Working Class Audio

Adam Muñoz has been an engineer in the Bay Area since 1991. Having joined the Fantasy Studios team as a full-time House Engineer in 2008 Adam has had the opportunity to engineer sessions for many local and national recording artists. Adam has worked with artists like Herbie Hancock, Dave Mathews, Marcus Miller, Snarky Puppy, Jason Moran, Lisa Fisher, Joanna Newsom, Ambrose Akinmusire, Bruce Cockburn, Jerry Granelli, Etienne Charles, Neal Schon, Animals As Leaders, Eric Gales, Tiffany Austin, The Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Bomba Estereo, Brad Mehldau, LaToya London, Carie Rodriguez, Rupa and the April Fishes, Rinde Eckert, Autopsy, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Sean Paul, Lyle Lovett, Matt Nathanson, Six Pence None the Richer, Hank Williams III, Otis Redding and Vince Guaraldi.Adam’s long-time relationship with Bill Frisell and producer Lee Townsend resulted in the 2015 AND 2016 GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.Adam came to

JACK ENDINO is a Seattle-based record producer, engineer, and musician who has made over 500 records in his 30-year career. Jack helped create what became known as “the Seattle Sound” of the early nineties, having recorded or mixed 44 out of the first 100 releases on the legendary Sub Pop record label, including debut records by Nirvana (“Bleach”), Soundgarden (“Screaming Life”) and Mudhoney (“Superfuzz Bigmuff”). Some of his international clients include Brazil’s Titas (5 albums from 1993 to 2005) and Grammy winner Nando Reis (4 albums), Mexico’s Guillotina (3 albums), Ireland’s Therapy?, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson (UK), and The Ganjas and Yajaira from Chile. Recent clients include Zeke, Windhand, and High On Fire. Jack still maintains his workaholic pace, having produced records in 14 countries and continuing to play in bands as guitarist, bassist and vocalist. Journalists have called him “Chief Architect of the Seattle Sound” and “Godfather of Grunge” but Jack says “I’m just a guy who likes to make rock

Jonathan Wyner is the Education Director at iZotope in Cambridge, MA, Chief Engineer at M Works Mastering, and Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He’s mastered and produced more than 5000 recordings during the last 34 years. Mastering, recording and mixing since 1983, he established M Works mastering studios in Cambridge, MA in 1991. Among the artists’ projects he has worked on are: James Taylor, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Kiri Te Kanawa, Aimee Mann, London Symphony, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen and Nirvana. His project Invention and Alchemy received a Grammy Nomination in 2005. Jonathan has conducted seminars around the world and presented with George Massenburg, Doug Sax and Bob Ludwig among others.  In January 2017 he presented the keynote talk for the NAMM TEC Tracks. He’s authored a book, ‘Audio Mastering: Essential Practices’ published by Hale Leonard/Berklee Press. With the iZotope team he authored and developed

Mark Needham is a mix/recording engineer and producer with 40+ years experience in the music business.Originally from Eureka CA, Mark moved to San Francisco, co-founded the Blue Bear School of Music and taught music recording. Also, he built Bear West Recording, and his first client (in studio) was blues great Taj Mahal. During this phase of his career in SF, he worked with notable local acts, including platinum selling artists Cake & Chris Isaak. In 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, where his initial projects were Fleetwood Mac’s 1st collection of new material in 8 years, “Say You Will” and multi-platinum ‘Hot Fuss’ by The Killers. Recent clients include an array of internationally recognized superstar artists including: Imagine Dragons, Shakira, Pink, and Dolly Parton.About this Interview:Mark joins me to talk about his early Bay Area days, working with Chris Isaak, Lindsey Buckingham, the Killers and Imagine Dragons, band development, working in Nashville, survival and moving to Los Angeles.&nbs

Lucy started out in the industry as a runner at Envy Post Production straight after graduating with a Classical Music degree from the University of Nottingham with no idea of what a .wav was or even what ‘5.1’ meant. After hours of training outside her work hours and during lunch breaks, she quickly progressed to being an audio assistant in the machine room. She became an Audio Assistant Manager, being the go to person for overseeing large projects, representing her team in meetings, and generally making sure everything ran smoothly. During this time, I again was finding time to train in the studios with the tracklayers and mixers, learning my way around not only Protools but the DAWs such as the DigiDesign Icon Desk.She was promoted to tracklayer after a few years in the machine room where she edited music, dialogues, atmospheres, foley and sound-effects. She was regularly being requested by both the Post Producers and Clients to run voice-over recording sessions. Here She also provided fully mixed Soun

