“I moved directly on out to Los Angeles, sight unseen. Just did kinda the cliche: pack your bags and go.” Sean Phelan is self-effacing when he tells his story, as though it all happened to him — as though he’s the luckiest guy in the world. But demand is rising for the skills of the […]
sound engineering
Remembering Dennis Jones, Iowa City’s sound guy
Those who contribute the most to local music scenes often make the least amount of noise. This was certainly true of the late Dennis Jones, an unassuming sound engineer who could regularly be seen operating the sound board for Iowa City’s Friday Night Concert Series, as well as at hundreds of club shows, benefits and other local events over the past three decades, until his death at the age of 68 on Feb. 9.
Iowa City’s John Hopkins graduated from Gabe’s to become one of metal’s most renowned sound engineers
For the past decade, legendary Iowa City citizen John Hopkins has been living on the road as a highly sought-after front-of-house tour sound engineer for some of the heaviest and most beloved sludge and stoner metal bands in the galaxy: the Melvins, Corrosion of Conformity, High on Fire, Orange Goblin, Weedeater, Neurosis, Boris, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Alabama Thunderpussy, Municipal Waste, Buzzov•en and others.

