The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Black Flag vocalist Max Zanelly shares how she went from waitressing to fronting one of punk's most legendary bands and how the new lineup is carving their own space in legacy of the band.

Australian tour tickets and info here.

Topics Include:

• Max Zanelly checks in from Toronto, post-Canada tour
• Black Flag heading to Australia: four cities in late May
• One year ago, Max had just started rehearsing with Black Flag
• Only prior music experience: saxophone in middle school band
• A longtime fan, Max attended a Black Flag show in Vancouver
• Greg Ginn noticed Max singing every word from the front row
• Numbers exchanged; Greg said he wanted to make music someday
• A month later: the vocalist left, Greg offered Max the role
• Max sent vocal demos and flew to Texas to rehearse
• Already knew the full catalog; My War was the gateway album
• Side two's slow, sludgy tracks resonated the most deeply
• Favourite songs to perform live
• New recordings underway, still at early instrumental stages
• Max currently writing lyrics for a potential new Black Flag record
• Big age gap with Greg, but the band dynamic gels well
• Lineup reveal photos triggered massive online backlash before any shows
• Live shows quickly won skeptics over, including 80s-era veterans
• Henry Rollins is Max's personal favourite past Black Flag vocalist
• First rehearsals: nervous and shy about screaming into a mic
• Fake-it-till-you-make-it; fully unleashed onstage by the fourth show
• Voice conditioned gradually; 24-hour rest between shows is enough
• Bassist David sparked Max's interest in record collecting on tour
• Grew up religious; told mum she was just selling band merch
• Mum eventually came around; Max now inspiring women to start bands

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Filmmaker Dave Markey discusses his documentary "The Secret Lives of Bill Bartell", the punk scene's most fascinating, mysterious, and surprisingly influential behind-the-scenes figure.

Stream it now | Order the Blu-Ray

Topics Include:

• Dave Markey has a large record collection but stopped buying recently.
• Vinyl prices have skyrocketed — once cheap records now cost thousands.
• Dave bought records directly from band members at punk shows.
• Ian MacKaye sold Dave a first press Minor Threat 7".
• Dave bought Minutemen and Descendents EPs from D-Boon for a dollar.
• Dave made the Bill Bartell documentary for people who don't know him.
• Bill Bartell was unknowable — different things to different people.
• Dave tried making this film in the 90s; Bill refused to cooperate.
• The film was made ten years after Bill passed away.
• Bill Bartell faked backstage passes to get into arena rock shows.
• Bill named the Iron Maiden live EP Maiden Japan.
• Bill gave Steve Harris his outfit, worn in the "Run to the Hills" video.
• Bill saw no distinction between the Scorpions, the Germs, and the Beatles.
• Bill would tell artists exactly what he thought — no filter whatsoever.
• Bill told Steve Perry he was responsible for the worst night of his life.
• Bill told Beck "I don't like you" upon their very first meeting.
• Bill tried out as guitarist for Public Image Ltd in 1981.
• Kiss circulated photos of Bill to security: do not let him in.
• Bill befriended Sean Lennon, which led to a friendship with Yoko Ono.
• Bill's 1988 Beatlefest noise performance nearly caused a riot.
• Bill talked Kiss manager Bill Aucoin into discovering Generation X.
• That connection indirectly launched Billy Idol's massive solo career.
• Billy Idol himself didn't know Bill Bartell's role until recently.
• Bill gave Kurt Cobain Os Mutantes tapes, reviving the band's career.
• Pat Smear and Drew Barrymore were sought for the film but unavailable.
• Dave's band Painted Willie did Black Flag's final tour in 1986.
• Dave preferred Painted Willie's early Spinhead Records releases over SST output.
• The Bill Bartell documentary and Love Dolls films are now on Criterion Channel.
• Bill Bartell's Flying V guitar now hangs in the Punk Rock Museum, Las Vegas.
• Bill's money, connections, and secrets largely died with him — still a mystery.

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The legend himself Jack Douglas (1945-2026) shares stories from five decades of rock history — from producing John Lennon's final album to the memories Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, The Who, and his recent production of Silverplanes.

Topics Include:

• Jack Douglas joins Nate from a snowy driveway, cigar in hand.
• Silverplanes' debut album Airbus is finally releasing after years of delays.
• Jack met Silverplanes' Aaron Smart through his college-age son.
• Aaron turned out to own the Sunset Boulevard studio Jack had worked in.
• Jeff Emerick mixed the album shortly before his sudden death in 2018.
• The pandemic added two more years of delay to the release.
• Jack and Aaron are now label partners with New York real estate billionaire Douglas Durst.
• Their label operates 50/50 with artists — no standard royalty deals.
• Signed artists include Robin Taylor Zander and the Detroit Youth Choir.
• Jack builds songs from a single acoustic guitar performance first.
• Aerosmith was different — built from the band groove up, lyrics last.
• Walk This Way had no lyric until a Young Frankenstein gag unlocked it.
• Jack started his career as a TV composer while janitoring at Record Plant.
• He worked on sessions that became The Who's Who's Next.
• Kit Lambert and Keith Moon were both, politely, out of their minds.
• Jack survived eccentric clients by being reliably sober and crazy simultaneously.
• John Lennon was the easiest artist Jack ever worked with.
• John would say: "I'm the artist, you're the producer — let's work like that."
• Jack engineered Imagine and stayed close to Lennon through the Lost Weekend years.
• He was in and out of the Fame sessions with Lennon and Bowie.
• John told Bowie: "I'm writing you the best hit you'll ever have."
• John knew about — and liked — Aerosmith's cover of "Come Together."
• George Martin gave Jack a flat in Kensington and a Morgan sportscar.
• Jack helped produce Ringo's "Grow Old With Me," hiding Here Comes the Sun in the strings.
• Double Fantasy was secretly recorded at Hit Factory, too far west for fans.
• John wanted a middle-of-the-road record aimed at people aged 28 to 40.
• Earl Slick was kept from rehearsals deliberately — a wildcard for fresh solos.
• Rick Nielsen discovered John's Shea Stadium Rickenbacker with the setlist still taped on.
• Rick later gifted John a custom all-white Rickenbacker, model 001, never cashed his check.
• Cheap Trick's "I'm Losing You" session was thrilling but too edgy for the album.
• Jack hid microphones throughout the sessions, gifting John cassettes on his birthday.
• Jack destroyed the tape of the last day — John had sworn him to secrecy.
• After John's murder, Jack and Yoko listened to vault tapes alone until dawn.
• Yoko later sued Jack; Phil Spector's incoherent testimony and a wig mishap followed.
• Jann Wenner called Jack a nobody — until Jack's lawyer read Wenner's own book aloud.
• The jury was out ten minutes. Jack won millions.
• The 2010 Stripped Down version was mixed in the exact same Record Plant room.
• Live at Budokan was actually Osaka — Budokan tapes were too poorly recorded.
• Jack rebuilt the Osaka drum kit using speaker-driven bass frequencies and filtered signals.
• Aerosmith's Live Bootleg was sent back to Sony unchanged after Jack faked a remix session.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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Butthole Surfers' Paul Leary and King Coffey trace the band's unlikely major label journey — from America's top-grossing indie act to MTV hitmakers to a lost album finally resurrected after nearly three decades.

Preorder "After the Astronaut" LP here

Topics Include:

• After the Astronaut releases June 26 after sitting unreleased for 28 years.
• Capitol signed Butthole Surfers when they were America's top-grossing indie band.
• Label president Hale Milgram believed in them; his firing changed everything.
• Pepper was written on the spot after a producer demanded one more song.
• Pepper won radio call-in polls for a month and played MTV hourly.
• The hit turned them into a "follow-up band," which was never their thing.
• John Paul Jones produced Worm Saloon and taught Paul Leary how to produce.
• Jones and the band shared a Lagavulin obsession, running up a $20,000 scotch bill.
• Capitol's big budgets contrasted sharply with Touch and Go's approach.
• After the Astronaut was a deliberate return to experimental, art-school Butthole Surfers DNA.
• Mark Ryden painted the original cover; getting dropped handed it to Marcy Playground.
• Declining a Hellraiser soundtrack placement created the first real rift with Capitol.
• Their manager's heroin relapse coincided with the band getting dropped mid-promo cycle.
• Promo cassettes already pressed now sell for $800–$1,000 on the secondary market.
• Hollywood Records funded Weird Revolution; Rob Cavallo showed up once a week for ten minutes.
• Finding two-inch master tapes in a storage locker triggered the After the Astronaut remix.
• Documentary The Whole Truth and Nothing But took director Tom Stern five years to make.
• Rob Reiner called it one of the best music docs ever — hours before his murder.
• A potential box set looms, but Paul prefers naps, his cat, and his bicycle.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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In a rare interview, Greg Ginn opens up about the latest Black Flag lineup, the SST catalogue, the possibility of long-overdue reissues and the legacy of one of punk's most beloved bands.

Tickets for Black Flag's 2026 Australian Tour

Topics Include:

• Greg Ginn is based in Texas but currently in Long Beach after a tour.
• Black Flag is heading to Hong Kong and then Australia next.
• This will be Black Flag's third tour of Australia.
• Rumors of new recordings remain unconfirmed — Ginn stays tight-lipped.
• The current lineup has been together for about a year.
• Band plays nearly two hours a night across two full sets.
• Proximity of bandmates in Texas keeps the band constantly tight.
• Ginn discovered punk through the Stooges, MC5, and New York bands.
• Television, Ramones, Blondie, and The Damned were early major influences.
• Ginn identifies more with open, varied 70s punk than 80s hardcore.
• He never planned to be in a band — guitar was a personal outlet.
• Finding like-minded people in the mid-70s was genuinely rare and meaningful.
• Ginn started a business at 12 selling ham radio equipment he built.
• He published his own amateur radio magazine as a teenager.
• Black Flag's first EP was recorded as a demo, not a label release.
• Nobody wanted to sign them, so starting SST was a reluctant default.
• Ginn has applied the same DIY experimentation to an organic fertilizer brand.
• He gets bored easily and improvisation is central to keeping music alive.
• Ginn stays connected to a song's emotional meaning, not just its notes.
• Seven band members once lived in a single room during Black Flag's peak.
• Lineup changes were mostly practical — commitment and lifestyle demands were extreme.
• Ginn isn't interested in nostalgia-driven reunions; best music matters most now.
• Fans frequently thank him personally for helping them through difficult life periods.
• He avoids fiction, movies, and video games — prefers reality and constant learning.
• SST vaults are mostly bare — nearly everything recorded was officially released.
• Ginn is open to remastering but skeptical of padding albums with leftover cuts.
• He notes Dead Kennedys recently remixed Fresh Fruit — and wants to hear it.
• Ginn doesn't own a working turntable; portability matters more to him than format.
• SST catalog reissues — including Stains, Dicks, Overkill — are a genuine possibility.
• Ginn believes Black Flag's songs remain timeless, attracting both parents and their kids.

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Picts by Edward Colver

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From funding the first Record Store Day to producing limited one-step pressings of Pet Sounds, Prince, and Dr. Dre, Tom "Grover" Biery is one of the most influential figures in modern vinyl culture - Hear all about his next adventures with the vinyl artform.

Topics Include:

• Tom "Grover" Biery spent 20 years at Warner Bros. Records
• He pushed vinyl internally around 2004 when nobody believed in it
• His boss Tom Wally gave him the green light to proceed
• First pressings were Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman catalog titles
• Warner's vinyl billing exploded from $300K to $5M in 18 months
• Failure's Fantastic Planet was among the earliest titles he championed
• Neil Young gave an impassioned in-office speech about the importance of sound
• That speech directly inspired the "Because Sound Matters" brand name
• BSM is Warner's audiophile imprint; DSS covers Interscope and Capitol
• Tom now operates as a consultant to both major label groups
• His own label, Slow Down Sounds, has been running nearly a decade
• One-step pressings go lacquer to stamper, skipping generational quality loss
• Each stamper yields only 500–750 pressings, requiring multiple lacquer cuts
• Neotech's D2 vinyl compound produces exceptionally quiet, revealing pressings
• Mastering costs alone run nine times higher on one-step projects
• Sources are vetted exhaustively — flat masters, tape, or high-res files
• Artists and managers approve every test pressing throughout the process
• A newly discovered 1972 Pet Sounds master changed everything for the reissue
• Chris Bellman confirmed the tape matched a 1972 white label perfectly
• Only 6,000 copies of the Pet Sounds DSS one-step will ever exist
• Tom has been transparent about sourcing since 2005, long before the MoFi controversy
• Quality now ranks second or third in why fans buy vinyl
• Beck's Morning Phase and Tom Petty's Wildflowers one-steps surprised even skeptics
• Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom reissue came from original tapes at Warner
• Nate lobbies for Frusciante, Jellyfish, Beck's Sea Change, and Marilyn Manson reissues
• Dr. Dre's The Chronic from tape is among the first hip-hop one-steps
• Neil Young has still never done a one-step, despite inspiring the whole program
• Tom was one of the original funders who got Record Store Day off the ground
• Record stores are reporting their biggest-ever RSD sales figures this year
• His label Slow Down Sounds is releasing Terry Callier's Occasional Rain this June

