Ep538: John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants Returns!
The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds
Nate Goyer
4.7 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants talks rare vinyl rarities, the chaotic story behind the new album's cover art, why re-recording old music is almost always a mistake and lots more
Order the new album "The World Is to Dig" here
Topics Include:
- Flansburgh owns roughly 2,000 records across three turntable setups at home
- He doesn't identify as a collector — just a serious listener
- His rarest record: an Andy Warhol-autographed Sticky Fingers with wild provenance photos
- He also owns a peeled-banana Velvet Underground and a Blonde on Blonde rarity
- Deep dive into what makes each of those pressings so collectible
- TMBG's new album title comes from a Maurice Sendak-illustrated children's book
- That led to a fascinating detour on painter Ad Reinhardt's secret black-on-black canvases
- Flansburgh has been TMBG's de facto art director for 35 years
- The new album's cover art was nearly a Washington Post-licensed sinkhole photo
- Washington Post's mass layoffs killed the deal at the last possible moment
- A Hudson Valley School painting of Yosemite became the actual cover
- Flansburgh and Linnell don't stockpile songs — cuts are made for specific artistic reasons
- He once had to shelve a song because Linnell came in with a nearly identical opening line
- TMBG song titles are uniquely searchable — except the new one referencing Wu-Tang
- Flansburgh is firmly against re-recording old material — cites Zappa as a cautionary tale
- Great discussion on remastering: Beatles got it right, Hendrix remaster was disorienting
- TMBG evolved from NYC performance art venues to rock clubs — crowd energy changed everything
- Their boutique 8-track manufacturer couldn't keep up when TMBG needed a thousand units
- Dolby Atmos debate: Flansburgh is skeptical, Nate makes the case for spatial audio
- Nate's most collectible record is a Nevermind test pressing — rejected pressings are worth more
Extended & High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide
- Apple: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-ios
- Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-spot
- Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-amazon
- Support the show at Patreon.com/VinylGuide
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. |
| 0:10.1 | Here's your host, the biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer. |
| 0:13.5 | Well, hello, everyone, it's Nate. |
| 0:15.8 | Welcome to episode 538 of the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. |
| 0:22.7 | And today, ladies and gentlemen, we welcome back to the show, Mr. John Flansberg of They |
| 0:29.0 | Might Be Giants, incredible group. And so glad that we got a new album, The World is to Dig. |
| 0:36.5 | It's coming up on April 14th. They've got a recent EP eyeball. |
| 0:41.3 | They recorded so much. They had enough left over for the EP. And of course, a massive tour, |
| 0:46.3 | which you could look at the dates and grab tickets at They Might Be Giants.com. But of course, |
| 0:52.7 | order that album, The World is to Dig. |
| 0:55.4 | Today, John and I, we talk about rare vinyl. He shares the chaotic story behind the new |
| 1:00.5 | album's cover art. He shares why re-recording old music is almost always a mistake. |
| 1:06.8 | Hard to disagree with that. We talk remastering, Dolby Atmos, out of phase music, test pressings, eight track tapes, and lots more. Now, some of you may recall, hey, wasn't John on the Vinyl Guide podcast before? Well, yes, you are correct. John has been on the show before, episode 464. But you know, we got like 530-something of these episodes. |
| 1:31.0 | Lots of other interviews available. |
| 1:33.1 | So if you're new to the podcast, thanks for stopping by. |
| 1:36.6 | Follow us in your podcast app. |
| 1:38.5 | And you get access to all sorts of other conversations. |
| 1:41.8 | Recently we had on Bootsie Collins. |
| 1:44.4 | Last week we talked to |
| 1:45.6 | Vaultmeister Joe Travers on the world of Frank Zappa, |
| 1:48.7 | episode 537. |
| 1:50.9 | Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers was on, |
... |
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