Janek Gwizdala Podcast
by Janek Gwizdala
Dive deep into the music universe with the podcast that unveils the journey of one of the most influential bass players in the music industry – Janek Gwizdala. Designed for bass enthusiasts and musicians alike, each episode is a sonic exploration into the world of groove, gear. technique, and artistic evolution.Janek Gwizdala, renowned for his mastery of the bass, shares his life's narrative – from the early days as a budding musician to his current status as a sought-after sideman and solo artist. Whether you're a seasoned bassist or simply appreciate the magic of live music, join us as we unravel the layers of Janek's experiences, revealing the secrets behind his signature sound. Expect in-depth conversations with Janek and special guests, offering unique perspectives on music, composition, and the art of creating an unforgettable groove. Explore the challenges and triumphs of a professional bass player, gain insights into the creative process, and discover the stories behind some
Episodes
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What Makes a Bass Player Sound Professional?
Disclosure: These show notes were created from a transcript of the episode using chatgpt to a) give me an extra hour to practice today, b) give you as much detailed information about my conversation with IMA, and c) keep me motivated to keep coming back to the creative side of making videos and...
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The Music That Still Makes Me Want to Practice
Before I hit record for this episode, I was playing around with a harmonizer sound and found myself right back in the music that first made me want to become a musician. A phrase, an interval, a particular sound, and suddenly I’m thinking about Michael Brecker, John Patitucci, and records I was...
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How to Make Simple Bass Chords Sound Beautiful
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...
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What Should You Actually Practice?
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...
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How I Choose Bass Pedals
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…
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I Found an Unreleased Album I forgot I Made
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...
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After 30 Years, I Still Practice This Simple Exercise
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…
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I Haven’t Practiced in a Month. Here’s How I’m Coming Back
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...
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The 3 Skills Every Musician Should Keep Working On
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...
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I Discovered a Huge Blind Spot in My Practice
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…
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This Tiny Pedalboard Replaced My Massive Touring Rig
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.…
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The Podcast is Back!
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...
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Reclaiming Focus
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…
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What I’m Building in 2026
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…
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New Fretless Bass!
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...
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$749 For a Bass Preamp?!
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…
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The Ethics of Streaming (And Why it Matters)
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…
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Revealing My 2025 YouTube Revenue
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,...
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Mike Stern Tour Recap
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!…
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How I'm Getting the Best Clean Tone I've Ever Had
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…
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Chord Melodies For Bass Players
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...
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Can One Tiny Pedal Make the Difference?
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…
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Is the Wetter Box The Greatest Pedal Ever?
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...
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Me and Sean Hurley Subbing for Each Other
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...
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Would You MIC the Strings of an ELECTRIC BASS?!
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…
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Was This The Right Move?
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...
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The New RKM 5-Strings are FINISHED!
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…
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Is This The Greatest Reverb Pedal Ever?
I haven't been this excited about a pedal in a very long time, and thought I would be waiting much longer to get my hands on one. The entire run of 400 sold out instantly a couple of months ago, and I imagine the next run in October will do the same. From its small footprint to the incredible…
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I'm Opening a Record Store (Sort of)
We get to some new stereo sounds in the pedalboard and even a short lesson on outlining dominant chords in today’s episode… But first, in a music industry dominated by the internet, streaming, social media, and ten-second clips, I’m trying something a little different. I’ve always had the red…
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Why I Still Practice Like a Beginner
With more than 30 years invested in the process of learning and playing music, I'm still trying to get better and improve my technique. If you’re a fan of cycling like me, you may have heard about Tadej Pogačar and his zone-2 training revelations, as discussed by Peter Attia and Tadej's former...
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Jazz vs AI. Who Wins?
Special guests on this week's episode are my great friends and musical collaborators Justin Vasquez (who you will find on my albums Live at the 55bar, It Only Happens Once, and Found) and Gabriel Santiago who is a phenomenal Brazilian guitarist and composer I've worked with for many years, and...
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An Influence I Rarely Talk About
In today's episode we get into some Django Reinhardt, the ii-V-I, and a pedal that's been at the top of my wishlist ever since it dropped a few weeks ago and sold out instantly! More soon, Janek New Book Bundle Available Now! Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at...
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The #1 Tool Musicians Overlook
Don't ignore your ears! They're the most important part of the process when it comes to playing, learning, communicating, interacting, and producing music of any kind. The word transcription has some things associated with it that might put you off thinking it's right for you, but in today's...
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How I Learn Jazz
Cannonball Adderley is one of my biggest jazz heroes and in this episode we're taking a look into how he's helped me with all aspects of my playing, not just jazz and improvisation. Find and trust a process that works for you, and then get into great habits like consistency, listening, and...
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EVERY Bass Player Needs These Two Pedal Techniques
Even if your pedal doesn't have them built in, I have a fix to get you the sound that "trails" open up on time based effects. And when it comes to some of the hippest pedal sounds for bass, a momentary switch can make all the difference in your performance. We get to both trails and momentary...
