TAPE NOTES COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER - SEPT 2026 (Patreon)

It's September and we're back with the usual monthly round-up of all the Tape Notes news! There's been so much happening that we can hardly believe it's only been one month since the last newsletter! We've released three full video episodes, had our most requested guest sit down with us for a long-awaited deep dive, and grown to the biggest community we've ever been! There are over 3000 of you now as paid members! But our mission will never change: to inspire by lifting the lid on every stage of the creative process and to champion independent podcasting! If you're brand new to our community, welcome! There's so much we want to share with you! If you've been here forever, thank you! We really couldn't do our work without you all!

LATEST EPISODE - TAME IMPALA AKA KEVIN PARKER!

Kevin had to reschedule his visit to Tape Notes after he got ill on the planned day earlier this year, but he made time in his incredibly busy schedule to join online from his LA studio and let John in on the secrets of his new record 'Deadbeat'. You told us how much you enjoyed hearing demo versions and Ableton mixes that didn't make it into the album. Zeniyah's comment said it all: 'I love Kevin'!

If you haven't had time yet to sit down and enjoy the episode, watch it here! And if you're an Extended Player, there's a part 2 to look forward to in November!

MORE FULL VIDEO EPISODES LAST MONTH

TN: 187 OVERMONO

Welsh electronic pioneers Overmono dropped by to break down their highly anticipated new record 'Pure Devotion'. They revealed so much of their gear that it led to our longest ever gear list! No wonder C said, 'The amount of plugins I've downloaded from this episode alone!' Tomuk commented they'd been 'waiting years for this' while Nate said it was great to get insight into their processing'. Watch the episode!

TN: 186 JOY ANONYMOUS

And London dance duo Joy Anonymous sat down with John to talk about some recent releases, including how they go about creating a club banger and how recent live performances alongside Fred Again and Ezra Collective have influenced their process in the studio. 'Such a great episode,' said Sean Ruiz. We totally agree! You can get the full episode here!

GEAR LISTS

All of our episodes come with a detailed gear list, all expertly curated by Guy from our team! If you're a paid member, of any tier, they're all yours! They usually drop one week after the episode here on Patreon.

Get the Tame Impala gear list

Get the Overmono gear list

Get the Joy Anonymous gear list

Check out the full collection here!

FOR THE RECORD - OUR NEW VIDEO ESSAY SERIES!

We've mentioned that we're music obsessives at Tape Notes! For the Record is our new video essay series, inspired by suggestions from you guys and created by our cameraman Evan! We think he did an incredible job!

You folks on Patreon will get episodes first, before our YouTube channel!

Our plan for For the Record is to dig into music-related stories, ideas and subjects we find genuinely interesting. Most episodes will have some kind of overlap with music production, technology or history. Each episode will be around 10–15 minutes and focuses on one topic, unpacking what happened, why it matters, and what it tells us about music.

Tell us what you think of episode 1 - we'd love to hear your thoughts! And if you have suggestions for what you'd like us to focus on in future episodes, give us a shout!

GEAR GIVEAWAY - EXTENDED PLAYERS PREMIUM!

Extended Players Premium is almost one year old! We thought it would take a while to build, but now there are over 600 of you! The monthly gear giveaway is a really popular benefit of the tier, as well as access to our entire full video episode archive (going back to 2023) and a member discounts package. To upgrade to EPP, click here: JOIN NOW and use the code 62CC5 to get 25% off your first month's membership!

This month's gear giveaway is an Everything Bundle from Safari Audio, including over 31 plugins, instruments and studio tools! To win, all you need to do is be a member of this tier! That's it!

Congratulations to Alex Gilbert, winner of last month's prize - a pair of Adam Audio monitors!

WIN 3 MONTHS OF EXTENDED PLAYERS PREMIUM!

Just comment on this newsletter telling us who you need to see on Tape Notes in future for a chance to win three months' free membership!

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Each month in the newsletter, we revisit an archive episode. This month, ahead of our next episode with Bonobo, releasing Wednesday 16th September, we've been diving back into his last visit to Tape Notes from October 2024. If you're on our Premium membership or above, you can watch the full video here!

UPCOMING EPISODES

16th September - Bonobo

23rd September - Giles Martin on producing the new, special extended edition of The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul'

And so much more that we'd love to tell you about but we'd probably be killed!

Don't forget to comment below for the chance to win 3 months' free membership of Extended Players Premium, and thanks again for supporting independent podcasting and long-form music journalism! It really matters, especially right now!

Big love!

John & the Tape Notes team