Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for The Tonearm
The Tonearm · June 14 · 52 min

Billy Polo: Audio Engineer as Archaeologist

Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Billy Polo, in-house audio and mastering engineer, at iconic Jamaican music label VP Records. Billy has spent years restoring and remastering some of the most important recordings in reggae and dancehall history. Works from Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, King Jammy, Sly and Robbie, and dozens more. Billy works with the original analog tapes, often in rough shape, and brings them back for today’s and tomorrow’s listeners. We talk about the restoration process, what vintage tape actually sounds like when it's failing, and what Billy's doing to make sure this knowledge doesn't disappear. (The musical excerpts heard in the interview are Prince Jammy - "Second Generation"; Augustus Pablo & King Tubby - "The Big Rip Off"; King Tubby with Max Romeo & The Upsetters - "Three Times Three" ) — Dig Deeper Billy Polo and VP Records: Visit VP Records — Billy's label home and the institution whose archive he manages VP Records on Bandcamp Artists and Projects Mentioned: King Jammy — official site Lee "Scratch" Perry — official site Augustus Pablo at VP Records Junior Murvin — Police & Thieves Linval Thompson — Wikipedia Dennis Brown — King Jammy Presents: Dennis Brown Tracks of Life on Bandcamp Studios and Labels: Channel One Studios — Wikipedia Clive Chin and 17 North Parade — United Reggae profile Collaborators and Engineers: Wharton Tiers — Tape Op interview King Tubby — Wikipedia David Amram — official site; composer of Splendor in the Grass and The Manchurian Candidate Gear Referenced: Drawmer Electronics — manufacturer of the Drawmer dynamics processors mentioned in the episode Tascam 424 — the four-track machine that started Billy's home recording life Atmos and Immersive Audio: Anthrax — Among the Living (Atmos) — available on Tidal and Apple Music; one of Billy's standout Atmos listening experiences — — 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.

0:00-52:37
Play in

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Billy Polo, in-house audio and mastering engineer, at iconic Jamaican music label VP Records. Billy has spent years restoring and remastering some of the most important recordings in reggae and dancehall history. Works from Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, King Jammy, Sly and Robbie, and dozens more. Billy works with the original analog tapes, often in rough shape, and brings them back for today’s and tomorrow’s listeners.

We talk about the restoration process, what vintage tape actually sounds like when it's failing, and what Billy's doing to make sure this knowledge doesn't disappear.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are Prince Jammy - "Second Generation"; Augustus Pablo & King Tubby - "The Big Rip Off"; King Tubby with Max Romeo & The Upsetters - "Three Times Three" )

—

Dig Deeper

Billy Polo and VP Records:

  • Visit VP Records — Billy's label home and the institution whose archive he manages
  • VP Records on Bandcamp

Artists and Projects Mentioned:

Studios and Labels:

Collaborators and Engineers:

Gear Referenced:

  • Drawmer Electronics — manufacturer of the Drawmer dynamics processors mentioned in the episode
  • Tascam 424 — the four-track machine that started Billy's home recording life

Atmos and Immersive Audio:

—

—

• 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.

links24

more episodes

All episodes