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WCA #197 with Pete Weiss

WCA #197 with Pete Weiss

WCA #197 with Pete Weiss

Pete Weiss is a New England-based producer/engineer/mixer/musician. His unfussy, organic, “artist first” work has earned him a reputation as an outstanding producer who can adapt to many musical genres and is unafraid to ignore stylistic conventions. Notable artists Weiss has worked with include Charlie Chesterman, Chris Brokaw, Kustomized, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Doug Yule, Moe Tucker, The Upper Crust, Aimee Mann, Lee Ranaldo, Bell X1, Drive-By Wire, One Happy Island, Kingsley Flood, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Two Dollar Pistols, Bow Thayer & Levon Helm, Don Lennon, Hayley Thompson-King and many others.

In 1989 he co-founded Zippah Studio in Boston. Selling his share of Zippah in 2004, he built and opened Verdant Studio, an “open room” retreat-style studio with artist lodging in rural Vermont which he now uses as a home base.

When not in the studio, Weiss fronts the instrumental band The Weisstronauts and is a member of the experimental pop collective known as Sool. He released a solo album in 1996 and three albums while fronting the subversive Pete Weiss & the Rock Band from 1995-2000. He has scored four independent films, “Methods” (1998), “Metal” (2001), “Bad Gravity” (with Sool 2006), and “The Arcadian Ideal” (2007).

He is a Senior Contributor for Tape Op Magazine, writing reviews of audio equipment as well as conducting interviews with recording industry figures. Over the years he has served on many panels & workshops at Tape Op’s and Potluck Audio conferences. In the early 1990’s Weiss authored two books on baseball, “Baseball’s All Time Goats” and “Longshots!”, both published by Adams Media.

About this Interview:

Pete joins me to talk about his early career and decision making, his transition to building a rural studio, the lessons learned in that rural environment and his decision to sell and try a different recording adventure. plus much more. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #196 with Adam Rossi

WCA #196 with Adam Rossi

Working Class Audio #196 with Adam Rossi

About this Interview:

Adam joins me to talk about his journey that started with an 8th grade run-in with Eric Valentine to his mom’s garage to crappy midi composing jobs to making records with Tom Luce and much, much more! Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #195 with Sherry Klein

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Working Class Audio #195 with Sherry Klein !!!

Sherry Klein is a Post Production Re-Recording Mixer for Television and Film, she is currently living in Los Angeles, Ca. and works with Smart Post Sound in Burbank. Some of her past credits include Queen of the South, Reverie, Burn Notice, Arrested Development, Sons of Anarchy, and The Shield. She is currently a Board member of the CAS (Cinema Audio Society) and chairs their annual Student Recognition Awards.

She first became “aware” of audio while attending Berklee College of music in Boston studying Arranging and Composition. There was a small 2-track studio in the basement of the main Berklee building where she had to record her 4th semester term project. This was the experience that she remembers as the start of her fascination with sound, and the beginnings of her journey from musician, to record engineering and finally into post production mixing.

“I consider myself very lucky to be working within this talented community of people who have continually inspired me to refine my craft, and grow my love of mixing”

About this Interview:

Sherry joins me to talk about her journey from musician, composer, arranger to recording engineer in the world of records to finally Post Production Re-Recording Mixer for Television and Film. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #194 with Sara Carter

WCA #194 with Sara Carter

Sara Carter is a BBC trained, mixing and mastering engineer based in Hampshire, UK.

Sara started recording and mixing music in the mid 90’s as a hobby from a small home studio after playing guitar for many years. Then, in 2000 in a bold move, she decided to sell her house, give up her established career of 16 years and relocate to London to turn that hobby into her new full-time career.

She studied at the SAE Institute in London gaining an Audio Engineering Diploma and soon after secured a position as a BBC Radio Studio Manager (sound engineer) working on the UK’s most listened to radio shows, live music sessions and major music festivals across all of the BBC’s main music networks. She also created the foley and sound effects on several radio drama productions and comedy shows.

Above all, she relished working in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios where she developed her mixing and critical listening skills, working on sessions with a wide variety of artists from Crowded House to The Cure and Adele to The Black Keys to name just a few. She’s been officially credited on records from Corrine Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall and Girls Aloud amongst others.

