I took a trip from NORCAL to SOCAL to hit NAMM 2017. As I arrived I decided to put together a show based on “Power Chats/Talks”. 20 minute or so quick chats with friends about certain topics. Ben Lindell from Puremix, Sean McLaughlin, Andy Freeman, Gary Boss of Audio-Technica and Vance Powell joined me. Enjoy!
Justin Pizzoferrato is a recording engineer based out of western Massachusetts. He owns and runs Sonelab with Mark Alan Miller and also freelances from time to time.
Justin has worked with such bands as Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Speedy Ortiz, Elder, and many more in the rock genre. He got his start freelancing around Boston. After moving to western Mass, he noted the lack of studios and decided to open up his own facility. When he’s not in the studio, he’s hanging out with his wife and son, biking, or buying too many records!
Justin chats with Matt over Skype about Sonelab, recording life before kids, freelancing and work ethic.
Chris Montgomery is an audio engineer and producer living and working in New York City. Having grown up in Glasgow, Scotland, he brings a musical heritage from one of the most prolific and diverse music scenes and applies this to his work in studio, live and field audio production. From live sound at The Bitter End to studio work and location sound at Dubway Studios, Chris digs in and tries it all.
Chris has worked with many notable artists including The Lumineers, Mumford And Sons, The Killers, Florence And The Machine, Ed Sheeran, Sheryl Crow and Damien Rice.
Having recently finished an 18 month period touring with multi-platinum recording artist, Rachel Platten, Chris is now focusing on a move to Los Angeles with the intention of opening a new studio. Chris talks with Matt about his decision to move from Glasgow, Half & Half, having a willingness to say yes to work and his new console.
Chris Graham runs Chris Graham Mastering outside of Columbus, Ohio. Chris joined Matt for a Skype call from his mastering studio to talk about integrity, his business, his website, the tools he uses to stay organized and audio conspiracy theories!
Before I became a full time audio mastering engineer, I was an audio engineer, music producer and musician. Like other audio engineers, I occasionally was put in the uncomfortable position of having to master my own mixes due to an artist’s budget problems. Mastering anything you’ve also mixed is a nightmare, but I quickly grew fascinated with the process and began acquiring specialized audio mastering equipment and software and working hard to hone my skills.
I started mastering every unmastered album I could get my hands on, and after showing my producer friends the results I was achieving, I was soon being asked to master albums all the time. Eventually, more and more people began asking me to master their projects, and I grew to really look forward to the reactions I would get after sending them my work. I soon realized that I enjoyed mastering music for other people more than I had ever enjoyed producing, engineering or even playing my own music professionally. As the projects kept coming in, I decided in 2008 to devote all my efforts to providing music mastering services, and stopped accepting work as an mix engineer or producer.
I had my mastering studio built, and the choice felt right in my heart. I couldn’t be more pleased with where that decision has taken me. Few things give me more satisfaction than the feedback I receive from people about how excited they are that their recordings are finally “coming to life.”
I still occasionally find the time to get out on the road and play my own music, but I prefer to stay home with my wife & our three kids and master music for a living. Mastering music for a living has been a blast and I love meeting and working with the incredible people from all over the globe that come to me for their mastering services.
My family and I live just north of Columbus, Ohio. My wife and I love Jesus, hanging out with our kids, leading Young Life, our Aeropress coffee maker, books, and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
If you’d like to get to know me a little more before sending your project my way, please give me a call or send me an email.
Don Zientara is a musician and recording engineer as well as the owner and chief engineer at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia located outside of Washington DC. Don has a varied background that is part art, part military, part electronics and ultimately all music and recording. While Don records many kinds of music, he is best known for his work with Dischord Records and DC Hardcore bands including The Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Fugazi and Bad Brains as well as many, many more.
Matt stopped in to Inner Ear Studios while on a recent trip to the Washington/Virginia area to interview Don in person. Enjoy!
Michael Ashby is next generation audio engineer who started out as a drummer, he was inspired by Grammy award winning engineers like Jaycen Joshua and Craig Bauermix. Michael has mixed for multiple Sony & Universal artists on his way up including Timbaland’s BK Brasco, Latoya Jackson, Fetty Wap, Sixx John (by Neyo), Grafh and more! He’s attracting the industry’s attention due to the overwhelming positive feedback from countless clients in every corner of the country. He has worked with a wide variety of underground artists since 2007. Michael is also a graduate of SAE Institute (School of Audio Engineering) in NYC. Michael is also the owner and chief engineer of Krematorium Studio in Long Island, New York .