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Secrets of Mastery: Musician Meets Magician
Jason was a full-time touring musician for years, playing hundreds—if not thousands—of shows around the world. Today, he’s recognized as one of the world’s leading card magicians. He was incredibly generous with his time, sitting down with me to explore the fascinating parallels between mastering...
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Recreating Iconic Bass Tones with the HX Stomp
Ever wanted to sound just like your bass heroes? We all have those iconic players who shaped the way we hear and play bass. For me, it started with revisiting Voodoo by D'Angelo and getting lost in Pino Palladino’s buttery tone. That led me down the rabbit hole of dialing in his sound—and...
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Subbing for TONY LEVIN Was Insane
This past week has been one of the bigger musical challenges of my career when I was asked to sub for one of my all-time bass heroes Tony Levin in the band Stick Men. This episode takes a look at the process of learning their show in less than two days, transcribing and charting all the music…
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"Jazz Musicians Have It Easy" The Adam Neely Interview
Adam Neely is a bass player, band leader, YouTuber and much more as you're about to find out in this interview. I sat down with him recently in NYC and got into what it takes to be a bass player and artist in 2025 and beyond. We talk touring as a band leader, breaking the YouTube algorithm, and a...
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Top 5 Bass Albums Every Musician Should Hear
This episode of the podcast started life a couple of days ago as a post on my newsletter, and has now become a deeper dive into the inner workings of some of the most legendary bass players we all know and love. You might have heard of these bassists, maybe heard these albums. Perhaps you've even...
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Switching Basses?! How Hard Can It Be...?
You might be a bass player who owns more than one bass, but has had difficulty switching between them. You are not alone! This was me for the longest time. I used to be so tied to one specific instrument that I missed out on a lot of opportunities to play music. I've since shed that security...
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Me and THUNDERCAT on SBL?!
Playing a Thundercat song on SBL wasn't something I had on my bingo card at the beginning of the year, but that's exactly what happened! I had a blast shooting the video and was (in a very rare instance for me) quite happy with the performance. I think it was a product of being surprised by the...
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Did I Just OFFEND 8,641,398 Soundgarden Fans?!
It all started as a very innocent comment about not being a huge Soundgarden fan. Over 200k views and 1k comments in the first week later, and the dumpster fire that YouTube comments can become has been quite an eye-opening ride. The irony is, I don't hate Soundgarden at all. I've even seen them…
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When You're Not Ready for Tour...
When life happens and what you actually need to be doing to get ready for recording, performances, or clinics gets put on the back burner, it can feel a little hectic and out of control. I found myself waking up today, the day before leaving for Europe, and feeling very underprepared with my...
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How to Get Better Faster
It's not clickbait, it's not a hack, it's not a shortcut, and there is no avoiding the work. This is literally how you get better faster than you’re doing it now. Laser focus on small pieces of information for as much time as you can during your practice sessions, will help give you the freedom…
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The Illusion of Virtuosity — Giacomo Turra, Content Theft, and the Erosion of Musical Integrity
In this no-holds-barred episode, we (yes, my wife is finally back on an episode!) react to the recent storm surrounding Danny Sapko's exposé of Giacomo Turra, who’s been accused of stealing musical content and passing it off as his own. The controversy triggered widespread conversation across the...
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The Podcast Turns into EPIC "Internet Musician" Rant 😑
We’re into a harmony deep-dive in today’s episode that, towards the end of the epsiode, becomes somewhat of an “internet musician” deep rant. Thankfully I’m not 21 anymore, and I think we pose some important and positive questions before the episode is over. Get in the comments below the YouTube...
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You’ve NEVER Played Bass Chords Like THIS Before!
Just a quick note to let you know that, besides today’s episode of the podcast dropping, we’re getting really close to being able to announce the London clinic with myself and Ian Martin Allison on June 1st. In today’s episode, I take a crack at sharing my latest harmonic curiosity…
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Bass Day Europe Cancelled!
A quick emergency episode of the podcast to let you know that Bass Day Europe has been cancelled a the last-minute, and that Ian Martin Allison and myself are going to try and do something in London together in its place. Comments on the video with suggestions are already pouring in which I…
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The Ultimate Flight Case for Bass Pedalboards – Indestructible?
I've been looking for the perfect touring pedalboard case my entire career, and even though I think I've come pretty close with this latest setup, only time on the road over the next two weeks will tell. We start our tour here at home in LA for four nights, but once we leave for the airport it's…
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About this show
Dive deep into the music universe with the podcast that unveils the journey of one of the most influential bass players in the music industry – Janek Gwizdala. Designed for bass enthusiasts and musicians alike, each episode is a sonic exploration into the world of groove, gear. technique, and artistic evolution.Janek Gwizdala, renowned for his mastery of the bass, shares his life's narrative – from the early days as a budding musician to his current status as a sought-after sideman and solo artist. Whether you're a seasoned bassist or simply appreciate the magic of live music, join us as we unravel the layers of Janek's experiences, revealing the secrets behind his signature sound. Expect in-depth conversations with Janek and special guests, offering unique perspectives on music, composition, and the art of creating an unforgettable groove. Explore the challenges and triumphs of a professional bass player, gain insights into the creative process, and discover the stories behind some
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