In 2009, Sara decided to take a break from broadcasting and left the BBC to explore a different creative interest and became a Brewer in a small award-winning microbrewery (Yes, I know a bit random but it still involved mixing, just not music!). In recent years, however, she had felt a strong calling back to music and engineering, returning to the industry with her online mixing and mastering business called Music Mix Pro. Sara is passionate about mixing music and strives to exceed her clients’ expectations and to make the whole process as rewarding as possible for both the artist and herself.

About this Interview:

Sara joins me to talk about her incredible journey that took her through the motor trade, audio at the BBC to brewing then back to audio as a freelancer. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #193 with Drew Vandenberg

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Working Class Audio #193 with Drew Vandenberg !!!

Drew Vandenberg is an engineer, producer and label owner based out of Athens, Georgia. He got his start working at legendary Chase Park Transductions studios when he was just 16, learning the finer points of the craft from studio founder David Barbe. He left his homebase for a time to get a degree in the recording arts from Indiana University, returning to Athens to work on pivotal records for Ra Ra Riot, Toro y Moi, of Montreal, Kishi Bashi, Tall Tall Trees, Fred Thomas, Mothers, Faye Webster, Futurebirds and dozens more. Though centralized in Athens where he lives with wife Catherine, Vandenberg often travels to engineer special projects, as well as producing and mixing remotely.
In 2018, he formed True Blue Records, a label he closely supervised, working directly with new artists The High Divers, Partials, and Curt Castle on the creation and release of their albums. The label also recently began a series of specially recorded 7″ singles, inviting bands into the studio to record exclusive material live to 1/2″ tape, pressing the results to limited edition vinyl singles and donating all of the proceeds to local charities Nuci’s Space and the Athens Boys & Girls Club Music Makers program.

About this Interview:

Drew joins me for a chat about his rise from teenage assistant to his current role as producer and engineer. We talk money, work/life balance, earthquakes vs tornados and being mindful in the studio. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #192 with Ryan Earnhardt

WCA #192 with Ryan Earnhardt

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Working Class Audio #192 with Ryan Earnhardt!!!

Ryan Earnhardt is a video creator and studio owner who produces a YouTube show called Creative Sound Lab. It covers recording-focused topics and out-of-the-box topics such as DIY effects. He recently built a Pooper Time Cube (A delay made from 4 inch drainage pipe) and created a reverb out of a garden hose. Creative Sound Lab stresses fundamental recording techniques and capturing real sounds such as using re-amping during mixing or using echo chambers for vocals – even if that chamber is your living room! Ryan has partnered with Brian McTear (WCA #060) of Weathervane Music and author Eric Sarafin aka “Mixerman”. Ryan started Creative Sound Lab in 2013 because he saw a need for something different than computer screen videos that mostly covered mixing topics. He currently has over 37,000 subscribers and hosts over a dozen online courses at Creative Sound Lab.tv Ryan’s studio, Lumen Audio, is debt free and supports his wife, and 4 kids. For fun he enjoys fresh mountain air, electronic music creation, and cooking…which he says is just about the same mindset as mixing a song.

About this Interview:

Ryan joins me for a chat about his studio (Lumen Audio), his Audio Courses and Youtube channel  Creative Sound Lab as well as his world of 4 kids (5th on the way!) and his journey to where he is today.  Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #191 with Will Sadler

WCA #191 with Will Sadler

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Working Class Audio #191 with Will Sadler!!!

Will Sadler was born in Columbia, SC but within two months his parents had moved to Las Cruces, NM. After traipsing across the south, first at Mississippi State and then in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area, he returned to Las Cruces and finished a degree in Political Science. Somewhere in the midst of starting a Master’s Degree in History, Will was sidetracked by the need to correct his Tejano bands flagging sound system and the rest is history. Today, Will helps KW Sound and Hubbard’s Music aid Las Cruces in having better sound at their concerts and in their buildings. Hopefully, more often than not, succeeding.

About this Interview:

I join Will at his house for a chat about his journey from bass player to live sound engineer and installer, running a small sound company in New Mexico, the culture of Las Cruces, finding satisfaction by not joining big tours and his brush with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #190 with David Cook

WCA #190 with David Cook

Working Class Audio #190 with David Cook

David Cook is a Audio Engineer from Columbia, SC. David graduated from Full Sail with a recording arts degree in 2001 and quickly started working in studios and doing live sound while living in Atlanta Georgia. David eventually moved back to SC where he owned a studio and continued to work in live sound. David also developed relationships with local film makers and started providing location sound and post services as well. In 2015 David and his family decided to take a chance and move to Southern California. This move was not just about moving to a new location but moving into a new vocation.

