Working Class Audio

Lij Shaw is an award winning music and podcast producer who has made records for 25 years. His studio, The Toy Box Studio is located East Nashville, Tennessee.Lij is my “Brother from Another Podcast” being the host of Recording Studio Rockstars. He’s a guy like myself who has been around the block, made some mistakes along the way and is here to share his experiences and wisdom. His other activities include the Hay Bale Studio, a studio built in a double wide trailer and surrounded by bales of hay, all while being located directly behind the main stage at the Bonnaroo music festival each year. He also runs a back to basics recording event called the Stereo Sessions  where recording a band live to two track is the order of the day. Enjoy!Show notes:John Cuniberti’s OneMic series: http://www.johncuniberti.com/one-mic-the-minimalism-recording-series-begins/

Ben Hirschfield and Scott Goodrich are studio partners at Nu-Tone Studios. If you have followed my conversations with Chris Dugan and/or Willie Samuels you’ll recognize their names. I thought stopping by Nu-Tone and chatting with these guys would be a great way to follow up on a story that started with Dugan and Samuels.Ben Hirschfield began playing music at an early age and almost immediately became obsessed with the recording process. By high school, he was constantly making recordings for his own bands, as well as those of his peers. After touring nationally and internationally with his own music, Ben began focusing more intently on recording. While attending Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, he founded the now defunct Imperial Recording Studio with fellow engineer Scott Goodrich. Imperial quickly became a go to spot for local and national indie acts. While still running his own studio, Ben began an internship at Jingletown Recording, which led to a full time gig at the facility. Si

Willie Samuels is Studio Trilogy’s senior engineer. A recording engineer, producer and musician with some serious studio chops, Willie began his career in his teens by operating a “guerilla style” mobile studio out of his parents old station wagon, traveling to record local bands in their rehearsal spaces, garages, or whatever space he could find that sounded good. By the time he was 18, he was an engineer and producer, working independently in many of the Bay Area’s historic studios. In 1996 he and partner Chris Dugan opened Nu-tone Studios in Pittsburg, California, which quickly became a mecca for local and national independent artists. In 2006 Willie began freelancing at the newly constructed studios of Talking House Productions in San Francisco. A few months later, he joined the production team at Talking House, serving as a staff engineer and continuing his quest to serve and develop local talent. In April 2010 Willie partnered with Justin Lieberman and Cindy McSherry to open Studio Trilog

Lolly Lewis studied voice, composition, and electronic music at UC Santa Cruz. While still in college, she was recruited for the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival’s Audio/Recording Institute, and she was Director of Recordings at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1981 – 1993.In 1984 Lolly coordinated audio playback of her recording of John Adams‘ Light Over Water for its premiere performance in Los Angeles (Museum of Contemporary Art) and New York (Next Wave Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music). In 1989 she toured with the Kronos Quartet providing live playback of the recorded portion of Steve Reich‘s Different Trains.In 1998 she toured with Chanticleer as production and stage manager. Producing projects include the opera Tania (by composer Anthony Davis and based on the story of Patty Hearst), a premiere recording of orchestral music by Harlem Renaissance composer Florence Price, and a progra

Emmit Brooks has run Gold Dust Studios in the same location since 1975 in the Southwest city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Gold Dust started as a home based studio at a time when very few people had home studios and it even included an echo chamber buried in the backyard! Emmit was a member of the famed Aggie Ramblers Western Swing band that formed in 1957, playing guitar. After a recording session with Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, Emmit was bit by the recording “bug” and stayed in touch with Petty over the years. Petty was known for his work with Buddy Holly and the Crickets and he not only advised but also a major influence. Emmit was a from Melrose, New Mexico and moved to Las Cruces to attend New Mexico Sate University.Matt joins Emmit at his studio in Las Cruces for a discussion about the history of Emmit’s studio and his career.Emmit’s Studio http://www.goldustudios.com/

