Grateful Web is proud to publish an exclusive interview with journalist and author Brian Anderson, conducted by Meagan Panici of Chicago’s legendary freeform station 88.3 FM The Wizard. In Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection, Anderson treats the Wall of Sound not as mere equipment but as a living, breathing protagonist—capricious, communal, and uncompromising. Across this conversation, he delves into the system’s pioneering design, the mad-scientist zeal of Bear and Ned Lagin, and his own lifelong Deadhead roots that shaped this project.

Whether you’re a seasoned Deadhead or a curious newcomer, this interview brings the Wall’s triumphs and near–disasters vividly to life. Read on for the full Q&A, in which Anderson and Panici trace the Wall’s first full test at the Cow Palace in March 1974, the synesthetic vision that guided its creation, and the communal spirit that made it—and the Grateful Dead—truly unforgettable.

MEAGAN PANICI (88.3 FM The Wizard): You’re tuned in to The Wizard 88.3 FM, Chicago’s home for freeform radio since 1974. That moment you just heard? That’s the sound of the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound breaking. It was March 23, 1974, Cow Palace, the first full test of the biggest, weirdest, most ambitious sound system rock & roll had ever seen. It failed—and it soared. Today, I’m joined by journalist and author Brian Anderson, whose new book Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection dives headfirst into the psychedelic chaos and scientific genius behind it all. Brian, welcome.

BRIAN ANDERSON: Thanks so much, Meagan. Great to be here.

MEAGAN: So first off: this book. It’s not just a history—it’s a story. You bring the Wall of Sound alive like it’s a character, a beast with moods.

BRIAN: Yeah, that was the aim. The Wall of Sound wasn’t just equipment. It was a presence. A protagonist. Some nights it was in a great mood—firing on all cylinders. Other nights it was cranky. Unpredictable. Like a living thing with its own agenda. Everyone around it—the band, the roadies, the engineers—they were in service to it. And that’s how I structured the book: the Wall as the central character.

MEAGAN: And it was alive, in a way. You write that they got rid of floor monitors entirely. The sound system was behind the band, so the performers and audience heard the same thing. That’s wild.

BRIAN: Right. The same exact sound field. It was communal. Democratic. No one had a better mix than anyone else. But that also meant that when something went wrong, everyone felt it. There was no separation between performer and listener. They were in it together, just like those early Acid Tests that birthed the band.

MEAGAN: Let’s talk about Bear. He’s such a compelling force in this book—chemist, mad scientist, financier, sound guru.

BRIAN: Bear was singular. The first time he saw the Dead—still called the Warlocks then—he was so moved that he basically vowed to follow them to the ends of the earth. He funneled the profits from his LSD empire into high-end sound gear and became their first soundman. And he had synesthesia—he saw sound as color. When he watched the Dead, he saw interacting waves of light. That informed his pursuit of audio purity. His vision is what became the Wall of Sound.

MEAGAN: And Ned Lagin—another lesser-known but essential character. Seastones blew my mind.

BRIAN: Yeah. Ned is fascinating. MIT-trained, deeply avant-garde. He and Phil would perform Seastones during Wall of Sound shows. His signal ran through the center cluster of the Wall, and he could literally bounce the entire system up and down by a foot. Total sonic mad science. And he asked Garcia and Lesh not to mention him later on—wanted to stand alone. But Seastones is a crucial part of the Dead’s experimental continuum: from Feedback, to Seastones, to Space.

MEAGAN: Your book is full of these voices. And your voice is there too. What made you want to take this on?

BRIAN: I’ve been listening to the Dead my entire life. Both my parents were hardcore Deadheads. My mom worked backstage at shows with Flipside Records and Howard Stein in the early ’70s. My dad was a fan who became a stagehand at Alpine Valley in the ’80s. They brought me to shows as a toddler. Some of my earliest memories are of the Dead. So yeah, this project is in my DNA. People ask how long I’ve been working on the book. Technically, since 2023. Maybe since 2015, when I wrote my first story about the Wall. But honestly, I’ve been working on it my whole life.

MEAGAN: And now it’s out. What a gift to the community. And to folks who might not know anything about the Dead.

BRIAN: That was huge for me. I didn’t want to write another book filled with in-jokes and “inside baseball.” I wanted it to be accessible. No “on the bus,” no “long strange trip” unless it’s literal. It’s written for Deadheads, but also for the curious outsider. Anyone who’s ever obsessed over something beautiful and broken.

MEAGAN: You are hitting me right in the heart here, Brian. Let’s talk music. We opened with some early Wall chaos. What should we hear now?

BRIAN: Let’s close with “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” from June 16, 1974—Des Moines Fairgrounds. That was the full Wall of Sound. My mom was there onstage as a guest of the band. A rainbow came out. It’s etched into my memory. There’s even a newly discovered photo of her sitting side-stage. That show’s always been close to my heart.

MEAGAN: So beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing all this. Loud and Clear is out now. Go grab it, folks.

BRIAN: My pleasure—thanks for having me.

Transcription is abbreviated – for the full WZRD Interview, check it out below: