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Beyond Synth

Andy Last

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The podcast about people who make cool music! BEYOND SYNTH is the best synth music chat show there is. Featuring artists and producers who make synthwave/new-retro/electronic music and much more!! We talk Music, games, movies, the 80s, and lots more while I play samples of the guests music.
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On A Deeper Listen, host Emily Fox and other storytellers from KEXP talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.
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Elevate Your Synthpop Productions: The Ultimate Mixing Course in Logic Pro (Solve Your Mixing Struggles!) with Marc, Your Expert Mentor! Calling all synthpop producers, artists, and musicians who use Logic Pro! Feeling frustrated by your mixes? Struggling to achieve that clear, powerful, and lush soundscape that defines synthpop? You're not alone. Many producers and artists like you grapple with these challenges. But what if you could condense 15 years of expert mixing knowledge into a focus ...
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Today Andy is joined by TLF a.k.a Christoph 'Hadl' Hassel. Hadl appeared on the show back in 2020 as half of Siamese Youth, but today he’s flying solo to talk about the origins of the TLF project, 80s music, playing pianos, and collaborating with one of his childhood music influences Chris Huelsbeck. Hadl also chats about top-lining for other artis…
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Music journalist Jeff Weiss recently wrote a book titled Waiting for Britney Spears, documenting the pop stars rise and fall from the public eye. But the book isn’t a historical account, it’s an “allegedly true” story that blurs fact and fiction, putting Weiss himself in the middle of the action. His writing takes a playful tabloid-style tone — a c…
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Natalie Lew, also known as Sea Lemon, released her debut album Diving for a Prize in June 2025 on Luminelle Recordings. Across 12 songs, reverb-heavy guitars wash underneath vocals that allude to made-up stories and unhealthy obsessions. For example, “Stay” draws inspiration from the real-life antics of an elderly security guard at a thrift store w…
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Max Perla and Vincent John make up Eraserhood Sound, the duo that scores the animated PBS Kids series Carl the Collector. In the spirit of Vince Guaraldi’s signature sound in Peanuts cartoons, show creator Zach Ohora says that Eraserhood’s “synth and soul” formula provides the perfect soundscape for the everyday happenings of an autistic raccoon an…
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Sharp Pins is the solo project of 20-year-old Kai Slater, who also runs a zine called Hallogallo. Based in Chicago, he started the zine during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as a teenager, overwhelmed and frustrated with a life dominated by screens. So, both his music and zine are analog, made with tape recorders, photo copiers, and type wr…
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Today on the show, Andy is joined by New Arcades a.k.a. Adam and Dean! They talk about how they met each other while working in animal welfare, rescuing cats and dogs, and their favourite Thai food order. Adam and Dean also talk about making music for the awesome Robo Cop documentary RoboDoc, live performance, and crafting their new sound. Long Liv…
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The Kronos Quartet — founded in Seattle, now based in San Francisco — has shaped modern classical music for more than 50 years. Their 2024 album Outer Spaceways Incorporated reimagines the work of the trailblazing American jazz pianist, Sun Ra, featuring covers and collaborations with artists like Jlin, Armand Hammer, and others. In addition to rec…
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Owain Davies received a message from a stranger in 2020 asking if he might have been the singer of a band called Panchiko more than two decades ago. As it turns out, he was — but they never put their music online. They just had seven demo tracks on CDs, but Panchiko never really broke out of their scene in central England at the time. Fast forward …
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Today on the show Andy is joined by They / Live, a.k.a. Whitney, who talks about her genre-hopping musical journey from country ballads to cool synth pop tunes. She also chats about leaving her Mormon past, the joy of making music videos, and bowl cuts. If you like what you’re hearing you can support Beyond Synth on Patreon: www.patreon.com/beyonds…
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Merrill Garbus says the lyrics simply poured out of her mouth on several tracks for the new Tune-Yards album, Better Dreaming. This time, she and her partner Nate Brenner trusted their gut more in the writing process. The record is heavily inspired by current events domestically and abroad, the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights, and unexpected lesson…
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Hiro Ama, born in Japan and based in London, plays drums in the indie pop band Teleman. In late 2024, he released his debut solo album, Music for Peace and Harmony, which leans heavily into the sounds of a 1980s Japanese synthesizer called Waraku, which literally means “peace and harmony” in Japanese. KEXP's Dusty Henry spoke with him shortly after…
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In this bonus episode, we hear from Martin Oldgoth, cofounder of World Goth Day, in conversation with Sharlese, host of Mechanical Breakdown, about the holiday’s origin in 2009. What started as a sort of joke on BBC Radio 6 Music rapidly spread across the world as a celebration of goth culture, which is constantly evolving. And, no, you don’t have …
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Seattle-based musician Rocky Votolato has formed a new band called Suzzallo, who put out their debut album The Quiet Year earlier this year on Thirty Something Records. Through loud guitars and cathartic screaming, Suzzallo offers an outlet to help him grieve the loss of his child, Kienan, who died in a car accident in 2021. “Without a way to expre…
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On today’s show, Andy hangs out with Steve from Opus Science Collective — a one-man musical powerhouse, teacher, and cool guy. They chat about the origins of his misleadingly plural band name, dive into synths, chiptune, city pop, and even get interrupted by his senile cat, Yoda.Steve and Andy nerd out over classic cartoons like The Real Ghostbuste…
