Author Archives: Evan Toth

If you love vinyl, there’s only one place to be this weekend (9/26–10/1) and that is Haarlem, Netherlands.

There won’t be just one gathering dedicated to vinyl either: the town will host a conference and a festival who have made the wise decision to co-locate in the capital of North Holland. A few months ago on this program we spoke with Larry Jaffee and Bryan Ekus about the Making Vinyl conference that took place last spring in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During that conversation, they gave us a sneak peek at what to expect this week in the Netherlands as they set up shop to hold a European conference there.

But, they won’t be alone. Following the conclusion of the Making Vinyl conference will be the beginning of the Haarlem Vinyl Festival which takes place during the second half of the weekend and which is billed as, “the world’s first multi-day festival entirely dedicated to vinyl culture.” One of the architects of the event is Anouk Rijnders (RHINEJERS) who is the sales manager at the Netherlands record pressing plant, Record Industry.

After working as a producer and director in the television and advertising industry, Anouk joined the Record Industry vinyl pressing plant in 2000. In addition to her role as a Sales Manager for the company, she has produced two books, Passion For Vinyl and its sequel, Passion For Vinyl Part II and will debut Part III this weekend. Anouk is also the Project Manager of Artone Studio which is Record Industries’ brand new mastering room and studio, offering direct-to-disc recording amongst other services.

Read More »

Music is best when taken internationally. It’s easy to get looped into all of the wonderful North American offerings that are available to we listeners, but sometimes you’ve got to take the night flight to locations unknown. To close your eyes and wake up in a new culture with unfamiliar languages and customs. Our relationship with music should be an adventurous journey, it should be the tonic that brings people of all nationalities together, it’s a universal language; maybe I’m getting too romantic, but in times like these we could certainly benefit from sharing some favorite records and engaging in some moonlight dancing with strangers.

Who else to take us on this multicultural, international trip but Sabina Sciubba. It doesn’t get more international than her. Sabina was born in Rome, however, she was raised in Germany and France before ending up, of course, in the Big Apple where she connected with a group of other adventurously like-minded musicians who eventually formed what would become known as the Grammy-nominated group, Brazilian Girls. While the group is on hiatus, Sabina has released three excellent solo albums—the latest is titled, Sleeping Dragon which features her unique blend of language (she speaks six of them) and an eclectic array of music to interest any music lover’s senses.

We talk about the new record, her collaboration with Dhani Harrison, and she gives us a glimpse into her artistic process. We also discuss her upcoming American shows—her first ones in the states in four years. She’ll be in New York City at Nublu on September 23 and those of you on the west coast can catch her at Zebulon in Los Angeles, CA on September 27. At both shows, she’ll be performing her solo music, tunes from the new album, and—for the first time—some of your Brazilian Girls favorites. So, check to see how many miles you’ve got on your credit card, and dust off your passport; let’s join Sabina in Italia and let her take us on a musical adventure.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Go ahead and judge that book by its cover! This maneuver often gets a bad rap, but it’s something we are all programmed to do.

One of the ways we appreciate the good things in life is through our proclivities for certain aesthetic environments. Interestly, music is no exception. As much as we use our ears as auditory devices—and as much as we like to tell ourselves we don’t—we are most certainly impacted by the visuals provided to us by the music industry. Whether we like it, or not, it’s a part of the package. What would our favorite albums of the ’70s look like without the graphic design of Hipgnosis? The modernist Blue Note graphic designs of Reid Miles coupled with the photography of Francis Wolff are as iconic as the sonic touch of Rudy Van Gelder’s engineering style. Can you imagine a Deutsche Grammophon album without its ornate cartouche yellow banner? How has the photography of Annie Leibovitz impacted your connection with the artists?

If you’re serious about delving into your music collection thoroughly, the pictures, graphic design, and words (words just like these words that you’re reading at The Vinyl District) are necessary parts of the music appreciator’s toolkit. In the digital age, however, where does that leave the good old magazine? Things aren’t what they used to be in the print industry, but a small resurgence of periodicals dedicated to music and vinyl exists because there’s nothing quite like seeing pictures of stuff: a musician’s face while they let loose on stage, or perhaps a few moody shots of your favorite artist during the recording process. Our experience with music is uplifted and underscored even more when those images are coupled with thoughtfully analytical words from excellent writers.

