What if the best mix isn’t the cleanest, but the truest? In this podcast takeover, Lij Shaw (Recording Studio Rockstars) dives into a standout conversation with engineer, songwriter, and producer-in-the-making Abby Griffin to explore how “being the weird girl” can be a creative superpower, and why the moments you capture now may matter more than perfection later. From choir training and vocal anatomy to tape love and AI stems, Abby brings a sharp, generous lens to making music that feels alive.

The conversation starts with foundations you can use today: training your ear with tools like Pink Trombone, choosing mics for the job (vintage U87 clarity vs 414 warmth), and recording drums the simple way, two mics, tight kit, one great bar, and tasteful overdubs for fills and transitions. Abby maps out a low-stress workflow for song-first productions, where loops carry pocket, and a click becomes optional. Along the way, we swap gross mic tales and gig-life realities with a wink and a wince.

Songwriting sits at the heart of everything. Abby’s “song seeds” method, notes app phrases, moleskin pages, and free-writing, pairs with alternate tunings to break muscle memory and unlock lines you can’t play in standard tuning. They unpack “show vs tell” with Taylor Swift’s plain-spoken detail, Shakespeare’s sonnets, and the poem Two-Headed Calf. The aim isn’t to prescribe feelings; it’s to stage scenes so the listener writes their own. A moving centrepiece: Abby’s family recording made days before her grandmother passed, a time capsule that proves how capturing the chapter can matter more than polish.

Tech doesn’t replace taste; it supports it. AI stem separation shines in pre-production and post, voice-memo overdubs turn ideas into demos, and tape, hardware or plugin adds character where it counts. Pat Metheny’s advice threads through it all: be yourself from day one and let the work find its people over time. Abby’s take is simple and brave: match your freak, protect your rituals, and put the moment first.

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