Kevin Army is a legendary Bay Area producer, engineer and mixer best known as producer of the classic punk album Energy by Operation Ivy and for engineering Insomniac by Green Day.  He is also known for his work with The Mr. T Experience, Pinhead Gunpowder, American Steel and Jawbreaker. 14 years ago Kevin stepped away from the recording world and concentrated on being a record dealer. After dipping his toes back in the water for a few select projects in the last couple of years he made the decision to jump back in.About this Interview:Kevin joins me at my house/studio to discuss his 14 year hiatus from recording and what followed, his decision to get back in to recording, the early days of his recording career, mentorship and his favorite method for record bands. Enjoy! – MattShow notes and links:Kevin’s Blog: https://kevinarmy.com/Kevin on Facebook: https://goo.gl/ixBG3u

Ryan Worsley is one of Canada’s most sought-after music producers, with a growing track record of discovering, capturing and elevating the unique sound of countless bands and artists. With over twenty years of experience in the music industry, Ryan has become the consummate producer, providing his clients with world-class songwriting, audio engineering, and mixing capabilities. He works across pop, rock, indie, and folk genres, always striving to create innovative, fresh, and musical recordings that highlight the essence of the artists he works with.Ryan’s impact is demonstrated in his work with Dear Rouge (Universal Music), from the outset of their career, providing production, songwriting and mixing on “Black To Gold” (2015), ultimately resulting in a Juno Award for “Breakthrough Group of the Year” (2016). His work with the band continues, with production and mixing credits on 2018’s well-received release, “Phases”.Ryan is regularly asked by labels across Canada and the US for his mixing expertise, includin

James Ivey is not only the Technical Editor for Pro Tools Expert.com he’s also a producer, engineer, drummer and Dad. Pro Tools Expert is one of the most popular and highly regarded hi-tech audio blogs on the Internet. In his role, James reviews some of the latest equipment which means quickly learning how to get the best out of it then taking part in their weekly podcast which is regularly listened to by over 27,000 people around the world. From London Guildhall University, to working on pop videos, selling Pro Audio gear to the likes of Pete Townsend, to full time gigging drummer, James eventually found himself working for Avid via Sibelius . While working for Avid at a trade show, James met Russ Hughs of Production Expert . That meeting lead James to his current position at Pro Tools Expert and to freelancing as an audio professional for the last 8 years.About this Interview:James joins me for a chat about Pro Tools Expert, kids, building a studio in his London backyard, GAS (Gear

Billy Decker was born on August 28th, 1967, and raised in Nebraska.  He got a BS in criminal justice at the University of Nebraska and then went on to be Salutatorian at Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts in 1992. In 1994, Decker moved to Nashville where he’s been working ever since. He’s mixed 14  #1s to date – most recently, Parmalee’s “Carolina”. Billy has mixed for Sam Hunt, Darius Rucker, Chris Young, and Jaime Lynne Spears. Decker also mixed George Jones’s last album before he died. Billy Decker made history in July of 2014 when Sam Hunt became the most added new artist of all time. Decker works in a unique way. “I mix really fast. Most of my mixes are finished in between two and three-and-a-half hours. To be able to do this, I use a lot of templates in Pro Tools. Instead of spending two hours EQing a kick drum, I can do it in 30 seconds, because I’ve set up templates for the album that outline all the basic parameters for each instrument. Then, I can focus on fine-tuning and bringin

Ken Sluiter is an American recording engineer/producer/mixer from Chicago, IL now based in Los Angeles, CA.Ken grew up in a small town called Wilmington, IL, about an hour outside of Chicago, IL. He was obsessive listener of 70’s AM radio and what is now called “classic rock”. One day while walking through a department store with his mother, he spotted the cover of “Rock and Rock Over” by Kiss. From that point on, he was hooked. Every dime he could scrape up went to the record section of the department store. More records from Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Sweet, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Beatles, Foghat, even Styx (Ken was young) were to follow. This all naturally led to borrowing a friends’ Silvertone guitar, then guitar lessons etc..While playing in garage bands with friends, Ken was the one that kinda understood how to set up the P.A. That led to recording rehearsals, shows, cassette four tracking/overdubbing etc…. When his guitar teacher purchased an Oberheim OB-8,

