Recording Studio Rockstars

Marc Daniel Nelson is a Latin Grammy-nominated producer/mixer. He has been producing, mixing and managing creatives for over 19 years. Since our last interview, Marc has been diving headfirst into the film and tv world for music. In 2018, Marc engineer and mixed the score for the film “Amanda” that went on to be nominated for the French Academy Award for “Best Score”. That following spring he mixed the score and music for the Ukraine film “Ya, Ty, Vin”, which was the last film Zelinsky Vladimir starred in before becoming president. “Ya, Ty, Vin” went on to having the largest film opening in Ukraine history. In 2019 and 2020, Marc engineered and mixed the scores for a few Netflix originals movies. Outside of film score work, he has kept busy mixing numerous large action trailers and continuing work in the album world, with mixes for Francesca Battistelli, Eric Burdon / Ben Harper and more. Thanks to our sponsors! JZ Microphones: Use coupon ROCKSTARS to get 50% off The BB29 mic at JZmic.com PreSonus Studio One:

My guest today is Shawn Èverett, a Juno and Grammy-winning Canadian producer, engineer, previously a guest on episode RSR137. In that interview, we talked with Shawn about his background schooling and his production and mixing philosophies.  He has worked with many great artists including Grammy-winning Alabama Shakes, Weezer, Margaret Glaspy, Pete Yorn, Warpaint, John Legend, The Killers, Julian Casablancas, and The Voidz, Kesha, Har Mar Superstar, Local Natives, and many many others. In 2019 he won his fifth Grammy for mixing Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour which included songwriting and production from Daniel Tashian and engineering from Craig Alvin both previous guests on the show as well. You can hear their episodes at RSR176 and RSR232. I’ll have these links in the show notes. I have also become a huge fan of Sound & Color by the Alabama Shakes which Shawn engineered and mixed winning a Grammy in 2015. I feel like this record has set the bar pretty high for my own mixes. Thanks to our sponsors! JZ Micro

My guest today is Bill Cheney co-owner with Jim Romney of Spectra1964. Bill designs mic pre amps, eqs, and compressor limiters for studios following in the footsteps of William Dilley who founded the original Spectra Sonics company in 1964.  Bill has been a guest on the podcast before to talk about the history of Spectra Sonics and Spectra 1964 on episode RSR227. So if you want to learn more about the background go back and check that episode out. Bill talked about the original Spectra 101 amplifier circuit, its original role in the military as part of the Minute Man missile defence system, and the history of the Spectra consoles at the Record Plant and Stax Studio. Today Bill and Jim are taking the classic sound of the Spectra 101 amplifier and retrofitting it into 500 modules to allow us to get that same incredible sound in our pro and home studios. Bill has already brought us the STX100 mic pre, the STX 500 eq, and now has also taken the classic C610 complimiter design and found a way to add that as well b

My guest today is Bill Schnee an internationally renowned producer, engineer and mix master. In a highly decorated career that spans five decades, Bill has engineered many gold and platinum albums with a wide variety of artists that include Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Chicago, Steely Dan, Natalie Cole, The Jacksons, Marvin Gaye, Dire Straits, Ringo (with all the Beatles), Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Michael Bolton, George Benson, The Pointer Sisters, Bette Midler, Amy Grant and Whitney Houston, including her mega-single "I Will Always Love You”.  Bill also produced multiple projects with Huey Lewis and the News, Boz Scaggs, Pablo Cruise, Joe Sample, as well as internationally renowned direct-to-disc recordings with Thelma Houston and James Newton Howard and Friends.  In addition to working on dozens of Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums, Bill has been personally nominated 11 times for The Best Engineered Album category and has won twice for Aja and Gaucho, both from S

My guest today is Marc Frigo a mix engineer, recording engineer, and producer based out of Nashville, TN with multi-platinum credits and over 29 years of experience.  Marc started out in his hometown of Chicago in 1990 but relocated to Nashville, TN in early 1991 where he became a staff engineer at Woodland Studios. It was there that he was able to work with and learn from some of the best engineers and producers in the world, such as producers Peter Collins, Don Was, T-Bone Burnett, Tony Brown, Josh Leo, Jay Joyce and engineers David Leonard, Steve Marcantonio, Rick Will, Bob Bullock, Steve Tillisch, Bill Schnee, and so many others that were great mentors.  During his days as an assistant engineer, he worked on projects with Bob Seger, Keith Urban, Restless Heart, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, The Divinyls, Nancy Griffith, Larry Carlton, Gillian Welch, and the list goes on.  Eventually moving out of assisting and into engineering, Marc engineered and/or mixed projects for The Indigo Girls, K.T. Oslin, Nelson,

My guest today is Dana Dowd whose father was the legendary Tom Dowd an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records with a credit list of top artists in jazz, blues, doo wop, soul, and rock records spanning 5 decades of recording from the 50s-90s. Credited with innovating the multitrack recording method and linear console faders from their original round knobs Tom engineered through the various phases of recording technology starting with direct to disc all the way through analog tape 2 track, 4 track, eight-track, 16 24 and finally Pro Tools in the 90s. His first hit in the 50s was Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake". And he went on to record popular artists such as Ray Charles, the Drifters, the Coasters, the Spinners, Ruth Brown and Bobby Darin.  He recorded iconic jazz records by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Herbie Mann and continued through other genres of music recording Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bla

My guests today are Buick Audra and Jerry Roe of Friendship Commanders, a heavy duo from Nashville TN. Their new EP - HOLD ON TO YOURSELF released in April of  2020  follows their second LP, BILL, which they made with Steve Albini Electrical Audio. HOLD ON TO YOURSELF was tracked between Fort Knockout and Sound Emporium studios in Nashville TN. It was mixed by Kurt Ballou at GodCity in Salem MA and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland OR. In this body of songs, Friendship Commanders examines the world around them, their part in the problems and potential solutions, and even challenges the patriarchy. The release also gets personal and discusses what it looks like to be an adult who survived childhood trauma.  The band’s primary songwriter, Buick Audra, is an abuse survivor and has chosen to dedicate this work to other survivors. Her outgoing message is summarized in the EP’s title. The phrase has been a personal mantra for Audra; she has a habit of writing it down every morning as a reminder.

My guest today is Marc Urseli a 6-time Grammy-nominated, 3-time Grammy Award-winning engineer, producer, mixer, sound designer and front of house engineer Marc Urselli works with many artists from around the world. He has worked with U2, Foo Fighters, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Sting, Keith Richards, Kesha, and Laurie Anderson and scores of other amazing artists performing rock, pop, metal, jazz, experimental/avantgarde/new music, urban and electronica and classical. Marc also composes music for film and television, creates sound design for commercials and mixes audio for film and television as well as mixing more than half a dozen movie soundtracks. Born in Switzerland he moved to Italy and opened his first commercial recording facility at 17 years old later moving to New York City, where he currently resides and works as Chief House Engineer for the historic & legendary recording studio EastSide Sound. Marc works in the highest calibre studios worldwide, including Village Recorders (LA), Capitol Sound (LA), East

Get Jordan’s Free 3-part video series RSRockstars.com/FullStack This series will hand you the blueprint to becoming a paid professional in the studio.  Jordan Valeriote is a producer, mixer, and engineer specializing in hardcore music who fast-tracked his decade-plus career from assistant working with Usher, Timbaland, Serena Ryder and The Jonas Brothers to a successful major label producer for Silverstein, Antimacy, the Dead and Divine, and Prophets for the Counterparts, Nick Johnston, Forevermore, Great Lakes, Mandroid Echostar, and Skynet. Jordan is also an educator at Hardcore Music Studio helping to transform students around the world from home studio hobbyists to top-tier rock and heavy music producers. He has helped thousands of music producers learn how to produce powerful rock records and build successful careers from their music studios. In this episode, Jordan shows you how to go from charging $100 to $1000/song as a full-stack producer while understanding the 4 key ingredients for how to capture r

My guest today is Dana Nielsen a Grammy-nominated mixer, engineer, producer, and saxophonist known for his work with Damien Rice, The Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, Adele, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan, and Kanye West.  Nielsen also frequently works with music for picture, producing, recording, and mixing a growing number of film scores and soundtracks, such as Will Ferrell’s Anchorman 2 (Paramount) and Casa De Mi Padre (NALA), as well as the Sam Rockwell/Olivia Wilde dark comedy Better Living Through Chemistry. I am psyched to talk with Dana today about everything from recording to mixing both in the studio and remotely around the world. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC: Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones: https://usashop.jzmic.com Spectra1964: https://www.spectra1964.com PreSonus Studio One: https://www.presonus.com API Audio: http://www.apiaudio.com/ RSR Academy: http://RSRockstars.com/Academy Want to learn more about mixing? Get Free mix training with Lij a