Have you ever subscribed to Creem? The fabled music rag was originally published from 1969 to 1989 with a focus on the wilder side of rock and roll. Editor and writer David Marsh even allegedly coined the phrase “punk rock” in a 1971 issue of Creem. The magazine soon became known as the edgy, sarcastic—and fun—voice on the music magazine racks and boasted the second largest circulation of all music magazines (of course, you know who came in first). Of note, Creem’s pages hosted many of the world’s best music writers of all time: Lester Bangs, David Marsh, Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau, to name but a few. The magazine even boasted its own bespoke mascot! Robert Crumb created “Boy Howdy” whose likeness was emblazoned upon the fictitious beer cans that a myriad of rockstars modeled with in Creem’s pages.

Read More »

Some musicians get lucky enough to find a career, once; maybe even twice. But if a musician is able to have several different careers in the brutal music business over the course of their lives, it’s not about luck; it’s about talent.

Peter Case has plenty of talent: he’s made his name as a great songwriter and vocalist and was also a part of the primordial punk/new wave band, The Nerves as well as The Plimsouls. Over the course of his half-century career, he’s released fifteen solo albums, and just released number 16. It’s called Doctor Moan and it finds Case leaning his usual acoustic guitar against the wall in favor of the piano he spent an inordinate amount of time with during the pandemic. Go ahead, he won’t mind if you call it Peter Case’s piano record.

Case and I, of course, talk about the new record and the process of recording it, but we also comb through his career and touch upon some of the thumbnails that he’s left behind on the map of his travels around the world he’s taken over the past 50 years. We also discuss the recent documentary that was produced about his life and his work called, Peter Case: A Million Miles Away. So tune in to learn how Peter Case crafted his Zelig-like persona in the music industry with a whole lot of hard work and time and, well, maybe just a little bit of luck.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Supporting a leader isn’t an easy job. The list of responsibilities is long—it’s necessary to pivot with that person, and go with the flow. One must have the ability to look a few yards ahead and anticipate what’s coming just around the corner. If you’ve ever watched a late night television show, watch—or, maybe more appropriately, listen—to the bandleader: the way the music punctuates special moments, how the occasional comments from the host can be countered by a bandleader who is connected and paying attention to the unexpected ebbs and flows that are an integral part of late night television.

Louis Cato may be only beginning his second year as bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but he’s ready to find the spotlight on center-stage, musically, at least. In addition to his work on the Late Show, Cato is a Grammy-nominated and internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter. He has worked with an array of artists including Bobby McFerrin, Snarky Puppy, Jon Batiste, Q-Tip, A Tribe Called Quest and more. This year he released his newest album titled, Reflections.

So, make a cup of coffee because Louis and I are going to stay up late discussing his new album, the road that led him to late night, and the tricks of the trade involved in supporting an acclaimed talk-show host with one of the most important parts of any late-night program: the music.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

So what if it’s a nickname? When people refer to you by the name Vinyl, there’s a reason why. Of course, it also happens to rhyme with this week’s guest’s legal nam—which is Lionel—and you’ll find out the origin of this nomenclature by just staying tuned in.

Lionel (Vinyl) Williams is a California based musician who has created an impressive body of psychedelic work, and he has just released his seventh album, Aeterna. Like his other albums, this one explores the inner (or, maybe outer) reaches of his auditorily psychedelic vision which stretches quite far, and that shouldn’t be surprising, because he’s got some excellent familial genes to rely on: his parents were both musicians and his grandfather also happens to be John Williams. Yes, that John Williams.

So, join me and Vinyl as we talk about musical subgenres, the influence he’s received from his musical family, how he approaches the recording process, and his lifelong trip of musical exploration and experimentation.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

As large as it seems, the entertainment world is really pretty small. While many folks make the joke about Kevin Bacon and his six degrees of separation from anyone else in the industry, it’s quite possible because everyone in the performing arts world is really only a few steps away from anybody else.

