Caropop

I spoke with Grant Achatz, one of the world's most talented, creative and thoughtful chefs, as his 50th birthday and his Chicago restaurant Alinea's 19th anniversary approached. He has received just about every possible accolade for a chef, including multiple James Beard awards, Alinea being named the country's best restaurant, and three Michelin stars being awarded to Alinea every year since 2011. Early in this spectacular run, he successfully fought stage 4 cancer of the tongue through innovative treatments at the University of Chicago. Yet despite all he has accomplished and been through, including the pandemic-time transition of Alinea to a carryout restaurant, he keeps restlessly pushing forward. What might the next culinary revolution look like, and how can he be at its forefront? Why does he wish Alinea were more like a rock band?

Madeleine Peyroux started her career busking on the streets of Paris and earned comparisons to such heroes as Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith as she broke through with the 2004 album Careless Love. Twenty years later, she is soon to release her ninth studio album, Let’s Walk, for which she, for the first time, co-wrote all of the songs. In this no-holding-back conversation, she reflects on her beginnings (the 1939 movie musical Gulliver’s Travels plays a role), her creative growth and her struggles to process the current state of our world artistically and otherwise. How does she feel about the only job she's ever had? Is she cool with turning 50 this month? How does she co-write? Does she feel compelled to communicate empathy now? Is she part of the problem or solution?

Bruce Botnick engineered the first five Doors studio albums and produced the last one that featured Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman. He also co-produced Forever Changes, the brilliant 1967 album from Doors’ L.A. contemporaries Love, and engineered some of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Botnick continues working on Doors releases, including Rhino’s new Record Store Day entry Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968. He tells of how these performances, which feature the Doors at peak power, were recorded and recently discovered. He also reflects on the band’s dynamic, the reason the album version of "Light My Fire" is slow and flat, what prompted producer Paul Rothchild to leave the L.A. Woman sessions and the contrasting approach that Botnick took on the project. What was it like working with such unpredictable geniuses as Morrison, Arthur Lee (Love) and Brian Wilson?

Many Caropop guests are looking back on amazing careers, but Niko Kapetan of Friko is on the cusp of one. His Chicago-based band’s debut album, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, has been garnering raves and airplay while its live shows wow audiences with their intense energy and dynamism. Kapetan’s voice and songs—and the band, anchored by his Evanston high school classmate Bailey Minzenberger on drums—cover a broad musical and emotional range: delicate and fragile one moment, fierce and roaring the next. Having returned from a whirlwind South by Southwest trip (with Lollapalooza to follow this summer), Kapetan recalls how he started learning instruments, forming bands and developing his unique approach to songwriting before a major indie label, ATO, liked what it heard and signed Friko. He's got a lot going on. Where do they go from here?

Bruce Sudano had co-written the Tommy James & the Shondells 1969 hit “Ball of Fire” and played keyboards in the bands Alive ‘N Kickin’ and Brooklyn Dreams by the time he met Donna Summer. The two of them clicked professionally and personally and soon were co-writing the smash title track and other songs for Summer’s blockbuster 1979 album, Bad Girls. They also co-wrote Dolly Parton’s #1 country hit “Starting Over Again,” based on his parents, and continued collaborating throughout a marriage that lasted until her 2012 death from lung cancer. Since then, he has rebooted his own career, recording several albums, including the new Talkin’ Ugly Truth, Tellin’ Pretty Lies. Sudano takes us from his mentorship with Tommy James through his life with arguably the disco era’s greatest artist, for whom he and his daughters recently accepted a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. Toot-toot! Beep-beep! (Photo by Amy Waters)

Cicely Balston won the 2023 Music Producer’s Guild’s Mastering Engineer of the Year Award, and when you hear the music she has mastered—and the smart, easygoing way she discusses it—you understand why. Working out of AIR Studios in London, Balston has applied her talents to the doom-punk band Witch Fever and David Bowie’s back catalog, as well as some dynamite-sounding hip-hop reissues for the Vinyl Me, Please record club, including Eric B. & Rakim’s Don’t Sweat the Technique, Gravediggaz’s 6 Feet Deep, and Madlib’s Shades of Blue. How did this young British woman become an ace hip-hop masterer, and do those albums require a specific skill set? Are people too fixated on analog vs. digital? How did she become a mastering engineer anyway, and what's the most commonly misunderstood aspect of what she does? (Photo by Silvia Gin.)

If you love music, you have loved recordings mastered by Greg Calbi. Ever hear that Bruce Springsteen album Born To Run? He mastered that and has thoughts about how it turned out. He also tells of working with, among others, John Lennon, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson and Todd Rundgren. This legendary engineer has mastered classic albums by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Supertramp, R.E.M., Paul Simon and the Strokes. More recently he won a Grammy for his work with Kacey Musgraves and mastered new albums by the Smile and MGMT. He shares decades’ worth of insights into how he makes great music sound even better. What’s his mastering philosophy? How does he give digital recordings the warmth of analog? And when did he get chills upon realizing he was one of the first people to hear a classic album? (Photo by Andrew Lipovsky.)