Dave Collins is an Grammy Award winning mastering engineer located in Pasadena, California. Dave has worked with artists of many genres include Sting, Metallica, Soundgarden, D’Angelo, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna as well as many major film soundtracks. Dave makes a point to work on projects of all sizes from aspiring artist demos to major label releases.After over 30 years of experience, Dave built a new state-of-the-art facility “from the sound up” in consultation with acoustician Thomas Jouanjean of Northward Acoustics in Brussels, Belgium. The studio is specifically designed to provide a creative, yet highly accurate, listening environment – capable of achieving the perfect balance for your sound. Of particular note is the custom signal path Dave has designed. From equalization, to analog to digital conversion, to dynamics, all equipment has been purpose-built specifically for mastering – these proprietary designs are the result of over three decades of listening experience

Steve Albini needs no introduction really. Musician, engineer and studio owner known for his work with Nirvana, Page, and Plant, PJ, Harvey as well as thousands of other bands. Yes, thousands. Steve is well known for his long term practice of sticking to analog recording methods and his dedication to the bands he records with regards to respecting the band dynamic. He also has played in the bands Big Black, Rapeman as well as his current band Shellac. Steve is part of a program called the Letters to Santa Program of Chicago with his wife Heather Whinna and Jeff Tweddy of WIlco known for its work raising money for poverty-stricken individuals and families in the Chicago area.Show notes and links:Electrical Audio (Steve’s studio): http://www.electricalaudio.com/Letters to Santa Program: http://www.secondcity.com/second-city-24-hour-improvOnward Neighborhood House: https://onwardhouse.wordpress.com/Why I Haven’t Had a Conventional Christmas in 20 Years: https://bit.ly/2V9Nm5XCurrent sponsors

NAMM 2018 was a fantastic experience this year. The crowds were massive, the activity was electric and there was sooo much to see. In this episode I give you a recap from not only my perspective but also from the viewpoint of my friends Chris Selim from Mixdown.Online and Lij Shaw from Recording Studio Rockstars. There’s also interviews with Universal Audio and Whitestone Audio. It was a great time and the amount of cool people and products was encouraging. Enjoy!Show notes and links:The People:Chris Selim From Mixdown.Online.Lij Shaw from Recording Studio Rockstars.Dave Rosen from Whitestone Audio.Tom Waterman from Universal Audio.Louie Gonzalez from The Shelter Studios: http://theshelterstudios.com/bios/The Gear:Whitestone Audio P331: http://www.whitestoneaudio.com/Audio Technica 5047: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/f0d9ef584e0dda3e/index.htmlUniversal Audio Arrow: https://www.uaudio.com/audio-interfaces/arrow.htmlZaor : https://zaorstudiofurni

John Karr is well regarded as one of the top sound engineers in San Francisco, with a professional career spanning over 30 years, engineering shows and albums for over 20,000 bands, in every genres you can imagine.  From recording studio’s to local house gigs to national tours of theaters and large music festivals, across the United States, Japan and Europe.John has worn the hats of F.O.H. and monitor engineer, studio producer, session musician, composer, and live sound mentor @ at S.F. City College and Expressions School for Music in Emeryville Ca, He has over 60 album recording credits, including the theme songs for KALW Rose Agular’s Your Call Radio and KSAN Steven Weed’s Weed in the morning. Other notable accomplishment’s include 7 years tenure as head sound engineer/manager and sound system designer of The Independent – which has won international praise as “The Best Sounding Live Music Venue in San Francisco”.  About this Interview:John Karr joins me for a great chat covering hi

Matt Donner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Business Analysis (Penn State) and a Masters in Music Technology (NYU). While developing his Producer and Engineering chops in NYC, he went on to perform for various TV studios and John Cale (Velvet Underground) that included 3 feature film scores. After signing his band to an indy record deal, his cross-country tour brought him to SF where the drummer exploded – how typical.Matt quickly found himself as Regional Technical Director for Guitar Center and the Pro Tools Support Lead for the Cutting Edge Audio Group. There, he served as studio designer, installer and trainer for the likes of Joe Satriani, Metallica, Spearhead, Santana and the SF Jazz Fest as well as many private studios including Wally World (Walter A., N’Sync, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion).In January 2000, he and Greg Gordon began working together exclusively at Pyramind where they began running the hybrid Production/ Training businesses. Matt has served the company as Chief Engineer, Se

