Working Class Audio

Eli Crews has been recording since the early-'90s, when he started making weirdo fractured music on 4-track machines, hugely inspired by The Residents and early Devo. At the time he was also a very active musician, playing guitar and bass in a zillion and a half San Francisco bands. Over the course of making a few albums at small studios owned by Myles Boisen and Kyle Statham, he became inspired to pursue recording himself. Already being part of a vibrant music community, it was easy to find musicians and bands to practice his skills on. Things have luckily come a long way since then. Artists Eli has had the enormous fortune to work with, either in the studio or onstage, include tUnE-yArDs, ?uestlove, Yoko Ono, Kathleen Hanna/The Julie Ruin, Yuka Honda/Cibo Matto, Sean Ono Lennon/The GOASTT, Yo La Tengo, Laurie Anderson, Marc Ribot, Deerhoof, WHY?, Son Lux, Colin Stetson, Mike Watt, Erase Errata, Scott Amendola, Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Fred Frith, Ben Goldberg, Nels Cline (Wilco), Greg Cohen (Masada/Tom Waits), and Maria Muldaur. He has also assisted legendary engineers Roger Moutenout, Oz Fritz, and Ron St. Germain. Eli spends most of his days working at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn, NY, although he still co-owns New, Improved Recording in Oakland, CA, which he co-founded in 2003. He has also made albums at Tiny Telephone (SF), Fantasy Studios (Berkeley), Electric Lady Studios (NYC), Oscilloscope (NYC), the Bunker (Brooklyn), High Bias Recording (Detroit) and Broken Radio Studios (RIP!). Eli and Matt talk about moving out of the Bay Area to New York, Family, interns and much more. You can find more information at www.elicrews.com.

Eric Valentine, is a record producer, who began his career as drummer and producer in the heavy metal band T-Ride. He subsequently produced albums for artists such as Good Charlotte, Taking Back Sunday, Nickel Creek, Queens of the Stone Age, Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, The All-American Rejects, Persephone’s Bees, and Slash, among others.Eric chats with Matt about Undertone Audio, DIY acoustics, recording Dave Grohl & Dennis Chambers plus working his ass off and the importance of bringing your A-game. Moto the Bulldog makes an appearance by snoring during the interview.Barefoot Recording (Eric's Studio)Undertone Audio

Greg Wurth is a Grammy Nominated, Gold & Platinum award-winning producer, working as Manager and Chief Engineer at L.A.’s Mothership Studio and Patagonia Studio. His credits range from Steve Vai and Tony MacAlpine to Tracii Guns to Jim Florentine & Don Jamieson, 2Cellos and Mary J Blige. Greg has been Steve Vai’s Engineer for 10 years and spends much his time in the “Harmony Hut” studio in Encino, CA where Greg and Steve currently do all of Vai’s projects.“I grew up in southern San Diego. My parents were big fans of music and introduced me to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin early on. I used to collect cassettes & CD’s in the early ’90s and eventually I became interested enough to play an instrument, so I bought a guitar. I took lessons for a few years and had some bands but I realized that it wasn’t a natural thing for me. I eventually figured out that I was meant to produce and engineer music.”Matt and Greg chat about working for Steve Vai and what he's learned from working with Vai over the years, work/life balance, buying gear, and what Greg finds important in purchasing decisions.Greg's website.

Kim Rosen grew up in the western Massachusetts town of Northampton. Known for its amazing college music scene, the town and surrounding area is infamous for spawning such ground-breaking acts as Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. and Buffalo Tom…just to name a few.Kim realized early-on that music was a driving force in her life. She poured herself into the local music scene while searching out a way to carve a path for herself. It was in the summer of 2001 that a friend turned her on to a mastering studio in NJ that was looking for an intern. Kim jumped at the opportunity, moved to NJ and began her journey with West West Side Music.After a couple of years in production, training and assisting in sessions, Kim was given the opportunity to take on her own mastering projects. While engineering at West West Side Kim racked up a few hundred mastering credits including notable projects from Jeremy Enigk, Franz Ferdinand, Dashboard Confessional and La Dispute.In 2009 Kim dove in head-first and made the decision to go out on her own. She started Knack Mastering out of her home in Ringwood, NJ; building a proper room with the help of world-renowned acoustician Chris Pelonis, choosing the gear that would live in her racks, and growing a client list from around the world that now includes producers and engineers such as Joe Henry, Paul Bryan, Ryan Freeland and Will Yip. Over the last five years, Kim’s mastered albums from Bettye Lavette, Wynonna Judd, Jeff Bridges and the Abiders, The Barr Brothers, Sarah Jaffe, Title Fight and Anthony Green. She was fortunate enough to master the remake of the Johnny Cash album “Bitter Tears” for Sony Masterworks which featured artists such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earl, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch and the Milk Carton Kids. Another recent project was the beautiful Rhiannon Giddens and Iron & Wine rendition of “Forever Young” for the Series Finale of NBC’s blockbuster television series “Parenthood”.Kim continues to build a client base of artists, producers, labels and engineers who trust her ears, her experience and, above all, her respect for their mixes.Matt and Kim discuss parenting, clients, retirement and partnering up with Nashville based studio Welcome to 1979.

Bird and Egg studio owner Nino Moschella is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer, and producer, who has been professionally engineering and producing for 15 years (though his interest in record-making started nearly 25 years ago). Born into a musical family, Nino began playing drums at the age of 6 when his father asked him to keep time on the snare drum at a band rehearsal after the band’s drummer failed to show. At that point, Nino was hooked and in time added vocals, guitar, bass, and keyboard to his repertoire.Moschella opened Bird and Egg in 2009. The studio has thrived and become a favorite of many of the Bay Area’s top musicians and singers. Moschella has had the opportunity to have supported the creation of a vastly diverse range of music for artists including, The late Skip Pitts (Issac Hayes Guitar player), Dennis Coffey, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Ledisi, Bernard Purdie, Laurie Lewis, Galactic, Ladybug Mecca (Digable Planets), Ashling Cole (of Larry Graham and Graham central station), Bilal, Maria Muldaur, Tiffany Austin, Strange Vine, !!!, and Shawn Lee among many others. Nino has released 5 records of his own, all of which he recorded/produced and played most of the instruments, including three solo records out on the Ubiquity record label. His music has been featured on television and film including The Monuments men, Damages, Facing Ali, Eastbound and Down, Lincoln Heights among others. He lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and kids and loves to fish. Matt turned a coffee meeting and gear sale into an interview with Nino. Matt and Nino discuss kids, studio ownership, mixing with clients or without as well as open communication with those you work with.