Michael joins Matt over Skype for a conversation about his studio, his work schedule and his thinking behind building a studio business.
Andy Deguara is a studio owner, audio engineer and producer working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His recording career started in 1994 as a Junior in High school. He obtained his first 4 track recorder and immediately started recording his friend’s vocals and D.J. mixes. It soon became very clear that He wanted to work in a studio recording and mixing records.
By 1997 Andy had moved up from his 4 track tape recorder to a single 8 track digital tape recorder and a small mixer. He also acquired a keyboard and sequencer which he was using along with the recorder to write and record songs. He would later have people write and record vocals to the music he created. This was the beginning of A&D Studios.
In 1998 Andy decided he wanted to fast track his recording knowledge and decided to attend the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Science in Tempe Arizona. Here he gained extensive knowledge in understanding acoustics, signal flow, Basic equipment maintenance and electrical engineering, along with live sound and music business.
Upon completing the Program Andy returned to the bay area where he began working for M.A.R.S Studios (Music Arts Recording Studio) in Aptos California. Andy started as an assistant engineer working on a variety of projects. Eventually he got the opportunity to engineer and run sessions on his own.
While working at M.A.R.S. Andy also continued making and recording music at his home studio. At this point he was running a full 24 tracks for recording and a 32 channel mixing board. His gear collection also continued to grow substantially. In the fall of 2000 Andy came across an opportunity to lease some office/warehouse space. He jumped on the opportunity and began building out a full studio. The studio consisted of a large control room, a good sized recording room, and a separated iso booth.
For the next 14 years this was the home of A&D Studios where Andy recorded a variety of projects that ranged from singer songwriters, independent record labels, independent Artists, and corporate work. Andy Worked with Artists like blues man Kenny Neal, rapper Too Short, and Metal Band Jeoff Tates’s Queensrych.
In 2014 the building that housed A&D studios was sold to developers. Andy was forced temporarily close down the studio and find a new location.
After two months of searching and not finding a suitable location that was not overpriced by the bay area’s skyrocketing real-estate market, a new opportunity was presented to Andy. A local community college that he had done work with in the past just finished construction of a new building that housed a space that was built and dedicated as a recording studio. The college offered Andy the opportunity to rent the space and use as a home base when classes were not in session. This new arrangement has allowed Andy the ability to change the way he operates his studio and has created new opportunities.
Since establishing the relationship with the college Andy has built a private 280sqft home studio which gives him the ability to edit and mix in his home studio and use the college studio to record and work on projects with clients. He also works closely with the college to help maintain the studio. He currently co-teaches some of the recording classes as well as holds special recording seminars for the students.
Andy Continues to record mix and produce records at A&D Studios as well as in his private studio. He also is available for freelance work and travels to studios all around to work on projects.
Pat Patten came to be on Working Class Audio through a set of random circumstances. At our 100th show we chose his name at random to win a set of Audio-Technica headphones. After talking Pat on the phone I realized he would make a great guest for the WCA podcast. He sent me his resume which is filled with a wide variety of jobs and experience including President of Commercial Sight & Sound, Inc., CEO of Kinekom, Inc., Studio Manager and Talent Buyer, Senior Record Producer and Festival Promoter, and now Mastering Engineer | Music Mentor-Manager and Music Educator at CEC (Central Education Center), Charter College & Career Academy. AT 60 years young Pat continues the journey in the small town of La Grange, Georgia. We discuss relationship building, his students, and family. Check out http://www.jamgood.com/live/
Mentioned in the interview for those in California is the post production tax incentive.
WCA #102 with Frank McDonough Frank McDonough has worked in the music industry since 1988. He worked at Arista Records for four years, then worked for various producer management firms, eventually starting his own company in January 2000. McDonough Management has a small but impressive client roster including former WCA alumni Andrew Scheps, Matt Wallace, Joe Barresi, Ross Hogarth, and Rob Schnapf as well as Mike Clink, David Bianco, Nick Didia, John Fields, Paul David Hager, Matt Hyde, Alain Johannes, Pierre Marchand, Nick Raskulinecz, Garth Richardson and Phillip Steir. Frank joins Matt for conversation over Skype and takes us through the realities of what a manager does and what he or she does not. Enjoy!