For the past 3 years David has been working in film and television as a location sound mixer. His transition has allowed him to work with companies such as Comedy Central, NBC, Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Aston Martin, Chevy, Best Buy, Pepsi, and Nickelodeon. In 2017 David’s first Feature Film, Thumper, was released on Netflix. David still works in music production and from time to time those worlds collide allowing him to record acts such as Tom Morello for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, James Blake Live DVD, Atlantic Artists Charlie Puth and Matt Maeson, and many others. Even though David mostly works in the Film and Television industry he still works as a Live Sound Engineer, Mix Engineer, and Audio Post Engineer. David would say that his biggest asset is his sense of community. The entertainment industry is all about relationships and that is what David does best; builds relationships.

About this Interview:

David joins me for a talk about his move from South Carolina to California, the production sound community in LA, the lessons he learned along the way and the importance of getting out and hustling instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #189 with Lee Bothwick

WCA #189 with Lee Bothwick

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Working Class Audio #189 with Lee Bothwick!!!

Lee Bothwick is an audio engineer, producer and musician based in Oakland, CA . A graduate of Ex’pression College, Lee’s spent the last decade of his life working in recording studios. The last several of those years were spent as the Head Engineer at Green Day’s JingleTown Recording. Having been there from the day it publicly opened its doors to the day it closed, Lee worked almost every session that came through the door. Because of that experience, Lee had the pleasure of working with Bay Area legends such as Green Day, Machine Head, Fat Mike (NoFX), Samiam, and Too $hort as well as international acts like Kate Nash. Currently, Lee works day to day for Green Day as an engineer and, when possible, taking up extra sessions on weekends and nights with bands from around the Bay.

About this Interview:

Lee joins me for a discussion about surviving as an  intern,  working with Green Day, seizing opportunities, networking, complacency, introverts and extroverts as well as the art of frugality.    Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #188 with Justin Weis

WCA #188 with Justin Weis

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Working Class Audio #188 with Justin Weis!!!

Justin Weis is a San Francisco, California based audio engineer and owner/operator at Trakworx Mastering & Recording.  Since starting Trakworx in 1995 Justin has mastered, mixed or recorded a wide variety of artists including Sammy Hagar, Papa Roach, Matt Nathanson, Larry Coryell, The Tubes, Agalloch, Pallbearer, The Coup, B-Legit, Zion I, Berner and Andre Nickatina.  His approach is heavily oriented towards analog outboard gear and tape, integrated with modern digital tools.   Justin started out in the 1980s on guitar, bass and vocals in local Rock bands, then developed a love for home recording.  He graduated from California Recording Institute in 1994 and was hired by the school as an instructor.  Within a year he started Trakworx in a small studio within the recording school.  By 1997 he had established himself as a working engineer so he left teaching to create his own studio space.In recent years the mastering side of Justin’s business has begun to overshadow the recording/mixing side as demand for online mastering has steadily increased.

About this Interview:

Justin stops by my house to chat about not bothering your landlord, getting out of debt, thinking from your clients perspective and shifting towards doing more mastering than recording work.  Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links

WCA #187 with Kendal Osborne

WCA #187 with Kendal Osborne

Kendal Osborne is an audio engineer, mixer, producer, and musician out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He owns and operates The Closet Studios and has done so since 2007. Kendal regularly records with artists from Oklahoma and the surrounding states, but has mixed songs from artists around the world. He also teaches two part-time night classes at Tulsa Technology Center (a vocational school in Tulsa) about recording, and is the host of the Recording Lounge Podcast.  Aside from the studio, Kendal enjoys reading, woodworking, and spending time with his wife, Audra. After marrying in 2012, they moved into their current home in a quiet neighborhood just on the outskirts of Tulsa. They enjoy cooking, weekend getaways, and watching movies together.

About this Interview:

Kendal joins me for a chat about laughing bankers, passing and failing building inspections, drummers with decorating sense, the music scene of Tulsa, Oklahoma and tornados. Enjoy! – Matt

Show Notes and Links