The Sharp Notes with Evan Toth
The Sharp Notes is a conversation podcast exploring music, sound, and the craft behind the records we love. Host Evan Toth speaks with musicians, producers, and industry voices about the art of listening and the stories pressed into every groove.
Jude Warne Returns: America Paperback Release and the Story Behind Lowdown
We welcome back a familiar and always thoughtful voice in music criticism and biography, Jude Warne. With the recent paperback release of her acclaimed authorized biography America: The Band, and the arrival of her deep-dive study Lowdown: The Music of Boz Scaggs, Jude joins us at a moment when her work continues to expand its reach and sharpen its focus. We have spoken together a few times now, but the road never seems to double back. Each visit opens a new corridor into the music. She also happens to be the author of one of the most perceptive pieces...
Alan Light on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and His New Book "Don’t Stop" (Live at The Sharp Notes)
This episode is a little different, because what you’re about to hear was recorded live, in front of an audience, right here inside The Sharp Notes record store at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. You might catch the room in it: few laughs, knowing nods, and shoppers walking past our front window.Â
My guest is author and music journalist Alan Light. Over the years he’s written as a rock critic for Rolling Stone, served as editor-in-chief at Vibe and Spin and he’s a regular contributor to The New York Times. He’s also th...
Studio Confidential Preview: Sylvia Massy on Sessions, Sound, and Recording Secrets
This episode’s guest is one of those rare studio minds who makes the control room feel less like a workplace and more like a laboratory with excellent taste.
Sylvia Massy is a producer, mixer, and engineer whose credits stretch from punk grit to arena-scale rock and beyond. Her name is often spoken as she produced Tool’s Undertow, but her story doesn’t start with platinum plaques. It starts in the mid-’80s trenches, making compilations, working with punk bands, engineering metal records, and learning the kind of hard-won lessons you only get when the tape...
One Musician, Many Names: A Conversation with Lucien Fraipont (Robbing Millions / DUID)
Some conversations begin with music. This one begins with language. A little French. A little English. When this interview takes place, it's a late night in Brussels, where the streets are quiet, the restaurants are closing down, and Lucien Fraipont (fray-pon), who records and performs under the names Robbing Millions and DUID, is generous enough to stay awake a bit longer and talk about his multifaced career in music.
What follows is less an interview and more a map of how a musician becomes himself. How jazz training folds into electronic textures. How...
Larry Jaffee on Record Store Day, the Vinyl Revival, and the Future of Plant-Based Records
Welcome to The Sharp Notes Podcast. I’m Evan Toth, and this episode was recorded live in front of an audience at The Sharp Notes record store inside the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.
My guest is author, journalist, and vinyl-world lifer Larry Jaffee, a guy whose career has basically been one long field recording of the music business, from punk chaos to pressing plant logistics. Larry wrote Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century, the inside story of how a scrappy idea turned into th...
Stéphane Wrembel Translates Django Reinhardt in New Orleans
There are musicians who treat tradition like a museum, and then there are musicians who treat it like a passport. Stéphane Wrembel belongs firmly in the second category.
You may know his work from the soundtracks to Midnight in Paris or Vicky Cristina Barcelona, those melodies that drift in from another time but somehow land right in your lap. His newest release, Django New Orleans II: Hors-Série, leans into that same sensation. It’s a record that threads Django Reinhardt’s Jazz Manouche through the brass-soaked spirit of New Orleans, recorded with a nine-piece ensemble of som...
Doing It Yourself: Tamar Berk’s New Album ocd and the Long Road of Independence
Independence in music is usually described as freedom. In practice, it is a long sequence of decisions that can’t be outsourced. Writing the songs. Recording the tracks. Producing the record. Paying for the mistakes. Owning that outcome.
That path has shaped Tamar Berk’s career from the start. Working largely outside the industry’s infrastructure, she has built a body of work defined by personal control, emotional directness, and the pressure of doing it all yourself. Her new album ocd was released in late 2025 and it moves through looping thoughts, emotional unraveling, and the patterns that repeat...