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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Zev Feldman returns to reveal 11 Record Store Day 2026 releases, including stunning discoveries from the legendary Joe Siegel Jazz Showcase tape archive featuring Ahmad Jamal, Yusef Lateef, Freddie King, and more never-before-heard recordings.

Topics Include:

• Zev Feldman returns, now dubbed the "Jazz Attorney General" by Nate
• Feldman has 11 releases this Record Store Day — a personal record
• The Joe Segal tape archive is the foundation of five RSD releases
• Segal was an NEA Jazz Master and Chicago's greatest jazz impresario
• He presented legends like Lester Young starting back in 1947
• Feldman first connected with Siegel around 2010-2011 via word of mouth
• A breakfast meeting with Siegel led to three follow-up Chicago trips
• The archive may be the world's largest collection of unissued jazz recordings
• Between 8,000 and 10,000 tapes discovered across reels, cassettes, and more
• Resonance is partnering with the Siegel family and Wayne Siegel on releases
• Joe Henderson's 1978 quartet at the Jazz Showcase is raw and electrifying
• Pianist Joanne Burkeen confirmed this captures exactly how the band really played
• Ahmad Jamal's 1976 Jazz Showcase run includes a full 26-minute Swahililand
• Jamal and Siegel shared a deep longstanding friendship spanning many years
• Yusef Lateef with Kenny Barron: a burning three-LP set from 1975
• Lateef played the Jazz Showcase more than any other single artist
• Mal Waldron and Sonny Stitt reunite in an unusual 1979 bebop week
• Nate predicts Mal Waldron will be the sleeper hit of RSD 2026
• Bill Evans at the BBC features performances Feldman first saw on laser disc
• This marks Feldman's 15th Bill Evans release — the catalog keeps growing
• Freddie King from the French INA archives is Nate's personal favourite of the batch
• Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top contributed to the Freddie King liner notes
• Cecil Taylor's 1969 Paris recordings premiere officially for the very first time
• Michel Petrucciani recordings surfaced from the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz
• Petrucciani died young, making these rare live documents especially precious
• Terry Callier's 1967 solo guitar recordings came from the Earl of Old Town
• Roy Hargrove Quintet captured live and burning at Berne Jazz Festival 2000
• Buster Williams' debut Pinnacle gets an all-analog AAA reissue on Time Traveler
• This batch marks Feldman's 96th Record Store Day release across his career
• Feldman previews a Don Schlitten jazz photography coffee table book on Fantagraphics

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Photo by Zak Shelby-Szyszko

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Zakk Wylde opens up about Ozzy's final show, the 17 days that followed, Dimebag's unfinished recordings, and the making of Black Label Society's crushing new album Engines of Demolition.

