mutech.media’s Editorial Director, and long-time Australian producer/engineer/musician, Andy Stewart, reveals how he discovered the Omnichord, an instrument released by Suzuki as an autoharp-like electronic instrument back in 1981.

In this video, Andy relates his story of meeting Canadian producer/musician Daniel Lanois backstage at The Roxy in West Hollywood after a show where Lanois was playing his Omnichord OM-27 live on stage. Lanois was performing his solo album at the time – Acadie – and the gig was an ‘industry-only’ affair.

Somehow Andy got two tickets to the show and, as it turned out, was the only one with a deep affinity for the album. Lanois introduced Andy to the Omnichord – an instrument Andy had heard Lanois (and Brian Eno) play on records for years without ever knowing what it was – and Andy’s been playing the instrument live and on albums for 35 years since.