Martin Bisi: Forty-Five Years of Sonic Murder

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on producer and engineer Martin Bisi.

Bisi has run BC Studio out of the Gowanus section of Brooklyn since 1981, recording Sonic Youth, Swans, Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," and countless others.

We discussed his new album, Dancing On The Power Lines, his ongoing community activism, the changing landscape of New York's music scene, and so much more. It’s a good one.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Martin Bisi's Dancing On The Power Lines)

—

Dig Deeper

Artist and Album:

• Visit Martin Bisi at martinbisi.com and follow on YouTube and Facebook
• Purchase Dancing On The Power Lines from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice
• BC Studio — established 1981, Gowanus, Brooklyn
• Previous release: Your Ultimate Urban Fantasy EP (2024)
• BC35: The 35 Year Anniversary of BC Studio

Live:

• The Martin Bisi Ensemble plays Sure We Can recycling center in Brooklyn, Sunday, September 13, 3–7 pm

Collaborators:

• Nora Almeida — writer, performance artist, and activist who wrote about half the lyrics on the album, including "CubeSmart Sunset"
• Almeida's Last Street End in Gowanus (2021), the public artwork behind the street-end conversation
• The Last Street End of Gowanus by the Autonomous People of Gowanus — Martin Bisi Collective, on Sleeping Giant Glossolalia
• Joan Hacker (voice, synth)
• Diego Ferri (bass, baritone guitar) and Oliver Rivera Drew (drums), the Berlin chapter of Bisi's band

Gowanus:

• Voice of Gowanus — the all-volunteer group Bisi belongs to, advocating for a cleanup fully protective of human health
• Arts Gowanus — the arts advocacy organization he says conceded they hadn't thought about music
• Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club — Lawrence Peryer's old paddling club
• Powerhouse Arts — the converted power plant at 322 Third Avenue

Venues:

• Lowlands — 543 Third Avenue, live music Mondays and Tuesdays
• Mama Tried, Brooklyn
• Max Fish, formerly of Ludlow Street

Musical References:

• Genre Is Death — the Brooklyn duo Bisi recorded at BC Studio
• Glenn Branca's Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City) for 100 Guitars — reviewed after its June 12, 2026 performance at David Geffen Hall, conducted by Reg Bloor, the first New York performance since the 2001 premiere at World Trade Center Plaza
• Kevin Sun on The Tonearm Podcast
• Herbie Hancock, "Rockit," and Grand Mixer D.ST
• Martin Bisi: NYC Producer & Sonic Youth Engineer - Tape Op

Documentary:

• Sound and Chaos: The Story of BC Studio — directed by Sara Leavitt and Ryan C. Douglass

—

• Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com

—

• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.

• Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

• Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.