From Dream to Tape: Pazner and the Olympians Re-emerge

The Olympians’ story has always carried a little mythology humming beneath the tape hiss. Their 2016 debut was already a kind of apparition: a bedroom project that sounded like it had slipped through a crack in time, built by Toby Pazner and a circle of New York players who understood groove as a language with its own physics. But the record’s defining spark came from that fever dream on the Greek Islands, where a toga-clad figure urged Pazner to build a “Temple of Sound.” Whether that moment was prophecy, metaphor, or the byproduct of far too much sun, it became a compass for what followed.

A decade later, In Search of a Revival returns to that dream to see what still glows inside it. The new album pulls away from the Curtis Mayfield and James Brown lineage of the debut and orients itself toward Gold Star Studios, the Wrecking Crew, and the widescreen grammar of vintage film scores. Pazner recorded to an eight-track Scully machine identical to the kind housed at Gold Star, which demanded choices that couldn’t be undone. “California” offers the first clue to this shift, a bright, acoustic-leaning track shaped by the same West Coast canon that inspired the Olympians’ broader leap into a richer, more cinematic world.

Our conversation with Pazner continues to circle back to that island vision as a working principle. You hear it in the patience baked into the arrangements, in the disciplined erasures, in the odd influences smuggled in at the edges, even in the sitar line born from a chance encounter. The mystery of that original dream remains unresolved, which is part of the pull. In Search of a Revival treats it as an open question rather than a myth to be embalmed: is it real, or just real enough to build a universe around?

---

Evan Toth: Your new record nods to the 60s and 70s in ways that feel intentional rather than nostalgic. Which influences were guiding you while writing and arranging, and which less obvious ones might listeners miss on first listen?

Toby Pazner: The big influences on this record are outside of the standard soul genre. There is a lot of influence from Gold Star Records where the Wrecking Crew recorded for The Beach Boys, Phil Spector and countless others. The Beatles always maintain a huge influence on everything I do so that is omnipresent. I would say these two stick out the most but tons of other little pieces have lesser known influences. For example the organ solo on "Thunderball" has an organ setting that reminded me of the organ on Ronnie Foster's song "Mystic Brew" which is a famous sample used by A Tribe Called Quest. 

ezt: Many modern retro-soul records end up sounding overly pristine. In Search of a Revival has a warmth and cohesion that feels lived-in without becoming murky. What did your production and mixing workflow look like to achieve that balance, and do you feel it differs - sonically - from other releases on the Daptone label?

tp: It really was lived in. I would sit with rhythm tracks sometimes for a year or more before recording the melodies.  Sometimes wiping entire sections of a song and re-recording them. Lots of thought went into each song so I am glad that comes through to the listener. Other Daptone instrumental releases tend to be a set group of musicians. This was me working one-on-one with a musician or a section with myself being the constant. The recording process stretched over three years and I would say that is the main difference. The warmth comes from the engineering I did and methods I used but most importantly combined with the mixing capabilities of Vince Chiarito. 

ezt: The press release mentions a fever dream on the Greek islands that helped spark the idea of a “Temple of Sound” during the first album. Was that a literal moment of inspiration, a metaphor that grew over time, or something in between? If you have any photos connected to that period, please feel free to share them.

tp: This is a moment in time that is hard to describe. As with most dreams they are ethereal. All I can say is I awoke with a mission. 

Toby Pazner Surrounded By the Many Instruments on In Search of a Revival

ezt: You recorded the new album with a 17-person ensemble. What did working at that scale allow you to accomplish musically, and what were some of the practical or creative challenges of coordinating a group that large? Any images from those sessions would be great to include.

tp: The main issue with a group that large was tracking to 8 track tape.  You have to record a lot together and bounce those tracks together. It isn’t like most people make an album on a computer where you can have a track for each string on a violin if you want. I had to really think about how I wanted to record it and how I wanted it to sound in advance of getting the musicians over. 

ezt: The first Olympians record leaned into the lineage of Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, and the broader Daptone aesthetic. The new album feels more cinematic. What pulled you in that direction?

tp: I didn’t want to make the same album but also I was listening to other stuff.  I still love all of the things you mentioned but I found the tracks that really resonated with myself and people on the first record were the songs that had their own unique feel and didn't fit too tightly into a specific reference. I tried to expand on that. 

ezt: You have worked within this vintage vocabulary for years, yet the new tracks never feel like museum pieces. How do you approach revivalist language in a way that feels imaginative rather than imitative?

tp: I guess I would say I am not trying to write songs and tunes that sound like they have no influence from anything after 1973. I wanted to make something that draws from the classics but stands on its own as a logical progression of those songs and not a replay of them. 

ezt: “California” was recorded on a Scully machine similar to the one used at Gold Star (Beach Boys, etc.). Beyond the gear, what aspects of that studio’s philosophy or workflow influenced your thinking on the track?

Pazner Takes his Analog Aspirations Across the Brooklyn Bridge.

tp: Again it was the confines of tape and the process. You have to think moves ahead on what you are doing.  You can’t just get takes that you can throw in the computer and compile and fix later. Everything that hits tape is used or lost forever when you erase it. 

ezt: You spent several years touring and writing with Lee Fields while also starting a family. How did those experiences shift your priorities or shape your understanding of what The Olympians should sound like ten years after the debut?

tp: It was really the pandemic that allowed me to get back to this project. With touring shut down I started working in the studio. With that foundation and first bit of sessions under my belt the momentum just carried me forward to a complete album.

ezt: One track that stands out is “Saraswati Puja,” which blends funk with a sense of Eastern mysticism. What ideas or influences guided that composition?

tp: I heard the sitar player at a party at a charity event.  He sounded incredible.  I told him I would call him when I could write something for him that would make sense. When I came up with the guitar parts that outline the sections I knew I had something he could solo over. 

ezt: You composed, arranged, and produced the album on your own. What freedoms came with being the sole creative driver, and what pressures did that create when shaping a project of this scale?

tp: It allowed me to take my time and do what I wanted and try what I wanted.  If I didn’t like the way something sounded I could scrap it and start over again.  It also meant everything was on my shoulders. With the last record I would call up the horn players and they would come in and write the melody on the spot.  With this one I had to write the melody in advance and decide on the spot whether I liked it or wanted to vary it. There was a lot more responsibility on my head for this one but I am proud I did it.