John Greenham has had a love affair with mastering for over 20 years, starting in San Francisco at Rocket Lab in the mid-90s, and currently in Los Angeles where he re-located to in 2012 to work at Infrasonic Sound in Echo Park alongside Pete Lyman and Jeffrey Ehrenberg. John has earned several awards over the course of his career including Los Tigres Del Norte: Historias Que Contar – Grammy Winner 2006 (Mastering), Detalles Y Emociones – Grammy Winner 2007 (Mastering), Tu Noche Con…Los Tigres Del Norte – Grammy Winner 2009 (Mastering) Omar Sosa: Ceremony – Echo Jazz Award Big Band Album of the Year 2011 (Mixing, Mastering)John’s nominations include Sistema Bomb – Electro-Jarocho – Nominated for a Latin Grammy 2013 (Mastering), Los Cojolites – Sembrando Flores – Nominated for a Latin Grammy 2013 (Mixing, Mastering), Omar Sosa – Calma – Nominated for a Latin Grammy 2011 (Mixing, Mastering), Pamela Rodriguez – Peru Blue – Nominated for Best New Artist, Latin Grammys 2006 (Mixing, Mastering)John and Matt have been friends for several years and turn one of their recent calls into an interview to discuss mastering, mixing, working in a facility vs. being a freelancer as well as the anticipation of waiting for a client’s approval of a master or mix. Enjoy.Photo by Kyle DavisJohn on Twitter John on LinkedinJohn on Facebook [email protected]

Daniel Cantor is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of music and Teaches music production in the Songwriting Department and Music Productions and Engineering Department. Dan in 2015 received Berklee’s prestigious Fly Grant for teaching innovation and with that grant brought 2 male and 2 female outspoken Muslim Hip-Hop artists from Iraq, Syria, Jamaica and London to the Berklee campus. The artists came to teach, collaborate and perform with students and do work shops in over 25 classes discussing gender and religion in Hip-Hop, protest music, the nuances of teaching hip-hop at a music school, navigating Artist identity, Hip-hop production, humor, protest and the complex roles and choices facing of Arab and Arab Americans performers.Originally Dan was a self producing artist in his own right w the band Hummer(on Accurate records) Dan became seduced by the role of the producer. Dan and his Studio Notable Productions have now produced many 100’s of albums for Global and American artists with various productions jobs for as diverse a crown as Aerosmith, Peggy Seager, Mr. Lif and Thomas Mapfumo in a wide range of genres and and recently won the Domincan version of a Grammy in 2014 for best album of the year and was nominated yet again in 2015. He is internationally known for his Global Hip-hop work with the Label he helped launch with his cousin Ben Herson…. Nomadic Wax records, which began with the Senegalese compilations “African underground Volumes 1 and 2” that topped the charts in Africa and Europe.He scored , mixed and helped produce the Documentary “Democracy In Dakar” that followed a Senegalese election through the eyes of its ever vigil and informed Hip-Hop stars, who ultimately played a crucial role in the election itself.With Nomadic Wax Dan has produced and recorded the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival for 10 years running and through that has recorded and worked with Talib Kweli, Jean Grae , Poetic Pilgrimage, Brother Ali, Krs -One, Dead Prez to name a few out of over 100’s of both global and American hip-hop artists. He is proud to have helped produce and master the “World Hip Hip Women” compilations volume one and two. Much of the music he loves working on is political in nature. “The story behind a piece of music is its life force” . The anti bush song “ Asshole” he co-wrote and produced with the boston band Jim’s Big Ego got 4 millions downloads in 6 months way before YouTube was even around.  Even before teaching at Berklee he donated his studio and talents to student winners of Berklee’s “Music for Social Change Competition” and was music and financial executive producer for albums by artists from Mali, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Jamaica, India, Senegal, Italy, and Iraq. Dan helped US Peace keepers create recordings to teach indigenous language to border conflict deployed troops. Dan produced tracks with and for popular Congolese artists working with USAID to bring unity back to a community ravaged by violence against families but especially women. Dan recently recorded the Sierra Leone Refugee all-stars at his home to spread positive radio messages about Ebola prevention through out Africa.Dan links his heartfelt feminist leanings to his grandmother Lucille, who taught him to be vocal and stand against injustice. She was an early president of the League of Woman voters and was arm and arm with her friend Carrie Chapman Catt.You can see Dan in the 2015 Aljazeera documentary about the brilliant female Muslim duo Poetic Pilgrimage called  “Hip-hop Hijabs”. He is beardless but none the less vigilant.Busy guy! Dan talks with Matt about selling gear, global Hip Hop, running a commercial studio in his house where his family lives as well as speaker placement.Dan’s bio from Notable.comNotable.comNomadicWax.comBigego.com

Sean McLaughlin loves a lot of things, but his two favorite things are his wife and recording/mixing songs. After working in Los Angeles for the early part of the 2000s with some notable producers (Andy Johns, Jimbo Barton, Carmen Rizzo) and artists (Rush, Elliott Smith, Marilyn Manson, Death Row Records) Sean returned to Boston in 2004 to open his own studio, 37’ Productions. Since opening his studio Sean has been working on projects and with artists both regionally and nationally. Some of the artists with whom he has plied his trade are Matchbox Twenty, Queensryche, Dirty Vegas, Sarah Blacker, Kristen Merlin, Rafael Moreira, and Dark New Day, as well as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, MTV, and ESPN. In 2013, Sean had the honor of being named Producer of the Year by the New England Music Awards. Since the beginning of 2013, he has mixed over 500 songs. In 2014 he authored Mixing with iZotope, a comprehensive mixing guide for beginner to intermediate mixers. Sean also teaches Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music and Audio & Media Technology at the New England Institute of Art.  Sean and Matt discuss studio ownership, insurance, retirement, alternative jobs for recording engineers as well as numerous other career-related topics.