Slim Jim Phantom is the Stray Cats’ drummer, host of “Slim Jim’s Rockabilly Raveup” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage and a cool-cat storyteller. He takes us through the Stray Cats’ formation, with bassist and elementary school classmate Lee Rocker and singer-guitarist Brian Setzer, and their early days as a “rockabilly bar band” playing New York clubs like CBGB before they relocated to London. The band had recorded two British albums by the time a U.S. label released the compilation Built for Speed, which, powered by the hit singles “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” turned the Stray Cats into unlikely early ’80s stars. Why did the band split after the follow-up album—and reunite after solo projects? What’s happening with the Stray Cats now? And who is on Phantom’s rockabilly Mount Rushmore?

That tap-tap, tap-tap at the beginning of “Blister in the Sun” may be one of rock’s most air-drummed fills, and former Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo explains how the song's indelible intro came to be. He shares many more stories about this Milwaukee band, including the name’s origin, the invention of his tranceaphone and the jaw-dropping tale of how the Pretenders discovered Violent Femmes busking outside the theater and invited the trio to open for them that night. Violent Femmes’ instant-classic self-titled debut sounded like nothing else, the third album was produced by Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, and after five studio albums, DeLorenzo had had enough. He tells of his ongoing acting career that included a tryout for Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, his reaction to the "Blister" Wendy's ad and his up-and-down relationship with his former bandmates.

As Rhino Records’ senior director for A&R, Patrick Milligan oversees ambitious packages such as the Joni Mitchell archival series; deluxe releases from Warner Music Group artists such as the Ramones, the Doors and Crosby, Stills & Nash; and the recently launched, limited-edition High Fidelity vinyl series. That last one, which features audiophile pressings mastered by recurrent Caropop guest Kevin Gray, has included acclaimed versions of the Cars’ debut album, which sold out, and Television’s Marquee Moon, which Television guitarist Richard Lloyd discussed here last week. Milligan shares his reaction to the praise and pushback these releases receive, explains the selection process of the High Fidelity titles, previews upcoming albums, and tells of how the company and business have changed during his two stints at Rhino. Is his job a crate-diggers’ dream?

If you ranked rock's great two-guitar tandems, Television's Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine would be at or near the top. Verlaine was the poetic songwriter, idiosyncratic singer and improvisatory guitarist, but Television would not have been Television without Lloyd’s dazzling counterpunches and composed solos that take melodic leaps no one could anticipate. Television launched the mid-1970s art-punk scene at the grungy East Village club CBGB and produced arguably the greatest album from that era, Marquee Moon. How did the band capture such combustible magic in songs like “See No Evil” and the epic title track? Why did Television make only two more studio albums, and why was Lloyd dissatisfied with each? Why did Jimi Hendrix punch out a teenage Lloyd? What impact did drugs and alcohol have on Lloyd’? How did he wind up making more great music with Matthew Sweet? And how did he feel when Television moved on without him? Was he in touch with Verlaine before the Television leader died a year ago?

Cheers ended its 11-year TV run in 1993, yet on the Emmy Awards in January, George Wendt showed up as his old character, Norm, and drew laughs and, yes, cheers. Even 31 years later, everybody knows his name. Wendt discusses his beginnings at Chicago’s Second City, including his firing and rehiring there. How did that ensemble work prepare him for Cheers? How did the series’ energy change when Kirstie Alley replaced Shelley Long? Was the Saturday Night Live episode he co-hosted with Francis Ford Coppola the weirdest one ever? How did he wind up in those “Da Bears” sketches and in Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video? How did he enjoy his roast hosted by his nephew, Jason Sudeikis? Pull up a stool and grab a beer, because Wendt has stories to tell.

Brendan Canty’s work in Fugazi established him as one of rock’s great drummers, but this thoughtful, multitalented artist has done much more than that. Rooted in Washington, D.C., Canty played with the hardcore bands Deadline, Rites of Spring, Happy Go Licky and One Last Wish before Fugazi, Deathfix afterward, and he currently is stretching out his jazz-punk chops in the instrumental trio Messthetics. He’s also a soundtrack composer and filmmaker, having directed documentaries featuring Eddie Vedder, Wilco and others. Here Canty takes us deep into the music, where exploration and improvisation bang up against structure. He tells the story of Fugazi, from the breakout song “Waiting Room” and intense touring through the band’s 2003 “indefinite hiatus.” And he explains how a big reunion would—or would not—jibe with Fugazi’s values.

