Working Class Audio

Sylvia Massy returns to Working Class Audio for the first time since Episode 14 back in 2015 . She joins Matt from her studio in Ashland, Oregon to talk about her new book, The Great Book of Vintage Microphones , co-authored with Chris Johnson. To write it, Sylvia and Chris acquired the entire estate collection of Milwaukee radio legend Bob Paquette: 3,500 microphones kept together rather than che...

For episode 615, Matt concludes his two-part conversation with Michael Frondelli, picking up in Los Angeles where Keith Forsey and Richie Zito brought him west. Michael landed at Giorgio Moroder’s Oasis Studios, where he worked on the Breakfast Club soundtrack, Beverly Hills Cop, and the world premiere digital playback of Moroder’s restored Metropolis. He went on to eleven years as Vice President...

For episode 614, Matt talks with Michael Frondelli, producer, engineer, and former Vice President of Capitol Records Studios, where he ran the facility for eleven years before going independent in 2001. Michael grew up in Astoria, Queens. Tony Bennett took vocal lessons with his Uncle Sal. The Walken family ran the bakery on Steinway Street. He came up playing guitar in soul bands and rock bands i...

For episode 613, Matt talks with Ben Mellott — recording engineer, mixer, and owner of Nothing but Noise studio in Northern Virginia. Ben has been freelance since 2014, balances studio work with live production at churches, farms, and local venues, and runs every dollar through the Profit First system. They talk about building a career on curiosity, the alternative path through cassette manufactur...

For episode 612, Matt talks with Brian Starley recording and mixing engineer based in North Hollywood, California, and owner of Bergatron Music Studio. Brian grew up in Salt Lake City with a dad who transferred vinyl to cassette for the car, chased a hockey career to Ontario, came home to Utah without a plan, and found recording through a coworker who'd interned at the Blasting Room. After learnin...

Scott McDowell is a producer, engineer, and co-owner of Wally's Hydeout at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. In episode 611 they talk about getting fired from his first SF internship, becoming a studio partner at Wally’s Hydeout, surviving COVID, getting hit by a car in March 2026, recovering from a TBI, and why every freelancer in California needs to sign up for state disability insurance bef...

For episode 610, Matt talks with Stephen Shirk — engineer, producer, guitarist, and owner of SHIRK Studios in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Stephen grew up in Bloomington, Illinois, studied business at Miami University, moved to New York in 1998 with a friend's couch as his launch pad, and worked his way through the Hit Factory and a jingle house where he built Pro Tools systems, got his SAG c...

For episode 609, Matt talks with Eric M Lichter — multi-instrumentalist, producer, and owner of Dirt Floor Recording in Connecticut, where he’s been in business for twenty years. Eric came up singing in chorus, spent time on Martha’s Vineyard playing the Hot Tin Roof and landing in Carly Simon’s living room with Danny Kortchmar and Jerry Marotta in the liner notes, then moved to New York, recorded...

For episode 608, Matt talks with Julian Kindred — Canadian producer, engineer, and songwriter based in London, where he runs Nonsuch Park Studio in Epsom, Surrey. Julian grew up in St. John, New Brunswick — a working-class port city he describes as a place where people punched in all week and played blues in bars on the weekend — and found his way into recording through a part-time job at a music...

For episode 607, Matt talks with Dana Nielsen — Grammy-nominated producer, mixer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and founder of Mix Protégé in Los Angeles. Dana came up as a jazz saxophonist at Loyola University in New Orleans, where a Brian Blade album and a set of studio keys changed his direction. After chasing Daniel Lanois all the way to a phone call with Teatro and eventually moving to LA...

For episode 606, Matt talks with Neil Rogers — recording engineer, owner of Half-ton Studios in Cambridge, and longtime reviewer for Sound on Sound. After a decade of gigging as a drummer with no payoff, Neil found a music tech degree at 26 that rebuilt his confidence, then answered a group email about a ramshackle unit next to a brewery and built a studio there on about £7,000 and favors. Eightee...

Chris Mara owns Welcome to 1979, one of the larger recording studios in Nashville, along with his wife Yoli. He joins Matt for episode 605 to talk about moving to Nashville at 20, building Mara Machines and a vinyl mastering department alongside the studio, and running it for 18 years with no partners and almost no borrowed money. In This Episode, We Discuss: Growing Up in an 800-Person Wisconsin...

For episode 604, Matt talks with Alec Ness, a mastering engineer in Minneapolis and the owner of Ness Mastering. Alec joins to tell an unusual origin story: born with partially amputated fingers, he was steered from guitar to drums, caught the recording bug on Cakewalk in a Dakotas high school, and chased music through a now-defunct college (McNally Smith), the San Francisco and LA beat scenes as...

For episode 603, Matt talks with Lorenzo Wolff — a Grammy-winning engineer, producer, musician, and owner of Restoration Sound in Brooklyn. Lorenzo joins on a Saturday from New York to trace a path from a hip-hop-obsessed kid in Nyack, chasing the basslines on Fugees and Wyclef records, to a session bassist, to interning under engineer Scott Lehrer at Second Story Sound, to building one of Brookly...

For episode 602, Matt talks with London mix engineer Luke Burgoyne, who joins from his room at Pony Studios in East London. Luke grew up in Winchester with two violinist parents, fell for the studio side of music at sixteen, and studied performance and recording at the University of West London before spending the last seven years assisting one of the UK's busiest mixers, Dan Grech-Marguerat (Lana...

For episode 601, Matt sits down with Belgian musician, mastering engineer, and sociologist of music Gert Keunen — recommended to the show by past guest John Greenham. Gert has spent 35 years saying yes to nearly everything music: seven albums of his own, the nu-jazz project Briskey, a PhD in the sociology of music, four books on pop history, stints as a record-label staffer and newspaper critic, t...

Matt celebrates episode 600 of Working Class Audio with a guest who's been there since the beginning — mixer and producer Andrew Scheps, who first appeared back on episodes 009 300 & 477. Andrew joins from his home in rural England to talk about winning MPG Atmos Mixer of the Year for his work on Low Roar, how he approaches Dolby Atmos delivery and client approval, why he switched from Sony he...

Matt welcomes producer, engineer, and mixer Alex Newport for his first appearance on Working Class Audio. Alex grew up in the UK Midlands with few music resources, and found his way into production after his band got signed to a UK label with an upstream deal to Columbia, and ended up recording at Sawmills, a legendary residential studio on a tidal island at the tip of Cornwall. Working there with...

In this return visit to Working Class Audio, Matt welcomes back Dante Fumo — freelance sound designer, writer, and the creator behind Harmonic Content, a screen-printed audio zine now in its seventh issue. Dante talks about building a sustainable freelance life that spans independent film post-production, writing for Vintage King and Pro Sound Effects, and self-publishing a physical zine inspired...

In this episode of Working Class Audio, Matt welcomes a panel of four guests united by a common cause: Tinnitus Quest, a patient-driven nonprofit pushing to fund and accelerate tinnitus research. Tchad Blake — 7-time Grammy Award-winning producer, mixer, and engineer with credits including Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, and Pearl Jam — opens up about living with tinnitus since age eigh...

In this episode of Working Class Audio, Matt welcomes back producer, mixer, and engineer Will Kennedy . Will shares an update on his journey since his last appearance, focusing on his partnership with Matt Wallace and their deep dive into immersive and Dolby Atmos mixing from their Los Angeles studio. They discuss the strategic decision to sell off their traditional recording gear, the evolution o...

In this episode, Matt welcomes mastering engineer Steve Kitch . Steve shares his journey from early music programming on home keyboards and classical piano training to building a worldwide mastering practice from his studio in Devon, UK. They discuss the transition from transferring DAT tapes to CDs, being an early adopter of online file delivery, and the evolution of a professional audio career t...

In this episode, Matt welcomes mastering engineer and artist Amar Lal of Oakland’s Macro Sound. Amar shares his journey from the New York DIY scene and touring with Big Ups to a corporate role at Sennheiser and his eventual return to independent studio ownership. They discuss the benefits of an all-digital mastering workflow, the "Active Listening Club" philosophy, and how Amar maintains career lo...

In this episode of Working Class Audio, Matt welcomes producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Katie Marie for a deep dive into her 30-year career journey, moving from a rural UK trailer to world-class studios. They discuss the transition from solo artistry to a supportive production role, the philosophy of professional growth, and maintaining a healthy mindset around the business of music. I...

In this episode of Working Class Audio, Matt welcomes back producer, engineer, mixer Ronan Chris Murphy (King Crimson, Steve Morse, Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin) to talk about being a pro audio nomad, falling trees, and and anchor points. In This Episode, We Discuss: World Travel Falling Trees Language Being a Respectful Human Anchor POints Debt Links and Show Notes: Ronan's Site Matt's Rant: Passion...