Janek Gwizdala Podcast

A student asked me a question in a private lesson yesterday that I don’t think anyone had asked me quite that way before: “How do I listen to your music?” Some of my albums connected with them immediately, but others left them wondering why they had little similarity to previous releases. That question became the starting point for this episode: a conversation about harmony, simplicity, and why I’...

Does inspiration come before the work, or does the work create it? A Jimmy Carr quote I heard while making breakfast this morning set this episode in motion. It reminded me how often musical ideas arrive simply because I’ve sat down and spent time with the instrument. I share what that process looks like right now: working on a Brahms waltz for a potential duet with Daniele Camarda, exploring tria...

All my pedalboards start with a sound in my head and from there I slowly start to decide what I might need to create all the elements of the board, and where each piece belongs in the signal chain. This week I play through my current setup, from the MXR Vintage Bass Octave, Mantic Hulk, and FMeron at the front of the chain to the HX Stomp, stereo effects, looper, and DI that follow. I explain why...

With the 10th anniversary of American Elm this year, I recently started contemplating the idea of a remix/remaster with not only some new material that never made it on the first release, but also some video footage since I release no visual representation of the album at the time. While I was digging through hard drives this week on the hunt for all that old material, I came across a duo album I...

If you’re already subscribed to my substack, you’ll have read a little about what’s in today’s episode yesterday already. Go straight to the video if that’s the case, and get stuck into the practice routine I’m sharing today. For those new to the podcast or to my substack…. The longer I play music, the more value I find in returning to simple ideas. This episode begins with one major-scale exercis...

After almost a month of packing, moving, unpacking, and barely touching the bass, I'm finally back in the studio, and my chops definitely aren't where I need them. With a weekend at Birdland with Steve Smith and Vital Information coming up, it would be very easy to panic and spend every available minute working on the music for the gig. Instead, I'm trying something different. I've been going back...

The Three Pillars of My Musicianship This feels like a great way to end an era of the podcast. We’re moving this weekend, the studio is being packed up, and this is the final time I’m sitting down in front of the camera here before everything moves to the new house and a completely new studio. It felt appropriate that this episode ended up being about something pretty fundamental: the three pillar...

After more than thirty years of playing, practicing, recording, and touring, I still catch myself making this one annoying mistake when it comes to my practice time. The encouraging part is that when I do catch myself doing it, it often leads to the biggest breakthroughs, or at least some semblance of direction to take my process in that feels positive. In this week’s episode I talk about a patter...

This week I’m delivering on a promise from the last episode: a complete walkthrough of my new stereo pedalboard. After years of touring with much larger setups, I’ve downsized to a rig that gives me incredible flexibility while still producing the huge ambient sounds I’ve been chasing for years. I break down the entire signal chain, explain why each pedal earned its place, and demonstrate how I bu...

Bass players, coffee drinkers, ladies and gentlemen, the podcast is back! Full disclosure: I used chat gpt to generate the description of the podcast below based on a transcript of the episode. I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole AI thing in general, but I realized it saved me a ton of legwork today with something I’m not particularly good at (writing descriptions of things), and provide...

After years of building one of the most extensive bass pedal collections imaginable, I’ve made a big decision… I’m letting almost all of it go. In this episode, I talk through why I’m selling over 200 pedals , what triggered the shift, and how simplifying my setup is already changing the way I make music. This isn’t just about gear, it’s about creativity, focus, and letting go of the “collector mi...

The podcast returns to its own channel with a 2026 reset: a clearer lane for each part of my output so the main YouTube channel can stay focused on harmony/theory-based lessons, while the podcast and live/performance content live on their own separate channels. I outline six recording projects I'm aiming to track across the year, share a packed touring schedule (US, Japan, Europe, Asia), and talk...

