INTERVIEW: ‘THE VINYL GUIDE’ PODCAST HOST NATE GOYER TALKS MUSIC AND COLLECTING
Tom Osman, March 16, 2023
Self-confessed record nerd and host of The Vinyl Guide podcast Nate Goyer has many stories from the world of music to share.
Usually, Nate is the one asking the questions, with guests ranging from Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band), to Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), to Gerald V Casale (DEVO) giving the insights into their musical lives and record collections on his weekly show.
This time, Nate finds himself on the other side of the interview desk, sharing his story of The Vinyl Guide, the origins of his love of records, and plenty more.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with The Vinyl Guide, how would you describe it?
It’s a podcast for record collectors and music nerds, and it’s my journey on trying to find out about the different records that I listened to and collect, and the artists that I enjoy.
Each week, we get an artist on talking about the records of their life, whether it’s the ones that influenced them, or the ones they made. I lean very heavily on the rare and collectible records of their career.
One thing I’ve discovered is, record collectors don’t just collect vinyl, we also like the stories. So I try to dig in to understand the background of why particular records are the way they are.
I don’t want gossip, or things that are probably going to be outdated in 30 days. I want to know about the records and talk about the things that will hopefully be of interest for future generations of record collectors.
I prepare a lot for each interview. If it’s already on Wikipedia, I need to go beyond it.
You’re based in Sydney, Australia, but you’re originally from the Bay Area, California, is that right?
I am. We moved there when I was 8. The Bay Area, San Jose. I spent 20 years in the Bay Area between San Jose and then an area that’s near Santa Cruz.
My father would take me on his errands on a Saturday morning. We would always stop by a drugstore, a five-and-dime kind of thing, and they had records. So at the end of the day doing errands, he would buy me a 45. I have no doubt that’s where my love of records and my emotional attachment comes from.
I wanted to be a musician, but the problem was, I didn’t have the discipline. I was in a lot of crappy bands. The technology of making music was something I liked, but I didn’t really have the chops to back it up.
I found myself working at a music store, selling keyboards and that sort of thing. From there, I was able to put together a recording studio and start to record different people. Then I started working in larger recording studios.
I learned how to program computers when I was young and ended up learning digital audio editing. Computer programming gave me the understanding of how to put things in order. If you’re doing a podcast, there’s a sequence of things that has to happen. It gave me the patience and the understanding for that.
What was the moment when you decided to make this podcast, and how did you actually put it together?
It actually started from a very dark place. One of my best friends from Australia was a guy named Dan Brown. He and I used to be stand-up comics. We were both into a lot of the same music. He’d come over, and we’d listen to John Coltrane, talk, laugh, and have a good old time.
He suffered from a level of depression that I wasn’t aware of, and in 2015, he ended up taking his own life. I really missed spending time with him and talking about records. So I just thought I’d give podcasting a go. It was almost a kind of therapy for me to talk about records.
There’s a very early episode—before I did a lot of interviews—on the origin and my story of Dan. I still think about him quite a bit. When he died, in his notes, he also said, “Nate can have my records.”
I liked a lot of the same music as Dan, but there was a lot I didn’t understand and songs I didn’t like. So I thought, let me give them to someone who would appreciate them. I started giving away at record fairs, with a note in each one of them about Dan saying why his record was special.
As the podcast is taking off, I’m starting to interview a lot of Dan’s heroes. So at the end of an interview, I’d tell them a little story of Dan and offer to send some of his records for their collection. I’ve been scattering Dan’s records around the world.
Was it always your intention to interview musicians, or that just kind of evolved?
A lot of the early episodes took a lot of research. I kind of got sick of my own voice, so I brought in people like Klaus Fluoride. I wanted to know about Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. Such a pivotal album.
It got to the point where rather than me doing all the research and telling the stories of the artists, let’s just get them to tell them. I’m laying out these landmarks for them.
Sometimes if you let people talk, they’ll wander all over the place. So part of what I have to do is I have to put the guardrails in to keep the story moving, but those episodes are very exciting.
Kieth Morris is one. He’s been on the show three or four times. He just talks about what he wants to talk about. That’s part of the beauty, but sometimes I gotta tie it back and get the information.
I’ll start off an interview with maybe 10 points that I definitely need to hit. Sometimes we’ll get towards the end of the interview, and only four of them have been answered because they talk so much. It’s just part of the dance.
Did you have some kind of professional training as an interviewer, or did you work it out as you went along?
I worked out as I went along. The stand-up definitely helped. Working in recording studios with different artists helped. Some of these musicians have extraordinary lives. It’s not normal, what a lot of them do, to put their emotions out there and to make art, to go on a stage and do it in front of lots of people and live life on the road, away from their families. So I’m curious about that.
Another example, Brian Baker, from Minor Threat and Bad Religion. He started Minor Threat when he was, I think, 16. There are pictures of him as a little kid. He looks younger than my sons, and they were traveling around in a van playing shows.
How did this happen? I try to represent what I think is a reasonable perspective and get these people to talk about their lives in that sense.
Does anything stand when you started, or even now, in terms of interviews, or podcasts that you draw inspiration from?