Leff Lefferts has spent the his career working in audio for music and film. He graduated from Berklee college and music with a degree in Music Production & Engineering in 1997 and joined on at the famous Plant Studios in Sausalito, California that same year as an intern. He quickly moved up to assistant engineer and was able to work on records with Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Primus, Oysterhead and Joe Satriani. In 2003 after leaving the Plant (which later closed it’s doors) Leff signed started working at Cutting Edge Audio in San Francisco to handle Pro Tools System Design & support. It’s through Cutting Edge that Leff made contacts at Skywalker Sound where he would ultimately end up working next stating in 2006 as a Digital Audio Technician. In 2008 Leff made a lateral move to take on the role of Assistant Sound Designer, Sound Editor, Mixer working with the legendary Randy Thom. In the position Leff has gone on to work on films such as Horton Hears a Who, Ice Age 3-5, Coraline, Rio, Flight, How to Train Your Dragon 1&2, Crimson Peak, The Walk, The Revenant and Allied.
Leff and Matt (who have been friends since the early 2000’s meet at Matt’s house for a chat. They were accompanied by Matt’s Bulldog Moto who snored for 90% of the interview.
Well here it is, WCA #100! This was recorded at 25th Street Recording in Oakland, California on Friday, November 18th in front of a live audience. You can either watch it on Facebook or listen to the podcast. This episode features Stephen Hart and Cookie Marenco. Enjoy!
More On Stephen
Stephen is a former mixer in residence / chief engineer at the “The Site Recording” in Marin County, Director of Recording Services and owned “the mixroom” at Bay Area Sound Studios and chief engineer and lead mixer at Fantasy Studios. He holds multiple platinum and gold albums, “Blues Album of the Year 2000” for Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert King, and has been on staff at The Plant Studios, EMI Italia, Forward Music Taipei and spent many years as an international freelance mixer. He has recorded and/or mixed many hundred’s of albums with total unit sales of 40 million. Artists include David Bowie, Santana, John Lee Hooker, En Vogue, MC Hammer, Tony Bennett, Isaac Hayes, Flora & Airto, White Stripes, Santana, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MG’s, the Staples Singers, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, the Neville Brothers, the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Amei, Steve Cropper, and a host of European and Asian pop artists. Stephen has also recorded for legendary producers George Martin and Tom Dowd. Scoring Credits include – Be Kind Rewind w/Jack Black & Danny Glover and Encounters at the End of the World by Werner Herzog. Also, Titanic, Grizzly Man (Herzog), and Oil on Ice. Film Post credits (foley stage) include Amadeus, Boogie Nights, Airbud, Blue Velvet, Dead Poets Society
Committed to the Bay Area recording community, Stephen is currently a National Trustee, and past S.F. President of the Recording Academy SF Chapter, is an AES member, and a member of AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers) and on the Recording Academy’s National P&E Advisory Committee and the curriculum advisory board for Xpression College.
More on Cookie
Before digital audio, CDs, MP3’s, the internet and email, Cookie Marenco founded OTR Studios, with a dream to record acoustic musicians in their most natural settings. Now, OTR is the oldest owner founded studio still in operation in the Bay Area with a reputation for the highest quality work, incredible musical performances and professional style. With a span of more than 20 years in the industry, her experience with analog, vinyl, digital, live recording, and working with thousands of musicians on more than 400 recordings brings a rich history to every session or consultation.
As OTR’s main producer and chief engineer, Marenco oversees all recordings of her staff to ensure the same quality and professionalism throughout. Marenco is sought out by many manufacturers to beta test new products including Tascam, KRK, Millennia, NHT, Goddess Labs, Universal Audio, etc. Now a writer and video instructor for EQ magazine, Marenco tests and designs new products, creates educational videos using OTR as a base of operation. Interns come worldwide to study in OTR’s ongoing learning program for those serious about a career in the music industry.
OTR is also the home base of Blue Coast Records, the critically acclaimed audiophile label where Marenco developed Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E), the proprietary recording technique used by the label.
