The S&V Interview

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The S&V Interview
Mark Rivera on His Uncommon Bond With Vinyl
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 10, 2014  |  0 comments
When Mark Rivera isn’t splitting his time being Music Director for Ringo Starr or serving as a versatile multi-instrumentalist with Billy Joel (the latter for 32 years and counting), he’s doing what any good audiophile would — dropping the needle on some fine, fine wax. “The warmth of vinyl is like nothing else,” Rivera reports. “It really is. To me, it feels like it embraces you. It simply surrounds you.” Earlier this year, Rivera also found the time to put out his first solo album, Common Bond (Dynotone/Red River), and he’s patiently been overseeing having 1,000 copies of it pressed onto vinyl. “I couldn’t be more enthusiastic and more pleased about that,” he says. Here, Rivera, 62, and I talk about Common Bond‘s core production values, vintage gear and favorite LPs, and the ways music resonates over one’s lifetime. Ok, fine, we admit it — we just can’t get enough of that vinyl stuff.
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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
Meet the Maestro: B&O Tonmeister Geoff Martin
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 30, 2015  |  0 comments
I’ve met enough top speaker designers over the years to know that they’re all obsessive. And I mean that in a good way. To design a great speaker, you have to be obsessive. You have to be prepared to spend countless hours in the lab and in listening rooms evaluating and tweaking every conceivable variable to isolate that elusive mix of art and science that yields a speaker capable of fooling listeners into thinking they’re experiencing a live performance. A tall order, to be sure. Geoff Martin is not a designer, but as Bang & Olufsen’s tonmeister, he plays a critical role in the development of every speaker the Danish company makes. What’s a tonmeister? Read on.
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The S&V Interview
Michael Des Barres Unlocks the Key to the Audio Universe
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 09, 2015  |  0 comments
Chances are you know the name Michael Des Barres, but just exactly how most likely depends on your entry point. If you’ve read I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, then you know him as the ex-husband of Miss Pamela, Pamela Des Barres. If you’re a devout fan of ’70s rock, then you know him as the frontman of cult-fave bands Silverhead and Detective. If you’re a TV aficionado, you know him as Murdoc from MacGyver — and maybe even as Dog, the nattily dressed lead singer of fictional punk band Scum of the Earth from an all-time classic October 1978 episode of WRKP in Cincinnati. And if you’re a dedicated listener of Little Steven’s Underground Garage, Channel 21 on SiriusXM satellite radio, then you’re probably quite riveted to the insights, encyclopedic rock & roll knowledge, and cheeky humor he provides between the tracks that spin during his always exhilarating weekday shift. While the man’s far-reaching C.V. is indeed impressive, Des Barres is a musician first and foremost, and all of his killer instincts have converged on The Key to the Universe (FOD Records), his strongest and most consistent record, well, ever. Notes Des Barres, “People go insane for these new songs. It’s so astounding to me, after having not really done anything on this scale in 25 years, that people are responding to them. I think I sound better on this record than I’ve ever sounded.” Recently, I rang up Des Barres, 67, to discuss the sonic philosophy behind The Key, how to avoid including any “twiddly bits,” and finding one’s own voice as an artist. MDB is a true rock & roll survivor who knows how best to overcome adversity and get it on.
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The S&V Interview
Michael McDonald: Takin’ it to the Seats on a Co-Headlining Summer Tour With Chaka Khan
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 12, 2019  |  1 comments
Keyboardist/vocalist Michael McDonald called us to discuss his upcoming summer tour with Chaka Khan, the true secret to his well-respected background-vocal prowess, the compositionally related reason why he was genuinely surprised at the chart-topping success of The Doobie Brothers classic “What a Fool Believes,” and what his real-time reaction was when he watched Rick Moranis pay, er, homage to him on a vintage episode of SCTV.
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The S&V Interview
Mick Box Is Very ’Umble About Uriah Heep’s Sonic Legacy
Mike Mettler  |  Jan 25, 2017  |  1 comments
Uriah Heep burst onto the music scene at the dawn of the 1970s, and their heavy-but-melodic sensibilities instantly catapulted them into the hard-hitting Brit-rock fraternity collectively known as The Big Four, placing them right alongside Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. A full-bore Uriah Heep reissue series is now underway, having commenced late last year with the two-CD set Your Turn to Remember: The Definitive Anthology 1970–1990 (BMG/Sanctuary) and followed by the band’s first two albums — namely, 1970's ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble and 1971’s Salisbury — with scores of bonus tracks to boot. I got on the horn across the Pond with co-founding Heep guitarist Mick Box to discuss the ins and outs of putting together the Anthology, how the band recorded an actual tea kettle onto the classic 1972 track “The Wizard,” his thoughts on streaming, and the band’s future plans.
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The S&V Interview
Mike + The Mechanics Reach New Sonic Heights With Let Me Fly
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 05, 2017  |  0 comments
With Genesis essentially in the rearview mirror save for reissues and other archival material, Mike Rutherford, the consummate songwriter/guitarist/bassist, has focused his energies on ensuring Mike + The Mechanics remains a going concern. To that end, Rutherford and his Mechanics have collectively tinkered under the hood to engineer the quite-fine-indeed-sounding Let Me Fly (The End/BMG), out on April 7. Rutherford, 66, called in to discuss his approach to Fly, how he thinks you should listen to it, and why he no longer sings his own material.
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The S&V Interview
Mike Rutherford Opens Up About Genesis' R-KIVE
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 24, 2014  |  0 comments
And then there were… five? The above photo is no trick of the tale, for you’re indeed seeing the five key members of Genesis — from the top of the stairs down, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel, and Mike Rutherford — together again for the first time in many years. No, they’re not reforming, but rather have come together to celebrate the career-spanning documentary Genesis: Sum of the Parts airing on Showtime October 10 (and expected to see home release sometime in November), as well commemorate the September 30 release of R-KIVE (Rhino), a 37-track, three-CD box spanning 42 years of both band and solo material. “I know, who’d have thought there’d be all of this activity at my age?” laughs Mike Rutherford, a mainstay of the band through all of its incarnations. “But when you see all these songs side by side, like ‘Turn It on Again’ with [Collins’] ‘In the Air Tonight,’ [Gabriel’s] ‘Biko,’ and [Mike + The Mechanics’] ‘The Living Years’ — you go, ‘Wow, that’s a great body of songwriting.’ ” Full-bodied, you might even say. Recently, Rutherford, 63, and I talked about the band’s impetus for sound quality, why tracks like “Supper’s Ready” still endure, and what might come next. Play me my song, o musical box.
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The S&V Interview
Mix Master: The Sound of Skyfall
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 14, 2013  |  1 comments
Spin a few of sound re-recording mixer Greg P. Russell’s movies on a proper 5.1 or 7.1 system, and you’ll soon realize that this guy loves home theater. Having worked on more than 200 movies, including every Michael Bay opus since The Rock (although he freely admits “Armageddon was over the top”), Russell has crafted some of the most thrilling soundtracks of our generation.
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The S&V Interview
Nancy Wilson Gets to the Aural Heart of Roadcase Royale’s ‘First Things First’
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 21, 2018  |  0 comments
All photography: Jeremy Danger (2017).

