Artists have been calling on Dan Wilson to help them write songs since the late 90s, leading to a steady stream of chart-toppers for artists like Adele (“Someone Like You”) to Taylor Swift (“Treacherous”). But prior to helping others to craft their songs, he had his own success as the singer in the band Semisonic, whose 1998 hit “Closing Time“ was ubiquitous on the airwaves.

Dan and I had a talk about his early career, the success of Semisonic, how he became a successful songwriter and who put him in the room with stars he’s worked with.

Common Saints is the artist moniker of Charlie Perry, a British producer who found success in the late 2010s thanks to his work with artists like Jorja Smith, BTS, Olivia Dean and Maverick Sabre. The first Common Saints EP dropped in 2020 and quickly took the Internet by storm thanks to its modernized version of 70s psychedlic rock that quickly racked of millions of streams and views. Personally, I wanted to know how Charlie had acheived such lush soundscapes using modern production methods, so I reached out for an interview and we talked about everything from his background to how each Common Saints track was made.

Jeff Bass rose to fame as one half of the Bass Brothers, the production duo that discovered Eminem in the mid-90 and did the music on most of his first albums. But despite contributing to the best-selling rap discography of all time, very little is known about their history, their productions and the story of their relationship with Eminem. After several years of reaching out to people in their circle, I was finally able to get through to Jeff, and we sat down to talk about his work with both Eminem and his group, D12.

Episode three of The Speakhertz Podcast sees Sam talk to Brent Kolatalo, a producer/mixer known for his work alongside Kanye West, Future, Lenny Kravitz, and Kendrick Lamar. Some of the covered topics include the following:

• Brent's early days at Berklee and working under Ken Lewis in the 2000s.
• Doing sample replacement and session work on the "College Dropout".
• Not getting credited on famous songs.
• Making records for Future.
• Running his own operation as a producer.

For the second episode of The Speakhertz Podcast, Sam speaks with producer and mixer Tony Hoffer about his past work with artists like Beck, Air, Phoenix and The Kooks. Some of the covered topics include the following:

• The five samplers Tony used in the 90s
• The loss of depth and dimensionality in modern music
• Producing for Beck on "Midnite Vultures"
• Producing for Air on "10,000 Hz Legend"
• Producing for Phoenix on "Alphabetical"
• Producing for The Kooks "Inside In/Inside Out"

The inaugural episode of The Speakhertz Podcast sees Sam speak with the legendary mix engineer, Michael Brauer. Some of his credits include Aerosmith, John Mayer, The Kooks, Regina Spektor, Coldplay, The Fray, and Paul McCartney.

Some topics of conversation include the below.

• Michael's time at Mediasound Studios in the 70s and 80s, from working on Sesame Street to recording Luther Vandross.
• Having mix engineers like Michael DeLug and Harvey Goldberg as mentors.
• How he learned to use compression and his current techniques.
• The sound of the 70s and why it's hard to achieve today.
• How he transitioned to mixing in-the-box and why it's not a compromise.
• His relationship with Mix At The Masters.
• Detailed breakdown of Michael's mixes of Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, New Radicals, John Mayer and The Fray.