Jeremy Goody is the owner/operator at Megasonic Sound in Oakland, California and a has been a Bay Area audio engineer/producer and performing musician since 1990. After recording school Jeremy worked his way up the engineer chain at various Bay Area studios including Skyline and Bay Records. Eventually he started  the first incarnation of Megasonic in a West Oakland warehouse across from a cement factory. Jeremy eventually moved out of the warehouse and into a family owned building to create version 2.0 of Megasonic. With a desire to build a studio of high quality, he hired famed studio designer Chris Pelonis to design the studio and Brian Hood ( Listen to Brian on WCA #084) to build. The results can be seen in our video tour below.Jeremy has worked with John Santos (2 grammy nominations), SFJAZZ, Anticon label, Lyrics Born. Jeremy is also a current member of Winfred E. Eye and played in: Dance Hall Crashers, Cat Five, Pitch Black, Damon and the Heat

Brian Hood is a rare combination of recording engineer, musician, journeyman studio builder and master carpenter. Brian along with his amazing crew built the new Tiny Telephone Studio Oakland, California that opened in January of 2016, as well as Tiny Telephone Studio B in San Francisco and many other studios large and small in the Bay Area. Brian has a perspective that sees the studio from “all sides of the glass” which most do not have. When building the new Tiny Telephone, it was decided to run the studio for 6 months then close down for a month to see what changes needed to be made with regards to their Neve console, acoustics, and any other changes that needed attention. Matt catches up first with Tiny Telephone studio owner John Vandeslice for a catch up interview on what they have learned in the last 6 months since opening. Matt then follows up with Brian Hood to hear his perspective on the build as well as learn about Brian’s multi-faceted world of construc

Pablo Munguia earned  a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. After trying his hand at making a records with a friend Pablo decided to  attended Berklee School of Music where he studied music production and engineering. He then graduated in 1997.Pablo moved to Los Angeles and joined Westlake Audio, where he assisted renowned producers and engineers including Quincy Jones, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, David Foster, Randy Jackson, Tommy Vicari, and Matt Forger, as well as recording artists such as Sting, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Carole King, Ricky Martin, Eros Ramazzotti, Michel Polnareff, Usher, L.L. Cool J., Mary J. Blige, and Alicia Keys. As a freelance engineer, Munguía worked with NSYNC and Britney Spears on two multi-platinum releases. He also engineered for the Who, Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, and the Backstreet Boys, and for top Mexican artist

Justin Phelps is currently the Chief engineer and designer of the Hallowed Halls recording studios located in Portland, Oregon. Justin began his career in 1996 at San Fransisco’s famed Coast Recorders as the house engineer. At Coast Justin received considerable guidance from Chief engineer/producer John Cuniberti and studio owner/gear guru Dan Alexander. Four years later Justin switched to being a freelance engineer and spent the next few years working out of the Bay Areas finest studios including The Plant, Prairie Sun, Studio 880, Tiny Telephone and Studio D . In 2004 he acquired the lease to  Hyde Street Studio C which is considered one of the more historic recording spaces in San Francisco. After restoring Studio C to it’s former glory it became one of the busiest rooms in San Francisco for the next five years. Justin met his wife Deanna Phelps in San Francisco and shortly after the birth of their first daughter they bega

Drew Bollman moved to Nashville in 1998 and started interning and assisting at the Sound Kitchen. While Drew worked with many great engineers he happened to meet and work with  Justin Niebank (Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts,  Brad Paisley, and Kenny Chesney) and would end up working him for over 10 years. That experience and training allowed Drew to start first engineering for other projects and become an in demand freelance engineer working non-stop. Since then Drew has worked with artists such as Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Vince Gill, Hunter Hayes, Keith Urban, and Patty Loveless as well as many other great artists. IN 2010 Drew won a Grammy for best Bluegrass album of the year.Drew was on vacation at his parents house but graciously agreed to an interview. Matt and Drew discuss the ins and outs of freelance engineering in Nashville, work/life balance and his favorite producer/engineers in and outside of Nashville.Link to rec