I take a big page out of the Marc Maron (WTF podcast host) book. He’s a great interviewer who’s empathetic, and he really listens. He’s funny, and he also knows when to let it breathe. Him and Howard Stern are my favorite interviewers.
Does anything stand out in terms of people you interviewed where you felt particularly intimidated going into them?
Dave Meniketti from Y&T. To grow up in the Bay Area in the ’80s, and to be into rock music, Y&T were gods. They were an inspiration for us, living the lives that we wanted to live. I’ve interviewed a ton of people, but when I interviewed Dave Meniketti, it was like going back to childhood. It got me nervous just because he was such a childhood hero.
Do you have a sense of a glass ceiling of who you can get for the podcast, and have you noticed that change?
I have the rejection letter from the Dalai Lama somewhere—from one of his handlers—that says, “His Holiness would not be available for an interview.” So look, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
It’s hard when you start out because you don’t have a profile, but then occasionally you’ll get artists X, and now (you can) maneuver into a different level. I probably won’t get a Billie Eilish, or Axl Rose.
There are some artists that I don’t think would work, anyway. I absolutely love Mike Patton, but he likes to goof around and be provocative. That’s what we love about him, but if I tried to have a straight interview with him, it probably wouldn’t be enjoyable for anyone.
We had Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night. This guy was a maniac. He’s got some amazing stories and a lot of rare records. Those are the sorts of people I want.
Given the possibility of having absolutely anyone as a guest on the podcast, who would you pick?
Bob Ludwig, record mastering engineer. He’s on the back of so many albums and bands pay him 20 or $30,000, to master their record. There were times where he said, “Yeah, I’ll talk with you.” I think COVID got in the way of one of them.
Finally he just said, “You know what; I don’t think I can do this”. He’s an older guy. I think he needs to be very careful about how he spends his time. So I get it.
(Another dream guest is) Paul McCartney, just because he owns the world’s rarest or the most expensive records. A Quarryman acetate. It’s a record that he, John Lennon, and I think George Harrison made in Liverpool in 1961. Just the three of them around a microphone. One or two copies were made, and he’s got it. I’d want to talk to him about that.
Have you ever had any guests booked that died?
A couple of them. I was working out dates for Chris Cornell. That was a shock. There’s Geoff Emerick, The Beatles’ engineer. We were getting ready to set up dates, then all of a sudden I just read in the news that he died. He would have been fantastic.
Could you give a bit of insight into your typical week? What are the kinds of responsibilities that you’re juggling, apart from the podcast?
I’m a father. I’ve got two boys and a wife. I have a regular day job working for a large organization. That’s my day gig.
I tell people the podcast is the one area of my life that I don’t sell out. I don’t do ads or sponsorships that I don’t believe in or have any relevance to the podcast. Being in tech affords me that freedom to be able to do that.
I want to always keep the trust of the audience. I’m not trying to do anything else other than just tell stories and share perspective and have a bit of fun.
A lot of the readers of New Noise Magazine love punk and hardcore. You’ve mentioned that some of these bands really inspired you in your formative years. What is it about punk or hardcore music that makes it good or bad to you?
Authenticity. If the person is doing what’s natural to them, and other people are able to see themselves as part of that. Like, The Saints’ “I’m Stranded.” So many Australians at the time could relate to being stranded, especially up in Brisbane, where these guys were.
A lot of those bands that are regarded as the masters of the craft are the ones who people can relate to. Dead Kennedys, definitely. Black Flag talking about kids getting beaten up by cops. I defy anyone to show me a Dead Kennedys song that still isn’t relevant today.
So it’s in the title of the show: Vinyl. Now it’s 2023. We’ve got Spotify. Why should anyone care to own or listen to records?
By all reason, they shouldn’t. I think the majority of what propels the vinyl industry is emotion, a recollection of a better day, maybe a bittersweet moment of your life. Like how my dad used to buy me those records. I’m chasing that emotion that I had when I was young, hanging out with my dad.
I think there’s something to be said for the vinyl record format, especially if everything is analog. Digital is just a series of samples of steps. Your brain has to fill that in. It takes processing power.
Analog doesn’t require that. It just moves the air, and your brain interprets it. That’s probably part of the reason why when I had a whole CD collection, I really only knew the first five or six songs. I think my brain got tired and just stopped listening after about 20 minutes or so.
With the record, that’s the time that you flip it over, you reset. So I think there are psychological factors that play into why you got vinyl nerds like me and collections.
Can digital signals sound as good if not better than vinyl? I think they can, but nothing can replace the memory of growing up with records and how important records were, at least for my generation.
What do you think that implies for when today’s teenagers are middle aged?
I don’t think they’re going to reach our age. Have you read the news? They’re going to be too busy worrying about flooding and whatnot to wonder how this Melvins record would sound. They’re gonna be running for their lives.
There’s gonna be a few people who are still into records. My kids really don’t care about it. They know dad cares about it. I’m under no illusion that we are within a bubble. I’d be very surprised if the next generation values records to the level we do.
I’ll put one caveat there. Some of the fans that are growing up with heavy bands like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are really into collecting vinyl.
If we get through the next 20 years in humanity, will they be interested in Billy Joel, Glass Houses? Probably not, but the stuff they’re growing up with, that’s near to them, that’s gonna be a memory they want when they’re 40.