The latest short run of basses with RKM, in three new colors, is here! Check out all the specs below and use the contact email at the bottom of the description to enquire about ordering one today. We also get into triads on dominants chords and a recap of the comments section of the now infamous Mantle video from a couple of weeks ago. RKM CUSTOM 5JG Collab 2Scale: 33”No. Frets: 24No. Strings: 5Di...

We're taking a look into the new Bass DI and preamp from Walrus audio in collaboration with Ian Martin Allison. Spoiler alert... It's a beautiful piece of gear, and the minor meltdowns about the price happening in the comments below the launch video are a little puzzling. For the most part though, the feedback is hugely supportive and positive which is both great, and greatly deserved. Hopefully t...

Following on from our most recent discussion on the subject, I get a little deeper into the weeds on the state of streaming, the music industry as a whole, and some of the ethical decisions we face when considering how to release our music and share it with the world. I have gone back and forth on the subject for many years, and endeavor to update my thinking on it as and when the information chan...

To close out the year I’m counting down my top ten YouTube shorts for 2025 and revealing all the numbers from both 2024 and 2025 for comparison. It won’t buy me any beachfront property, but it’s not all doom and gloom, and it doesn’t signal the end by any stretch of the imagination. Don’t forget, that for the next 24hrs only, the entire store is on a 20% holiday sale, with all discounts added auto...

Looking back on two emotional weeks on the road with Mike Stern's band featuring Dennis Chambers on drums. I'm diving deep into how the new pedalboard held up on tour, how the past creeps into my present sometimes, and what the future holds. More soon, Janek Our year-end holiday sale is now on! Get 20% off storewide with discounts added automatically at checkout: https://janekgwizdala.myshopify.co...

I can’t believe I haven’t utilized this function on any of the pedals or amps I’ve owned. I’ve been getting so deep into the clean signal of my bass lately, especially with the addition of the Wetter Box from GigRig, and this week’s episode of the podcast takes a look at the latest mission to clean up the signal chain even more! More soon, Janek Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizda...

With a rare trio gig tonight that doesn’t have a chordal instrument besides me in the band, I’m re-booting the partition of my brain that gives me access to a ton of harmony, melody, and comping. All on the bass! In this episode we’ll take a look at both an extended range 5-string with a high C string, and a standard 4-string tuning. More soon, Janek Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekg...

I just built a brand new pedalboard from scratch and share the signal chain and some of the sounds with you in this episode. We also get into some much more important topics on the subject of our health and mental well-being as musicians. As I mention in the episode, I want to hear from you in the comments, get feedback on what you would like to hear more about, and moving forward it would be grea...

It’s incredible that a pedal which creates literally no sound at all, can be so sonically life-changing when it comes to my pedalboard and signal chain. The Wetter Box by Gigrig is by no means a new release, and it’s something I wish I’d tried many years ago. Kudos to Dan and the gang (not a sponsor of the podcast) for getting it so right when many others failed. Here are some other videos I menti...

What happens when things are kind of crumbling on a session and you need the advice of someone who is close to doing more sessions than any other living bass player? You call Sean Hurley. This is the three part story of how we ended up subbing for each other on gigs we’re pretty well know for doing, and how we approach them in very different but very musical ways. More soon, Janek Get full access...

I’m always tinkering with new ways to record and find sounds I’ve never produced before. Today I’m experimenting with ways of using a mic to capture more nuance and articulation in my picking hand when I record. The results are pretty startling in terms of how the dynamic range of the instrument is extended. More soon, Janek Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subsc...

It can be tough to admit you’ve made a mistake or done something wrong, not least of all when it involves something you pretend to actually know a little about. In this week’s episode I come clean about a pedal blunder, discover my brain doesn’t work the way I want sometimes, and find comfort in the simple things in life. I also mention in the episode that two pieces of gear are leaving the studio...

My collaboration with RKM basses is now shipping to the lucky few who were able to grab one in our short run of the instrument. In today’s episode I go into some detail about the venture with RKM, play the bass a ton, and also have a look at some of the challenges we face when using synth pedals as bass players. More soon, Janek Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/s...