Eternity’s Children Reconsidered: Steve Stanley on High Moon Records and the Art of the Reissue
For nearly three decades, Steve Stanley has been one of the quiet architects behind how we remember mid-century American pop. His work as a reissue producer and archivist has revived artists who slipped through the cracks of the industry machine, restoring not only their music but the cultural scaffolding around it. From Del-Fi to Rev-Ola to his own Now Sounds imprint, Stanley has built a body of work that treats forgotten pop not as nostalgia but as evidence: proof that the margins of the 1960s were sometimes more interesting than its center.
What distinguishes Stanley isn’t ju...
Tom “Grover” Biery Reframes Classic Albums for the Contemporary Listener
It’s a remarkable moment to be a record collector. Music lovers have never had more ways to hear their favorite albums in whatever format feels right: hi-res files, streaming on the move, the whole buffet. And yet, there’s a meaningful difference between a solid pressing and a pressing built to be the definitive document of an album. Audiophile labels have chased that ideal for decades: each working to deliver versions that honor the intent and the sound.
Plenty of listeners have caught on. If spending a little more means skipping the long hunt through used bins...
The Craft of Clarity: Bob Hazelwood and the Andover Audio Approach
There are people who make great sound feel less like a secret society and more like an open door. Bob Hazelwood is one of them. He is the Director of Engineering and Product Development at Andover Audio, and his career runs through many major players in the industry. He grew up in South Jersey, built his first amplifier at fifteen, and has been chasing better sound ever since. He loves working with his hands, he loves creating things that actually make life feel richer, and he has a deep belief that music shouldn’t require a technical translation guide.
...The Sound of a Better Education: Inside Kaufman Music Center with Anthony Mazzocchi | The Sharp Notes Podcast
Everyone agrees that music and the arts are essential — they make us smarter, more empathetic, more human. You’ll hear it in every school mission statement, every campaign speech, every conversation about what “really matters” for kids.
And yet, walk into most public schools and the first thing on the chopping block is still the music program. It’s as if we all nodded our heads in agreement and then quietly decided to spend the money somewhere else.
Our guest today, Anthony Mazzocchi, has built a career trying to change that equation. He’s a GRAMMY®-nomi...
Small Rooms, Big Stakes: One Night Live Fights to Keep Live Music Local and Alive
There’s a question that’s been circling the music world for a while now — and it’s only getting louder: how does a new artist actually get heard today?
Because if you look around, the industry that once thrived on risk and discovery now seems to cling to nostalgia like a life raft. Major labels and festival lineups read like a roll call of the same veterans — the safe bets, the proven draws — while entire generations of emerging voices wait at the edges, wondering where exactly the door went.
But out there, between the boardrooms a...
The House of Wax: Chad Kassem on Building a Vinyl Record Empire | The Sharp Notes Interview
This episode feels like a meeting across time — the past, present, and future of vinyl commerce sitting down for a conversation. On one side of the table, there’s Chad Kassem — the founder of Acoustic Sounds, Analogue Productions, and Quality Record Pressings — a man whose passion for high-fidelity sound and meticulous craftsmanship helped revive the vinyl industry when nearly everyone else was going digital. And on the other side, there’s me — a fella who just opened The Sharp Notes, a new brick-and-mortar record store in Paramus, New Jersey, and who’s still figuring out what it really takes to run a recor...
Put the Phone Down, Pick the Record Up: Discogs VP Jeffrey Smith on Dis/Connect | The Sharp Notes Interview
Be honest — when was the last time you listened to a record all the way through, without checking your phone? No notifications. No scrolling. No playlists on shuffle. Just… listening.
In a world that never stops pinging, Discogs — yes, the massive online music database and marketplace — is asking us to do something radical: to step away. On October 18th, they’re launching a global initiative called Dis/Connect, it’s a day that invites music lovers everywhere to unplug from devices, skip the stream, and spend a single day reconnec...