I had my own experience with this phenomenon just a few months ago when I hosted bassist Marty Isenberg on this program to discuss his recently released album featuring jazz covers of music from Wes Anderson films. As I enjoyed his record, I noticed the vocalist who was featured on many of the tracks and whose voice served to tie the project together: Sami Stevens. So, imagine my delight when I learned that she was releasing her first full-length album, Morning, and that she would be available to speak with me on this very podcast! Coincidence, or six degrees of entertainment separation? Whatever it was that led us here, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you accept the invite to learn more about this talented performer and her new work.

Morning is an ambitious first album from any performer, and on this episode you’ll hear Sami explain the process of putting it together, but you’ll also learn more about where she’s come from and, of course, where she’s planning to go. While you’re listening, you might check your social media feeds to learn just how many degrees separate you from Sami Stevens. It’s probably fewer than you think.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

There are some musical groups and performers whose music is as ubiquitous as having the lights on in a dark room, or water streaming from a kitchen faucet. Some music is more than just songs, it’s as though the words, phrases and messages are ingrained into our psyche. This might not even have anything to do with whether we like the music, or not! It’s just always there: on the radio, of course, but also in echoing hotel lobbies, in the backseat of cramped taxi cabs, in sprawling, neverending mall hallways, and yes—even the occasional elevator ride. Wherever music is, certain songs can be found.

Since 1995, no matter where you’ve gone in the world, at some point, the music of the Goo Goo Dolls has followed you around. You know the choruses and those acoustic guitar riffs almost as intimately as some of their hardcore fans do! To-date, the band has sold over 15 million records worldwide, garnered four GRAMMY® Award nominations, and they have produced nearly a dozen platinum and gold singles combined, and seized a page in the history books by achieving 16 number one and Top 10 hits. It doesn’t matter if it’s “Name,” “Long Way Down,” “Iris,” “Slide,” or “Black Balloon” those songs are our companions, and the lyrics of John Rzeznik are inspiring, especially in the right set of circumstances. The themes of resilience in the face of love, loss, and being lost strike a familiar chord with anyone who stops to listen and soak up the deeper notions that are inside of each song.

Rzeznik joins me on this episode to talk about the band’s new song, “Run All Night,” the band’s recent collaboration with O.A.R on Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down,” and the nationwide tour that they are currently on that will see them performing career-spanning sets at major amphitheaters across the country. So, maybe the next time you’re feeling a little low, a little bit lost, I’ll bet that—wherever you may find yourself—if you bend your ear in the right direction, you might hear John Rzeznik singing a song about staying brave and believing in yourself in the midst of life’s inevitable changes, and that’s a comfort that is much more than just listening to a good song.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Gary Kemp cut his teeth as a band member of the immensely popular 1980s new romantic, synth-pop band, Spandau Ballet. As their chief composer, his participation in the group was fundamental to its success; Kemp is responsible for writing a song that you’ve heard many times—in fact, BMI has awarded it one of the most played songs in American history with 5 million airplays and counting: the 1983 mega-super-hit, “True.”

Kemp released his first solo album Little Bruises in 1995, but now he’s come back again with his first new album in 25 years. It’s called INSOLO and demonstrates his formidable and refined composition chops coupled with his evocative voice. The album was crafted during the pandemic and features some special guests like Queen’s Roger Taylor.

Spandau Ballet is currently on hiatus, but that hasn’t slowed down Kemp. In addition to this new record and his stage and screen acting gigs, he also tackles guitar and vocal duties in Nick Mason’s, Saucerful of Secrets band which performs the early music of Pink Floyd. Kemp also co-hosts the popular music interview podcast The Rockonteurs with Guy Pratt.

Join us as we discuss his clear insights into how he’s approached writing the songs on this new album, the odds of a Spandau Ballet reunion, and to see if he knows my cousin Terry who has been a Spandau Ballet superfan since the early days!