Warren Huart is an English music producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He has played a fundamental part in the creation of many platinum-selling and billboard soaring albums, as well as the development of many of today’s most successful artists’ careers. He also has the Produce Like A Pro video series, which offers recording tutorials to beginners as well as Spitfire Music, a one-stop music house focusing on licensing music for film and tv.Warren is known for his hard work ethic, positive attitude and respect for the artist’s vision. Many of his long term relationships have turned into close friendships. With over 20 years of experience in the ever-expanding music industry (record production, engineering, mixing, and songwriting), as well his extensive knowledge of both modern and vintage musical equipment and instruments, Warren manages to create the most diverse sound around.Warren and Matt talk about vintage gear, work-life balance, commutes, kids and populous politics in the music industry.www.warrenhuart.com

Catherine Vericolli lives in a recording studio, or rather her studio has taken over most of her residence since its beginnings in 2005. As an owner, engineer, and occasional tech at Fivethirteen Recording in Phoenix, AZ, she is dedicated to keeping the traditional analog recording process alive in the desert. Going on a decade of being in business, Fivethirteen has grown out of its local musician homestead roots into a stop-off for touring nationals and international bands, guest engineers, and home for the occasional film score. Added on in 2010, Fivethirteen’s mixing suite has become one of Arizona’s premier mixing destinations, and with the installation of an RND 5088 in it’s tracking control room during the summer of 2013, Catherine has since taken on the studio’s management position full time. She also coedits and writes for Pink Noise Mag (pinknoisemag.com), an online pro audio publication dedicated to increasing the diversity and intellectual tradition of the practice of record making.Catherine joins Matt for a chat about the challenges in building and running a residential studio in a market not known for its music scene, her role in Pinknoise (pinknoisemag.com) with Allen Farmello (WCA # 031) as well her love for analog recording.513recording.com

Mark Rubel is Co-Director of Education and Instructor at The Blackbird Academy, an intensive recording school at famed Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN. Since 1980, Mark has made about a zillion recordings at his Pogo Studio in Champaign, IL (currently reopening in Nashville), including such artists as Allison Krauss, Jay Bennett, Ludacris, Hum, Adrian Belew, Melanie, Fall Out Boy, Duke Special, and many others.! !Mark has taught audio, music business and other subjects at the college level since 1985, and presents audio panels and workshops for various schools and professional organizations around North America. He writes occasionally for recording magazines, including his Tape Op interviews with Les Paul and Terry Manning, with more coming soon. Mark also works as an audio consultant and legal expert witness. His band Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets has been rocking East Central Illinois and beyond for 35 years and counting. Mark continues to cultivate students, cats, songs and friendships in The New Center of the Universe (Nashville), along with his saintly wife Nancy and their intrepid guinea pig, Huckleberry. Mark talks with Matt about his role at The Blackbird Academy, (career planning, money management, mentoring), what he learned in 34 years of studio ownership, what makes Champaign, Illinois special and why Nashville, Tennessee is great place to call home.https://theblackbirdacademy.com/http://ci.champaign.il.us/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champaign,_Illinoishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbana,_Illinois

Joe Barresi has produced, engineered, and mixed some of the most important hard rock, metal, and punk bands of the last 15 years including Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bad Religion, The Melvins, Skunk Anansie, Turbonegro, and Clutch.Although widely respected for his abilities as an engineer (one writer wrote “If you don’t generally think of sound production as an art form, you don’t know Joe Barresi”), Joe is first and foremost a musician. He started playing guitar when he was 7 and played in local bands in New York and in Florida. He studied classical guitar, piano, and music theory at the University of South Florida and the University of Miami. Joe also studied engineering and spent hundreds of hours recording local bands, developing patience and understanding for what goes on in the studio.A trip to the West Coast inspired Joe to move to Los Angeles where he began working his way up the ladder by assisting at numerous local studios. In time, he engineered for many well-respected producers including David Kahne, Michael Beinhorn, and GGGarth Richardson, and gained a reputation for getting great sounds, particularly with guitars and drums.Soon Joe was producing and mixing records on his own. He produced, recorded, and mixed the debut album for the newly formed Queens Of The Stone Age, which was unsigned at the time. The self-titled album was eventually released by indie label Loose Groove and garnered lots of attention from the press (Rolling Stone named Queens Of The Stone Age one of the ten most important hard & heavy bands of the year) and alternative radio (including KROQ) — all of which landed the band a deal with Interscope Records.Over the years, Joe has consistently worked with quality artists and made some of their more seminal records — Weezer “Pinkerton,” Melvins “Stoner Witch” and the Queens Of The Stone Age debut, to name a few. His discography reflects his impeccable ear for great rock music.Joe chats with Matt about his start, studio ownership, how an SSL impacts the electric bill, insurance, covering your ass, and a few thoughts on phase. Enjoy!http://www.joebarresi.com/http://www.mcdman.com/barresihttp://futureofmusic.org/

Myles Boisen has enjoyed a 35-year career in recording, beginning as the head instructor at one of the country’s first accredited university-level recording studio programs. With his roots in the punk rock/ D.I.Y. recording scene of the late 1970’s, Myles has avoided the world of major labels and top-dollar studios, choosing instead to pursue affordable and top-quality recording from his Oakland CA. Guerrilla Recording/ Headless Buddha mastering complex for the past 20 years.Boisen’s articles and reviews over a ten-year span at Electronic Musician magazine were known for fiercely high standards, and a no-nonsense attitude that made him many friends among recordists and readers, as well as a few enemies in the corporate pro audio world! Along the way there have been Grammy nominations, film soundtracks with David Lynch and composer Fred Frith, and sessions and gigs with a who’s who of the avant-garde, jazz, out-rock and blues worlds (Tom Waits, Anthony Braxton, Nina Hagen, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Kronos String Quartet, The Tigerlillies, Klaus Flouride (Dead Kennedys) Kim Wilson, Camper Van Beethoven, Malcolm Mooney (Can), Seth Ford-Young (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros), Johnny Dyer, Rick Estrin, Francis Clay (Muddy Waters). Myles joins Matt for an in depth discussion on studio ownership, retirement, gear lust on Working Class Audio session #032. Listen for a code to get a discount on Sonarworks speaker calibration software. www.mylesboisen.com

