What would a structural engineer bring to guitar making? In his career as a structural engineer, Enrico Di Donato collaborated with renowned architects like Renzo Piano and Arata Isozaki. After years of exploring composite materials for seismic reinforcement and authoring publications on the subject, Enrico shifted his focus to luthiery, combining …

Why do we make things? What is it that draws so many of us to hunker down in dusty workshops, pick up some hand tools, or devote hours to any kind of craft and creation? We might sometimes be mystified by our own obsession or powerful draw towards making things – that feeling of a need to create. Exploring this is part of exploring what it means to…

Based in Edmonton, Canada, Dion James builds steel-string acoustic guitars known for their striking minimalism. Subtle in their looks from afar, Dion's instruments make careful use of intricate detailing without becoming ostentatious. They’re packed with innovation informed by years of building and experimentation, all brought together with a decis…

There might be a lot of guitars that claim to be unique, but there's only a relatively small number that achieve – without question – something new. Nicolai Schorr's instruments are undoubtedly among that select group. From his workshop in Berlin, Nicolai handcrafts guitars and basses that are as playful and refreshing as they are bold. It's unsurp…

If you’ve ever seen Marek Dąbek’s Stradi instruments, you’ll understand that he has a fascinating approach to building guitars and basses. On this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached, we talk about the origins of Marek’s instruments, the benefits of having to struggle for what you want, and why a tarantula lived in his kitchen. Stradi Inst…

What is the future of the NAMM Show? What direction are our instruments – and our industry – heading in? What is it that instrument makers need most right now? There are few better people to speak to about the future of our industry than John Mlynczak. As the CEO of NAMM, he runs the world's largest trade organisation for musical instrument makers …

Based in Vermont, Adam Buchwald has managed to build an enviable business that spans every part of the guitar making and selling process, from supplying woods and tools to designing and building across several brands, and even setting up a retail space. In his full career he’s covered even more ground, plying his trade as a professional musician wi…

This week on the podcast, English guitar maker Rosie Heydenrych talks about how she started Turnstone Guitars, why she's drawn to using non-traditional woods, and what fuels her curiosity as she continues to grow her business. As well as crafting beautiful and refreshing instruments, Rosie has created a family business that prioritises what's most …

This week, I'm joined by Finnish master guitar maker Juha Ruokangas to talk about the future of guitars, music and his own business. With over three decades of experience in the game, building some of the finest quality instruments available on Earth, Juha certainly has an interesting perspective on the changing world of the guitar. It was fascinat…

Unsurprisingly, when you talk to someone who’s a designer, professor, writer, musician and multimedia artist, your conversation covers quite a lot of ground. Ed Keller’s career and projects span an incredible breadth of work across many fields. Often with an interdisciplinary approach, he’s taught and run centers at prestigious institutions around …

Having served for more than a decade in the Army, received an MBA and worked as an executive in a Fortune 500 company, Jason Kostal was already highly accomplished when he came to guitar building – and it’s now yet another area in his life where he’s achieved excellence. Bringing such a varied experience into his work gives Jason a uniquely informe…

Guitar builder Randy Parsons joins me to share some incredible stories on this week’s episode, including working with Jack White, using a cattle skull for the bracing of a guitar he made for Jimmy Page, how he came up with the 50,000-piece Red Queen in a single moment of spontaneity, how he moved his workshop from a former Hell Angels hideout to a …

I’m pleased to announce that my guest this week on Life With Strings Attached is guitar maker Michael Greenfield. Michael is passionate about tone. Great tone. FAT tone. Squeezing every last molecule of tone out of his instruments. Prior to making the commitment to build full-time, he spent 20 years repairing and restoring vintage instruments. He h…

This week on Life With Strings Attached, we’re exploring the intersection of neuroscience, music and advanced AI. Our guide through these topics is Dr. Gabriel Axel Montes, a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, author, musician, and researcher and practitioner of consciousness development. With a focus on AI, Gabriel works both hands-on and at the though…

I’m very pleased to have Legendary instrument designer Ned Steinberger as our special guest on this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached. With a remarkable 40-year legacy, Ned Steinberger has been at the forefront of innovation, with instruments that have revolutionized the industry and set new standards for performance and ergonomic comfor…

I’m pleased to have Murray Kuun as our special guest on this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached. Murray says that a transformative trip to Italy in the 1990s, punctuated by a visit to Michelangelo’s David and a serendipitous encounter with a Luthier, ignited his desire to craft musical instruments. With only a poorly written book as guida…

We talk a lot about tone – but what's the science behind the sound of our stringed instruments? To tackle this topic, I can think of few better people to talk with than Tom Nania. As well as his work as an acoustics engineer with D'Addario, Tom is a member of the Violin Society of America’s Oberlin Acoustics Workshop. Prior to joining D’Addario, he…

