Features archive

November 2025

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39 articles

November 30
- "A synth almost every pro producer seems to own – a modern classic": Moog’s semi-modular ‘Mother’ synths are all $100 off in Sweetwater's Black Friday sale; let's rank them from worst-to-best
- “Michael said he knew when he was writing it that it was a hit. Quincy thought it was a hit. But I don’t think any of us knew how huge it was going to be”: The making of Billie Jean, the single that transformed Michael Jackson into a phenomenon
November 29
- "It was the best-sounding piece of kit ever, but they were so up themselves. We had so many arguments with them when we first bought it": Trevor Horn on the pioneering synth that defined the sound of Welcome to the Pleasuredome
November 27
- Save up to 95% on incredible plugins, software and bundles in Plugin Boutique’s Black Friday sale – and grab an exclusive free plugin for MusicRadar readers
November 25
- “I'm sure that sound influenced the Daft Punk song Get Lucky, because it uses the same trick”: The fascinating music theory behind the kicked-around track that Prince shaped into a hit
- “I hit the drum maybe five times. That was it. Concorde flights, 14 days in a 5-star hotel. The most expensive bit of drumming in history”: When stars of Duran Duran and Chic formed a decadent ’80s supergroup to rock out like Led Zeppelin
November 23
- “Everybody used to say how great Clapton was, but I remember saying to Eric, ‘You try playing that one riff for eight minutes!’”: How rock legends Status Quo stole a riff from The Doors and built an entire career out of it
- “I got woken up at 3 AM by a fan spamming my DMs. I looked at the stream and was like, ‘no way!’ I’m still in disbelief”: UKG phenom MPH on featuring in Thomas Bangalter’s comeback DJ set
November 22
- “John called us and said he thought that we were the best stuff that he had heard since the Beatles… To hear that from John Lennon was like, ‘What?’ It was a wonderful compliment”: Davey Johnstone on Elton John’s smash-hit Beatles collab with John Lennon
November 21
- “We had to use a little bit of latex so I wouldn’t get arrested, because if you’re fully naked on the street anywhere in America... jail:” How Alanis Morissette followed the mega-hit Jagged Little Pill – with a spiritual anthem and its high-risk video
- How Burial used a "rubbish, dying computer” and primitive audio editing software to make one of the most influential electronic albums of all time
- Why LANDR Stems is the best solution for achieving pro-level stem separation on the market right now - and how you can get a whopping Black Friday discount
November 19
- “We were recording Michael Bolton’s version of (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay. And right next door was Steve Cropper, who wrote the song with Otis Redding and played on the original. I was kind of nervous!”: When a legendary guitar hero got the jitters
November 18
- The band didn't like the English lyrics, the record company didn't want to release it as a single, and the song had no chorus: The story of the 'foreign language song' that became an international hit
- “When I brought up the talk box, everybody in the band started laughing at me. But when it actually worked, it became an integral part of that hit song”: How Bon Jovi created their signature rock anthem – with a 'hit doctor' and a 'goofy' guitar effect
November 16
- “Their argument is: ‘Well, you signed it.’ I’m like: ‘Yeah, I signed what I was told, and I was too young and too stupid to double-check it.’”: Kelis and the complicated story of Milkshake
- “I'm getting on an airplane, I'm listening to a song and it has my sound in it”: How DECAP's Drums That Knock became the must-have sample pack for modern producers
November 15
- “Marc is criminally underrated as a guitarist. All rock ’n’ rollers love T. Rex, and there’s a little bit of T. Rex in every rock ’n’ roll band”: When T. Rex opened the floodgates of glam rock with the riff-driven groove of Get It On
- “Tim wasn’t feeling good, and then Jeff said something derogatory, and Tim just punched him in the face!”: The dramatic story of Jeff Beck’s explosive ’70s supergroup and the song that Stevie Wonder gifted to them and then reclaimed
November 14
- “I was afraid. The idea of being unable to sing and perform was horrifying. All the things you take for granted suddenly taken away from you. It was a very troubling time in my life”: An epic interview with rock legend and Whitesnake star David Coverdale
- How innovative minds are developing new technology to support music makers with disabilities
- “I said, ‘Before we start, you know that if I audition I’ll get the gig. But be warned – I’m gonna be a pain in the arse!’”: Bruce Dickinson recalls his audition for Iron Maiden – and his crazy times with his previous band
November 13
- “I put the headstock on the buffing wheel. It threw it out of my hands. That day I learned how to fix a broken headstock”: Cesar Gueikian on building the SG Kirk Hammett played to honour Black Sabbath and how his designs might shape future Gibson releases
- “I ended up rewriting the lyrics and changing the whole song because Tony broke up with me”: How Gwen Stefani channeled the pain of rejection into the No.1 song that catapulted No Doubt to worldwide fame
November 12
- “They’re the absolute pioneers – like a mix of thrash metal and Allan Holdsworth”: Why Wolfgang Van Halen is in awe of a “super heavy” cult band
November 11
- “Journey wanted to make a musical change. Next thing I know I’m in Denver, Colorado with Neal Schon and we wrote our first song together that night”: How Steve Perry became the voice of Journey and took the band to its peak – before he had to bow out
- “When it was finished, I collapsed in exhaustion”: How Moby carefully crafted Play and rescued his career
November 10
- “This business can really get tough sometimes, and you have to dig deep inside you. Paul looked for something else to lean on, and the thing he leaned on had no future in it”: How a gifted guitarist’s descent led to the rise of ’70s supergroup Bad Company
November 9
- "Then disaster struck. I parked up and when I came back out I could see that someone had thrown a brick through the rear window of my car...": John Fogerty on the making and meaning of rock’s jauntiest ode to the apocalypse
November 8
- “I got a hacksaw and I chopped down the stand and put the hi-hats down there”: How the right-handed Simon Phillips learned to play left-handed as a young drummer – with inspiration from two fusion legends and some drastic DIY
- “We would like to leave the verdict of price versus value to the customers”: Is the Roland TR-1000 really too expensive?
November 7
- Best Christmas gifts for music producers 2025: 9 affordable ideas they'll actually use
- “I think that’s what grabbed people – the fact that there were real moments of humanity in it. And the melody was catchy, the rhythm and my vocal was hypnotic”: The story of Cyndi Lauper’s first No.1. hit – later recorded by Miles Davis
- “We wrote the biggest-selling single that Rod ever had, and it took us an hour to put it down. It ended up selling millions all around the world”: When Rod Stewart and drummer Carmine Appice created a controversial disco-era smash hit
November 5
- “It was the easiest song I ever wrote, and it's the most popular, and that really scares me!”: Inside the towering M83 monolith that left its creator with mixed feelings
- “No Pro Tools, no tricks or whistles. We as a band helped change the production of heavy metal records”: With one song, Pantera reinvented their sound to become one of the most influential metal bands of all time
November 3
- “The meaning behind all of this is right in front of our faces, we’re just overlooking it”: Just what was the Radiohead Binary Code theory - and was there any truth in it?
- “I hadn’t stopped from ’62 till ’73 – on demand continuously. And walking away was hard… because I don’t exist if I don’t have a record in the charts”: The cosmic inspiration and bitter irony in one of John Lennon’s last and most poignant songs
November 1
- “I learned synthesis using the Micromoog, so I’ve always had an appreciation for those kinds of synths”: Ambient maestro Steve Hauschildt on the obscure plugins, generative tools and '00s digital synths behind Aeropsia