Joe Costable started his career in Houston, TX, at Studio 7303; the largest studio in the area, and at that time the hub of Hip-Hop. Starting as an intern, Joe eventually moved up the ranks as an engineer working with many prominent artists and producers, such as Mike Jones, Scarface, Mannie Fresh, Gerald Levert, and many others.A few years later he moved back to his native New York for a short stint at the Island Def Jam Music Group, where he learned the other side of the industry in the A&R department while building his clientele as a freelance engineer. Joe landed his first mixing gig with a few Good Charlotte songs, some of which landed on the Cardiology record.In the years since, Joe has worked with many more artists in genres from hip-hop to shoe gaze. His work has been everywhere from top 10 at radio, selling millions of copies worldwide, national ad campaigns, to being featured on the most underground of music blogs. While the majority of his work

Matt Allison started Atlas in 1996 with a vision to fill a void in Chicago’s Punk Rock scene, offering bands a refuge to bring their music to life. 21 years later, Atlas has become a Chicago staple. Matt has worked with an extensive list of artists including Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, and The Menzingers, to highlight a few. Matt continues to record at Atlas but focuses most of his time on mixing and producing artists.  Enjoy!About this Interview:Matt speaks with me about running a studio in Chicago, landlords, leases, recording on black face ADATS, mixing at home, working with punk rock bands and much more! Eric Arway must be thanked for suggesting Matt as a guest!Show notes and links:Atlas Recording https://atlas-chicago.com/Audio-Technica ATH-M40X on Amazon.  https://goo.gl/PZRV4T

Legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer has worked with Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Traffic and a myriad of other major recording stars.More on Eddie here: http://www.eddie-kramer.com/About this Interview:One day I received an email with the subject line Guest suggestion/Eddie Kramer from Clifton David Broadbridge. The email read “I work with Eddie in Toronto. I’m his studio partner and assistant,, was wondering if you would like to interview him for your podcast? He would be totally into it!” I almost fell out of the chair! Long story short, I replied back, spoke with Clifton, then spoke with Eddie, and next thing I know I’m wrapping up an interview with someone who is responsible for some of the most incredible records in music history. I was a little stunned afterward. Sincere, funny, and full of energy is how I would describe Eddie Kramer. We talk about his photography, Jimi Hendrix and the new record coming out, Led Zeppelin, business, diversification, leaving South Afr

Dana Jae’s career as an audio engineer spans 34 years since the first day she began to record and mix songs on her Tascam PortaStudio in the early 80’s while attending college at UC Berkeley. She formed several of her own bands performing and recording until 1988 when she discovered that the “behind-the-scenes” tech realm was much more to her liking. Dana then began a career as a live sound engineer and has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe as front-of-house sound engineer for a multitude of bands on various record labels and have been a staff engineer at the venerable Bottom of the Hill nightclub since their inception in 1991.Dana has owned and maintained a live sound production company since 1989 under the moniker dcj Productions, that has provided sound to the Bay Area community (mostly in the non-profit sector) in both large-scale, outdoor sound events as well as nightclubs and music halls. In 1991, she started recording bands on an 8-track Tascam TSR-8 analog tape recorder and moved

Working Class Audio #156 with Justin Perkins!!!Justin Perkins has been recording music since his mid-teens. It all started  in his father’s basement then progressed to recording studios around the state of Wisconsin including the renowned Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin before relocating to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he now has his own mastering studio called Mystery Room Mastering. Justin's  clients include Tommy Stinson, The Replacements, The Figgs, The Gaslight Anthem, Daryl Stuermer, Screeching Weasel, The Mr. T Experience, The Smoking Popes, Limbeck, Miles Nielsen, and Tenement. Justin also recently mixed a new documentary about the legendary 90’s band Jawbreaker called “Don’t Break Down”. Outside of the studioJustin has  played bass in some of his own bands as well as with the newly reformed Bash & Pop, Tommy Stinson, Paul Collins Beat, Cory Chisel and a few others.About this Interview:Every time I post  about a new WCA show on Twitter there was always one guy who liked it, s