Marenco’s creative and technical skills have touched almost every aspect of the business. She is widely known for the quality of her audio engineering skills and for drawing out passionate performances from the artists she produces. She has engineered or produced 5 Grammy-nominated records, several Gold records and an Academy Award-winning documentary. Her artist credits include Max Roach, Brain, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Smith, Brady Blade, Tony Furtado, Tony Trischka, Dirk Powell, Rob Ickes, Charlie Haden, Tony Levin, Steve Rodby, Buckethead, Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, Ernie Watts, Glen Moore, Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings, Pat DiNizio, Kristin Hersch, Brad Mehldau, Matt Rollings, Kevin Kern, Art Lande, Clara Ponty, Chanticleer, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mark Isham and Michael Tolcher. Her production and engineering skills can be found on projects for Monterey Jazz Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Marinfest, Midem, Hard Rock Cafe, Windham Hill Records, Verve, Rounder Records, Om Records, Sony, Warner Bros. and others.
Marenco was an early pioneer in internet audio being the part of the Liquid Audio team offering the first copy-protected music downloads in 1997. She was a producer and A&R representative at Windham Hill Records working on over 100 projects during her tenure, including producing Winter Solstice 2, the highest selling compilation in their catalogue. Marenco’s production company, Cojema Music, oversees her work as an independent producer, supports entrepreneurial pursuits and helps to launch new artists. Cojema Music also looks after the operations of OTR Studios (a professional recording facility in the San Francisco area), Blue Coast Records (a high quality acoustic music label) and Goddess Labs (silver cable company).
Combining traditional recording values with new technology and a unique vision for marketing strategies, Marenco continues to blaze ground. In 2005, Marenco launched a record label, Blue Coast Records, showcasing talented acoustic musicians and high fidelity recordings. The first offering, Blue Coast Collection, has achieved critical acclaim winning the Ultimate Sound Award at the 2005 CES Show for NHT Speakers. The July 2006 issue of La Nouvelle Revue de Son, a French audiophile magazine, lifted the recording to legendary status as a “must have” recording. It received 5 stars in every category and sparked Blue Coast Records in France. Blue Coast Collection was released in 2007 in the United States.
Blue Coast Records’ unique sound can be attributed to a new recording technique for surround called ESE (Extended Sound Environment). Marenco teamed with French engineer, Jean Claude Reynaud, to develop this patent pending process. ESE is a trademarked recording process with a “no compromise of quality” attitude that combines the best of tried and true recording techniques with the latest developments in technology. Sony America aided Marenco in her efforts with their Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording devices and a new disc format called Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD). The ESE technique is featured in the MAY 2004 issue of MIX magazine.
Home based in the Silicon Valley, Marenco has consulted with many companies seeking to further audio and musical interests. Her conception of Liquid Live continues to be used by Liquid.com, the download division of Walmart.com. Recently, she has consulted with Unbound Technology, a cutting-edge enterprise combining affinity networking, cell phone technology and internet audio. In 2005, she coordinated efforts of Abeo Corporation with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival to provide the entire festival grounds with free wireless internet access.
Many of Marenco’s innovations take place at OTR Studios, long a staple in the Bay Area community known for high quality acoustic recordings as well as unusual electronic music. She was a pioneer of digital recording in the mid 80’s and continues to experiment with new technologies such as Direct Stream Digital, SACD and DTS while supporting classic methods of recording. OTR has recorded over 400 artist album projects during the last 15 years. Marenco continues to beta-test audio products as she had done for Liquid Audio, Mackie, Tascam, Millennia, Studer and NHT. Young bands, engineers and technicians of various disciplines hone their skills at OTR. Marenco spreads her industry knowledge as a regular writer for EQ magazine. She provides interviews for radio and print, sits on industry panels and teaches college workshops. She has served on the NARAS Board of Governors and the Board of Directors of George Coates Performance Arts, represented various organizations on industry panels (AES, NARM, AFIM, Folk Alliance) and created fund raising events for Art into Action (an environmentally pro active non-profit organization).
The Early Years
In earlier years, Marenco composed music for film and television including commercial spots for Nissan and AT&T. Prior to her work in engineering, she performed and toured with many jazz legends, orchestras and her own electronic ensemble. She has a multi-instrumental musical background studying and teaching piano, oboe and sitar as well as being educated in classical, jazz, ethnomusicology, acoustics and composition.