Topics Include:

• Zakk runs on 14 pots of Valhalla coffee every single day.
• He was invited to Back to the Beginning well in advance.
• Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, and Ritchie Blackmore are mythical heroes to Zakk.
• No More Tears was rehearsed but Ozzy pulled it on the day.
• Ozzy was giddy meeting Axl Rose — couldn't believe it was happening.
• Zakk watched Sabbath's final set alongside Axl Rose and Sharon Osbourne.
• Just 17 days after the show, Ozzy passed away unexpectedly.
• They'd been texting memes and planning another record together right until the end.
• Zakk envisioned a global Back to the Beginning charity tour series.
• A sober Zakk and Ozzy watched their blasted crew destroy a Tokyo restaurant.
• Dimebag left hours of unfinished song ideas on tape for potential release.
• Playing Dime's solos means staying faithful — like Stevie Ray covering Hendrix.
• Zakk and Eddie Van Halen's amp, calling it life-altering history.
• Engines of Demolition was built across several years alongside the Pantera Celebration tour.
• Zakk confirms BLS, Zakk Sabbath, and more Pantera shows are all coming.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and David Glass share stories about Rozz Williams & Christian Death, the making of Only Theater of Pain, and completing his final recorded wish with the new song Flowers.

Tickets for April 18 movie premiere and music reunion event

Topics Include:

• Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and David Glass remember Rozz Williams together.
• Rozz described as mysterious, enigmatic, and a deeply misunderstood artist.
• Rozz excelled across poetry, music, visual art, and assemblage work.
• He scratched images into 8mm film cells as experimental art.
• Rozz was a chameleon, constantly reinventing his look and sound.
• Christian Death began as a punk band before Rikk joined.
• Rikk's arrival catapulted Rozz's darker, more mystical artistic vision.
• Much of Only Theater of Pain was created spontaneously in-studio.
• Rozz unveiled his poetry to the band for the first time recording.
• A violent storm set an eerie tone during the vocal sessions.
• Rozz recorded in a candlelit booth — a truly otherworldly performance.
• The vocal track was lost; nobody could explain why it didn't record.
• The released vocals paled against what was actually performed that night.
• The entire album artwork and layout was hand-drawn by Rozz himself.
• Lisa Fancher of Frontier financed the record; the band were teenagers.
• Catastrophe Ballet launched in Europe first; Death Wish emerged mysteriously unauthorised.
• Only Theater of Pain's influence grew gradually, now considered truly seminal.
• Rozz's final wish was a full-band studio recording of Flowers.
• Rikk, James, and David completed Flowers separately, finding it deeply emotional.
• Romeo's Distress documentary premieres April 18th with a live reunion performance.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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Documentary producer & record collector Jeanne Elfant Festa has made films about The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Pavarotti, Bee Gees and more. Today she discusses her latest movie on Billy Preston — revealing rare archive footage, Olivia Harrison's key role, and Eric Clapton's emotional on-camera tribute and a lot more.

Check outtrailer and documentary screenings here

Topics Include:

• Jeanne lost her entire vinyl collection in the Palisades fire.
• Her family and animals all escaped the fire safely.
• A custom-built, mathematically designed sound room housed the collection.
• Rebuilding takes time — the turntable alone hasn't been replaced yet.
• Music passion began with her Brooklyn-raised parents' rich jazz collection.
• Her dad snuck into the Apollo Theater via the fire escape.
• He carried a saxophone, jamming with musicians at the loading dock.
• The family soundtrack: Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker.
• Jeanne and her dad bonded over Bruce Springsteen's sax player.
• Her father did house calls exclusively for one patient — Miles Davis.
• Storytelling instincts came from parents who loved plays, movies, and performance.
• Her own record collection ranged from Rage Against the Machine to Supertramp.
• Vinyl's tactile magic: liner notes, textures, and each album's unique smell.
• Albums are movies — side one plays straight through, no skipping.
• Documentary filmmaking is passion-driven, not a path to big money.
• The Foo Fighters doc came from being in the right place.
• Business partner Nigel Sinclair's credits include Bob Dylan and George Harrison docs.
• Billy Preston first entered her life through her parents' living room stereo.
• Filming subjects who've passed requires diaries, archives, and extraordinary research teams.
• A granddaughter's undeveloped home movies transformed the Beach Boys documentary entirely.
• A stranger's undeveloped Beatles footage, found under a childhood bed, changed everything.
• Olivia Harrison unlocked archive footage and connected the team to Ringo and Clapton.
• Eric Clapton opened up in a way rarely seen on camera.
• Documentary ethics: three sources minimum, no gossip, no stunt casting ever.
• The Billy Preston film explores forgiveness, contradiction, and the full human condition.

Extended and High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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