Allen Farmelo has begun to call himself a “recordmaker”.”We all do everything these days,” he says, “and the old terms like producer, engineer, mixer, carry so many assumptions that aren’t really accurate these days. They have their roots in a much more ordered hierarchy that’s rarely true today.” As a record maker, Allen has worked intimately with everyone from Ian Gillan of Deep Purple to The Cinematic Orchestra. Allen has also worked with a slew of rather huge pop artists that he doesn’t put on his discography because, as he puts it, “Fattening up one’s discography with incidental big-name sessions doesn’t tell the real story. I just put the stuff on there that’s really got my fingerprints all over it. That way people know what I’m truly inclined make.” Restlessly pushing for the return of high fidelity as a popular interest, fighting to raise the female participation in our field beyond 5% with his publication Pink Noise (co-edited with Catherine Vericolli), writing classic essays about recording like his “Sonic Varnish” piece (he coined the term), building one of the most beautiful recording consoles ever with François Chambard of UM Project, launching Elska, which is known as Bjork for Children, with his life-partner, and now running the decidedly artsy record label Butterscotch Records, Allen has eschewed the temptations of mainstream success (including a nicely salaried position at one of the Big Three) to pursue endeavors on the fringes where he seems to thrive. He recently bought a one room schoolhouse built-in 1873. About an hour from New York City, and has relocated home and studio to the schoolhouse where he’s become obsessed with gardening.Photo by Evelin Cheugn (taken at The Bunker Studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn NYC)http://www.farmelorecording.com/http://pinknoisemag.com/http://www.butterscotchrecords.net/

Bruce Kaphan is a producer/engineer/mixer and one hell of pedal steel player! Bruce has worked with so many names in the music world on both sides of the glass including John Lee Hooker, Sheryl Crowe, Jellyfish as well as American Music Club of which he is a former member of. Bruce sits down with Matt at his home studio in Fresno (Niles), California to discuss all aspects of the recording world including health, life, gear, retirement and even brain functionality! We go deep on this one. We also announce a change to the show!www.brucekaphan.com

Michael Beinhorn is a producer and engineer who got a major jump-start in the early ’80s by working with his bandmate Bill Laswell on Herbie Hancock’s Future Shock record which contained the hit single “Rockit“. What followed was a career of work with a list of household names in music including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Violent Femmes, Soul Asylum, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Social Distortion, Hole, Marilyn Manson, The Verve Pipe, Korn, and Black Label Society. After over 30 years of work Michael has written a fantastic new book called “Unlocking Creativity: A Producers Guide to Making Music and Art.” Michael discusses his new book, the new Apple Music service as well as meditation and taking care of yourself in a call with Matt.http://michaelbeinhorn.com/

John Congleton is Grammy Winning American producer/engineer/mixer/writer who joins Matt for session #028 of Working Class Audio. John works out of his his studio (Elmwood Studios) in Dallas, Texas.&nbsp;In addition to his production work Congleton fronted the indie rock band,&nbsp;The Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project entitledThe Nighty Nite&nbsp;and music for various projects, including MTV’sJackass, the&nbsp;Discovery Channel, and several&nbsp;Halloween&nbsp;sound effects/music CDs. John has worked with&nbsp;St. Vincent,&nbsp;The Walkmen,&nbsp;Modest Mouse,&nbsp;Angel Olsen,&nbsp;Swans,&nbsp;The Thermals,&nbsp;Sigur Rós,&nbsp;Franz Ferdinand,&nbsp;Sparks,&nbsp;Chelsea Wolfe,&nbsp;Nelly Furtado,&nbsp;Cloud Nothings,&nbsp;Earl Sweatshirt,&nbsp;Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,&nbsp;Something for Kate,&nbsp;Okkervil River,&nbsp;Sarah Jaffe,&nbsp;David Byrne,Brian Wilson,&nbsp;Astronautalis,&nbsp;Bill Callahan,&nbsp;Smog,&nbsp;Xiu Xiu,&nbsp;Lower Dens,&nbsp;The Polyphonic Spree,Unknown Mortal Orchestra,&nbsp;Kirk Franklin,&nbsp;Explosions in the Sky,&nbsp;The Black Angels,&nbsp;Blood Red Shoes,Clinic,&nbsp;R. Kelly,&nbsp;The Mountain Goats,&nbsp;Swan Lake,&nbsp;The Octopus Project,&nbsp;Wye Oak,&nbsp;Rogue Wave,Erykah Badu,&nbsp;The Roots,&nbsp;Trash Talk,Amanda Palmer,&nbsp;Heartless Bastards,&nbsp;Sleater Kinney,&nbsp;Minus Story,&nbsp;Chairlift,&nbsp;Bitch Magnet,&nbsp;Maserati,&nbsp;90 Day Men,&nbsp;Rubblebucket,&nbsp;Autopilot Off,&nbsp;Margot &amp; the Nuclear So and So’s,&nbsp;Marilyn Manson,&nbsp;John Grant, SUUNS,&nbsp;Elvis Perkins,&nbsp;Jens Lekman,&nbsp;Bono,&nbsp;Two Ton Boa,&nbsp;Pink Mountaintops,&nbsp;Hitch,&nbsp;Logh,&nbsp;Chin Up Chin Up,&nbsp;Sybris,&nbsp;Black Mountain,&nbsp;Baroness,&nbsp;Ximena Sarinana,&nbsp;Lightning Dust,&nbsp;Zzzz,&nbsp;John Vanderslice,&nbsp;Hagfish,&nbsp;Big Harp,&nbsp;Antony and the Johnsons,Mozella,&nbsp;The Toadies,&nbsp;<a...