Robin Stummvoll of Verso Instruments was recently explaining to me how big an influence Ulrich Teuffel was for his guitar designs. And when it became clear that the two had never met – despite coming from the same region in Germany – I felt I had to change that. Luckily, they agreed, and I had the pleasure of bringing the two guitar innovators toge…

I'm very pleased to have Omer Deutsch of OD Guitars on this week's episode of Life With Strings Attached. Originally trained as an industrial designer, Omer worked in product design for seven years before starting his guitar making business in 2016. Since then, he’s made guitars for many artists, mostly in the world of metal, including players such…

This week's episode of Life With Strings Attached was recorded on location in Northern Ontario, Canada – actually, in my backyard, by special request of today's guest, Mike Sankey. Mike has been creating one-of-a-kind guitars for over 25 years in his workshop in Ottawa, Canada. While better known for organic yet futuristic electric instruments, his…

This week's episode of Life With Strings Attached was filmed on location in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with marine biologist Richard Sears. Sears is a Franco-American who founded the Mingan Island Cetacean Study in 1979 to study marine mammals in the Saint Lawrence, with an emphasis on baleen whales. He worked with the pioneers of whale research, fr…

We know it’s been a minute (or about 1 million minutes) since we last did an episode but we’re back and have a lot to say. We cover what’s been happening in our lives over the better part of a year - big moves personally and professionally, a trip that was life-changing for profound, existential reasons. Another trip that was momentous, but for ver…

This week's episode is part 2 of my conversation with Ulrich Teuffel, recorded on location in his workshop in southern Germany.Von Jamie Gale

Today's episode of Life with Strings Attached was filmed on location in southern Germany, in the workshop of Ulrich Teuffel. Since 1988, Ulrich (Uli to his friends) has been crafting electric guitars unlike any other luthier. In bringing together a unique blend of his training as an automotive mechanic and his studies in industrial design from the …

Aerospace engineer Giulio Di Donato met with me just outside of Bologna for this week's episode, where we explore the fundamentals of aerospace engineering and aerodynamics, and see what learnings we can take to other topics and disciplines. Giulio works in research and development for a prestigious super sports car company, taking responsibility f…

I visited Giulio Negrini of GNG in his workshop in Switzerland to talk about his guitars, and inevitably we ended up talking about far more: the role of fantasy in our culture, the allure of thematically dark or morbid art, and the magical elements that go into instrument making. An Italian master luthier, trained in the Cremonese style of Stradiva…

I've known Nik Huber for many years – since almost the very beginning of my work in the guitar industry. While we were catching up in a restaurant during the Montreux International Guitar Show, I wanted to dive back into some of the stories that have defined his hugely successful career as a guitar maker. So, a bit less of a podcast, this episode i…

For this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sheldon Dingwall outside of the ancient Osaka Castle in Japan. Sheldon is the founder and CEO of Dingwall Guitars. The modern champion of the multiscale bass, Dingwall boasts an artist roster including Lee Sklar, Adam “Nolly” Getgood of Periphery, Jacob Umanksy of Intervals, Jean-Mich…

Zackery Belanger is an expert in the form and material of acoustic architecture. For most of his career, he has questioned the dominant approaches in acoustics, convinced that intuitive, creative approaches are possible. He is the author of the essay Acoustic Ornament, which argues for consideration of non-acoustic surfaces and objects. In 2017 he …

For this week's episode of Life With Strings Attached, I joined Michael Spalt at his home and workshop in Portugal, where he recently relocated from Vienna. For decades, Michael's work has developed at the intersection of art, design and instrument making, pushing boundaries and experimenting with surprising materials. Whether in series like his To…

For this week's episode of Life With Strings Attached, I had the pleasure of joining my good friend Bruno Bacci in Tuscany, where he has forged an enviable career as a guitar maker. With a background in design, Bruno talks about how his whole life has actually led him to guitar making, how he's managed to establish a successful guitar business, and…

For this week's episode, I sat down with Adriano Sérgio of Ergon Guitars in Portugal. It's always fascinating to speak with skilled craftspeople about their work, but it would be remiss to only talk about guitar making in an episode with Adriano. Fleeing his homeland as a child; serving as the equivalent of a Navy SEAL in Portugal; gaining a degree…

From producing Fight Club and screenwriting for the BBC to partnering with UNICEF and creating films about some of the world's most important environmental projects, Ross's work has many threads. But they're all connected by a single mission. As a writer, producer and director, Ross has harnessed the power of storytelling to make an impact, and as …

Bryan Galloup's impact on the guitar industry has been enormous and multi-faceted. For over four decades, he's been dedicated to the preservation of vintage and contemporary musical instruments; he's the President and CEO of Galloup Guitars; and through the Galloup School of Guitar Building and Repair, he and his team have trained more than 2500 lu…

