Let’s Talk Synth… Seriously!!

The first guest from Italy on "Let's Talk Synth... Seriously!!" is the master of Horror meets Comedy meets Synthwave, maestro Vincenzo Salvia!

He's gathered millions of streams on Spotify and his track "Italian Gigolo" was featured on Season III of Netflix' record breaking series "Stranger Things"!! So, how did he do that? Learn about it in this episode, along with endless philosophizing about the beauty of Italian Home Organs, the origins of Italo Disco, Movie Soundtracks from Goblin and the Oliver Onions, and why Vincenzo Salvia has arrested a DX7 in his basement. 😳

Lots of exciting things to learn about and good music as well!

You don't wanna miss this for sure!!

Music played in this episode:

Songs by Vincenzo Salvia:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1yiome9DnIMqBysjsZ6rgz?si=2a25ab56eb1b4ca6

https://open.spotify.com/track/6lFBwRLT2ZVHAvWila54Xc?si=9c4b8f77eff84c11

https://open.spotify.com/track/0lCz6hllmYFBQUz9OsUxMD?si=c2e6eb28a6694601

Song by UAP:

In episode 14 I have a chat with Marc Matthews who some of you know as a fellow podcaster who’s the mastermind and host of the “Inside The Mix” podcast. Others of you may admire his music that he releases under his own name Marc Matthews and again others might have recently booked Marc as their mastering engineer, since that’s a part of his activities as well. So you see you get the full package on episode 14 of "Let's Talk Synth... Seriously!!" in my interview with the smart guy from Exeter.

UAP has never been live on stage so far, but 2024 is a special year since we'll have a major live open air event at Bevern Castle, a beautiful Rennaissance castle near Hannover in central Germany. Together with THE MARTIN BROTHERS from Switzerland and KATIE TICH from the USA, UAP will rock the stage for the first time. This podcast episode gives you all the details!

Kickstarter campaign for support: http://kck.st/4bBnzay

My guest in this episode is a British Yorkshire tea lover, and so you can expect an episode with some style! He’s been a professional mix and mastering engineer with his own commercially used studio building for several decades - so he lived the dream! Or did he live the nightmare? We'll find out in this episode!

He’s produced internationally acclaimed pop and rock musicians and – as we will also learn in this episode – he once met the mother of the brothers known as “Right said Fred”.

I promise you one of the most interesting and entertaining episodes ever on “Let’s Talk Synth… Seriously” with the man, whom I’ll have the pleasure to welcome today. You will have guessed it already: It’s synthwave/synthpop artist Tim Benson, better known as “AISLE9”!

...with

WAINSCOTT

&TILLY

ROGUEFX

ELECTROFM

BLUE NAGOON

and the mighty COLOR THEORY!!

No further explanations needed - jump right into this almost three hour marathon of a Christmas special!! ...with many entertaining Christmas anecdotes included! 😁👍

Interview with HeartBeatHero, the reknowned Synthwave artist and twitch podcaster. Curious about the technical setup that HeartBeatHero uses? Curious about his music? Curious about his personality? Then don't waste anymore time but start the episode!

Music from the episode:

HeartBeatHero - Neon Dreams: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/1F5RIYaAY78iSl0obwA1Kr?si=c65147e88b5d4cce

HeartBeatHero - Innermost Desire: (Not on Spotify)

Stailer/HeartBeatHero - Social Crises: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/1BgaML1xyrY3aY7bbwQFHa?si=ff184a30c1354a5e

HeartBeatHero - I just can't wait: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/2KAob0qjWJyDIrj0NEVyg0?si=89844ba123a140d5

UAP - Don't Look (Set Me Free): https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/2qJ9nvagW0H9stOav7YV1l?si=dd30fd3330f44267

I bet that if you're a music producer you've already made some experiences with platforms like SubmitHub or Groover or other platforms where you can directly address playlist curators with your newest releases! So I don't know about you, but I pretty often had situations where I scratched my head quite a bit over reactions of curators about my music or where I asked myself how my pitch would be perceived on the curator's end. So I thought: "Why not interview a really influential and interesting curator who's active on both platforms: SubmitHub and Groover as well?"

And it gets even better, because that specific curator whom I asked for an interview is also a top notch Synth artist who's releasing music under no less than two monikers!! So I am so excited to present you the ninth episode of my podcast "Let's Talk Synth... Seriously!!" with an in-depth interview with BENJAMIN DIGBY, also known as SYNTH LOVER'S CAFÉ!! Enjoy!!