The Zombies Never Die: Colin Blunstone on the Resurrection of Odessey and Oracle in Mono | The Sharp Notes Interview
Few albums in the history of rock music have had a journey as unlikely—or as triumphant—as Odessey and Oracle. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1967 during the final months of the original Zombies, the record was released only after the band had already broken up. And yet, what emerged from that bittersweet moment was a British psych-pop masterpiece: an album that gave us “Time of the Season,” and later earned its place on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and today, it stands as a landmark of 1960s pop imagination.
This year...
From Toto to Thriller: Steve Porcaro on Music, Memory, and The Very Day | The Sharp Notes Interview
Few musicians have had as wide-ranging an impact on popular music as Steve Porcaro. As a founding member of Toto, his synthesizer work helped define an era—on hits like “Africa,” “Rosanna,” and “Hold the Line.” But his influence doesn’t stop there. Steve co-wrote “Human Nature,” one of the most enduring tracks on Michael Jackson’s Thriller, still the best-selling album of all time, and he became a go-to sound architect for legends from Quincy Jones to Don Henley. His textured, atmospheric programming on songs like “Boys of Summer” and “Dirty Laundry” set the sonic standard for a generation. Beyond the pop cha...
Keeping the Beat: Tito Puente Jr. on Legacy and Latin Rhythm | The Sharp Notes Interview
Tito Puente was more than a legend of Latin music, he was a cultural force who reached far beyond the Latino world. For those of us who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, his presence was everywhere. By the time of his passing in 2000, his loss resonated deeply, especially here in the New York City metro area, where his music had long been part of our region’s heartbeat.
His son, Tito Puente Jr., has embraced that legacy while shaping his own path. As you’ll hear, he doesn’t simply perform—though his live shows with his ban...
Luke Marzec Makes Something Good Out of Nothing | The Sharp Notes Podcast with Evan Toth
Meet Luke Marzec, a British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose music lives at the crossroads of soul, jazz, and modern storytelling. His new single, “Growing Up With You,” is a heartfelt reflection on the friendships that shape us — a theme that runs deeply through his latest album, Something Good Out of Nothing.
Luke studied classical and jazz at the Royal College of Music and Trinity Conservatoire, but his path has never been a straight academic line. He’s just as comfortable leading a stripped-down band in a small Devon venue as he is experimenting with synths or building...
The Return of Geoff Wilkinson: Us3’s Soundtrack For a New Era | The Sharp Notes Interview
In the 1990s, Us3 reshaped the global music landscape by fusing hip-hop and jazz in ways that felt both groundbreaking and a little bit inevitable. Their 1993 debut, Hand on the Torch, became Blue Note Records’ first platinum-selling album and introduced an entire generation to the possibilities of genre fusion. Yet, after a run of chart success and international touring, the project receded from the spotlight, and founder/producer Geoff Wilkinson stepped into other creative lanes.
After a decade-long hiatus beginning in 2014, Wilkinson has returned with Soundtrack—a striking reinvention that distances itself from Us3’s past vocal-driven record...
Anything Is Possible: Chris Stamey’s Soundtrack of Reverence and Reinvention | The Sharp Notes Interview
Chris Stamey has long been a quietly pivotal figure in American music. From co-founding the influential avant-pop band The dB’s and releasing early indie classics, to his work with Alex Chilton, Big Star’s Jody Stephens, and a wide array of sonic adventurers, his career has bridged the experimental and the melodic, the cerebral and the emotional.Â
With his latest album, Anything Is Possible, Stamey returns not to the past, but to the feelings that defined it, particularly the wonder and harmonic richness of AM radio pop from the late 1950s and early ’60s. Featuring collaborators like th...
Mocky vs. the Machine: Capturing the Sound of Humans in an Artificial Age | The Sharp Notes Interview
In a moment where algorithms increasingly shape what we hear, see, and feel, Mocky’s Music Will Explain offers something radically simple: the sound of human beings in a room, making music together. Known for his shape-shifting musical identity and wide-ranging collaborations, Mocky’s work has always blurred the lines between genre and geography. But on his new album, released via Stones Throw, he turns inward and local, recording in his Los Angeles garage with friends and neighbors, using a single microphone and an old tape recorder.