Dan Jaspar is a sound mixer, boom operator, and sound designer from the&nbsp;Bay Area. As a Graduate of&nbsp;San Francisco State University&nbsp;with a Bachelor’s Degree in Cinema production and Sound Design he continues to work in the field of production audio for the film and video Industry. Dan and Matt have worked together in the past when Dan was fronting the Bay Area band Yellow 5&nbsp;and not yet standing out on a film set with a boom pole recording.&nbsp;Dan sits down with Matt for a detailed discussion on the nuts and bolts of location sound recording.Photo by&nbsp;Larry Wong

John Siket&nbsp;is a producer, engineer, and mixer and&nbsp;is best known for his work with&nbsp;Sonic Youth,&nbsp;Phish,&nbsp;Yo La Tengo,&nbsp;Dave Matthews Band,&nbsp;Blonde Redhead,&nbsp;Fountains of Wayne,&nbsp;Moe,&nbsp;Peter Murphy,&nbsp;Freedy Johnston, and Ex Cops. Having spent 30 years in the recording world, John has amassed&nbsp;a world of experience. John has also has been fortunate to work alongside producer/engineers Steve Lily White and Butch Vig.&nbsp;John takes the time to talk&nbsp;with Matt about these experiences as well as his love for recording, starting out as the low man on the totem pole and his decision to take on a teaching position at SAE in New York.

Tim Palmer has produced and mixed albums for a huge selection of classic and alternative artists, from&nbsp;Robert Plant,&nbsp;David Bowie, and&nbsp;Tears For Fears&nbsp;to&nbsp;Ozzy Osbourne,&nbsp;Goo Goo Dolls, and&nbsp;U2. In 1989 Tim&nbsp;mixed ‘TEN’ for&nbsp;Pearl Jam, which is now in the top 50 best album sellers in US history. In 2001 Palmer was nominated for a Grammy for his mixing work on U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind.&nbsp;Now living in&nbsp;Austin, Texas, he has built his own mix room and continued producing and mixing for Jason Mraz, Blue October, David Cook, and many others. Tim has been a moderator for 2 years at SXSW, and a guest speaker for the Recording Academy.Tim Palmer started his career at Utopia Studios in London during the early ’80s where he mixed the number&nbsp;one single ‘Died in your arms&nbsp;tonight’ for&nbsp;Cutting Crew. In the latter half of the ’80s, Palmer became a producer, and his keen ears and technical knowledge contributed to groups such as the Mighty Lemon Drops, the Mission, Texas, and Tears for Fears. Tim produced ‘Now and Zen for rock icon Robert Plant, a US top10 album, and David Bowie’s debut LP with Tin Machine. To close the 80’s Palmer mixed ‘TEN’ for Pearl Jam which went on to sell over 14 million albums.This show is a milestone being the 25th session. It’s an honor to have Tim on the show since I’m a fan of his work. We also talk with our good friend Craig Schumacher about his recent decision to pull the plug on the Pot Luck Audio Conference in Tucson, AZ.Enjoy!-MattPhoto was taken at&nbsp;Arlyn Studios by&nbsp;Andrew Chan.Tim’s SitePot Luck Audio SIteSweetwaters Gearfest

Gary Philips is a talented multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and mix engineer. During his college years at University of Pennsylvania, Gary realized his life would follow a musical path. This path soon led to a life as a touring musician.&nbsp;Touring led Gary to New York, where he quickly found himself in studios playing guitar and bass for artists both up-and-coming and legendary, including Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, and Arrested Development. Many of these tracks have found placements on albums such as the Orange County soundtrack, the Super Size Me soundtrack and the Lizzie McGuire Movie soundtrack and on national commercials for clients such as Verizon and Budweiser.New York session work soon plunged Gary into production and writing. He co- produced, with the PopRox production team (Sam Hollander, Dave Schommer), Michael Tolcher’s debut album for Octone/J Records, which featured ?uestlove and Warren Haynes, cuts from which were heard on Scrubs (NBC), Life As We Know It (ABC) and the feature film Wedding Crashers.Since then Gary’s produced more than 15 Billboard Top 10 albums including the&nbsp;Kidz Bop&nbsp;series (which has yielded just as many #1 albums on the Children’s chart) and a cut on the Now That’s What I Call Music series with indie-rockers Born Cages. His original songs and compositions have been featured on TV in diverse settings – from Late Night with David Letterman to Pretty Little Liars, from The Hills to So You Think You Can Dance?, from Pawn Stars to NFL Football and many more.Gary talks with Matt about Kidz Bop, what it takes to keep clients coming back to you, his early days in New york and his recent studio setup at&nbsp;his new home in California after having moved from New York and working in studios. Enjoy!Gary’s bio.&nbsp;

Ryan Hewitt began his musical career by taking up drums and piano in the third grade and set up his first primitive bedroom recording studio at age 10.&nbsp;His interest in recording prompted his father, remote recording engineer David Hewitt, to take him on the road at age 12.&nbsp;Over the course of 15 years on the Remote Recording Services trucks, Ryan learned to get sessions going quickly, pay attention to details and capture the moment on tape at all costs.After receiving a degree in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, Ryan moved to New York City to take a job at Sony Music Studios.&nbsp;Once there, he quickly moved up the ranks to assist and learn from some of the best engineers and producers in the business such as Michael Brauer, Phil Ramone, Bob Power and Elliot Scheiner.&nbsp;Moving to Los Angeles in the autumn of 2000, Ryan landed at Cello Studios, again moving to the head of the class and working with top engineers such as Jim Scott, Richard Dodd, and Ed Thacker.Today, Ryan is emulating his mentors, recording, mixing, and producing projects by diverse artists such as The Avett Brothers, The Band Perry, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile, Jamie Cullum, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, blink-182, Flogging Molly, The Alkaline Trio, Three Days Grace, We Are Scientists, Tom Petty, and John Frusciante.&nbsp;Producers such as Rick Rubin, Matt Serletic, Gregg Wells, Jeff Trott, and Max Martin have called on Ryan for his work ethic and sense of humor as much as for his recording and mixing skills.Ryan sits down for a chat with Matt (Via SKype) and talks about growing up with a recording engineer dad, what he’s learned from the producers he’s worked with as well software piracy. By popular demand, Ryan also answers questions from the WCA Facebook page.&nbsp;Matt also has a special guest Michael Winger who is the Executive Director of the Recording Academy SF Chapter to talk about&nbsp;H.R. 1457: Allocation for Music Producers Act.Ryan Hewitt’s siteMore on&nbsp;H.R. 1457: Allocation for Music Producers ActLetter of DirectionThe Recording Academy