My guest today is Eyal Levi the CEO of URM Academy, the world’s best school for rock and metal producers. Eyal is a critically acclaimed entrepreneur, musician, podcaster, educator and producer having cut his teeth as the guitarist and primary songwriter in Daath, a progressive death metal band that released albums on Roadrunner and Century Media. In 2014 he founded URM Academy, an online education platform for producers with thousands of students from across the globe. URM is best known for its flagship program, Nail The Mix. The platform hosts some of the most prestigious rock and metal producers including Tom Lord Alge, Will Putney, Dan Lancaster, Daniel Bergstrand, Jens Bogren, Adam “Nolly” Getgood, Frederik Nordstrom and Kurt Ballou among dozens of others. An accomplished speaker and educator, he has logged hundreds of hours teaching the next generation the craft and business of music production. His URM Podcast is now in its 5th year with over 250 episodes. In the studio, he has worked with The Black Da

My guest today is Mike Fanuele a recording engineer, music producer, and live sound engineer based in Washington, D.C. Starting out in the studio in 1998, he has recorded and mixed hundreds of bands over the last 22 years, including Breaking Pangaea, Dashboard Confessional, The Deadmen, Second Letter, Further Seems Forever, John Bustine, Meghan Trainor, Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park, and many others.  Mixing FOH for live shows, Mike has toured with Brand New, The Chainsmokers, Dashboard Confessional, Fifth Harmony, Fountains of Wayne, Garbage, Gwen Stefani, Hanson, Jimmie Vaughan, Meghan Trainor, and Miley Cyrus, to name a few. Mike stays busy when he’s off the road at his private home studio, Lavabed Recording, where he’s focused on creating an environment that keeps bands comfortable while making great music. Mike also does remote broadcast mixing for some of his live touring clients, combining the world of the live performance with the polished sound of the studio. So today we will talk about how the studi

My guest today is Chuck Zwicky a mixer, engineer, writer and producer in Manhattan. He’s built studios, designed plug-ins and recorded, mixed and mastered hit records. His credits include Prince, The Rembrandts, Reggie Watts, Soul Asylum, Nine Inch Nails, the Jonas Brothers and more. He has a private mix room in his home in Manhattan. I met Chuck at a recent AES show when he was doing a presentation for Eventide showing off some ninja tips for the H9000 Harmonizer. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC: Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones: https://usashop.jzmic.com Spectra1964: https://www.spectra1964.com Presonus Studio One: https://www.presonus.com API Audio: http://www.apiaudio.com/ RSR Academy: http://RSRockstars.com/Academy Want to learn more about mixing? Get Free mix training with Lij at: http://MixMasterBundle.com Hear more on Youtube If you love the podcast, then please Leave a review on iTunes here CLICK HERE FOR SHOW NOTES AT: http://RSRockstars.com/260

My guest today is Eric Masse a Producer and engineer living in Nashville since 2006.  Self-described as a three times Grammy losing producer originally from Grand Rapids MI, later living in Boston. Eric is a fan of great songs and focuses on producing (or co-producing), cutting, and mixing the records he makes.  He loves European Football and is a Chelsea FC supporter.  He loves giving people the thumbs up. He has a beard and almost exclusively wears plain black t-shirts. After graduating Berklee School of Music in Boston he moved to Nashville to intern at Blackbird Studio by day and tend bar at night. Masse’s first studio was called "Cabin In the Woods" (Fairview, TN), followed by Idiot Dog (Music Row), and finally, The Casino (East Nashville), where he works today. When a record calls for a larger studio, he prefers Southern Ground. In 2014, while playing in a golf tournament, Masse met eminent Nashville producer, Frank Liddell. That connection led to a collaboration that has born several projects, most not

My guest today is Michael Beinhorn who has lived his life in the pursuit of artistic expression, first as a visual artist, then as a performer, and finally as a record producer.  Michael began in 1979 as co-founder of the seminal New York musical collective Material and has since produced and or recorded a long list of artists including Brian Eno’s “Lizard Point” from “Ambient 4: On Land.”, Herbie Hancock’s Future Shock, which included the groundbreaking cut “Rockit.”,  the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ breakthrough albums “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” and “Mother’s Milk”. Michael’s recordings have achieved combined worldwide sales of more than 45 million albums helping to define the careers of a diverse range of artists, including Soul Asylum, Hole, Soundgarden, Ozzy Osbourne, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson, Social Distortion, Korn, and Mew.  Over the past 20 years, Michael has become increasingly aware of the concerns facing artists and producers alike who are trying to maintain their creative ethics, personal expre