Everything has its time and place, while it’s wonderful to enjoy a small indie band who created a landmark recording on the laptop in their bedroom, don’t discount the seasoned artist who enters the studio to create an expansive and polished masterwork. If you hope to enjoy an expertly executed, blockbuster production this year, Gary Kemp’s new album is the place to start listening.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

The Cold War was a time that those of a certain age will remember living through quite vividly, and it included a terrifyingly tangible fear of global nuclear warfare. The Soviet Union was simply seen as an evil empire and the media surrounding America during those years had no problem perpetuating that narrative.

In my case, during the 1980s, it was films like Rocky IV, Red Dawn, or even Spies Like Us that set the diplomatic tone of the time. However, by the early 1990’s, I’d acquired an unusual record titled, Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the Soviet Union. I certainly didn’t know what to expect, but I was surprised to discover that the music contained in the album’s grooves was edgy, exciting, and surprisingly contemporary and timeless; it was cool. The Russian bands featured on the album were Aquarium, Kino, Strannye Igry (Strange Games), and Alisa.

Through glasnost and perestroika reforms this record remained in my collection. With the fall of the Soviet Union our Russian relations thawed through the years as they embraced a type of capitalistic culture that seemed somewhat familiar to us Americans. Cold War paranoia, the KGB, wiretaps, and global nuclear warfare gradually faded away.

Recently, however, our collective relationship with Russia has again changed and not for the better. But what an interesting time to learn that the catalyst for the Red Wave album that had been in my collection for so many years has recently released a book, Red Wave: An American in the Soviet Music Underground, detailing her story of how—right in the thick of the Cold War—she fell in love with the underground music and culture of the Soviet Union and how she was determined to bring their sounds to the United States and beyond.

Read More »

Once one delves far enough into a hobby or an interest, they become curious about its inner workings. When it comes to records, you might enjoy those discs on a certain level before you start wondering how music comes from those grooves at all. Who is responsible for producing this material? How are the pressing machines maintained? How does the industry make all of this stuff?

Enter Larry Jaffee and Bryan Ekus—both of whom wear many hats, but who oversee, and co-created—the Making Vinyl conference which is an event bringing together industry professionals, enthusiasts, and experts from the vinyl record manufacturing and music industries. The popular conference serves as a platform for sharing knowledge, networking, and discussing the resurgence and future of vinyl records. The “Making Vinyl” conference continues to be a must-attend event for anyone with an interest in learning more about the nitty gritty of the vinyl trade. Additionally, Larry is an author and professor who literally wrote the book on Record Store Day, Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century. So, of course we discuss the current happenings at RSD.

If you love records, then there is plenty of information to enjoy in this episode. It’s an opportunity to not just enjoy records from afar, but to begin to scratch the surface in appreciating the hard work and back-end of an industry that grows bigger each day. It’s a chance to investigate and uncover some of the intangibles that make vinyl so darn fun.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Artificial Intelligence is a hot button topic of the day. Everyone wonders where the A.I. rabbit hole will lead us, and one of those areas of conversation involves music and media production. For years now, computers have been helping musicians to create their music and also to improve upon whatever it is that they’ve made. From autotune to sampled electronic versions of analog sounds, the digital recording landscape has gone too far to completely turn its back on music production in the 21st century. But, how can this relationship grow without us humans relying too much upon the tools available to us in our digital sheds?

Darren Burgos is doing his part to explore and demonstrate the synergistic connection between digital production and us old fashioned human beings. His recently released album, Connections focuses on electronic pop composition and synthesizers, but his work also ponders the complicated human relationships that live amongst the 0s and 1s. In addition to his work as a musician, Darren is also considered one of the world’s leading experts in Apple’s Logic Pro digital production software; because of this, Darren has taught thousands of new and established musicians how to produce music in the digital realm.

Darren and I discuss his latest release, but also the sometimes perplexing relationship that human beings have with technology; how even with all of our Luddite tendencies, humans have always had an innate and organic need to create and connect with technology. How this relates to music has yet to be fully envisioned, but Darren might be one of the more qualified folks on the planet to imagine what that future looks like. The digital music of the future might sound good, but will it sound human?