The result is intimate, communal, and defiantly analog—a record built...
Zev Feldman Digs into Bill Evans and Art Pepper and Continues the Quest for Hidden Jazz Treasures
The introduction most often associated with producer—and champion of unfairly unheard music—Zev Feldman, compares him to an archaeologist: the “Indiana Jones of jazz,” as The New Yorker wrote in 2023. Fittingly, Feldman’s occasional SiriusXM radio show is cleverly titled Jazz Detective. In a reissue landscape often focused on bringing listeners albums they may already own in triplicate, Zev shines his producer’s flashlight into unexplored corners of the archive: frequently unearthing recordings that may not have seen the light of day since they were first made.
We’re on an adventure in audiophile archeology, so let’s meet the...
The Long Gig: Charles “Wigg” Walker’s Life in Soul | The Sharp Notes Podcast
Charles “Wigg” Walker’s voice isn’t just soulful, it’s resilient. His decades-long journey through the unpredictable terrain of the music industry is one of grit, adaptability, and unwavering devotion to the craft. From singing on Nashville street corners as a teen to warming up crowds for––and being fined by––James Brown, to reinventing himself across continents and genres, Wigg never quit. Music didn’t always pay the bills––he drove vans, ran hot dog stands, and learned firsthand that making a life in show business is often about survival more than stardom.Â
In this candid conversation, Wigg...
Dennis Diken on the Legacy of the Smithereens, Vinyl, and the Lifeblood of Rock and Roll | The Sharp Notes Interview
For over four decades, Dennis Diken has embodied the enduring spirit of American rock and roll as the drummer and co-founder of The Smithereens. In this wide-ranging conversation, Diken reflects on the band’s legacy while underscoring the urgency and relevance of their music in 2025. As the industry shifts toward streaming and fragmented attention, Diken and his bandmates continue to value the full-album experience, recently reissuing 2011 on vinyl—a record originally created as both homage and evolution of their earlier work. Recorded with producer Don Dixon and at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium studio, the album offers a vivid snapshot of a g...
Cody Hanson on Building, Breaking, and Rebuilding Hinder | The Sharp Notes Interview
Being a rockstar might look effortless from the outside, but as Cody Hanson of Hinder makes clear, staying relevant in the music world takes far more than talent. In this revealing conversation, the drummer and co-founder of the multi-platinum band pulls back the curtain on the real work behind the music—from scrapping a full album that didn’t feel honest, to reigniting the band’s passion with the song that would become their seventh studio album, Bring Me Back to Life.
What’s striking isn’t just Hanson’s musical role, but his deep involvement in every aspect...
Jenny Owen Youngs on Revisiting "Avalanche", Buffering the Vampire Slayer, Collaboration, and the Beauty of Imperfection | The Sharp Notes Interview
Singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs has never been one to shy away from transformation. In revisiting Avalanche for its deluxe edition, she offers listeners not just a deeper look at the record but a fuller portrait of herself: one that is shaped by collaboration, reinvention, and a willingness to let imperfections breathe. For Youngs, songs aren’t just crafted; they’re lived in, layered, and continually reinterpreted. The deluxe edition reflects this ethos, blending intimate demos, reimaginings, and remixes that speak to a creative process rooted as much in community as in craft.
What emerges in conversation with Youn...
From the Garage to Abbey Road: Russell Marsden from Band of Skulls Reflects on 15 Years of Sound | The Sharp Notes Interview
In an era when the term "rock band" can feel like a nostalgic nod to a fading archetype, Band of Skulls has always stood as the real deal: gritty, authentic, and unrelentingly driven. With their forthcoming retrospective box set Cold Fame, frontman Russell Marsden digs deep into the band’s archives to illuminate the long, winding, and often unpredictable road that led to their breakout debut Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. In our conversation, Marsden reflects not only on the music but on the memories, the missteps, and the near-mystical moments that have defined their journey.
