Working Class Audio

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.Justin’s studio: Sonelab

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.More details can be found at www.chris-audio.com

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!The following bio is from Chris’ website www.chrisgrahammastering.comBefore 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

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.www.ashbymix.com

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 soun

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.http://www.dv411.com/home/regulations/ca-teleproduction-exemption

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 fi

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 StephenStephen 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,

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 Fig

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’

“He’s a young man with an old soul. Matt’s got a lot of Sam Phillips in him” – Jerry PhillipsMatt 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; th

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.Fox Force Five Recorders: http://artandscienceofrecording.com/Welcome.html

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,

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.More info can be found here www.juneaudio.com or follow the build thread on gearslutz at http://tiny

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 studi

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.http://www.sonicscoop.com/2015/01/05/making-the-mix-room-chuck-zwickys-zmix-chelsea-new-york-city/https://soundbetter.com/profiles/9234-chuck-zwickyhttp://www.zmix.nethttp://www.allmusic.com/artist/chuck-zwicky-mn0000126243

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.Show notes:The documentary we talk about can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdXvZgIV