Calvin Johnson: The K Records Studio

BY SHAWN PARKE

In 1981 Calvin Johnson began putting out cassettes on his label K and started a revolution and an empire... Shawn Parke gets the story while John Baccigaluppi shoots the film... ...Since that time, he has produced and released records for a huge list of folks, including Beck, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Modest Mouse. I recently sat down with him in his Dub Narcotic studio located in a large building in Olympia, Washington, where the K offices and warehouse are also housed. In 1988, he moved into the building after years of recording in the basement of his home. We talked about recording, music and he told some great stories.

John La Grou: Behind the Gear with Millennia Media

BY IAN SWANKE

Most Tape Op articles feature the people behind the making of a record. But what about the people who make the gear that we make records on? "Behind the Gear" is a new column featuring interviews with engineers, businesspeople and innovators who are the faces "behind" the recording products that we know and love. This issue Ian Mills Swanke interviews John La Grou of Millennia Media, a company famous for their pristine mic preamps and "twin-topology" equipment. Next issue: Walt Szalva interviews Dave Derr [Tape Op #33] of Empirical Labs who makes the Distressor. -LC John La Grou's company, Millennia Media, manufactures some of the most highly-praised outboard gear in use today. His preamps are used by NASA, the White House, and an enormous amount of classical engineers and film scoring studios. Millennia's compressors and equalizers are in constant use in mastering houses across the globe. I visited John recently at Millennia's headquarters in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California, where his was kind enough to share his knowledge, gregarious enthusiasm and insight.

The Microphones! with Phil Elvrum

BY BRYAN BINGOLD