Michael Rosen is a Grammy-winning producer/engineer who has worked with Santana, Rancid, Papa Roach, Tesla, AFI, The Donnas, Journey, Death Angel, Tony Macalpine, and Testament……..to name a few! In addition to recording and producing he also teaches at Chabot College and San Francisco State and is an alumnus of the famed Automatt studios where he got started on his professional recording journey. Michael sits down with Matt at is new personal studio East Bay Recorders to talk about the business, the journey, and the joy of recording. Michael Rosen’s site.

Doug Kallmeyer is a 25 year plus veteran of live sound, a bass player and composer as well as a studio rat. Doug is a fan suggestion and carries with him a large amount of experience and miles travelled who is based in Virginia.&nbsp;Traveling the world mostly doing FOH (Front of House) sound, Doug has worked with&nbsp;Phantogram,&nbsp;Blonde Redhead,&nbsp;Shellac, Sunny Day Real Estate, Rancid, Damnwells, School of Seven Bells, Ok Go, Deathfix, 302Acid, Flaming Lips, Beauty Pill and Ex Hex.&nbsp;His list of venues that he has worked at with those artist’s is also&nbsp;notable and&nbsp;&nbsp;includes Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Sasquatch, Outside Lands, Fuji rock, Summer Sonic, Bonnaroo, Pukkelpop, Route du Rock,&nbsp;All Tommorow’s Parties, Primavera Sound, Big Chill, Austin City Limits, and&nbsp;Iceland Airwaves. We talk life on the road, credit card debt, eating well, as well as having a stable home life.Check out Doug here.&nbsp;http://www.dougkallmeyer.com/

Don Gunn is a Seattle-based recording/mixing engineer, producer, and musician who flies under the radar yet seems to work with cool people! Soundgarden, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Frampton, Trey Gunn (No relation), and Matt Cameron! Don was a WCA fan suggestion from our Facebook page and joins Matt for a Skype chat from his home studio in Seattle called The Office. Don talks&nbsp;gear, money, business cards, his studio, the decision not to have kids and recording at Peter Frampton’s “home studio”.&nbsp;Great guy and great interview!http://dongunn.com/Link regarding helping out in Nepal.&nbsp;http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-25/how-help-nepal-7-vetted-charities-doing-relief-work-following-earthquake

Working Class Audio Session #019 with Matt Kelley!!! Matt Kelley has been at the recording game for just over 27 years. Based in the&nbsp; Bay Area in California Matt has worked with Tupac, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Qbert, Digital Underground, George Clinton,&nbsp; Hieroglyphics as well as Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.&nbsp; Matt started […]The post WCA #019 with Matt Kelley appeared first on Working Class Audio.

David v.R. Bowles formed Swineshead Productions, LLC as a classical recording production company in 1995. His recordings have been GRAMMY-nominated (Classical – Best Orchestral Performance) and won the “Classical Orchestral Album” prize from Just Plain Folks Awards. Other Bowles-produced and engineered releases have been named “Record of the Month – Editor’s Choice” from Gramophone Magazine, MusicWeb International, and Opera News; “Record of the Year” from the New York Times (three times), the New Yorker, American Record Guide, Miami Clásica and Classical Candour. Several of these releases are available as high-resolution paid downloads from HDTracks.In collaboration with New York University’s Music Technology program at Steinhardt School of Music, Mr. Bowles is pursuing research in height channel recording and reproduction. At the 135th&nbsp;AES convention, he chaired a panel on Height Channel recording, encoding, and distribution (followed by a 9.1 channel playback offsite).As an educator, Mr. Bowles is a guest lecturer at New York University’s Stephen F. Temmer Tonmeister Seminar (Steinhardt School of Music) and at Peabody Recording Arts and Sciences (John Hopkins University). He was a Visiting Professor of Recording Arts at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.Mr. Bowles is a member of the AES (Audio Engineering Society): he was on the Board of Governors, served on three convention committees, and is co-chair of the San Francisco section of the AES as well. He is a member of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts &amp; Sciences) Producers &amp; Engineers Wing and SPARS (Society of Professional Audio Recording Services).David takes Matt through the complexities of recording and producing in the world of classical&nbsp;music.Links http://swineshead.com/

Ross Hogarth is a multiple Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning producer/engineer/mixer who has worked with artists such as Keb’ Mo’, Motley Crue, Van Halen, Gov’t Mule, Roger Waters, The Black Crowes, Shawn&nbsp;Colvin, John Mellencamp, and R.E.M.&nbsp;His studio work runs the gamut from the heavy metal insanity of Motley Crue and Coal Chamber to the Grammy-winning Keb’ Mo’ released&nbsp;Slow Down&nbsp;to recent releases by Van Halen, Grammy-winning Ziggy Marley, and the Sick Puppies.Growing up in NY during the influential punk scene of the 70′s, Ross began as a guitarist/singer/ songwriter,&nbsp;playing in the wild downtown New York clubs. With good fortune paving his way to California, he had the rare opportunity to hook up with both the San Francisco Bay area’s exploding New Wave music scene and Southern Cal’s seminal rock scene. Natural evolution took him from doing live production and sound on the road with Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Fleetwood Mac, and Little Feat into a world-class producer, mixer, and recording engineer.In his Skype conversation with Matt, Ross talks about family life, working with Van Halen, the importance of communication, and adapting to the ever-changing world of the music business. Enjoy!-MattPhoto by Marian Matthis for The Blackbird Academy&nbsp;Links http://www.hoaxproductions.com/http://www.teaboyaudio.com/