More th...
Wake the Dead and Stir the Soul | The Sharp Notes Interview with Chuck Prophet
When Chuck Prophet found himself lingering around after a gig in San Francisco, his band still buzzing from a sold-out set, he wasn’t expecting to stumble into a musical revelation. But as the club's DJ cued up a needle-drop on a weathered vinyl slab of cumbia, and the bass notes spilled through the subs, Prophet experienced something rare and electric. It was an atmosphere alive with rhythm, with movement, with the kind of communal joy that doesn’t require translation. That night planted a musical seed. As the patrons of the Mission District took to the floor, so too...
Steve Bardwil Trades the Boardroom for the Bandstand
After decades navigating the high-stakes world of Hollywood as Chief Counsel for Walt Disney Studios, Steve Bardwil has traded legal briefs for guitar riffs. His recent leap into full-time musicianship culminates in the release of Nothing But Time, a deeply personal and collaboratively rich album produced by the legendary Joe Chiccarelli. What began as a lifelong side-passion has now become the central focus of a second act that blends Bardwil’s storytelling instincts with a joyful, rootsy rock sensibility.
In this candid conversation, Bardwil discusses the leap from boardrooms to bandstands, detailing his journey from advising Marvel an...
Author Jude Warne Gets "Lowdown" in New Book About Boz Scaggs
Few writers can translate the sound of an album into a story with the grace and acuity of Jude Warne. Known for her deep dives into the lives of musical icons, Warne returns with her second music biography—this time turning her focus to the ever-evolving Boz Scaggs, titled Lowdown: The Music of Boz Scaggs. Her previous book on the band America set a high bar for weaving together scholarly research with a vivid narrative, and Jude raises it here as well. In both works, Warne’s dedication to craft is evident—not only in her encyclopedic knowledge but in the...
How Sons of Silver Built Runaway Emotions | The Sharp Notes Interview
Sons of Silver’s latest release, Runaway Emotions, reflects a band committed to creative collaboration and thematic depth. Fronted by lead vocalist and songwriter Pete Argyropoulos, the group includes seasoned musicians each bringing years of experience across different corners of the rock world. The album builds on their past work with a focus on strong ensemble playing and lyrical content that draws from both personal and social undercurrents.
In this interview, bassist Adam Kury (the current bass player with Candlebox) and drummer Marc Slutsky (Adam Ant's touring drummer) share their perspectives on the album’s development and the...
The Illusions and Realities of Daylight Robbery's Third Island Suite with Robert Waite and Nick Marks | The Sharp Notes Interview
Some of our most profound conversations often happen without words, music becomes the ultimate language — capable of revealing and transforming our perceptions, maybe even challenging them. Today, we're diving into just such a conversation with two artists whose latest musical collaboration speaks volumes: British jazz producer Robert Waite (known professionally as Daylight Robbery) and New York-based pianist Nick Marks. Their new project, Third Island Suite bridges the luminous traditions of Spiritual Jazz, the electric momentum of Fusion, and the lyrical pulse of Hip-Hop, forming a rich and unpredictable dialogue between sound and spirit.
Following the success of Da...
William Hooker Continues Proving That the Fringe Is Still the Center | The Sharp Notes Interview
William Hooker has spent decades making music on his own terms—loud, unflinching, and fully independent. A drummer, composer, poet and more with over 70 recordings as a bandleader, Hooker is a fixture of New York’s experimental underground, shaped by the Loft Jazz scene of the 1970s and carried forward through venues like CBGB, the Knitting Factory, and Roulette. His latest record, Jubilation, recorded live at Roulette in Brooklyn, is another chapter in a career defined by pushing boundaries, building community, and resisting easy categorization.Â
The following conversation with William digs into both the record and the minds...
Gliders Over Hollywood: Paul Rappaport's New Book Explains His Role During Rock’s Golden Age and Why the Future Needs Its Past
Let’s face it—if the music industry were a spaceship, right now it might be sputtering through the void, looking for a little more rocket fuel. Algorithms are everywhere, attention spans are short, and too often, passion plays second fiddle to data. But every once in a while, someone shows up to remind us of what the industry used to be—wild, inspired, and driven by larger-than-life personalities who weren’t afraid to bet big and be bold.