Jessica Thompson is our featured guest on WCA #080 . Jessica is a Grammy-nominated mastering and restoration engineer as well as an archiving specialist who has digitized, restored and revived historic recordings including The Bottom Line, Caffè Lena, Erroll Garner, the Woody Guthrie Archives and the Newport Jazz and Folk Festival, which included performances by Pete Seeger, Roger McGuinn, Dave Von Ronk, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Doc Watson, Miles Davis and Jean Ritchie.Jessica’s remaster of Erroll Garner’s iconic recording The Complete Concert By The Sea (Sony/Legacy) was nominated for the Best Historical Album Grammy in 2016. In addition Jessica  has also cleaned, digitized and restored rare vinyl and cassette recordings for Awesome Tapes From Africa and many Numero Group compilations. In her previous career as a radio producer, she interviewed drummer Max Roach and the organ player at Fenway Park for WGBH. Additionally she has spun records and CDs on the airw

Dave Fridmann is a producer, engineer and musician who has made records with Mercury Rev , The Flaming Lips , Weezer, Sparklehorse, Mogwai, Gemma Hayes, Sleater-Kinney , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, MGMT, Neil Finn, OK Go, and Spoon, to name a few! :-) He works out of Tarbox Road Studios which he built over 20 years ago.As a musician, Dave was the bassist and a founding member of Mercury Rev. He gave up his role as a touring member of the band in 1993 to concentrate on producing other artists. In 2007, he received a Grammy for The Flaming Lips' At War With The Mystics at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical). In 2010, three Fridmann-produced albums were listed on the Rolling Stone 100 Best Albums of The Decade: MGMT's Oracular Spectacular, The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, and Sleater-Kinney's The Woods.Fridmann is an occasional faculty member of SUNY Fredonia, teaching sound recording techniques in t

Chris Dugan is an American engineer and producer. He is also a drummer, videographer, and photographer.Dugan began his musical pursuits as a drummer. Needing to be resourceful, he learned to do basic recordings for his high school bands. Engineering was an instinctual progression and it was the purist recording styles of the 60s and 70s that really inspired him. In 1996, he opened Nu-Tone Studios in Pittsburg, Ca with fellow engineer Willie Samuels. Nu-Tone quickly became an indie band favorite, drawing the local rock scene and labels like Lookout, Adeline, and Alternative Tentacles. In 2002, Dugan began engineering for Green Day out of JingleTown Recording in Oakland, Ca, at that time called Studio 880.Dugan has worked with bands such as U2, Iggy Pop, Green Day, and Smash Mouth. He has also worked with producers Rob Cavallo, Butch Vig, Bob Ezrin, and Jeff Saltzman. In 2010, he won the Grammy for Best Rock Album of the Year for engineering Green Day’s “21st Century Brea

A jack of all trades and master of some, his areas of expertise run the gamut of daily station operation; from the foundations of real-time networking for AoIP, to FOH and live sound recording, IP phones and SIP trunking, MPEG audio, and video standards and codecs, radio automation, HD radio transmission, to remote broadcast coordination, even security cameras, and keycards! Andrew stopped by Matt’s house to talk about his job duties, where the worlds of audio and IT collide while they consume loads of coffee!