Early on March 21st, a fire struck the warehouse that has been home to Jonah Strauss’ Shipwreck Studios since 2008. The fire began in the unit directly above the studio. In less than an hour, it claimed two lives and displaced dozens of people, as well as several independent printing presses and artists. Jonah’s recording studio and home suffered severe water damage, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in losses. Much of it is rare and irreplaceable vintage equipment that he has collected and refurbished over the years. Even though I don’t normally talk with studio owners on the show I felt it was important to have Jonah on to share his experience so that others could hopefully learn from this.&nbsp;He needs our help to get back up and running. Working Class Audio is here to offer him our support.Fund Raising Site:&nbsp;https://www.gofundme.com/shipwreckoaklandShipwreck Studio Website:&nbsp;&nbsp;http://shipwreckoakland.com/Fund Raising Site: https://www.gofundme.com/shipwreckoaklandShipwreck Studio Website:&nbsp; http://shipwreckoakland.com/

Jeff Powell lives in Memphis, Tennessee, and has been making records since his first studio gig at Kiva Studios in 1987. He became an employee at Ardent Studios in 1989 and worked his way up from assistant to staff engineer, and eventually to staff producer. He went independent in 1997 and has worked in studios all over the US, The UK, and Canada, but still calls Ardent home. He still stays very busy engineering, mixing, and producing records and has worked with some of the best including Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Tonic, Big Star, The Bottle Rockets, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Primal Scream, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams, and The Afghan Whigs. In 2008, he convinced Larry Nix to teach him to master and cut vinyl records on the original STAX lathe, which also resides at Ardent Studios. He started a vinyl cutting business called Take Out Vinyl and has gone on to cut hundreds of albums including projects for Gregg Allman, Everclear, The Black Keys, Al Green, The Afghan Whigs, Irma Thomas, Relient K, and Blitzentrapper to name a few. Jeff talks about recording schools, asshole engineers, and how to keep a session successful.&nbsp;Super nice and humble, I think you’ll enjoy this interview. – Matt 4/6/2015Photo by&nbsp;Pete Weiss&nbsp;Links http://jeffpowell.net/http://www.ardentstudios.com/

Sylvia Massy has been Producing,&nbsp;Engineering, and Mixing popular music for decades. She’s renowned for her work with Tool, System of a Down, Johnny Cash, and Prince. She’s received over 25 gold and platinum records including awards for her work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sevendust, and Tom Petty. She’s also an accomplished fine artist, a published columnist, an in-demand educator, and a relentless entrepreneur. But to her many friends, she’s just Sylvia, the Radiant Being. Sylvia talks with Matt Boudreau about recording Tool, thriving in the LA recording scene in the ’90s, Radio Star Studios, divorce, embracing the hard times, and coming out stronger as a result.Links&nbsp;http://www.sylviamassy.com/

Billy Anderson&nbsp;is a record producer, engineer, and musician. He has worked with hundreds of bands over the past 20 years, including Cormorant, Eyehategod, Mr. Bungle, Red House Painters, Fantômas, and Sleep. He is also a member of the bands Blessing the Hogs, Porn (The Men Of), Solodolor, and Good God. Billy takes time to talk to Matt Boudreau about his progression from his days playing college baseball in Long Beach, California to becoming a workaholic producer/engineer and making records for some of musics’ heaviest sounding bands all over the world.Links from the show:http://www.billyanderson.net/http://www.typefoundrystudio.com/http://www.cloudcitysound.com/www.chuckjsmithcreative.com&nbsp;(The intro voice of WCA)www.clifftruesdell.com&nbsp;(The music behind WCA)

Michael Starita is a lifelong musician with over 17 years experience as an engineer, producer and remixer. His career started at the famous Hyde Street Studios in the late 90s learning from many of the&nbsp;Bay Area greats. Moving to EDNET, Starita had the pleasure of being the ISDN engineer for clients such as Rick Rubin, Sting, Warner Bros, Universal Motown and many others. This propelled his career to working for Dolby for 5 years until he decided to go back to doing what he really loved…making records and building community.&nbsp;He has performed, remixed and worked with some of the industry’s top artists from The Bay to abroad including&nbsp;Childish Gambino,&nbsp;Los Amigos Invisibles,&nbsp;Third Eye Blind,&nbsp;Michael Franti and Spearhead&nbsp;and more.&nbsp;His current work with&nbsp;Laura Sullivan&nbsp;won the Grammy®&nbsp;for Best New Age Album&nbsp;and his work with&nbsp;Los Amigos Invisibles&nbsp;was&nbsp;Latin&nbsp;Grammy®&nbsp;nominated&nbsp;for Song Of The Year and&nbsp;Grammy® nominated for Best Latin Alternative. Recently, Starita launched&nbsp;Bay Area Music Collective&nbsp;and&nbsp;ULUV Music,&nbsp;two&nbsp;efforts aimed at making The Bay Area a top music destination while building community to foster local music industry professionals. Starita also serves as&nbsp;President of The Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter&nbsp;and continues to crank out tunes with an eclectic blend of recording artists while consulting for music tech companies nationally and internationally.

For the past 20 years, Gabriel Shepard has been an engineer working at various Bay Area studios including the historic Hyde Street Studios where he earned a platinum and gold record with the band Cake. Other artists he’s worked with include Sun Kil Moon, Black Francis,&nbsp;Zigaboo Modeliste, and Joanna Newsome. Gabriel stops by my house for an in-person chat about car accidents, session vibe, and taking a year off.Plug-Ins mentionedSoundtoys&nbsp;Rob Papen Reverb&nbsp;Cytomic “The Glue”Soft Tube “FET Compressor”DMG “Equality”The Fab Filter DesserMassey DesserSlate TriggerStudios mentioned25th Street RecordingDecibelle&nbsp;RecordingSharkbitePono Player

Scott Evans is a member of Kowloon Walled City, a recording engineer (Puig Destroyer, The Loyalists, Neurosis), and a contributor to Tape Op magazine. Scott sits down to talk to me in his personal studio Antisleep Audio located in Oakland, CA. We talk family, summing, drool over his Neotek console, as well as the usual business of recording and doing our jobs as engineers. Enjoy!LinksKowloon Walled City&nbsp;https://www.facebook.com/kowloonwalledcityAntisleep Audio&nbsp;http://antisleep.com/Sharkbite Studios&nbsp;http://sharkbitestudios.com/Tape Op&nbsp;http://www.tapeop.com/