Enter Paul Rappaport, or just “Rap” if you were lucky enough to know him during the golden age o...
Hitting You With His Best Shot: Eddie Schwartz on Risk, Reinvention, and the Art of a Well-Crafted Song
Taking a shot, a risk, a gamble—whether in life, in love, or in art—requires a particular blend of courage, timing, and craft. Few folks understand that better than Eddie Schwartz, the Canadian musician and songwriter whose work has left a lasting imprint on popular music. Best known for penning Pat Benatar’s iconic “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Schwartz has built a career on moments when he stepped forward, took creative chances, and delivered songs that struck a chord with millions.
After launching his career as a solo artist in the early 1980s with albums lik...
Catherine Vericolli Resurrects the Funk: Org Music, Westbound Records, and the Pursuit of Perfecting the Imperfect
Teamwork - as they say - makes the dream work. Over the last several years, Org Music has been quietly amassing a catalog of well-produced reissues and original recordings in all genres. On the reissue front, however, the label has reached its goals by employing a select group of audio specialists all working toward the same goal: to find forgotten music deserving of a second chance to reach an audience, and to approach its restoration with straightforward respect and sincerity.
Org Music GM and COO Andrew Rossiter has assembled an A-Team for the most recent batch of...
Wolfgang FlĂĽr (Kraftwerk) - and His Producer Peter Duggal - Explore the Past, Present, and Future of Electronic Music with His New Album, "TIMES"
Time has always been at the heart of electronic music—its steady pulses, mechanical rhythms, and futuristic vision shaped the way we listen and move. Few artists understand this better than Wolfgang Flür. As a member of Kraftwerk during their most defining years, from Autobahn (1974) to Electric Café (1986), he played a role in setting the tempo for an entire musical movement. Decades later, he continues to explore the ever-accelerating relationship between music, technology, and the passage of time.
His latest album, TIMES brings this theme to the forefront. A collaboration spanning generations of electronic pioneers and a bl...
Rescuing a Nearly Lost Rock and Roll History with Jeannie Piersol and Alec Palao
Jeannie Piersol, a striking yet enigmatic figure in the 1960s San Francisco music scene, is having her remarkable story told once more through The Nest, a highly anticipated anthology released by High Moon Records. With its unique blend of psychedelic rock, soul, and Indian influences, Piersol's music never fully received the recognition it deserved during her brief career. Yet, her work has long been cherished by those in the know, and The Nest compiles her most sought-after recordings, including rare demos, outtakes, and live performances.Â
The compilation is not just a musical journey but a historical snapshot o...
Bound by Sound: The Unbreakable Connection of Sleepersound | The Sharp Notes Interview
For nearly a decade, Sleepersound has been more than just a band—it’s been a brotherhood bound by a shared passion for creating immersive, emotionally rich music. Their journey together has been defined by deep friendship and an unspoken understanding that transcends words, allowing their sound to evolve organically. From late-night jam sessions to the meticulous crafting of their third full-length album, My Own Dead Love, the band’s dynamic is built on trust and mutual respect, a foundation that fuels their creativity and sustains their unique sonic identity.
Loyalty is at the heart of Sleepersound. In an...
From Boogaloo to the Big Screen: Michael Andrews (aka Elgin Park) Balances Music, Movies, and More with New Greyboy Allstars Compilation
For over three decades, Michael Andrews (aka Elgin Park) has been an integral part of the Greyboy Allstars, a band that has carved out a unique space in the world of funk, jazz, and soul. With their infectious grooves and deep musical chemistry, the group has remained a fixture on the scene, constantly evolving while staying true to their roots. As they prepare to release Grab Bag, a new compilation showcasing the full spectrum of their sound, Andrews reflects on the band’s journey, their creative process, and the art of keeping things fresh after all these years.
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