The Vinyl District: Radar - The Podcast with Dylan Hundley

Suzi Ronson is stylist, writer, musician and the woman who helped shape one of the most iconic eras in music first by co-creating David Bowie's groundbreaking look for Ziggy Stardust. Her memoir Me and Mr. Jones describes this along with the wild & interesting journey she shared as a part of the core group of people who propelled Bowie & themselves into history without expecting it.

Suzi and I spoke about these times, her c...

I recently spoke with producer William Garrett. William is probably best known for his work as lead producer of Spotify Singles where artists re-recorded one of their original songs alongside a cover of their choice. Over the course of this project, he recorded an amazing array of artists. The list is wild. I’ll just shout out some of my favorites because it would be too lengthy to list 750 of them.

Yo la Tengo, Jack White, Idles, ...

Mona Kayhan is the owner of The Bridge, a large room recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A stunning space devoted to making exceptional recordings in a manner that has become less common and is upholding the tradition of sonic excellence. The new tradition that should also be celebrated here is that this space is a woman-owned commercial recording studio.

Mona and I talked about her training as a classical pianist, making f...

Andi Harriman is a NY based DJ, producer, music journalist, and the boss of the party / label, SYNTHICIDE, which promotes live and DJ events all over NYC. She is the author of Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace, the worldwide compendium of post-punk and goth in the 1980’s. She is also an EBM artist.

We recently spoke about her upbringing in a Pentacostal family in Appalachia, how she first discovered 80’s Goth subculture, our shared...

On this episode of Radar, I spoke with Jon King, co-founder and lead singer of Gang of Four, about his new memoir, To Hell with Poverty! A Class Act: Inside the Gang of Four. The book offers an account of his journey from a working-class upbringing in South London to international success with the band. 

We discuss Jon’s early days in the slums of London, his passion for reading, art, and the political and social themes that influe...

Jaco Jaco is the project of Philadelphia-based musician, visual artist, and former member of beloved indie-rock trio Sports, Jacob Theriot. The music Theriot makes as Jaco Jaco straddles genre: a little funk, a little psych, a little dreamy 70s AM rock. The follow up to Jaco Jaco’s 2024 debut Splat, Gremlin is a playful, elegant record that isn’t directly inspired by the movie Gremlins, but honors the movie’s use of kitsch and camp...

I Feel Famous: Punk Diaries 1977-1981 is a girl’s coming of age story set to the pulse of punk rock. The book tracks 17-year-old Angela Jaeger’s exciting discovery of punk music and its accompanying lifestyle in 1977. A music enthusiast living in New York’s East Village, Angela’s story unfolds chronologically, charting her late adolescence in tandem with her transition from observer of the nascent punk scene to eager participant. G...

I recently spoke with Berlin based artist Annika Henderson about her wonderful new album Abyss, her early years in Bristol, a little bit about Tricky and her process. 

From the Press Release: British-born, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson, better known as Anika, has created her new, third album Abyss out of the frustration, anger, and confusion she feels from existing in our contemporary world. Notably heavier than her prev...

Slow Magic, 1977-1978, is a collection of never-before-heard songs that Jeff Bridges wrote and recorded with a band of his oldest and closest friends. Culled from a single decaying cassette tape labeled “July 1978,” these recordings are a window into the musical life of one of our greatest living actors who holds music as dear as all the art forms he participates in. The raw & organic tone of these recordings evokes the breeze ...

Post-punk legends THE CHAMELEONS are gearing up for a brand new full-length album due later this year (their first full-length in over 20 years!), they've released two new EPs Where Are You? and Tomorrow Remember Yesterday - the former consisting of new material and the latter of archival material recorded with the current lineup.

Their latest five song EP Tomorrow Remember Yesterday is a collection of newly recorded songs whose ...

I spoke with author & filmmaker Jamie Taylor about his new book Studio Electrophonique, which  is the amazing story of the home studio in Sheffield that helped launch some of Britain's most beloved bands.

Sheffield mechanic Ken Patten’s makeshift home studio became the launch pad for a group of young musicians who would shape the futuristic sound of 1980s pop. The Human League, Heaven 17, Pulp, ABC and others made their early...

When two artists, a label manager and a PhD in chemical engineering (who is also one of the artists) start a vinyl pressing plant in Pittsburg and call it Hellbender, it’s pretty cool.

On this episode of Radar I sat down with Pittsburgh native Jeff Betten (Misra Records) and musician/entrepreneur Matt Dowling (SWOLL, bassist of Burial Waves) who recently opened up a new vinyl plant in Pittsburgh, PA. They both have interesting ba...

I recently spoke with Cynthia Sley, the iconic frontwoman of Bush Tetras, the legendary NYC art-punk band that helped define the downtown underground scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Cynthia’s distinct image and half-spoken, sharp delivery have undeniably influenced current artists like Florence Shaw of Dry Cleaning. The band’s overall sound—blending funk, punk, and No Wave with elements of dub and groove—has echoed through e...

On this episode of Radar I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arakestra.

Marshall was born on May 25th 1924 and is coming up on his 101st birthday. He is a multi-instrumentalist and the most revered & distinctive free jazz,  avant-garde alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and the EVI.

Marshall is best known for his work with Sun Ra, having recorded and performed ...

I sat down recently my friend Ryan Lee Crosby who is a Rhode Island based musician, songwriter, producer and teacher most known for his uncanny ability to channel 1930's Mississippi blues as if he arrived to us through a portal.

He combines Hill Country and Bentonia style blues with sounds from India and Africa and as such, is expanding the tradition. He is an incredible musician, deeply spiritual human and a good friend.

Ryan and...

Parthenon Huxley is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer largely known for his work with the band ELO Part II (later The Orchestra). 

He spent time in the 1970's as a staff writer for MCA in New York, released his first solo album on Columbia, spent many years in LA working with a wide range of artists as a producer & guitarists, including extensive work with Mark Oliver Everett of The Eels. He has released o...

On this episode of Radar I spoke with Oliver Ackermann who is the founder & creator of the Brooklyn-based effects pedal company Death By Audio and is guitarist and lead singer of New York based punk, noise, shoe-gaze band A Place to Bury Strangers.  

They have released seven LP’s, fourteen EP's, a live album and more singles than I can count. They are prolific and committed to the cause. Their most recent is called Synthesizer ...

Best known for their 1980  hit “Turning Japanese” The Vapors are a band that formed in 1979, Guildford UK, which is also home to The Stranglers. They were brought to a larger UK audience with a support slot on The Jam’s iconic 1979 “Setting Sons”tour, and were by then managed by The Jam’s Bruce Foxton and Paul Weller’s father John.

Their debut album spawned several hits including “News At Ten” and” Waiting for the Weekend” .They pu...

Julia Gorton started her career as the photographer, creative director + publisher of the No Wave fanzine Beat It!, which offered an insiders view of the downtown New York music scene, 1976-1980.

She recently published a compilation of issues and her book, Nowhere New York offers a visceral view of the scene through her photographs, writing and guest essays.

Julia was an int...