{"id":5556,"date":"2026-08-15T15:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5556"},"modified":"2026-08-15T15:49:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:49:04","slug":"switched-on-pop-nate-sloan-charlie-harding-podcast-netflix-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5556","title":{"rendered":"Switched on Pop\u2019s Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding love fresh vegetables and guitar pedals"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As if you needed more reason to love Carly Rae Jepsen\u2019s \u201cCall Me Maybe<\/a>\u201d beyond its pop perfection, it is also, according to lore, the genesis for Switched on Pop<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>one of the best music podcasts out there. Cohosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding obsessively dissect pop songs, from the theory behind their musical choices to their production techniques. If you\u2019re a student of pop music, then this is a must-listen podcast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sloan is a composer and professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music, where he researches pop, but also jazz and even Tin Pan Alley. Harding is a songwriter, music journalist, and a professor as well. Their combined knowledge is near encyclopedic. Whether they\u2019re talking about text painting in Justin Timberlake\u2019s \u201cCan\u2019t Stop the Feeling!\u201d or Taryn Southern\u2019s AI experiments, the two reveal the rich tapestry of even the most simple-seeming songs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now, after 12 years and nearly 500 episodes, the show recently made the leap to video<\/a> on Netflix, featuring guests like Aaron Dessner (The National), Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Yes), and Cypress Hill. Sloan and Harding told us about the importance of the metronome, fresh vegetables, and what seems to be a slightly problematic relationship with guitar pedals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Switched on Pop is a production of <\/em>New York Magazine\u2019s <\/em>Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is your most indispensable tool?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Charlie Harding:<\/strong> The Martin D-28 is the platonic idea of both what a guitar sounds like and, I\u2019m ashamed to admit how much this matters to me, how a guitar looks. You\u2019ve heard it on \u201cBlackbird,\u201d \u201cWish You Were Here,\u201d and \u201cBig Yellow Taxi.\u201d I found one from 1970 sitting in an antique shop in Maine. But I\u2019m still waiting for it to produce a timeless classic for me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nate Sloan:<\/strong> Sibelius music notation software. Whenever I\u2019m analyzing a song, I don\u2019t truly understand it until I transcribe its melody, harmony, and rhythm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which is the most underappreciated?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> Keyboard shortcuts and the app Rectangle save me hours of my life every year by doing the mundane task of repositioning windows on my computer. And they also make me feel like I\u2019m mission control on some kind of spaceship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> AudioHijack for grabbing audio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH: <\/strong>This is very nitpicky, but it drives me mad. I extensively use focus modes on iOS to help keep away distractions. But I also need people in my family to be able to reach me, so they get exceptions to the focus modes. However, that means any group messaging chain with just one family member blows up my notifications when I\u2019m presenting to a lecture hall full of songwriting students. This means I\u2019m urgently notified every time my recently retired father catches a fish. I am happy for my dad, but I\u2019d be more happy to find out after 5 pm when I\u2019m off \u201cdo not disturb.\u201d If this makes me sound like a curmudgeon, I am.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>I wish I could strum it like a guitar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What sites do you have pinned to your tab bar?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>ProQuest Historical Newspapers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How many tabs do you have open right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> 92\u2026 but they are nicely organized into groups that only I understand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>Two. I used to have hundreds open, but it was killing my attention span, so I now make a point of constantly closing them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which social media platform do you use the most (if any)?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is your happy place online?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> Browsing Sweetwater for variations of guitar pedals that I already own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> Watching ukulele tutorials on YouTube.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is your favorite gadget you\u2019ve ever owned?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> The Dato DUO synthesizer and Dato DRUM drum machine. They are the easiest way to learn to program a synthesizer, and you can\u2019t make a bad sound. My kids jam on them every night. It\u2019s turned them into Brooklyn DJs, unfortunately.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> The iPod that I traveled around the world with in 2006.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which was the most disappointing?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What game do you have the fondest memories of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which tech trend do you wish would go away?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH: <\/strong>AI music slop, full stop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is one thing you wish you had created?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> In 2007 I pitched my college friends on creating an app that would allow you to legally hitchhike in other people\u2019s cars. We started a tea company instead, which was ultimately less of a liability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What creation are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH: <\/strong>Switched On Pop<\/em>. My wife read this and said I should add my children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>Coining the term \u201cpop drop\u201d to describe the instrumental postchorus in a pop song.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which are you least proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> My wife read this and said I should say my guitar pedal collection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> Getting dunked on by YouTuber Rick Beato after calling the Jonas Brothers \u201cstupefyingly funky\u201d in a New York Times<\/em> article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> You can never have too many guitar pedals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is your current obsession?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>LeBron James signing with the 76ers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What do you do when you need to focus?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>Step away from the computer, take a walk, and start recording a voicenote about what I\u2019m trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What do you do when you\u2019re feeling stuck?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> Call Charlie Harding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH: <\/strong>During routine surgery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS: <\/strong>Whenever I go to the gym.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What\u2019s the last piece of physical media you bought?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> The History of Sound<\/em> by Ben Shattuck.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> Vinyl copy of the Jeff Parker IVTet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What do you think is worth splurging on?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH:<\/strong> My guitar pedals. And my beautiful wife.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What would the tagline for your biopic be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CH: <\/strong>He is embarrassed there is a biopic about him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NS:<\/strong> One man dared to overanalyze pop music, taking on BTS Army, Madonna stans, and the Little Monsters, and living to tell the tale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What\u2019s the last GIF or meme you used?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Simpsons<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Classic<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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