Andrew Scheps has worked with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Metallica, Grace Potter,&nbsp;Jay-Z, U2, Justin Timberlake, and Green Day…just to name a few.&nbsp;Just home from a European trip that included a week in France conducting a seminar at&nbsp;&nbsp;Mix with the Masters, Andrew shares his views on recording studio etiquette, his in-the-box workflow when mixing, his adventures as a record label owner, and his career advice.&nbsp;Show notes and links:McDonough Management&nbsp;http://www.mcdman.com/scheps.htmlTonequake Records&nbsp;http://tonequake.com/Mix with the Masters&nbsp;http://mixwiththemasters.com/

Like so many professionals in music, Steve Silverstein got his start creating music — his electronic group&nbsp;Christmas Decorations&nbsp;has released an album on&nbsp;kranky&nbsp;and been played on the&nbsp;BBC. He’s written articles and reviews for&nbsp;Tape Op, and assistant edited a collection of Aaron Copland’s writings. He’s excited to have finally moved his studio from his apartment in 2013, into a shared commercial space.&nbsp;Steve shares his approach to his workflow and how he takes care of his clients. Additionally&nbsp;Jules Standen&nbsp;from&nbsp;Gearslutz.com&nbsp;calls in for a short chat and to share some wisdom from his recording past. Oh yea…..Happy New Year!photo by&nbsp;John C. MortonLinks from the show.&nbsp;http://www.kranky.net/&nbsp;&nbsp;https://www.gearslutz.com

Vance Powell,&nbsp;who has worked with Jack White, Red Fang, and Buddy Guy to name just a few is featured on Session #007. Vance is outspoken and takes a no-bullshit approach to not only his work but this interview.&nbsp;We talk technique including specifics of his analog workflow, business,&nbsp;including managers plus a bit of criticism of the old guard of the music industry.&nbsp;I love talking with Vance. I always learn something new from him and am proud to call him my friend.&nbsp;Enjoy!Vance on Twitter:&nbsp;https://twitter.com/vancalotVance’s studio with engineer Mitch Dane:&nbsp;http://www.sputniksound.com/index.html

Robert L. Smith is an Oscar winning, Grammy and Emmy nominated Producer/Engineer/Mixer based in New York City. After 25+ years of working with the biggest names in music, his résumé reads like a who’s who of modern pop music. Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, David Byrne and U2 are just a tiny list of those on his discography. Robert is passionate and focused about what he does and opens up to us about his thoughts and practices on the business end of what we do. Check out Robert’s web site at www.defyrecordings.com

My guest is producer/ engineer /mastering engineer John Cuniberti, based in the Bay Area. John has worked with Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, The Dead Kennedys, and Chicken Foot. John is known for bringing the concept and name ReAmping into the mainstream of recording with his ReAmp box, which he created and sold on his own for many years, but eventually sold the name and circuit patent to Radial Engineering. John added mastering to his list of skills many years ago while working at The Plant in Sausalito, California, and currently mixes and masters from his home for artists worldwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In this episode, we discussCoast RecordersStruggling to Sell Studio TimeHome Studio EmergenceSF Bay Area Studio StruggleBand ManagersHustling WorkBuilding a CareerArt ProjectsFollowing the MoneyMaking MistakesSaying YesStudio ManagementRecording EconomicsThe New ThingRaising the RoofTiny TelephoneLinks and Show NotesJohn's SiteCreditsGuest: John CunibertiHost: Matt BoudreauEngineer: Matt BoudreauProducer: Matt BoudreauWCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell&nbsp;Announcer: Chuck Smith&nbsp;

David Wheeler is a recording engineer based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Las Cruces is located north of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. David talks about the pros and cons of being one of very few recording people in Las Cruces who do it on a pro level and also talks about how the changes to the environment and business world affect the world of recording in the southern part of New Mexico. On a personal note, David and I went to High School together as did our moms! Before David got into recording he used to play in a band called Obsidian with our High School friend and pro audio superstar Colin McDowell of McDSP plug ins. Our discussion delves into location sound towards the end. I have included an Amazon link to the book on the topic by Ric Viers called the “Location Sound Bible”. We mentioned it in the conversation but for timing reasons I edited that part of the conversation out. The link is below. Enjoy!Links mentioned in the show: http://staffmeup.com/ http://www.productionhub.com/ Studio 603 (David’s studio in Las Cruces)

Happy to present WCA session #003 with New York recording engineer Hillary Johnson. Check Hillary's site out at www.hillaryjohnson.comHillary has worked with The Prids, Bell Hollow, Michael Gira (Swans, Angels Of Light), The Secret History, Jeff Buckley, The Misfits, Jennifer Kimball, Rufus Wainwright, The Ramones, Bishop Allen, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Nile Rodgers, Vernon Reid, Stereojax, D Generation/Jesse Malin and Umbrella Brigade. She has also worked with producers such as Lenny Kaye, Henry Rollins, Genya Ravan, and Daniel Rey.I met Hillary through the original Tape Op conference which of course is now the amazing Pot Luck Audio conference. of which we both have been panelists and as a result, friends and peers to one another.

Laura Dean works in San Francisco at various studios including Tiny Telephone and Women’s Audio Mission. Laura talks recording schools, internships, knowing your role, tech work, music for dance, audio books, voice overs etc….

I am very happy to announce the Working Class Audio Podcast Session #001.WCA #001 is an introduction to Working Class Audio with host Matt Boudreau. Get the low down on what to expect in upcoming sessions. Includes intro/outro music by our friend Cliff Truesdell and voice intro by our friend Chuck J Smith. I have started to schedule interviews with engineers working in the freelance trenches including Laura Dean and Hillary Johnson (http://www.hillaryjohnson.com/2014/home/). Be sure to subscribe to stay informed about upcoming sessions. Enjoy!