My guest today is Packy Lundholm a Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer/engineer. He plays the guitar with Nintendo rock band I Fight Dragons, who just released their third LP "Canon Eyes" and celebrated their 10th anniversary. Packy runs his recording operation out of the B-room at Sound Vault Studios in Chicago, where he records various artists, and works as a session musician at Rax Trax Recording and Gravity Studios as well.  In recent years he has collaborated on several projects with Vulfpeck keyboardist Woody Goss, sharing credits with Vulf members Theo Katzman and Joe Dart. Outside of the studio he performs live in different contexts, from jobbing bands and bar mitzvahs to improv-heavy tributes to Traffic and the Grateful Dead. Packy writes and records his own music from time to time, his most recent full-length release being 2016's American Soccer. His music draws heavily from early power pop influences with touches of psychedelic rock and Americana. He is slowly brewing plan

My guest today is David Rodgers, a California native David Rodgers is one of the most exciting talents in Nashville’s jazz scene today. Currently an active member of Keb’ Mo’s band as a keyboardist, he has also recorded on numerous records including Keb’s Grammy-winning Oklahoma (2019).  David has toured and performed worldwide at the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Playboy Jazz Festival, among many others with a Bachelor of Music degree in classical and jazz piano performance from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and a Master of Music degree in commercial composition from Belmont University. His compositions have been performed and recorded internationally, including guest appearances at the 2018 Jazz Education Network’s Young Composers Showcase where the U.S. Airmen of Note played his winning big band composition, as well as in Canada where he was invited as a guest artist to the Banff Centre’s International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music.  In addition to being a

My guest today is Ike Schultz, a Multi-Platinum award-winning mixing and tracking engineer based in Los Angeles, CA originally from Toronto Canada. He’s collaborated and worked on albums for a variety of artists including Tinåshe, Lizzo, Adele, Rihanna, Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Adam Lambert, Whethan, Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, Charlie Puth (pooth), Phantogram, and more. Ike worked at the legendary Larrabee Studios directly assisting nine-time Grammy award-winning mixer, Manny Marroquin, for 3 years. Then went on to mix Lizzo’s debut release ‘Coconut Oil’, under executive producer Ricky Reed at S.K.A.M. Studios. Ike worked on the majority of the album including the singles “Phone” & “Good As Hell”.    While at S.K.A.M. Studios, Ike worked with DJ Felli Fel, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty, Whethan, DRAM, Imad Royal & Post Malone. Afterwards, he mixed & contributed as a songwriter for multiple feature films for Paramount Pictures’ music department, and began working with Grammy award-winning producer &

My guest today is Kevin White a Nashville based musician, audio engineer, musicologist, film composer, and audio educator.   As an audio engineer, Kevin has worked with national corporate clients, films, radio, rock bands and gained a reputation for his retro-futurist aesthetics. He has taught classes on mixing and lo-fi production techniques. Kevin is a voting member of the recording academy and works full-time for the audio production college, SAE Institute. A notable milestone in Kevin's career has been his contributions to the NASA Apollo Flight Journal. His musicology and audio restoration work has contributed to the preservation of American/space flight history as well as expanding the frontiers of musicology.   Kevin was part of the newly-released documentary film Teslafy Me (2019) which presents the history of renewable energy and the authentic story of Nikola Tesla from the perspective of his Balkan homeland. As the film's composer and sound supervisor Kevin specifically used sounds from Tesla's life

My guest today is Mike Senior, a professional recording, mixing engineer, teacher and writer for years at Sound On Sound magazine. He is also the author of the popular books 'Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio', and its sequel 'Recording Secrets For The Small Studio'. Mike was on the podcast back on episode RSR124 when we got the story of his start in audio and also talked about the importance of making mistakes in the studio. He shared lots of tips for recording drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, and even talked about various methods for setting up mics for stereo recording. Today we are going to focus on mixing. Mike has some great suggestions for software that you can use to get a pro mix in your studio, and not the expensive kind either. In fact, Mike has recently put together a list of his favourite freeware that you can find and download from anywhere right now. So if you are on a budget for your studio but still want to make your mixes sound great then you’re going to want to listen to this episode. Th