With over 25 years of expertise in film, advertising, and industrial design, Kosta Lagis has worked on blockbuster movies like Prometheus, Man of Steel, and Deadpool, as well as high-profile commercials for brands such as Huawei and Mobil. He's currently the creative Director for Computer Graphics at The Mill in Shanghai.

With a deep technical foundation in illustration, photography, digital imaging, and audio production, he now explores the creative and ethical implications of AI-driven imaging technologies. 

As well as hearing his views on the role of AI, I wanted to talk with Kosta about his incredibly varied career, life in China, the magic of cinema, the cultural role of religious narrative, and lots more – unsurprisingly, this was a long conversation. We've split it into two parts, with part two coming next week.

Kosta's credits: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4903106/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

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Doug Kauer is always the least serious guy in the room, which makes him a great podcast guest – it’s also part of what makes him a successful guitar maker with his own unique style. 

Doug started building guitars when a lifetime of woodworking combined with a love of guitar. Spurred on by the support of other luthiers, he found his direction in what appealed to him: less mainstream jet-set design meets a tireless pursuit of improvement. 

Started officially in 2008, Kauer Guitars reflects the love of craft, creativity and dumb jokes Doug is known for, and today builds eye-catching instruments for some of the world's top musicians – without ever taking themselves too seriously. 

With plenty of laughs along the way, Doug joins me to talk about scaling up a business, embracing failure, and how we find solutions.

Kauer Guitars: kauerguitars.com

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Robin Stummvoll of Verso Instruments joins me to talk about the release of his new, highly innovative guitar, Sine, which will be exhibited in the Boutique Guitar Showcase at NAMM 2025.

Having gained worldwide attention for his Cosmo model, Robin has plenty to share about the role of playfulness in creativity, escaping the constraints of established guitar design, and how to still bring innovative leaps forward to the electric guitar.

Verso Instruments: versoinstruments.com

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Ola Strandberg is a true innovator, having redefined modern guitar-making with his .strandberg* brand. Pioneering the resurgence of headless guitars, Ola combines ergonomic innovation, sustainable materials, and cutting-edge aesthetics to create instruments that inspire musicians and luthiers worldwide. 

With so much change occurring, now is a good time for those with a future forward mindset, like Ola. But being a renowned innovator comes with its own challenges.

In this episode, we talk about the different needs of emerging guitar markets, the difficulties of reaching the mainstream as a futurist, and whether there can ever be an iPhone of guitars. 

.strandberg* Guitars: https://strandbergguitars.com/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Jon “Sully” Sullivan is the founder of Sully Guitars, a brand known for blending innovation with the spirit of '80s hot rod guitar culture. But, as Sully explains in this conversation, his guitars are far more than a nod to the era he grew up in.

We talk about what it means to go beyond your influences, to build guitars out of spite and to live your life as a committed contrarian. As always, it was so much fun talking with Sully, and I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I did.

Sully Guitars: https://www.sullyguitars.com/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

What would a structural engineer bring to guitar making?

In his career as a structural engineer, Enrico Di Donato collaborated with renowned architects like Renzo Piano and Arata Isozaki. After years of exploring composite materials for seismic reinforcement and authoring publications on the subject, Enrico shifted his focus to luthiery, combining his scientific expertise with artistic craftsmanship. 

His “Hasaki” electric guitar, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, has been featured at prestigious events like Art Basel, the Venice Biennale, and the Boutique Guitar Showcase at NAMM.

For Enrico, the electric guitar is not merely a tool, it’s an evolving fusion of art and science. He joined me on this week's episode of Life With Strings Attached to discuss this approach to guitar making and where his current projects are taking him. 

Di Donato Guitars: https://www.didonatoguitars.it/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Why do we make things? What is it that draws so many of us to hunker down in dusty workshops, pick up some hand tools, or devote hours to any kind of craft and creation? 

We might sometimes be mystified by our own obsession or powerful draw towards making things – that feeling of a need to create. Exploring this is part of exploring what it means to be human, and I can think of no one better to discuss this with than Peter Korn.

Peter is a master craftsman, author, and the founder of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine, where he served as Executive Director from 1993 to 2021. With a career spanning decades as a furniture maker, educator, and leader, Peter’s work has been exhibited nationally and celebrated for its artistry. He is the author of Why We Make Things and Why It Matters, a profound exploration of craftsmanship’s transformative power. Peter continues to design furniture and share his knowledge through workshops, inspiring a new generation of makers.

He has so much knowledge and wisdom to share, shedding light on what it is that spurs our creative need. 

Peter's work: https://peterkorn.com/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Based in Edmonton, Canada, Dion James builds steel-string acoustic guitars known for their striking minimalism. Subtle in their looks from afar, Dion's instruments make careful use of intricate detailing without becoming ostentatious. They’re packed with innovation informed by years of building and experimentation, all brought together with a decisive, crystal-clear design vision.

As he's someone who's built a reputation for crafting such impeccable instruments, I wanted to talk with Dion about how he views creativity, where his design sensibility comes from, and the surprising power of saying "I can't". 

Dion Guitars: https://dionguitars.ca/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

There might be a lot of guitars that claim to be unique, but there's only a relatively small number that achieve – without question – something new. Nicolai Schorr's instruments are undoubtedly among that select group. 

From his workshop in Berlin, Nicolai handcrafts guitars and basses that are as playful and refreshing as they are bold. It's unsurprising to learn he has a background in both fine art and music, but I was curious to learn more about where his career as a guitar maker started, how his designs come together, and why he makes guitars that look so joyful. 

I want to say a big thank-you to Nicolai for joining me on the podcast this week and sharing so much about his work.

Schorr Guitars: http://schorrguitars.de/

Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

If you’ve ever seen Marek Dąbek’s Stradi instruments, you’ll understand that he has a fascinating approach to building guitars and basses. 

On this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached, we talk about the origins of Marek’s instruments, the benefits of having to struggle for what you want, and why a tarantula lived in his kitchen.

Stradi Instruments: https://stradi.pl/

Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BusinessOfGuitar

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached and Boutique Guitar Showcase:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase

Support the deeper conversations:
🔗 The Business of Guitar – Patreon

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.