Interview: Paul Myers

A Peek Behind The Scenes At 'The Record Store Day Podcast'

May 21, 2024

Paul Myers is tuned to the backbeat of pop culture.

A musician, composer, author and film producer, Myers has published critically-acclaimed biographies including Kids In The Hall: One Dumb Guy (House of Anansi) and A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio (Jawbone Press). In addition, he was executive producer for the award-winning Amazon Prime documentary Kids In The Hall: Comedy Punks which was based on his book.

Myers is also the host of the Record Store Day Podcast, where he combines his background as a musician and songwriter (check out some of his music at the bottom of the interview) with his years of experience as a music journalist to foster some fascinating conversations with legendary musicians, up-and-coming artists, and music industry denizens of various stripes.

“I always approach my musician guests with a kind of knowing that maybe they’re on a long tour,” Myers told me for the interview below.

“I just think musicians relate on a frequency; you know? We love music and hate the business, but we also love meeting people even when we hate meeting so many of them all the time.”

Now in it’s fifth season, The Record Store Day Podcast is one of my go-to listens, so I was thrilled to take a peek behind the scenes. (Full disclosure: I was lucky enough to work with Myers on two essay collections—Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop and the sequel, Go Further—and I have been a guest on the RSD podcast.)

Our conversation explores Myer’s experience as a podcaster (along with some valuable advice for new music podcasters), his lifelong love for music, and his approach to the fascinating conversations he has had with members of Talking Heads, Wet Leg, Sloan, Sleater-Kinney, The Replacements, They Might Be Giants, XTC and many, many more.

“I should probably be ashamed of how much I tend to fawn over a guest if I love their work, but hey, one of the greatest feelings for me is just saying, ‘Thank you for the music’ to the people who birthed my favorite records,” Myers said.

Paul Myers Interview

How did you became the host of The Record Store Day Podcast?

Paul Myers: I had been approached by Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz, who is a major Todd Rundgren fan and loved my book, to write some liner notes for one of their Rundgren special reissues. At the time, I told him that I’d been trying to get into podcasting for years but hadn’t figured out the right angle on it. He said, “Why don’t you do one for us?” Problem solved.

Was this your first experience as a podcast host?

Paul Myers: In the years leading up to this podcast, I had been on several podcasts as a guest, and I’d always had a great time. I found it really natural to interact with people on the mic and that got me thinking it would be logical for me to make a show of my own. It’s not my first time talking on a microphone, about 20 years ago I hosted a radio show in Vancouver, Canada, so I was on the air live for two hours a day, five days a week. What I had to learn was how to actually engineer, and edit, a show.

I was fortunate in that I had gotten to know Marc Maron’s producer Brendan McDonald, who is just the nicest and most generous person you could ask about the gear side of the show. He literally made me a list of the things I’d need. We also brought in Dave Hill’s producer Chris Gersbeck for a few weeks, and he was great in hooking me up with a good server situation and for sorting out the first-timer issues that I encountered. These guys are the real heroes.

Who was the first guest you interviewed for the RSD Podcast?

Paul Myers: With much chagrin I have to admit that the first guest I interviewed was Dave Hill from Valley Lodge (whose music you hear at the beginning of every episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). I had been on a few of his podcasts as a guest and we had a great rapport but when we recorded his episode for my show, he was on a very bad line from Ohio or something, and I was too new to getting him talking and the whole episode felt wrong, so I shelved it. I sincerely hope we can redo it because Dave is not only a good friend, but he’s also smart and hilarious and I know we can do a great segment someday.

The upside for me is that this meant that my second interview was our debut episode, a chat with Tony Visconti, one of my record production heroes, no pun intended. Tony recorded his end of the conversation in the studio where he had once tracked David Bowie, using one of the same microphones he had used on David. An auspicious start to our podcast.

What have you learned between that first interview and one of your most recent interview with The Lemon Twigs?

Paul Myers: When I first had Brian and Michael on the show, in 2023 to discuss Everything Harmony, I must admit that I was a little intimidated by them. Michael was very quiet which triggered my insecurities, maybe I wasn’t cool enough to get on their brother frequency, or maybe I didn’t know as many deep cuts and esoteric artists as Brian did. This was all in my head (pun intended this time) and the interview went really well. It helps that we both have a connection to Todd Rundgren.

In the time between our interviews, I’d met them in person in San Francisco and seen their incredibly impressive live show. They were so nice to me backstage, as were Reza and Danny. I think another thing that changed over the years was that I realized that the Twigs aren’t just trying to pastiche a bunch of their favorite records, they are original songwriters, who just happen to stitch new clothes using the fabric of their elders. Brian more or less confirmed that during our second interview.

A Dream Is All We Know is deceptively upbeat but has a lot of depth too. The kids, they’re alright, you know? Ronnie D’Addario raised his boys right, and they are fine young men.

I know it's like choosing between children, but what are a few of your favorite episodes?

Paul Myers: It’s a newer one, but Dhani Harrison and I really hit it off and I think he ended up talking about way more things because it was real connection. Having Johnny Marr on the show was huge, and after I recorded my hour-long chat with Andy Partridge, one of my ultimate songwriting heroes, I was bouncing all over the walls.

Elvis Costello was great, although the sound was compromised so I was really nervous the whole time that we’d lose his Zoom signal. I got the sense that Alice Cooper had more fun than he thought he was gonna have, we went much deeper into the Billion Dollar Babies era than he usually gets to go. I felt a real connection with Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Allison Russell, and I could imagine us being friends in real life.

Are there a few quotes or pieces of wisdom from RSD Podcast interviews that stand out for you?

Paul Myers: Only that most of the artists we admire didn’t plan on their careers going the way they did, their intentions were thwarted by fate or scheduling, and they ended up making inspired choices at the intersections.

Preparation is one thing, but you have to be ready for happenstance. A huge takeaway is that “genre” as we’ve known is not only a limiting cage, but also an arbitrary concept. Music people are fans of music, not just these strict genre parameters. Most of our episodes end with me asking the musicians/artists what was the first record they ever bought. The answers defy expectations: Jason Isbell bought Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation; David J of Bauhaus was deep into Trojan reggae dub stuff; Johnny Marr bought the same T Rex records in Manchester as Joe from Def Leppard did in Sheffield, but he was also fighting with Phil from Human League over the last copy of ‘Ballroom Blitz.’

I imagine there are some benefits to being connected with a beloved organization like Record Store Day, especially when it comes to booking guests. How are guests selected?

Paul Myers: Definitely our guest list largely comes down to acts or artists who have physical media in the national indie shops (and major chains of course), particularly when they have a special RSD release. That’s how we got De La Soul for instance. It’s probably why I just recorded a way-too-brief chat with Ringo Starr that is coming out later to tie in with a physical release of his newest EP.

Who are a few dream guests you would love to interview for the RSD Podcast someday?

Paul Myers: Well, for me the motherlode would be Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Brian Eno…

What advice do you have for anybody starting a music podcast?

Paul Myers: Have an angle. Music is such a vast topic that it’s helpful to have a somewhat unique purview, a specialized area of passion or expertise. If you aren’t the most knowledgeable person to talk for 30 to 60 minutes about a topic, try and have a guest who does know something you don’t. That conversation will inform us too, as listeners.

Read up on the costs and equipment and think about the time commitment you’re getting into. I record and edit my own show on Apple GarageBand, and I talk into a Shure SM7B mic going through a Focusrite Scarlett interface. I had to ask a few engineers about compression ratios and stuff because I wasn’t as experienced as an engineer.

I am lucky we have sponsors, but it’s not gonna make you rich unless you’re already famous like SmartLess or established like Marc Maron.