Music played in the episode:

SYNTH LOVERS CAFÉ & EMILY ZUZIK - On My Own: https://open.spotify.com/track/6tlDFlg9TkLO0qWDnRiCen?si=f4a80e8b3f514743

SYNTH LOVERS CAFÉ - Adrenaline: https://open.spotify.com/track/1VfvgZS5iuijcFy2BKq4w2?si=992ac329ae1c4fd1

SYNTH LOVERS CAFÉ/THE THIRD ENTITY - What Will Become Of Us (Synth Lovers Café Remix): https://open.spotify.com/track/7BkifuCz2f7ntTLu5zDJ8C?si=c0920ea5b134490f

BENJAMIN DIGBY ft. ADAM WAVE - Rage: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/2FWqmsmrSUqc9EbONNr2g8?si=6014e8e39c914436

UAP & KATIE TICH: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/album/06etMIU9z47BRJYKUuhFXo?si=DRiugD2IROudK94y1u09nA

Thanks for listening! And if you like it: Make sure to like the podcast and come back for other episodes!

Today my guest is an artist of whom I would claim for he’s at the threshold of establishing a new genre in Synth music, and I would call this genre: Progressive Synthwave! So, what do I mean with that? Just as in rock music there were bands like Saga or Yes or Rush who just tried to push the style they were in to its very limits, my artist today is pushing the Synthwave genre to former unknown grandezza.

Of course I’m talking about Maxx Parker and if you haven’t heard his latest albums like “Infinite Blue” or “Lodge on the Lake” you should really do that because there’s such awesome work on those releases.  

For the songs on his awesome debut album “Outsider” Maxx Parker collaborated with so fantastic artists like Young Empress, Syst3m Glitch and GeoVoc among others. Even on his debut album which was obviously aiming at the retrowave scene, Maxx was already far from being the average mainstream artist.  

On his album “Infinite Blue” Maxx Parker incorporated many sounds formerly unknown in Synthwave/Retrowave like pan drums, synth pan flutes, all kinds of chaka-chaka percussion and also natural ambient sounds like splashing waves. Maxx Parker’s latest release to date was an EP called “Lodge on the Lake”. Personally I think, it’s my favourite release of him so far. So don't hesitate to check out this podcast episode with one of the most interesting and prolific producers of today's Synth scene!

Music played in the episode:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5sjlX4c1SAnzh85lQ1UdRU?si=fa91cc9df60640c9

https://open.spotify.com/track/405MzOxPMpP2edAVmz5CA8?si=3c5b872ab4524111

https://open.spotify.com/track/0qTjkSx3KApUGHCBRcBzcq?si=a048369186df43af

https://open.spotify.com/track/01LiSxLapqCbPJJSh8G099?si=0c355052019940f9

Megan McDuffee is a one-of-a-kind artist: She's not only one of the most sought after creators of Soundtracks in for Video Games, TV and movies, she is also a brilliant songwriter and singer, be it with her own music or when collaborating with many renowned artists from the Synth scene.

In the interview with her we talked about Soundtrack production, how to get a foot in the door, what special gear or software might be needed perhaps but we also talked about topics like how to cope with Social Media pressure and last but not least: Human Sexuality! 😳 Yes, folks! So let's dive right into the episode and check it out!

Music in this episode:

Megan McDuffee, Michael Garrett Steele - Under Your Knife

https://open.spotify.com/track/10l89efj2a4saQtbAmG62Q?si=859e9b00ee0943f6

ALEX, Megan McDuffee - Villain

https://open.spotify.com/album/5vJG3yF4eKZeD5jFWk0Vf5?si=uyqjFDNdTnyjm6DCgvwA4g

Megan McDuffee - I'm Better Than You

https://open.spotify.com/track/5kSZkpG1b2ZD5tpvhJ7LXV?si=1776436e8d9c459a

Megan McDuffee - Drive To Nowhere

https://open.spotify.com/track/3e4kpTsxR2zFAguQ74kIBH?si=dad2b9224f2d4773

UAP - Sugar

https://open.spotify.com/track/5AMEpnOCbZBltywAyHHBZt?si=561157c1f27f435c

Let's Talk Synth... Seriously!! #6 MARTIN BROTHERS (March 2023)

Hand on Heart: What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Switzerland? Perhaps it isn't Synth music? 

Well... maybe it should be! Having a closer look at the land of Wilhelm Tell there's many a great Synth music act which is active in the Alps, but the most interesting among them all is maybe a project called the MARTIN BROTHERS, run by Zurich based brothers Niki and Oliver Martin.

They've been in the scene for a decade now and 2023 is their MARTIN BROTHERS anniversary year! So we talk about ten years of MARTIN BROTHERS project, the gear they use on stage and in the studio and how it feels like to have almost (!) crashed a DeLorean!! 😱😂

Music in this episode:

Martin Brothers & Pensacola Mist - Heart to Heart: https://open.spotify.com/track/5HeDpsx93jHUz0EE1Gv69Q?si=40f83bed7e294153

Martin Brothers - Singing Out Loud: https://open.spotify.com/track/6mA9a6E1U7eBUehOROhgkC?si=4a8d1bce48d64933

Martin Brothers - Love is Optional: https://open.spotify.com/track/62BUVDDIrCoudirMrL4VJm?si=bcc4efa886b74d5b

Martin Brothers - Love Lockdown Now: https://open.spotify.com/track/5ZqUmXviSpwwgVJExhRg94?si=2df98d095f004fc2

UAP feat. Katie Tich - City Be Your Monster

"Martinic" is one of the leading companies in the business of virtual instrument and FX plug-ins, also known as VSTs. Everybody who's making music on a computer will be using either virtual effects or virtual instruments to some extent, but not many know how they are actually made.

"Martinic" CEO Martin Broerse tells us about his company, how they work both under licence for big brand names (which we all know and love) and under their own brand name, how it's achieved that vintage Synthesizers from the 1980s or even analogue combo Organs from the 1960s gain a second life as a virtual instrument plug-in, what the challenges are in virtual modelling such instruments and why Martin would never give away one specific piece of hardware (!) from his own collection of instruments.

In a nutshell: This is a super, SUPER interesting episode for everyone who's interested in digital music and production technology! ...and it contains a lot of exclusive music by UAP (myself) which (by the time of release of this episode) isn't available anywhere else except on this very podcast episode.  

In 2022 there was a lot of synthesizer driven music, and you'll surely have your own favorites. But have you ever wondered what were the favorite songs of the year by well-known musicians from genres like synthwave, synth pop and retrowave? Well, in this episode of "Let's Talk Synth... Seriously!!" I asked many musicians from different genres exactly about that. And in this episode, we'll not only hear the voices of the musicians themselves announcing their music requests, but because of that, of course, there's a lot of great music to listen to!

The Musicians who will tell us about their own Synth favourites in 2022 in this episode are:

Aisle9, &Tilly, Blue Nagoon, Breathes With Gills, Color Theory, The Death Beats, Minute Taker, Roundtrip to Tiny, Synth Lovers Café, Thalrex and Fonz Tramontano. Thank you so much to all of you for taking part in the action! I really appreciate it!

And because at the end of the year you just like to invite good friends to review the year once again, I invited my musical collab partner Katie Tich to join me as a co-host for the episode. Katie is a singer/songwriter from the US East Coast, and together with her I recorded the song "Talita", which was recently voted among the "Top 15 Pop Songs of 2022" by Blue Nagoon in his video blog on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ymUgvu-yewE

With Katie Tich I talked about her own career, about Christmas and New Year's customs and about the synthesizers she likes to combine with guitar as a singer/songwriter; but we also talked about more serious topics such as mental health issues and how music can help to cope with them, or how 2022 has advanced the social divide and how not to let it discourage you.

If you liked this episode, there is a Spotify-playlist that sums up all the music that can be heard in the episode ...and even more. 

And here it is:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TCqa02vzdd1aHpsGLvcex?si=7921653b6fdb4148&pt=2a4c20fec19aa7211220c4c2e44a4f56

Also consider to support your favourite artists by buying their music digitally or on physical discs on services with fair conditions such as e.g. www.bandcamp.com 

“Minute Taker” is the musical project of Ben McGarvey, who’s active as an independent artist since the late 2000s. His latest album “Wolf Hours” is one of the most dedicated musical statements in today’s Synth Pop and will be of very high interest to fans who love actual 80s pop music like Fleetwood Mac’s “Mirage”, Genesis’ self-titled 1983 album or Tanita Tikaram’s “Ancient Heart”.

In this Episode Ben tells us where to begin when you wanna have real good music videos, why the stock plug-ins of your DAW might be much better than you think they are or why it can be a good thing to do an acoustic cover version every now and then.

Ben will also give some information about his experiences with Crowdfunding and how he built his own subscription model without using Patreon. Apart from that we’ll be talking about his music, his many collaborations and cover songs and which gear he used in the recording process for his latest album “Wolf Hours”.

