WCA #020 with Don Gunn

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 gear, money, business cards, his studio, the decision not to have kids and recording at Peter Frampton’s “home studio”. Great guy and great interview!

http://dongunn.com/

Link regarding helping out in Nepal. http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-25/how-help-nepal-7-vetted-charities-doing-relief-work-following-earthquake

WCA #019 with Matt Kelley

Matt Kelley has been at the recording game for just over 27 years. Based in the Bay Area in California Matt has worked with Tupac, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Qbert, Digital Underground, George Clinton, Hieroglyphics as well as Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. Matt started off as an assistant at Hyde Street studios working with producers like Marc Needham and John Cuniberti. Matt leapfrogged straight to being a first engineer when a chance phone call came in from a then-unknown Hip Hop act known as Digital Underground. After that first Hip Hop session, Matt’s career changed forever. Matt talks with Matt about his past work in Hip Hop, shifting to mastering, recording schools, and his philosophy on business. Dig it!

http://mattkelleyaudio.com/

WCA #018 with David v.R. Bowles

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 135^th 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 & Sciences) Producers & 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 music.

Links for WCA #018

http://swineshead.com/

WCA #017 with Ross Hogarth

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 Colvin, John Mellencamp, and R.E.M.

His studio work runs the gamut from the heavy metal insanity of Motley Crue and Coal Chamber to the Grammy-winning Keb’ Mo’ released Slow Down 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, 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!

-Matt

Photo by Marian Matthis for The Blackbird Academy

Links for WCA #017

WCA #016 with Jonah Strauss

This is a WCA Special Report. I know this is mid-week and we will still have our Monday scheduled podcast. I thought this story needed some attention. 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. He needs our help to get back up and running. Working Class Audio is here to offer him our support.

Fund Raising Site: https://www.gofundme.com/shipwreckoakland

Shipwreck Studio Website: http://shipwreckoakland.com/

WCA #015 with Jeff Powell

WCA #015 with Jeff Powell

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. Super nice and humble, I think you’ll enjoy this interview. – Matt 4/6/2015

Photo by Pete Weiss

Links for WCA #015

WCA #014 with Sylvia Massy

Sylvia Massy has been Producing, 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 for WCA #014: http://www.sylviamassy.com/

WCA #013 with Billy Anderson

Billy Anderson 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 (The intro voice of WCA)
www.clifftruesdell.com (The music behind WCA)

WCA #012 with Michael Starita

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 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. He has performed, remixed and worked with some of the industry’s top artists from The Bay to abroad including Childish Gambino, Los Amigos Invisibles, Third Eye Blind, Michael Franti and Spearhead and more. His current work with Laura Sullivan won the Grammy® for Best New Age Album and his work with Los Amigos Invisibles was Latin Grammy® nominated for Song Of The Year and Grammy® nominated for Best Latin Alternative. Recently, Starita launched Bay Area Music Collective and ULUV Music, two efforts aimed at making The Bay Area a top music destination while building community to foster local music industry professionals. Starita also serves as President of The Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter and continues to crank out tunes with an eclectic blend of recording artists while consulting for music tech companies nationally and internationally.

www.staritasf.com

-Matt Boudreau 3/1/2015

WCA #011 with Gabriel Shepard

Working Class Audio with Gabriel Shepard

WCA #011 with Gabriel Shepard

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, 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.

-Matt Boudreau 2/15/2015

Plug-Ins mentioned

Studios mentioned

WCA #010 with Scott Evans

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!

-Matt Boudreau 2/1/2015

Links from the show:

Kowloon Walled City https://www.facebook.com/kowloonwalledcity

Antisleep Audio http://antisleep.com/

Sharkbite Studios http://sharkbitestudios.com/

Tape Op http://www.tapeop.com/

WCA #009 with Andrew Scheps

Andrew Scheps has worked with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Metallica, Grace Potter, Jay-Z, U2, Justin Timberlake, and Green Day…just to name a few. Just home from a European trip that included a week in France conducting a seminar at 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. Enjoy!

-Matt Boudreau 1/15/2015

Show notes and links:

McDonough Management http://www.mcdman.com/scheps.html
Tonequake Records http://tonequake.com/
Andrew’s Studio http://punkerpad.com/
Mix with the Masters http://mixwiththemasters.com/

WCA #008 with Steve Silverstein

Like so many professionals in music, Steve Silverstein got his start creating music — his electronic group Christmas Decorations has released an album on kranky and been played on the BBC. He’s written articles and reviews for 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. Steve shares his approach to his workflow and how he takes care of his clients. Additionally Jules Standen from Gearslutz.com calls in for a short chat and to share some wisdom from his recording past. Oh yea…..Happy New Year!

photo by John C. Morton

Links from the show. http://www.kranky.net/ https://www.gearslutz.com

WCA #007 with Vance Powell

Vance Powell, 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. We talk technique including specifics of his analog workflow, business, including managers plus a bit of criticism of the old guard of the music industry. I love talking with Vance. I always learn something new from him and am proud to call him my friend. Enjoy!

Vance on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vancalot

Vance’s studio with engineer Mitch Dane: http://www.sputniksound.com/index.html

WCA #006 with Robert L. Smith

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

WCA #005 with John Cuniberti

John Cuniberti is based in the Bay Area. He produces, engineers, mixes and masters records for many artists including most notably Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, The Dead Kennedys, and Chicken Foot. John is known for bringing the concept and name ReAmping into the main stream of recording with his ReAmp box he created and sold on his own for many years, but eventually sold the name and circuit patent to Radial Engineering. John is a veteran of the Bay Area recording world, who has spent most of his adult life in recording studios . 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 all over the world . For more information on John please visit his website www.johncuniberti.com

WCA #004 with David Wheeler

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 the 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)

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WCA #003 with Hillary Johnson

Happy to present WCA session #003 with New York recording engineer Hillary Johnson. Check Hillary’s site out at www.hillaryjohnson.com

Hillary 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.

WCA #002 with Laura Dean

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….

WCA #001 with Matt Boudreau

WCA #001 – with Matt Boudreau

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!