank drank juice boxes with Paramore.

As if that weren’t enough, Robb graciously answers all of our dumb Lighting 101 questions, walking us through the evolution of lighting from static car headlights to video content and augmented reality holograms.

Also discussed: Eventide/Newfangled Audio’s free Pendulate plugin, the big Chicago Music Exchange gear giveaway, Twisted Sister, the most money Hank has ever spent on a record (Cornelius’ Sensuous), and time machines.

Dodge Bieber bullets.

Hank and Dave do everything together, including having birthdays. This week the Gearbuds celebrate another trip around the sun the only way they know how - by making a podcast and riffing on gear.

The two main topics center around hopping back aboard the gear-swapping train and digging deep into making Profiles on a Kemper. Chats include the pros and cons of posting a big gear teaser list on Craigslist, telling the full story of Kemper Profiling with James Pepper and a beautiful ’64 Fender Princeton Reverb that belongs to Nathaniel Rateliff (including some trial and error tips and tricks for nailing the sound of your amp), and even throwing it back to our roots with a little Grindin’ my Gearbuds.

Also discussed: the Diode Eins free sample pack, Alice Cooper, Mastodon’s Leviathan, editing with jackhammers, bassboi talks, and a final check-in on Jack White’s Third Man gear auction.

You can’t have enough lamps in your rehearsal space.

We love reconnecting with old friends and collaborators - this week the Buds got to do just that, welcoming to the GB fold Stephen Shirk, owner of SHIRK Studios in Chicago.

Steve generously talked us through getting his start in central Illinois, moving to NYC to work at the Hit Factory while building his engineering and production chops,

evolving along with the dawn of DAWs, and eventually heading back to Chicago and opening multiple iterations of the world class Shirk Studios.

We discuss recording years worth of Hear Ya Sessions, Sphere consoles, the Highland Dynamics BG2 compressor, the unquestionable glory of Balthazar amps, pushing sonic limits with Fur Trader, and Donny Osmand’s (by way of The Bonfires Vintage) old EMT 140. Plus, you know we had to ask for some recording and mixing tips, so we get into using Pultecs on a 2-bus, parallel compression on drums and vox, and taming bass guitar.

Also discussed: the free Bvker Metro Boomin sample pack, Hank’s podcasting article on Reverb, Jack White’s gear auction, Pantera, Bill Callahan aka Smog’s Knock Knock, and Jonathan Wilson.

If it sounds cool, it IS cool.

This week Henry and Dave welcome our newest bud to the squad, diving deep into Anthony Gravino’s history as a touring musician and evolution into an on-demand recording, mix, and mastering engineer. Anthony operates out of his studio The Drake, crafting records with smart choices and bold sonics.

Listen in for tips for the API 1608, why the combination of a Neumann U67, PAST Neve 1081, and Urei LA3A is a god-like vocal chain, and some outside the box uses for the venerable Shure SM57. We even have time to learn more about the Situation Chicago compilation, the positives of having a studio cat, paying attention to what the click track does to feel, and demo dilemmas.

Also discussed: Elk Audio’s Aloha (a promising system for remote jamming), the free Waves Berzerk and IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX plugins, socially distant shows in the UK, Brainiac, The Sword’s Age of Winters, and all-time favorite band logos.

Use your ears, ya’ hear?

Big week this week, buddies. Join in as two dear old friends of the show, Josh and Max from Hand Practices, hang out to celebrate the release of their new magnum opus, Magnum Dopus. Seriously. That’s what it’s called. And it slays.

Hunker down as the dudes walk us through their musical backgrounds, sharing stories about their histories, bands, and even some recording tips for handclaps and snare drums. If you’ve ever wondered about that “shitty shitty practice space that Henry is trashing all the time” well this might be the episode for you. As if that weren’t enough, we’ve even got one-sided Twitter feuds with Mark McGrath AND Hank’s plea to reform their old band, The Sacred Robe of the Ancient Psychedelic Monks. This is some can’t miss business.

Also discussed: the DiscoDSP Oberheim OB-X plugin, Generation Axe covering Bohemian Rhapsody with Brian May, Frank Sinatra, The Cardiacs, and Mort Garson’s Plantasia.

Ted Nugent is a p***y.