Julio Martins and João Petiz are the founders of Everythink, a design company based in Portugal with an incredibly diverse portfolio of projects. From airplanes and medical equipment to guitars and robots, they design products, services and experiences that impact people's lives in a positive, easy and happy way. I sat down with them on location in…

Daniel Rowland is a music producer, engineer, tech executive and educator. He's worked with artists from Nine Inch Nails and Philip Glass to Gucci Mane and Jason Derulo. In the world of film, his credits include movies from Pixar as well as the Star Wars, Marvel and Fast and Furious franchises. As Head of Strategy and Partnerships at AI music produ…

In this wide-ranging conversation between myself and renowned Canadian luthier William "Grit" Laskin, we discuss the role of the artisan in the digital age, what the physics and physiology of sound perception teach us about instrument making, and why the mysteries of the guitar may remain mysteries for centuries to come.…

Yeah, Liletta and Mirena took their hot girl summer off to live life and start new jobs and travel and do all the things. But they’re back and diving into how pop culture portrays divorce, and how it can be a powerful springboard to help them dive into their own very personal experiences. From current and classic TV shows to, of course, music (the …

It was 13 years in the making and turned out to be the greatest weekend in Liletta and Mirena history! Listen along as Holly and Mandy recap Stella’s bat mitzvah. Was it amazing?? Yes. Did Stella shine?? Also, yes. Were there lots of wardrobes changes? Hell to the yes. Were margaritas served?? OMG YES. Were live chickens involved? Umm, yes, actuall…

Mandy and Holly sneak in this check-in episode right before some major life events are coming up on the horizon. In typical fashion, they talk about everything that has been on their hearts and minds including some major one year commemorations, a beautiful gift with which Mandy surprises Holly, why Holly’s mom is afraid Holly might get arrested, a…

They say it’s healthier to eat small amounts throughout the day instead of eating big meals. Who cares! Just eat what you want, don’t go overboard and throw in some green stuff. Also, try some joy snacking! Stop looking to the future for that magical thing that’s going to make you happy one day. Look around and just maybe there are things - big and…

Where the heck have Mandy and Holly been for the last four months?!?! Listen to their latest episode to find out about the levels of Covid hell they found themselves in, the highs and lows of the holiday season, an epic shopping trip that ended in milkshake disaster, how pepperjack cheese ruined the day, and what bright spots are ahead in 2023. Sta…

It does seem like everyone is talking about wellness these days, so Liletta and Mirena are back to take a crack at it like only they can. They discuss a medical update (walking is HARD), crazy close encounters at the Stevie Nicks concert, the unexpected dimensions of grief, making plans to be more social AND alone, and why we should spend lots of m…

Ugh. August. It’s over now but it was a doozy and Liletta and Mirena just had to deal with some stuff. But they’re back with an almost 3 hour episode, so break it up into chunks and listen at your leisure. Even though this past month kinda was the armpit of summer, they have so much to be grateful for and music is at the top of the list. Mandy and …

Liletta and Mirena put their headphones back on after another long-ish absence away from recording. Eric re-joins them to wrap up his interview and unsuccessfully try to contribute his ideas for the podcast. But first, the three of them breakdown the long list of losses they’ve experienced YET AGAIN and discuss how their unusual Dynamic brought the…

Holly and Mandy talk about the immeasurably devastating loss of Holly’s sister Heidi. Grief can develop in both surprising and predictable ways. It’s something that touches everybody at some point in their lives, so the more we talk about it, hopefully the more we can relate to one another. There is so much more that connects us than what divides u…

It finally happened. We had a three way…..conversation on the podcast. Eric - the ex husband and current boyfriend - finally stops by for a lighthearted, loose and feel good catch up about sports, current events, pop culture, politics. JUST KIDDING. We didn’t talk about any of that stuff. We actually talk about all the hard and uncomfortable stuff,…

Welp, we thought that 2022 was going to help us get over that “languishing” feeling we were experiencing. And, it did, sort of. But not in a good way. Besides discussing grief and divorce, we also address important questions like, why did Holly’s mom call Mandy? Which family members finally caught Covid? Who struggles walking up and down stairs? Wh…

We made it through another year, everybody. Mandy and Holly - and the world - may be a little worse for wear but we’re still here to talk about it, and we’re truly grateful for that. So we’re sharing a few of our takeaways of the year that was in the hope that we can make 2022 maybe a touch less sucky. Appreciating the little things, being ok with …

When the ladies said they like making lists, they weren’t joking. This episode mercifully wraps up this three-part exercise by covering the highs and lows of their divorce experiences. It’s not all fun and games, except for that time when Holly performed an elaborate magic trick and accidentally levitated her car, only to have “David Blaine” come t…