Gary Hobish brings over 30 years of experience as a professional recording engineer/producer to A. Hammer Mastering which he runs out of Secret Studios in San Francisco. He started as an assistant engineer at legendary Bell Sound Studios in New York City but found his way to San Francisco in 1976. He has worked in many disciplines in recording and music, most notably as Mastering Engineer/ Tape Historian at Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios and Chief Engineer at San Francisco’s CD Studios.Gary began his specialization in the field of Mastering at Fantasy Studios in 1982, and has been credited on hundreds of albums covering all genres of recordings — from classic jazz to classic rock, alt-rock, rap and hard rock to folk, classical, spoken word and even sound effects. His projects include such names as NRBQ, Dream Syndicate, Flipper, The Feelies, Dr. John and Willie Nelson. An expanded list of Gary’s credits can be found at the All Music Guide or Artist Direct.Matt visits Gary at his mast

Nashville producer Mitch Dane has managed to cross the lines into almost every genre In his 20+ years of production/engineering experience. Though most of his work can be heard on Rock, Roots/Rock and Singer/Songwriter records, Mitch continues to work fearlessly in other styles like Bluegrass/Americana. In his own words: “I like to collect the best aspects of every genre of music and bring them together in hybrid productions.” His desire to grow and to learn is constant, making every project he touches relevant and refreshing. This personal philosophy has worked well, considering Mitch’s fingerprints mark over 200 records, four of which are Grammy nominees.    •    Grammy award for his engineering.    •    ASCAP award for his songwriting.    •    Over 25 years of production/engineering experience.    •    Owns a full produ

Tremaine Williams (AKA: “Six7”) was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He began his musical journey by taking piano & drum lessons while in elementary school, as well as becoming a classically trained singer in the Raleigh Boychoir. He grew up playing in church but was also heavily influenced by R&B. He began to dabble in music production in high school as a hobby. After lending his production works to emerging singers in North Carolina, Tremaine enrolled at Full Sail University in 2003.Upon graduating in October 2004 with his Associate of Science degree in Recording Arts, Tremaine achieved one of his many career goals, as he received an internship at Hidden Beach Recordings. His career catapulted when he moved to Los Angeles, California and became a standout intern at the label from November 2004 to June 2005. Tremaine achieved another benchmark in his career when he joined the Recording Academy as a voting member at age 21 in December 2005. After a short stint with producer&n

John Schimpf got his start in the music industry working in clubs and theatres as a production manager and sound engineer, and working as a recording engineer for the University he was attending while pursuing a classical music degree. As a student he built what became the technological backbone for a music industry program developed at that University. In 2001, he went on to become an engineer and crew chief with one of the largest live sound companies in California where he began working with and learning about large scale music productions in detail. In 2002 he took a job as a studio manager in Stockton, CA where he began recording and producing projects in many genres while learning the critical balance between technician and artist. Through that business John was asked to begin managing several high-profile artists while on tour. That experience opened the door to continue touring for the next 10 years, working with management groups from New York and LA. His lean and pragmatic style allowed him to becom

Mike Kalajian is the son of an audio technician/audiophile who was exposed to music and recording equipment at a very early age through family including his Uncle’s home recording setup  which fascinated Mike and started to draw him in to the audio experience. Mike’s parents say his first word was actually “speaker” and at  9 years old was given his first guitar along with a 1/4 inch reel to reel . Mike wasted no time and immediately started writing and recording his own music. All of this took him to the next step in audio indoctrination, the building of his first basement “studio” in junior high where he and a friend started recording fellow student musicians for $20/song on a cassette 4-track. After high school, attendance at Full Sail followed. 20+ years later, Mike has recorded over a hundred albums and Ep’s for other artists, toured with his own band, and mastered countless recordings. Of all th

Finding detailed information on Producer/Engineer/Mixer Niko Bolas is a challenge. Niko is not a publicity hound and generally avoids big star-studded events. He’s a man that stays focused on the work in front of him and he puts his all into it. Looking at his discography you’ll notice a couple of things, repeat clients such as Neil Young, Melissa Etheridge, Robert Cray, and the late Warren Zevon for example. The other thing you’ll notice is the large number of records he has worked on coupled with the fact that he’s not a household name except to those in the know. He’s passionate about what he does and takes it seriously. We discuss that passion as well as Niko’s work style. Richard Dodd makes an appearance during the interview which adds a bit of laughter to the situation. You’ll dig it. Enjoy -MattPhoto Credit: Robert Cabral