Nancy Wilson doesn’t like being idle. The noted Northwest-bred guitarist/vocalist was up for tackling new challenges while Heart, the band she and her sister Ann Wilson made famous, decided to take an extended break — and she found exactly what she was looking for with her new six-piece collective, Roadcase Royale.

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The S&V Interview
New Sounds and Good Times With Michael Nesmith of The Monkees
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 08, 2016  |  0 comments
Could there be a better name for the first all-new Monkees studio album in 20 years than Good Times? Produced and mixed by Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Tinted Windows), Good Times! teems with vintage energy from all four Monkees — including the late Davy Jones. Good Times! is the perfect soundtrack to accompany the band’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year, which also include having the TV show appear for the first time on Blu-ray (The Monkees: The Complete Series) and a tour featuring Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork (and sometimes Michael Nesmith, schedule permitting). Recently, I sat down with Nesmith, 74, in New York to discuss his songwriting influences, his sonic goals for his Good Times! contributions, and The Monkees’ enduring legacy.
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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
NEXTGEN TV Aims to Keep Over-the-Air TV Broadcasting Relevant
Bob Ankosko  |  Jul 20, 2023  |  1 comments
ATSC’s Madeleine Noland and Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle provide an update on the ATSC 3.0 broadcast system rolling out across the country

Terrestrial television broadcasting may seem quaint in the age of streaming and artificial intelligence but the age-old practice of pulling TV signals out of thin air is alive and well in 2023 and continuing to make strides.

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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
NextGen TV: A Progress Report
Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 22, 2020  |  3 comments
15 Minutes with ATSC President Madeleine Noland

Most Americans don’t know it yet but NextGen TV is already on the air in many markets across the country with dozens more gearing up to launch the service in the coming year. NextGen TV, also known by the technical name ATSC 3.0, greatly expands on the capabilities of the ATSC 1.0 standard that put HDTV on the air 20 years ago. In addition to enabling broadcasters to deliver free, over-the-air access to 4K Ultra HD programming with high-dynamic range (HDR), enhanced color, and immersive surround sound, NextGen TV also allows them to stream local content such as news, weather, and sports updates as well as offer features that enable viewers to personalize and customize that content. A lot has happened since we spoke with Mark Richer, president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), back in 2017, so we sat down with his successor Madeleine Noland to get an update on how things are progressing with the new TV broadcasting system and what we can expect in the near future.

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The S&V Interview
Nick Mason Spills a Saucerful of Secrets
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 18, 2020  |  2 comments
Two words I'd never dream of associating with Nick Mason would be "idle hands." If anything, the longtime co-founding Pink Floyd drummer has always liked keeping himself busy, whether it's been behind the drum kit or handling the respective steering controls of exotic cars and/or flying machines (a.k.a. airplanes, in everyday parlance).
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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
Now Is a Great Time to Buy a New TV
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 17, 2022  |  1 comments

TV Prices Buck U.S. Inflation Trend

Consumer electronics in general but TVs in particular have a decades-long history of providing amazing value. Except for an unprecedented and short-lived Covid-driven spike in 2020-2021, retail TV prices have been relatively immune to inflation over the past four decades while the cost of almost everything crept up. (Lately, of course, inflationary pressures have caused the price of everything to spike up.) So if you’re thinking about updating your TV, now is a great time to do it. But don’t just take our word for it. We checked in with Robert (Bob) O’Brien, TV expert and co-founder of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), to get his take on TV pricing as we head into the holiday season.

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The S&V InterviewAudio Video News
OLED Turns 30
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 22, 2017  |  1 comments
15 Minutes with the Society for Information Display’s Dr. Taka Tsujimura

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the OLED display, we reached out to Dr. Taka Tsujimura at the Society for Information Display (SID) to discuss the past, present, and future of a TV technology whose future looks nearly as bright as it did three decades ago when researchers cobbled together the first practical OLED device.

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