Our Colin Moulding conversation picks up with XTC working in Woodstock, N.Y., on what would become one of their most beloved albums, Skylarking. Moulding appreciated that producer Todd Rundgren chose to include five of his songs, though the recording experience was a bit of a minefield. XTC built on its newfound momentum with Oranges & Lemons, a bright, lively album that features Moulding’s hit single “King for a Day.” Moulding continued to be a keen observer of everyday life, but financial issues plagued the making of Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star and precipitated Dave Gregory’s departure. Moulding reveals what prompted his final split from singer-songwriter Andy Partridge as well. Moulding has since reunited, briefly, with original XTC drummer Terry Chambers as TC&I, and he continues to make music in the band’s collective hometown of Swindon, England. Might the four of them ever share a stage, a studio or just a night out again?

Bassist Colin Moulding wrote, played on and sang some of the XTC’s greatest songs, including the breakthrough singles “Life Begins at the Hop” and “Making Plans for Nigel” plus “Ten Feet Tall,” “Generals and Majors,” “Runaways,” “Ball and Chain,” “Wonderland” … and those are just in the period covered in Pt. 1 of this fun, insightful conversation. Speaking from his home outside Swindon, England, Moulding tells of his musical beginnings; his and the band’s evolutionary leap when guitarist Dave Gregory joined for Drums and Wires; the weird vibes as Moulding, and not primary singer-songwriter Andy Partridge, was writing the band’s early hits; his reaction to the abrupt end of XTC’s touring days; the jaw-dropping moment when drummer Terry Chambers quit; the joyous psychedelic side project, the Dukes of Stratosphear; and that time David Gilmour asked him to replace Roger Waters in Pink Floyd.

Bassist Colin Moulding wrote, played on and sang some of the XTC’s greatest songs, including the breakthrough singles “Life Begins at the Hop” and “Making Plans for Nigel” plus “Ten Feet Tall,” “Generals and Majors,” “Runaways,” “Ball and Chain,” “Wonderland” … and those are just in the period covered in Pt. 1 of this fun, insightful conversation. Speaking from his home outside Swindon, England, Moulding tells of his musical beginnings; his and the band’s evolutionary leap when guitarist Dave Gregory joined for Drums and Wires; the weird vibes as Moulding, and not primary singer-songwriter Andy Partridge, was writing the band’s early hits; his reaction to the abrupt end of XTC’s touring days; the jaw-dropping moment when drummer Terry Chambers quit; the joyous psychedelic side project, the Dukes of Stratosphear; and that time David Gilmour asked him to replace Roger Waters in Pink Floyd.

It's time for our third early-year check-in with renowned mastering engineer Kevin Gray. In 2023 he was more in demand than ever; your jaw may drop when he reveals how many albums he mastered. Plus, he launched his own label, Cohearent Records, with an album he recorded in his home studio: saxophonist Kirsten Edkins’ Shapes & Sound. With Cohearent’s second release, jazz guitarist Anthony Wilson’s Hackensack West, imminent, Gray discusses mic placement, what he has learned as a label owner and whether he’ll shift more energy in that direction. He also details his work on Rhino’s High Fidelity series (including his first encounter with Television’s Marquee Moon) as well as Blue Note’s Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series, Craft’s Original Jazz Classics and Jazz Dispensary releases and more from Jackpot Records and other labels.

Janet Beveridge Bean drums, sings and writes in the great, muscular Chicago guitar band Eleventh Dream Day, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. She also sings, writes and plays guitar in the off-kilter-beautiful Freakwater, her country-folk group with singer Catherine Irwin that released its debut album in 1989. Those bands have 25 albums between them, yet Beveridge Bean, who calls herself “musically illiterate,” has applied her ever-restless artistic spirit to many other projects as well. She takes us inside the dynamics of her various collaborations, tells of how Eleventh Dream Day maintained its singular vision while working with and without major labels, and presents a life lived at peak creativity. (Photo by Iwona Biedermann.)

Joe Bonamassa, who opened for B.B. King at age 12, was a cocky 26-year-old blues-rock guitar virtuoso when he made his breakthrough third album, Blues Deluxe, in 2003—and an established 46-year-old when he released Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 in the fall. In a thoughtful conversation, Bonamassa reflects on all that has happened in between, how he has grown as a musician, taken control of the business side of his career and launched his own label and foundation, both called Keeping the Blues Alive. He also weighs the impact of artificial intelligence on music. Would the blues be the hardest kind of music for robots to fake? (Photo by Adam Kennedy)

Andrew Sandoval is a musician, producer, author, publisher, reissue compiler, liner notes writer, video director, fanzine creator, record collector extraordinaire and more. Not only did he write and publish the gorgeous The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story, but he also oversaw many of that band’s reissues and produced their shows—and still works with Micky Dolenz. Ray Davies requested that he oversee recent Kinks reissues, and he has performed in Dave Davies’ band, led musicians at the Wild Honey Foundation’s Nuggets concert and released his own albums. His many compilations for Rhino Records include the Grammy-nominated Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968) and Elvis Costello’s reissues campaign. In an inspiring entrepreneurial tale, Sandoval has created a life around the music that he loves.