Inside The Noise with Gabe Dalporto

Guitar Center Senior Manager of Content Max Lauer-Bader joins the company’s CEO Gabe Dalporto to reflect on the biggest moments from Inside the Noise Season 3, including the return of Drum-Off and conversations with artists such as Stephen Perkins, Jimmy Eat World, Dave Kushner and others. Dalporto also shares how these interactions with artists are helping to shape Guitar Center's future—from creating better in-store experiences and supporting emerging musicians to building stronger creative communities for players.

Episode 9 of Inside the Noise season 3 keeps things close to home, as Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto talks to Velvet Revolver guitarist, Emmy-nominated composer and Guitar Center Senior Director of Artist Relations Dave Kushner. In a warm, honest, funny and instructive discussion, Kushner shares stories of perseverance, surviving setbacks, his longtime friendship with Slash and building a sustainable career in the music business.

Hoobastank guitarist Dan Estrin joins Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to revisit the band’s origins at Agoura High School, where the local scene also produced future members of Incubus and Linkin Park. Estrin also recalls writing “stupid” songs with singer Doug Robb on a Tascam four-track and growing up in Agoura Hills before the area had a Guitar Center or other attractions.

Backstage at the Vans Warped Tour 2026, Mayday Parade guitarist Alex Garcia spoke with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto about the band sneaking into early Warped Tours, making friends with artists while on the road, why he obsessively “Shazams” unknown music while shopping and the changing “stage-scape” of guitar gear.

Taking a break from their Vans Warped Tour set, Jimmy Eat World—lead guitarist/vocalist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind—joins Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto backstage to discuss the 25th anniversary of the alternative-rock band’s platinum-selling Bleed American album, collaborating on songwriting and how the business of making music has changed.

Gibson Vice President of Product Mat Koehler hangs out with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to discuss the undeniable attraction of vintage guitars, the company’s Murphy Lab recreations of nearly unobtainable vintage classics, and how Epiphone allows the team to play around with new and more contemporary franchises.

Koehler also dives into how the Gibson Custom Shop and Murphy Lab continue closing the gap between vintage originals and modern recreations, and explains how Gibson balances its historic legacy with the needs of today’s players and artists.

Drummer Stephen Perkins sits down with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to talk about his contributions to Jane’s Addiction, Porno for Pyros and other bands. Perkins also shares the musical philosophy that has made him one of rock's most inventive drummers and reveals how his approach to drumming evolved to synthesize rock, alternate rock, jazz, African, Latin, swing, Indian and other styles.

Gibson Director of Brand Experience Mark Agnesi talks with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto about enthusiastically looking through the Musician’s Friend catalog when he was ten years old, his experiences working with vintage instruments at Norman’s Rare Guitars and how Gibson Custom Shop replicas are getting more and more like vintage originals.

Good Kid guitarists Jacob Tsafatinos and David Wood talk to Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto about how they forged ahead when the band had thousands of listeners, but no booking agent would touch them.

Now an indie-rock success story, the Canadian band reveals how it grew its massive audience by mostly ignoring old-school media, relying instead on finding listeners through gaming culture, Spotify playlists, Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, anime fans, Reddit threads and social-media shares.

Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman joins Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to share the story behind how the music festival grew from a risky idea into a cultural phenomenon that helped launch acts such as No Doubt, Sublime, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Simple Plan and Sum 41.

As Season 2 of Inside the Noise comes to a close, Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto joins Max Lauer-Bader to reflect on the remarkable guests, memorable stories and recurring themes that emerged throughout the season. From musicians and entrepreneurs to innovators, builders and industry legends, the conversations revealed how creativity, curiosity and conviction can shape careers both inside and outside of music.

Phil McKnight—the creator and host of the popular Know Your Gear podcast—expresses to Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto on how he found success on YouTube, why humor is important when reviewing guitars and other gear, and how to buy smarter.

Billionaire investor—and guitarist for Ghost Hounds—Thomas Tull talks to Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto about entrepreneurship, creative leadership, making blockbuster films and being a gamer and comic-book fanboy. (The Guitar Hero video game was one of the inspirations for making It Might Get Loud with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.) As founder of Legendary Entertainment, Tull started out making films he wanted to see, while simultaneously developing ways to use data analytics to improve the marketing of the company’s films.

Genre-bending bluegrass, country, blues and Americana artist—and shredding soloist—Trey Hensley shares his musical journey with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto in this episode of Inside the Noise. Raised in East Tennessee and immersed in country music from an early age, Hensley has blended virtuosic flatpicking, savvy improvisation and hook-propelled songwriting to capture honors such as a Grammy Award, two International Bluegrass Music Association “Guitar Player of the Year” prizes, a signature Taylor Gold Label acoustic-electric guitar and more.

Yvette Young of Covet joins Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to discuss guitar technique, tapping, alternate tunings, songwriting, tone, and the evolution of math rock guitar. Young’s expansive and innovative creativity prompted Rolling Stone magazine to rank her as #155 in its 2023 article, “The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Ernie Ball CEO Brian Ball sits down with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to trace the family legacy behind one of guitar’s most influential companies—from Ernie Ball’s first rock ’n’ roll string sets to Music Man, the StingRay bass, artist partnerships and the future of guitar innovation.

Then, guitarist Tosin Abasi joins the conversation to discuss his collaboration with Music Man, extended-range guitar design, multi-scale playability, ergonomics and what gives these instruments that seamless playing experience.

Guitar Center Hollywood’s Dave Maddux sits down with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to trace more than 40 years of guitar-building, repair and restoration history—from the Fender factory floor to the earliest days of Fender’s Corona operation, the Mexico factory launch and his current work with vintage instruments at Guitar Center Hollywood.

Rock guitarist and defense consultant Jeff “Skunk” Baxter shares his multi-faceted music and music technology accomplishments with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto. In this episode of Inside the Noise, discover how the member of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers—as well as a renowned session musician—has probably played on your favorite songs and also helped create the synth and modeling guitars you use (or want to use) to make your own music.

Through his Marty Music YouTube channel celebrated guitar teacher Marty Schwartz has shown billions of players how to decode songs, absorb riffs and licks, get hip to “practical” theory and supercharge their potential. In this third episode of the second season of Inside the Noise, Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto delves into the specifics of Schwartz’s popularity as a teacher, his educational methodology and the work and strategy that made Marty Music the go-to resource for nearly five million subscribers.

We’re moving through the much-anticipated sophomore season of Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto, and episode 2 features Taylor Guitars CEO Andy Powers, who is also one of the industry’s most innovative acoustic guitar builders. In this CEO-to-CEO chat, Powers discusses building his first guitar at around eight years old (it “exploded”), how the acoustic guitar slump in the 1970s actually helped Taylor compete with more established brands, and why his plan for Taylor’s future is to continue to “create the things that give voice to musicians’ songs.”