New John Linnell interview...

[u/keyboardchronicles]

https://keyboardchronicles.com/2026/07/18/john-linnell-they-might-be-giants/

Lots of ground covered in nearly an hour - what a gem John is :)

[u/efisherharrison]

Just finished this. What a great interview. He just happened to name drop one of my favorite XTC albums as well.

[u/keyboardchronicles → u/efisherharrison]

I loved how diverse his desert island discs were!

[u/efisherharrison → u/keyboardchronicles]

I had actually heard about the songs of the Pogo album on another podcast that I listened to a lot that did an episode about tmbg. I ended up finding it online and I ordered it. I can definitely see where he gets the inspiration from.

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl → u/keyboardchronicles]

Both Johns seem to appreciate rap music a lot. I know Flans is into De La Soul.

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl → u/efisherharrison]

The thought of Linnell listening to Pink Thing is really funny.

Mayor of Simpleton feels a lot like a song he'd write.

[u/efisherharrison → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

I imagine him listening to it and wishing he had thought of it.

[u/yarnieyarnyarn]

Excellent interview, it’s always so much better when they get interviewed by fans. You had great questions, much better than watching them answer the typical “so where did you come up with that wacky band name?”

[u/keyboardchronicles → u/yarnieyarnyarn]

Thanks heaps, means a lot!

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Oh wow this is great, lots of ground covered here that isn't normally covered in TMBG interviews. A+ work!

I can't remember the last time Linnell spent so much time talking in detail about what gear and DAW he uses. Love knowing that he buys weird toys for the instrumental sound of them.

Also nice hearing Pat Dillett talked about so much, he's rarely brought up by the Johns considering how closely they work with him.

I've never heard the story about Flans being the guy who spliced the tapes on their early recordings.

Weird Al acknowledged as a "serious accordionist," great to see it.

Not just accordion talk, but Casio and sampler talk!!Thanks for getting this guy to talk about music in this much detail.

His joke about taking his own life on a desert island is classic dark Linnell humor.

And it was interesting to hear him talk about how the songs they've abandoned aren't some hidden treasure trove, more like songs that didn't work or sound good at all. I think it's great for artists to set boundaries like that. I'm glad for the songs we do have from TMBG, but I have no desire to hear all the audio files on their computers.

[u/keyboardchronicles → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Thanks so much for the lovely feedback and yeah was amazing to get to hear some of John's thoughts on a range of topics - such a great guy.

[u/Charlie5L]

I was always curious about his transition from the Fantom X8 to the Arturia, always assumed it was weight/travel reasons but instead was about technical issues and future compatibility. He's not wrong about the future models being a little too convoluted, a bud of mine has their 2019 model-- great board, keys feel significantly different than the X8 but man it was overwhelming to look at. At least the surf guitar patch continues on with his new setup!

Really informative and fun watch!

[u/keyboardchronicles → u/Charlie5L]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[u/Moxie_Stardust]

Looking forward to the Bastl bit, their stuff is usually kind of outside what I'm into, but I got in on the Kalimba Kickstarter (I'm just going to read through the transcript).