Music played in the episode:

Minute Taker – Lead You Home:

https://open.spotify.com/track/2S9YFSzmmQ3sC7fHVMni8w?si=bb8d85f7c8434769

Minute Taker & Color Theory – Just and Echo: https://open.spotify.com/album/319VcAfP8Rg5mi4OW0C1IA?si=-c9j6WDZSOupYA2CXuAZEw

Minute Taker – Wait For Me:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6C0nEwBeIR5PUQ2mmietwq?si=dbcb8893f5f747d5

Minute Taker & Megan McDuffy – Mirror:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1MGzVmkF1MxoYHw154cMLu?si=1e9804a4684a48f2

UAP – And Then I Die A Little:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3DXtxnEZmlB8UQ77Ow6gGR?si=e97a961e794f407a

Artist Links:

Minute Taker:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2kjd9eTgBXRmPZZoEFiXVY?si=vi6nG5xnSVijfArWj1XvyA

UAP:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1fEqRExfCuTtAfM8md9Phf?si=6BT3krBrT1GLy5nUz2tSSg

Gary J. Robinson is a legend in the British Drum & Bass scene. Today he's the mastermind behind the inventive project "THE DEATH BEATS" merging styles like D&B, Folk and Synthwave.

In earlier stages of his career Gary was involved in very renowned projects such as "RareForm", "PoisonFlow" and some others. He worked for Goldie's "MetalheadZ" label and founded a couple of influential record labels.

Today - besides his work as an artist, label owner and playlist curator - Gary is also an expert in Sync licensing and other aspects of publishing which are sometimes neglected by artists.

In the interview with him we're talking about his exciting biography in the Drum & Bass scene which started on a Commodore Amiga home computer, but we're also covering some interesting aspects in regard to distribution, licensing and playlist submission services.

This makes this episode very rewarding to listen to for every active electronic music producer and/or self-publisher but of course most of all for dedicated fans of "THE DEATH BEATS" 

Music played in the episode:

RareForm: Spinechilla

https://open.spotify.com/track/4qw1qetuHZbPeb0SO8r0NY?si=3c439f7a057f48bc

PoisonFlow: Fear of Mind Giving Way

https://open.spotify.com/track/617NM9GWNcC7hltRqPdPzn?si=91a286e5615946b9

The Death Beats (feat. Little Panda): Monsters (Drum & Bass Mix)

https://open.spotify.com/track/0kWPy7yzb93JVkfhpd8RLb?si=06ef226c08b44d95

The Death Beats (feat. Harbottle & Jonas): U Were Mine (Synthwave Mix)

https://open.spotify.com/track/722YKV2i102wFzbGlpGkcv?si=2ae2a4064894433f

UAP: Believer

https://open.spotify.com/track/62FQHOU3tplIZCzEfeBAl9?si=a3295c499c154977

Artist Links:

The Death Beats:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3bVpsQVqj2PXwHwBGIkQVI?si=gy8IgqmtRb-5wNpdYILUEA

UAP:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1fEqRExfCuTtAfM8md9Phf?si=6BT3krBrT1GLy5nUz2tSSg

Let’s talk Synth... Seriously!!! – Episode #1: Interview with COLOR THEORY (Brian Hazard)

COLOR THEORY is one of the most loved projects in today’s synth music scene.

It’s the brainchild of Brian Hazard, who is singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, professional music producer and mastering engineer, blogger and podcaster – ...all in one! Brian started his project COLOR THEORY almost thirty years ago and it's still - or maybe even more than ever before - one of the most influential projects in the scene.

Music played in the episode:

Color Theory – Crystal

https://open.spotify.com/album/5J93t1ceASnHb3rlbuHxvY?si=Pybvq2sVTPO4egtikGz7Cg

Color Theory – Ponytail Girl

https://open.spotify.com/track/5qmFGrEwy6Pikc2DHBR15h?si=eceaaedf14a24064

Color Theory – Slot Machine

https://open.spotify.com/track/4XtFKgoylZLm2kWJCx02O5?si=fa2d7cf9c5d84c8d

UAP + Katie Tich – Talita

https://open.spotify.com/track/6vuSxn8IJqM64WmBdGrlos?si=ff70dc1fc3184df3

Artists involved in the episode:

Color Theory: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7uWMG0Go7YMKqVG1fbsOBO?si=2ThfaMryS9qkq7Ipk7wtww

https://colortheory.bandcamp.com/

Katie Tich: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0FVai2xz6tjhZehnaIWPGN?si=EN6LbiFbQ4G9TkovgCj5sw

https://katietich.bandcamp.com/

UAP: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1fEqRExfCuTtAfM8md9Phf?si=4_0ChtlcSxC40zS6Te8LIA

https://uapsynth.bandcamp.com/