He said goodbye to professional studios and big-name producers like Brendan O'Brien and Don Was, recording the album in his basement by himself.

As detailed in the liner notes, Westerberg made no effort to fix imperfections, and even included a song for which the tape ran out before it was over.

Stereo was packaged with Mono, which he credited to his Grandpaboy alter ego.

The hidden track that closes Stereo, "Postcards from Paradise", is a cover of a Flesh for Lulu song.

On November 29, 2019, Stereo/Mono was released as a double LP as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday.