Recording Studio Rockstars

My guest today is Matt McQueen a studio owner, recording engineer, music producer, and videographer who built his studio in 2013 in an abandoned church located in the mountains of a rural East Tennessee town. The building has a 30 x 50’ live room with 24’ high ceilings and large old wooden rafters. Matt has recently gone full time with his studio having had plenty of experience creating music but also creating content as a videographer for other producers like Warren Huart and Glenn Fricker. This has led him to create his own video channel for his studio to help promote local artists and bands. We live in a world where social media and YouTube channels can be an important part of our musical output. So I’m psyched to talk with Matt today about making the leap to go full time in music and also see what we can learn about creating content for our own studios and artists that we work with. And of course we will be digging into his process for recording and mixing too.   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World

My guest today is Rolff Zwiep who moved to Nashville as a musician/songwriter, and small business owner founding Technical Knock Out Products, a musicians accessory sales and manufacturing business.  Working his way through ‘real jobs’ in the industry as a cartage tech, freelance stage hand & stage manager, production manager with the Nashville Symphony, and working in and managing a number of music/entertainment based service businesses.  In 2004 Rolff launched Blackbird Studio’s audio equipment rental business with John McBride and in 2015 assumed his current role as Blackbird Studio manager working with clients including major labels, publishing companies, indie artists and bands, film/video production companies and studio themed events.  I’ve known Rolff for nearly 25 years and he has even helped me put together my Hay Bale Studio at Bonnaroo before when we needed to rent lots of awesome gear. I’m psyched to learn more about managing a professional studio and gain some business wisdom and insights tod

My guest today is Billy Decker originally from Nebraska. He studied criminal justice before following his calling in music to become one of the highest ranking students at Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts in 1992. Then in 1994, Decker moved to Nashville where he’s been working ever since.  Billy has mixed 14 #1s to date - most recently, Chris Young's "Losing Sleep". He has mixed for Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean. Jaime Lynne Spears, and Sam Hunt making history in July of 2014 when Sam Hunt became the most added new artist of all time. Billy had the honour to mix George Jones’s last album before he died.  Billy also makes signature mixing plugins for Joey Sturgis Tones where you can find all in one tools for Drums, Bass, Guitars, Vocals that model Billy’s tried and true methods for mixing quickly to get that hit country sound that he is so well known for.   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ use coupon: ROCKST

My guest today is Colt Capperrune who for the past 18 years has been a FOH engineer, studio engineer, live guitarist, and songwriter. His focus these days is Producing, Mixing, Session guitarist, Artist Development, and Mastering. In the past several years you could add Social Media Influencer to that list too.  He produced his first record when he was 19, and has now charted Top 40 on Billboard, had #1's on iTunes, Amazon, and other radio charts. He has spoken at Belmont University, and is super passionate about developing artists so they make a living from their music. His website even makes a point of showing before and after examples of starting with a worktape for an artists and developing a finished production. I connected with Colt recently through another guest on the show Daniel Ford, and I’m psyched to talk about producing awesome guitar records and whatever else we can come up with.   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com

My guest today is Andy VanDette a mastering engineer who started his career interning at the legendary Masterdisk under Bob Ludwig. After completing his degree in Tonmeister Studies, he was hired full time. During the CD’s explosion, he spent time with other mastering luminaries -Tony Dawsey, Howie Weinberg, Greg Fulginiti, Greg Calbi, and Vlado Meller.  He learned more than just how to Master and cut vinyl. He observed their perspectives on processing and musicality. By the time the MFiT standard was introduced, Andy had been Chief Engineer for 14  years and had mastered classic albums from the Beastie Boys, Uncle Kracker, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Rush, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, and more. Andy has spoken at audio schools, AES conventions. Interviewed for the New York times, Ars Technica, SonicScoop.com, MusicPlayers.com, and presented “Friends Don’t Let Friends Press Bad Vinyl” at SXSW 2015.   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - htt

My guest today is Tim Dolbear who cut his musical teeth playing live with people such as Sammy Hagar, and in the studio with his mentor, producer Keith Olsen. Currently, he works with both labels and independent artists, and receives projects from all over the world. Since 1999, He has owned and operated Eclectica Studios, originally located in Los Angeles, operations were moved to Austin TX in 2006. In 2019 Eclectica Studios moved to its current location in Nashville. Tim is a guest lecturer for audio production at many colleges throughout N America including Blackbird Academy, NYU and SAE. Tim is also a published writer who writes for MIX, Sound on Sound, and Professional Sound Magazine.   I met Tim recently through Mark Rubel at Blackbird Academy. So thanks again Mark!   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ use coupon: ROCKSTAR at checkout for 50% off JZ vintage series microphones. RSR Academy: http://RSRockstars.com/Academy Wa

My guest today is Steve Albini musician engineer and owner of Electrical Audio in Chicago. Steve is known for his love of analog tape and extensive discography that includes artists like Nirvana, The Pixies, The Breeders, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, The Stooges, Cheap Tick, and PJ Harvey to name only a few of more than a thousand records he has made spanning the past 40 years.  Steve has also been a previous guest on the podcast when we talked about his start in recording and creating Electrical Audio. So please check out that episode RSR078. He also makes time to speak publicly about music and recording and teaches as well through Mix With The Masters. So on today’s episode I thought I would focus more on mixing and see what we can learn about mixing records on analog tape through consoles and also how that might inform the decisions we make when mixing digitally in the computer as well (or not).   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jz

My guest today is James Ivey, the Technical Editor of Pro Tools Expert and owner and facilitator at Location Recordings in London UK.  James has been playing drums since the tender age of 7, performing his first paid gigs at the age of 8. From that moment on there was no stopping him. His parents brought him is first 4-track tape recorder (a Tascam Porta 01 costing well over £1000) at the age of 12 which gave him the bug for recording and ever since then he has been collecting and acquiring gear to make his studio and productions the best they can be. James’ first job in the audio industry was with a pop video production company where he learned what the term deadline really means and other audio skills which have stuck with him, like the importance of clock and sync. Since then he has worked for studio equipment suppliers and installers as well as companies like Sibelius and later Avid and a production demonstrator. James or Jivey is officially the Production Expert gear junkie. If it makes a noise and you c

My guest today is Sara Carter, a BBC trained, mixing and mastering engineer based in Basingstoke in the UK.  Sara started recording and mixing music in the mid-’90s from a small home studio as a hobby. In 2000, at the somewhat ripe age of 34, she decided to find out how to turn that hobby into a full-time career.  She studied at the SAE Institute in London gaining an Audio Engineering Diploma, then went on to work for the BBC in London as a Studio Manager. There she engineered many of the UKs most popular radio shows and live music sessions. Working from the BBCs Maida Vale Studios, she developed her critical listening skills by working with a wide variety of artists on numerous sessions and has been credited on records by Corrine Bailey Rae and KT Tunstall amongst others.  In 2009, Sara decided to take a break from broadcasting and left the BBC to explore a different career in brewing. However, in recent years, she has felt a strong calling back to music and returned with her online mixing and mastering busi

My guest today is Langston Masingale who started working in recording studios 25 years ago at age 16 in his uncle’s studio in New Jersey. He went on to help start JJ Audio Mics in 2009. In 2014, he struck out on his own and invented what would become the core technology of his tape-emulation product, Zulu. He formed Handsome Audio in 2015 with his partner Tod Levine, and they released Zulu that same year.  Langston also owns a recording studio, Narrative Audio, in Syracuse, New York, where he produces and records artists.  He loves to create new and interesting tools for the modern recording engineers and producers. And his early exposure to analog tape has guided and shaped his sonic perspective in a world of digital audio. A big thank you to Alan Evans for introducing us. And also make sure to check out Matt Boudreau’s new book from Working Class Audio Jornal Volume 1 where you can read his interview with Langston too. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones -

My guest today is Nick Lobel a Nashville producer, engineer, and song writer who started out touring and recording with MI-based rock band, Monsters and Mannequins before moving to Nashville to pursue a career in music production. Following his studies at Belmont University, and internships at The Toy Box, Station West, and Ocean Way Nashville, Lobel cut his teeth as an assistant to mix engineer Sean Moffitt.  In 2016 Lobel began working with songwriter/producer Tyler Johnson. Under Tyler’s wing, Lobel has worked on artist projects including Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor, Harry Styles, Cam, and The Head And The Heart. Over the past year Lobel has been further honing his chops, producing and developing the artist Alec Bailey whose debut EP has already amassed over 4M streams.  When Nick was at Belmont he also interned with me here at The Toy Box Studio and was one of the best interns I have ever had. He has assisted and engineered for me on many projects and has also been part of my team at the Bonnaroo Hay Bale S

My guest today is Steve O’Brien a songwriter who originally moved from Connecticut to Nashville to pursue songwriting after graduating from Fairfield University in 1973. He spent several years working at the offices and studios of Owen Bradley, Chet Atkins, and Ray Stevens. And had a couple of songs enter the Billboard Top 100 Country Chart in the mid-1970s. He then built his own recording studio and formed Steve O’Brien Music BMI in 1976 to be the exclusive worldwide publisher of his compositions, which have sold over 10 million copies. Steve’s songs have been featured on numerous recent recordings, including two songs on Danni Nicholls’ “Mockingbird Lane” album, which was nominated for UK Americana Association 2017 Album Of The Year. Steve cowrote all 10 songs on JJ Lawhorn’s 2018 album, “The Huntsman” produced by Jeremy Stover which recently topped one million streams. Recent releases include  Southern Halo, and Bailey James, produced and engineered at his studio and now climbing the Music Row Country ind

My guest today is Bill Demain a Nashville songwriter, producer, author, and even self started walking tour guide of downtown Nashville. As one half of Swan Dive, Bill DeMain has released ten acclaimed albums over the past 15 years with his singing partner Molly Felder, and were huge in Japan, Thailand and Korea.   He’s also written songs for and with many other artists, including Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones, Marshall Crenshaw, David Mead, Bleu, Kim Richey, Jill Sobule and Boo Hewerdine. His songs have appeared on TV shows like Sons of Anarchy, Private Practice andThe L Word, and in commercials for Laniege Cosmetics, Unicef and Sky Mobile.   Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ Summer Sale: (up to) 50% Off All Microphones at JZMic.com Right Now! 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

My guest today is Jon Fintel a producer in Columbus, Ohio where he worked at a variety of studios in the 90s before finally opening his own studio, Relay Recording, in 2002. His mission for the past 17 years at Relay Recording has been to create an environment where artists can experience the joy of musical discovery, and Relay has developed a reputation for stellar sound quality and a top-shelf artist experience. Way Yes, The Worn Flints, and Mark Lomax are just a few of the artists that have worked with Jon at Relay, where combines a dedication to sonic and musical details with a relaxed attitude that makes artists comfortable and lets them enjoy the process. I am super impressed with Jon’s awesome sounding discography and have included a Youtube playlist and Spotify player of his work in the blog post which you can find in the show notes. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com Boz Digital Labs - https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/ JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ us

My guest today is Lee Turner, a Wisconsin born musician now living in Nashville and owner of 2 Twenty 2 studio, dedicated to helping artists easily navigate the recording process with a focus on bringing pro Nashville players and sound to anyone making a record whether local or over the internet. While Lee can play everything in the studio his primary instrument is the keyboard playing piano, organ, and even accordion. He splits his time between the studio and playing live touring the world with Darius Rucker. He has also had the honor of performing with a long list of top tier artists to include Blake Shelton, Hank Williams Jr., Kenny Rodgers, Big and Rich, Lee Ann Rimes, Trace Adkins, Wynonna, Randy Owen, Cowboy Troy, Bo Bice and many more. He has also performed on Jimmy Kimmel, The Tonight Show, Ellen, The View, The Talk, The Today Show and Good Morning America. And has been a member of the house band for the hit show Nashville Star on both NBC and USA for the past five years. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC -

My guest today is Austin Hull a producer, writer, and mixing engineer living in Orlando, Florida. Austin is also the founder of Make Pop Music featuring a thriving Facebook group dedicated to producers, writers, engineers, and artists interested in making a living in pop music, or who just like to chat about underground pop. Austin also hosts a YouTube channel publishing videos twice a week on production tips, business advice, and featured guests and on the Make Pop Music website you can find blog posts, sample packs, various presets downloads, and music production courses. Ausin’s client list includes hundreds of independent artists including Kodamilo, SRY, EMIA, Troy Ogletree, Liam Ferrari, Stella Jones, and Forget Tomorrow to name just a few. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com Boz Digital Labs - https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/ JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ use coupon: ROCKSTAR at checkout for 50% off JZ BH1S and BH2 Mics RSR Academy: http://RSRockstars.co

My guest today is Steven Durr, a studio designer and acoustical architect with an amazing list of over 2000 clients including Garth Brooks, Neil Young, Dan Auerbach, Mark Ronson, Arcade Fire, Fame Studios, RCA Studio B, Zac Brown, Jim Eno of Spoon, and Eric Johnson to name just a few. He has also designed music venues, film studios, health care facilities, and sports venues for clients like Disney, Willie Nelson, NASCAR Motor Speedways, Library of Congress, Hilton Hotels, DreamWorks Studios, Nissan Manufacturing, Vanderbilt University, Austin City Limits, and the Cleveland Browns. I am psyched to be talking with Steve today about what it means to design the perfect recording studio, and how you can improve your own studio space and monitoring whether a home studio or pro studio. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com Boz Digital Labs - https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/ JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ use coupon: ROCKSTAR at checkout for 50% off JZ BH1S and BH2 Mics

I was psyched to have Boz Millar on the podcast for episode RSRockstars.com/195 talking about how he creates super cool plugins for unique solutions to your mixing challenges! And I also want to remind you that for a limited time you can get a special deal (just for you Rockstars) of $70 off Sasquatch Kick Machine 2 from Boz Digital Labs. This is Boz's brand new plugin allowing you to get deep lows and punchy beater attack for your kick drums whether they are acoustic with a real band or programmed. Hell you can even make your indie rock kick sound like an 808 if you want to! :-) Just go here to purchase: https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/sasquatch-kick-machine-2/ Then use the coupon: RSRSasquatch2 when you checkout and you will get a whopping $70 off the normal price for Sasquatch Kick Machine 2. That means that you can get SKM2 right now for only $29. Thanks Boz!! :-) Also Click here to see my new video showing Sasquatch Kick Machine 2 in action mixing drums to add more punch and excitement with a few

My guest today is Boz Millar, a great (though he might not admit it) multi instrumentalist musician and creator of Boz Digital Labs plugins. Boz creates professional audio plugins with one goal in mind: make solutions to problems.  I discovered Boz Digital Labs years ago when I bought plugins like T-Bone, Imperial Delay, and one of my favorites Sasquatch Kick Machine and began using them on all my mixes. Then more recently I got to meet Boz at Winter Namm and learn more about the complete line of super cool plugins he was creating.  Today I am psyched to have Boz joining us on the show to talk all about designing and creating the tools that we can use to make our records, and to dig into how we can use each of his existing plugins to create really awesome sounds and mixes. Thanks to our sponsors! Boz Digital Labs - https://www.bozdigitallabs.com Use the coupon: RSRSasquatch2 when you checkout to get $70 off. OWC - Other World Computing: https://www.OWC.com JZ Microphones - https://usashop.jzmic.com/ use coupo

My guest today is Ken Sluiter, a grammy-nominated recording engineer/producer/mixer whose credits include artists such as Heart, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Blunt, Andra Day and Weezer.  His work can also be heard on many records from indie-icons including Mekons, The Jesus Lizard and Ok Go. Working closely with producer Joe Chiccarelli, Ken has recently mixed several projects for artists such as Morrissey, Flogging Molly, Augustines, Night Riots and Divine Fits. Ken has also recorded and mixed several film and TV scores with composer, Brian Reitzell which include “Hannibal” (NBC) and “American Gods (STARZ). As a producer, Ken has worked on soundtrack songs with Debbie Harry and Shirley Manson, Siouxsie Sioux, Marc Almond and the B-52's. To catch Kens first appearance on the podcast go to RSR111 where we talked about his journey from Chicago to LA and becoming an early adopter of Pro Tools. Today we will be focusing on mixing and the projects he has been working on recently. Thanks to our sponsors! OWC - Other Wor