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Are there records in your collection that you love so much you might consider the possibility of never hearing them again? Such a concept is counterintuitive to a lover of music or sound. Records are made to be played, not hidden away like the dusty storage unit relics in the concluding scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark!

However, I’m sure that by scanning the items on our shelves, there are a few things—perhaps more than a few—that are only there for nostalgic reasons: that copy of our first Beatles 45 that is now scratched and written on; maybe the hastily scribbled Nick Lowe autograph from the early ’80s on an album jacket that’s seen much better days; or, perhaps when a special release hit the market, you had the foresight and clever collecting acumen to purchase a spare. You know, just in case.

Coins, comic books, and baseball cards have long inhabited the world of collectible grading and encapsulation, and if Rob Martinez from Audio Media Grading has his way, so will all physical media associated with sound production. Rob has recently partnered with DJ Steve Aoki to create a process to grade and encapsulate all types of different sound media: vinyl, cassette, CD, and—yes—even 8-track.

The other collectibles mentioned above all feature items that can be extremely lucrative and, of course, their value is reliant upon the condition the thing is in. But who is the ultimate judge of that? For those who aren’t familiar with the collectible grading and encapsulation world, it’s summed up in this way: a customer has an item they believe is of some value, they pay to send that item to a company that will then ascribe a grade to the item, and then the item is encapsulated in some form of thick, nearly impenetrable acrylic holder which is suitable for display. This is done to ensure that the collectible inside retains that grade, so long as the thing stays locked securely within the case.

Read More »

It’s a real luxury to sit for a while and chat with musicians who have been a part of your life for – well – all of your life. To actually speak with the people who made the sounds that have served as your life’s soundtrack, to ask those things you’ve always wondered about. Who gets to do that? For better, or worse, I’m one of the lucky son of a guns who is allowed to engage directly with many musicians whose work has impacted my life in one way or another for many years. I’m sure you all have some Police records in your collections; what would you ask those fellas if you had a moment of their time?

I asked Stewart Copeland about his newest musical endeavor, it’s called Police Deranged for Orchestra and it features a fresh take on many of the Police classics that you know and love, but they are infused with a new and exciting energy by this musically restless, 7 time Grammy award winning rock star and drumming great. He’s taking the show on the road and wants this new album to serve as a representation of what you might expect in the audience. He’s also completed a new coffee table book titled, Stewart Copeland’s Police Diaries which looks at the lean early years of the Police where Stewart was their drummer, but also their manager.

So, what would you ask Stewart Copeland if you had the chance to chat with him? Well, you’d probably ask questions that are different from mine, but that’s only because his work and music has impacted so many different people in so many different ways that we’d each have our own unique list of comments and questions to bring to him. The best part of speaking with Stewart, however, is listening to him respond! If you’ve ever caught a moment of his interviews, he is funny, candid, intellectual, and straightforward. So, pull up a drum throne; let’s savor the opportunity to speak with one of the greats!

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

One never knows what might end up in a songwriter’s sketchpad. It could be random musings about the state of the world, hazy memories about family members, or maybe even inspired creations from the works of other masters. A songwriter’s sketchpad is a diary of sorts for an artist, but can also serve to shed light upon the unconscious interests and influences of the artist themself.

Sam Blasucci recently released his first solo album titled, Off My Stars on Innovative Leisure Records. Listeners will discover a laid-back musical affair featuring Sam as he displays the pages of his metaphorical sketchbook. It’s an organic album featuring the opportunity for an intimate dialogue between listener and artist. Sam is good enough to take us through the journey of the newest album and explain what he had in mind.

We explore the influence that his Italian-American upbringing had and the familial roots that create a certain artistic security. We also discuss the work he’s creating in his other group Mapache, and talk about that most elusive musical instrument, the melodica. It’s one thing to turn the pages of an artist’s sketchbook with the hopes of catching a peek at what the creator was thinking, but it’s even better to have a guided tour from the artist himself. Luckily, Sam doesn’t mind narrating his creations.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.