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Denver-based punk group Dead Pioneers recently released their second album, PO$T AMERICAN, on Hassle Records. They’ve been opening for Pearl Jam on their U.S. tour this spring. KEXP’s Dusty Henry caught up with lead vocalist Gregg Deal to discuss the band’s rapid success, how their new album portrays disillusionment with modern America, and how the…
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Emily Fox, host of A Deeper Listen and Sound & Vision, is taking maternity leave form now until the fall. Before she left, shared an essay about why she went to Las Vegas sober and 8 months pregnant to see Pitbull in concert and why she thinks Pitbull deserves “a deeper listen.” Best wishes to Emily and her family! In the meantime, the A Deeper Lis…
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R.I.P. Starcadian. This is the conversation I had with Starcadian, originally recorded in May 2022. Please take this opportunity to get to know George, listen to his amazing music, and check out his music videos. Starcadian is one of the greatest talents to ever grace the synthwave scene and he will be missed.STARCADIAN:https://soundcloud.com/starc…
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SASAMI has just released a new pop album called Blood on the Silver Screen. While her first record fell in the indie rock realm and her second album had a lot of metal influence, this album represents another left turn. SASAMI talks with Emily Fox about what draws her to make music from so many different genres, and how her family’s story of immigr…
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In this lively and wide-ranging chat, Andy welcomes the multi-talented Fear of Tigers (aka Benjamin) to the show! They dive deep into Ben’s fascinating journey from DJing in Spanish clubs, to working in the London music industry, to becoming an electronic music producer. They chat about the MySpace days, psychic predictions, and adventures in runni…
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On this week’s episode, songwriter Ela Minus talks with KEXP's Albina Cabrera about her new album, DÍA—a fully nomadic project with songs written and recorded between Mexico, Seattle, and her native Colombia. With DÍA, she steps away from her analog era and embraces everything at hand: broken microphones, acoustic instruments, and digital synths. I…
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Andy catches up with Marko in this super chill episode of Beyond Synth, where they dive into all the usual nonsense — candy cravings, weird chocolate bar names, and the eternal mystery of Tim Hortons. There’s also a solid chunk of video game talk: Marko dishes on finishing Baldur’s Gate 3, Robocop, and Evil Within 2 (aka “the milk game”), while And…
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Mike Hadreas of Perfume Genius talks with Emily Fox about how his inner fears, struggles with mental health, paranoid fantasies and reflections on gay lust and love show up on his latest album, Glory. “I think I was just really afraid and I felt really tender and mortal and the world felt really fragile and scary and I couldn't figure out how to mo…
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Andy welcomes Josh a.k.a. Your Sister is a Werewolf for a deep dive into the world of TV scoring, retro synth music, and balancing creative passion with day-to-day life. Josh shares insights from two decades of composing for true crime shows and explains how analog synths and 80s vibes power his solo project. They chat about licensing headaches, us…
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Liz Pelly, author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist talks through the many practices at Spotify over the years that have impacted independent musicians-- from outsourcing stock music Spotify pays a lower royalty rate for and flooding Spotify's in-house playlists with that stock music, to paying artists a 30%…
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Songwriter Lucy Dacus talks about her new album, Forever Is A Feeling. In conversation with Emily Fox, she discusses everything from love, lyricism, and making conscious decisions to step away from boygenius and her solo work to find balance and stillness. She also breaks down some of her favorite songs and lyrical moments on the new record. “I kee…
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Today on the best synth-wave chat show there is, Andy has a fun conversation with the gentlemen from LeBrock, Michael and Shaun! They talk about ripping the top off a van, movie soundtracks, live performance, and tattoos! If you like what you’re hearing you can support Beyond Synth on Patreon: www.patreon.com/beyondsynth or PayPal: www.paypal.com/p…
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Valerie and Veronica Tapacio left their corporate day jobs to dedicate their time to their Seattle band, La Fonda and their vintage clothing shop, Delusional Bird, which is named after one of their songs. Last year was the first year they made more money doing music and running their business than they did at their 8-5 desk jobs. The sisters talk a…
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For years, Lupe Flores was primarily known as the drummer for a number of Seattle rock bands, including Wild Powwers. But as something to do to keep herself sane during pandemic lockdown, she reconnected with a childhood tradition. “I feel like a lot of musicians are like, 'Oh, I sang whatever in church' or 'My parents always had music,’” Flores sa…
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Los Angeles-based DJ and producer, TOKiMONSTA is out with a new album called Eternal Reverie. The album was written while TOKiMONSTA’s best friend was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately passed away a few months later. TOKiMONSTA talks about how her friend informed this latest record, why it was important to delay this record and cancel her initia…
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Today Andy visits the Fable Factory and chats with cool music guy Reed Reimer! They chat about Christmas music, Table top games, multi-media projects, and D&D Open Game Licenses. Reed also talks about his collabs with Benjamin Emory Larson, making a Zombie Opera, Cthulu Dreamt, and Eldritch horrors! Reed also teaches Andy about the concept of Scope…
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