Rob Schnapf has been making critically-acclaimed records for the past two decades. He first gained recognition by producing (with his then-partner Tom Rothrock) Beck’s debut album, “Mellow Gold,” including the breakthrough single, “Loser.” Rob and Tom produced three albums for Elliot Smith, including “XO” and “Figure 8.”
After Elliot’s death in 2003, Rob was asked by Smith’s family to help sort, compile and complete the tracks that Elliot had been recording. This was released as “From A Basement On The Hill,” and became Elliot’s highest charting album in the US.Rob went on to produce albums for Guided by Voices, Saves The Day, The Vines, Powderfinger, The Whigs and Tokyo Police Club. In 2009 he produced Booker T Jones’ “Potato Hole,” which won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In 2011 he produced “The Road From Memphis” with Booker, which again won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
In addition to his work as a producer, Rob is an accomplished mixer. He mixed the debut album by the Foo Fighters (with Rothrock), and has mixed tracks for Fidlar, Moby, Rickie Lee Jones and a Grammy-nominated album for Mavis Staples. Rob produced and mixed tracks for Kurt Vile’s latest release, including the single, “Pretty Pimpin.” Rob is currently producing a new album for Cass McCombs.
Rob and Matt chat over Skype about business, artists, kids and the art of disguising your voice when using the talkback.
Stewart Cararas is a producer, engineer, writer and musician currently based out of Los Angeles who works on a wide variety of music projects. SOme of his clients include Nick Lachey, Billy Ray Cyrus, Joe Perry, George Lynch, Fear Factory, Glenn Hughes, Shelby Lynne, BoomKat, Kimberley Locke, Dreamers, Better Than Ezra, Juvenile, Dee Snider, Taryn Manning, Taylor Dayne, Leah Turner, Bone, Thugs and Harmony, E40, Ray J, Simple Plan, All Time Low, Holly Knight, Brooke White, September Mourning, Marla Sokoloff, Limp Biskit, Tiffany Thornton, Molly Sanden, Nickel Creek, Brian Wilson, Enrique Iglesias, Cowboy Mouth, Thick as Thieves, Jason Charles Miller, Katie Cole, and Mitch Allan.
After an attempt at rock stardom failed, Stewart setup shop in New Orleans to run a studio. Stewart left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, sold his house and moved to LA. Since then (2005) he’s been involved in many great projects including co-producing 7 songs on the new Billy Ray Cyrus album, ‘Thin Line’, producing a song for the film called “Dark Horse” written/directed by Todd Solondz starring Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow and producing a song with Nick Lachey.
Stewart joins Matt over Skype for a candid interview about his journey since leaving New Orleans.
“He’s a young man with an old soul. Matt’s got a lot of Sam Phillips in him” – Jerry Phillips
Matt Ross-Spang , born in Memphis, began working at the Legendary Sun Studio when he was just 16, working his way up from intern to the Chief Engineer. He championed to bring the recording studio back to its origin, working hard to find, install and use the same period equipment that Sam Phillips engineered with in the 1950s. His 11 years of dedication to Sun and its signature sound garnered national attention when he was featured by Lester Holt for NBC’s Nightly News and the Today Show. NPR also featured Matt and his work on All Things Considered.
“It’s fantastic that [Ross-Spang] has pursued this with such scholarly devotion,” says Peter Guralnick, author of the definitive, two-part Presley biography, Last Train to Memphis and the recently released biography, Sam Phillips The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll.. “Sam was systematic in thinking about sound and gave great thought to it — no square angles; the tiles. In addition, he felt there was something unique about the room at 706 Union. He didn’t know it when he rented it. To have reconstituted it is an exercise in creative archeology.”
In 2015 Matt left Sun to venture out on his own as an engineer and producer. His first project post Sun was to engineer and mix Jason Isbell’s “Something More Than Free” for acclaimed Producer Dave Cobb which would award him his first Grammy. The record broke several records debuting at #1 on the Country, Rock, Folk and Indie Charts. It also broke Americana Radio chart records , staying #1 for over 25 weeks. The record won Grammys for Best Americana Album and Best Americana Song for (24 Frames).
Since then Matt hasn’t slowed down …engineering recent releases by The Drive By Truckers, Elle King, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Chris Isaak, The Rival Sons, Corb Lund, Lori Mckenna, Brett Dennen, Brent Cobb, Amanda Shires, Anderson East, The Sheepdogs and the concept album “Southern Family”.
Matt also engineered, mixed and Co-Produced Margo Price’s debut album; entitled “Midwestern Farmer’s Daughter” the record was made in 3 days in 2014 at Sun Studio and released on Third Man Records. The record debuted in the top 10 Billboard country charts to critical acclaim and is already considered one of the best albums of 2016. Matt most recently was hired by Sony Records to mix 18 previously unreleased songs by Elvis Presley from historic 1976 sessions in the Jungle Room at Graceland which was released in August of 2016. Matt also recently produced albums on Sean Rowe, Patrick Sweany and UK artist Emily Barker.
The City of Memphis named him one of its “30 under 30” Memphians in 2015 as well as honoring him with a key to the city in 2016. The City of Germantown also named a day after Ross-Spang in 2016.
Matt and Matt join each other over Skype for a conversation about’s Matt’s journey.
J.J. Blair is a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who hails from Chicago, and moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to get into the music business. He has worked on albums with some legendary artists. Of note, in 1999, he produced, engineered and mixed June Carter Cash’s Grammy winning album, Press On. He also engineered on Rod Stewart’s Great American Songbook albums, volumes 1 through 3; the latter of which won a Grammy, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts. Other artists J.J. has worked with include Black Eyed Peas, Weezer, P. Diddy, Ryan Adams, Jason Falkner, David Cassidy, Stephen Bishop ,Vonda Sheppard, Johnny Cash, George Benson, Unwriten Law, Kelly Clarkson, Melissa Etheridge, Smokey Robinson, and many more.
J.J. was kind enough to host Matt at his house during AES. While staying there, Matt was able to convince J.J. to sit down for an interview in his living room.
Brad Wood grew up in Rockford, Illinois, the home of Cheap Trick- the greatest band alive. He played the saxophone well enough to go to college and study jazz performance.
When Brad moved to Chicago in 1987, it didn’t take long before he built Idful Music Corporation- a small but mighty recording studio in Wicker Park. That’s where he recorded albums by bands like Seam, Tar, Shrimp Boat and Eleventh Dream Day. It was Liz Phair’s Exile In Guyville in 1993 that did the trick for his career.
Soon he was recording all kinds of cool debut albums for artists like Sunny Day Real Estate, Veruca Salt, Placebo, Red Red Meat and Ben Lee. Work with Smashing Pumpkins, Far, that dog., Menthol and Pete Yorn wrapped up the 90’s.
In 2000, Brad relocated to Los Angeles, home of X- the greatest punk rock band alive. After a few years of bouncing around LA’s amazing studios, he built Seagrass Studio in 2004. At Seagrass Brad has tracked or mixed Say Anything, mewithoutYou, more Ben Lee, the Bangles, Sherwood & Touché Amoré plus many more.
Brad says “I like to help people make records that are inspiring, lyrically and musically. For me, rock music works best when there’s intensity- a burning desire to bash out a message. It doesn’t have to be loud (although that helps). Thank you, Joe Strummer.”
This podcast is comprised of Matt’s interview with Brad at the 141st AES show in Los Angeles on October 1st at The Focal Booth followed by an interview over Skype. Matt and Brad discuss Brad’s journey, his time in Chicago, His move to LA, his new studio and parenting.
Scott Wiley is a music producer, engineer, musician and owner of June Audio Recording Studios in Provo, Utah. Scott studied music recording at USC and got to learn from some of the best producers and engineers in the industry during his years working in great Los Angeles rooms like Sound Factory, Sunset Sound, Cello and Conway Recording Studios. As an engineer and/or producer for the last 25 years, Scott has worked with Neon Trees, Bonnie Raitt, Kaskade, David Archuleta, Tracy Chapman, The Moth & The Flame, and Stephanie Mabey among others. Scott has also taught recording and music business classes at UVU and BYU.
June Audio is currently expanding from a mid-sized one studio operation to a 5000 square foot Wes Lachot designed facility that will house 3 separate studios, 2 in a large new building and a third in an adjoining turn of the century home.
Scott talks with Matt about moving between California and Utah, assisting for Tchad Blake, and running a studio in a environment where the Mormon church plays a big role.
David Barbe has a two pronged career. He has been the Director of the University of Georgia Music Business Program since 2010. On the creative side, he has worked on hundreds of recording projects as engineer, producer, musician and writer. Over the past few years, projects have included Deerhunter’s “Halcyon Digest,” Drive-By Truckers “It’s Grerat to Be Alive” and “American Band,” New Madrid “magnetkingmagnetqueen,” and “Sunwimmer,” and Muuy Biien “Age of Uncertainty” to name a few.David moved to Athens in 1981 to study journalism at UGA. He got involved in the local music scene, playing in a variety of bands, most notably Mercyland and Buzz Hungry.He started recording local bands (Bar-B-Q Killers, Jack-O-Nuts, as well as a number of bands without dashes in their names) on a Fostex X15 cassette 4 track, also taking the opportunity to go into the studio any time any of the bands he worked with booked a proper recording session. That experience led to a job at John Keane’s studio. While working under Keane, David assisted John on a number of projects by artists including Billy Bragg, REM and Widespread Panic, then began engineering a steady stream of artists on his own (Jack Logan, Seersucker, Mt. Shasta, 5/8) at John’s studio and elsewhere.
In 1991 Bob Mould (Husker Du) invited David to join his new band, Sugar. From 1992 – 1995 they toured the world, and made 4 albums together, working at the Outpost in Stoughton, Mass.; Cedar Creek in Austin, Texas; Triclops in Atlanta; and several studios in Europe and Japan on performance for broadcast sessions.
After leaving the group in early 1995, David continued freelance engineering. During this time he made countless indie records in a variety of circumstances. The Rock*A*Teens first album was made in three different studios in 6 days. Harvey Milk’s “My Love is Higher Than Your Assessment of My Love Is” was primarily recorded in drummer Paul Trudeau’s house and mixed in the apartment of fellow engineer Brooks Carter, using the wooden frame stairwell for an echo chamber (the sound of crickets is audible during quiet sections of the album). SonVolt’s “Wide Swing Tremolo” was recorded over the course of 6 two week sessions in the band’s practice space housed in an old textile mill in Millstadt, Illinois, and mixed at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium. David’s fascination with using unique spaces for recording crops up with instances such as recording Kelly Hogan’s vocals in the boys’ locker room of a closed down school, and recording various things in the Chase Park parking lot.
“Going from place to place to work was a great experience,” says David about his freelance days (primarily 1991-97). “For one thing, you really have to think on your feet when it’s a big city studio one day, and somebody’s bedroom the next. For another, I definitely started to develop a feel for what I would and wouldn’t want in a studio of my own.”
In early 1997 David teamed up with Andy LeMaster and Andy Baker in a search of what they thought would be “a temporary space” for recording. What they came up with was Chase Park Transduction. After working together in the studio for a few months, they realized that the studio was turning into more than a stopgap.
Since opening Chase Park, David has worked with a wide variety of artists including the Deerhunter, Bettye LaVette, The Glands, Drive By Truckers, Jerry Joseph, Amy Ray, Bob Mould, REM, New Madrid and hundreds of others.
David’s general approach to making records is, “In any creative endeavor, the answer should never be ‘No’.
David talks with Matt over Skype about how he runs his studio, the importance of family and his approach to money and gear.
Chuck Zwicky is a Manhattan based mixing engineer who has earned several gold and platinum records in his 30+ year career, working with artists as diverse as Prince, Jeff Beck, Soul Asylum, Reggie Watts, Rick Moranis, a-ha, NIN, and the Jonas Brothers. Chuck joins Matt over Skype from his Manhattan apartment and home to his mixing /mastering suite to discuss a wide range of topics including the impact Prince had on him.
Camden Stoddard got his start in sound shortly after moving to the Bay Area by interning with B. Z. Lewis at Studio 132 followed by studying at Pyramind in San Francisco. After graduating from Pyramind, Camden participated in some independent movies and commercials before joining Double Fine Productions in 2009. He has since worked on dozens of prototypes and shipped a multitude of games as sound designer and Studio Sound Supervisor including Brutal Legend (for which he won G.A.N.G.’s Rookie Of The Year), Iron Brigade, Stacking, Once Upon A Monster, The Cave, Broken Age and, most recently, the retro space adventure Headlander. Camden is very passionate about game audio and game sound design and can often be found mentoring students with enthusiasm.
Camden spoke with Matt from his office in San Francisco via Skype.
Camden mentioned a a great sound library company called Tomsturm in the interview. They can be found at http://www.tonsturm.com/
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