Working Class Audio

Dave Hillis has spent large amounts of time on both sides of the glass as a guitarist, producer, engineer, mixer and writer. He worked alongside famed producer Rick Parasher for several years in Seattle and was the engineer on Pearl Jam's breakthrough album "10". For more info on Dave visit: https://davehillismusic.com/ In this episode we discuss: Brooklyn to Seattle Metal beginnings DIY Focus Rec...

Piper Payne is a mastering engineer who has been a guest on WCA before (See WCA #045). She has been through some business experiences and changes since we last spoke and now has set up a homebase in Nashville but also continues to spend time in Oakland where she still has a facility. She joins me for a discussion of those changes and opportunities post Summer NAMM. Piper has mastered a wide variet...

Vance Powell is an old friend to Working Class Audio. His first appearance was on episode #007 almost 5 years ago. Vance is a 6 time Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, and mixer and has worked with Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, and Martina McBride, among many others. I joi...

Jeff Kolhede is a Grammy-nominated producer, composer, engineer, and musician. He is currently a staff engineer at 25th Street Recording and is also a house producer, engineer, and mentor at Zoo Labs both located in Oakland, California. Jeff can be heard on film, television, advertisements, and artist projects, including the trailer music for the movie, Moonlight, a s a sound-designer, for the Vir...

Eyal Levi is a critically acclaimed educator, musician, producer, former guitarist and primary songwriter for the band  Daath, as well as a co-founder of URM (Unstoppable Recording Machine) Academy, an online education platform for producers with thousands of students from across the globe. In the studio, he has worked with such artists including The Black Dahlia Murder, Monuments, The Contor...

Justin Colletti is a mastering engineer, and the author of hundreds of articles on the art, science, and business of music and sound. He acts as director of content and publishing for SonicScoop and has written for outlets including Tape Op , The Deli Magazine , Trust Me I’m a Scientist and many more. In 2019, he began the weekly SonicScoop Podcast , interviewing music and audio industry luminarie...

Eric Fredricey started with hand me down cassette decks and mixers, progressed to a broadcast internship in Junior High, worked at a tv station right out of high school and is now chief engineer at KCSB-FM college radio in his hometown. In this episode we discuss, The World of Broadcast Running with the clock Getting yelled at Tailoring your resume Negotiating your salary Getting into broadcast FC...

Steve Chadie started interning for Willie Nelson's studio in 1995. 24 years later armed with a host of high profile clients, awards and experiences Steve still has the same enthusiasm he did when he started and a desire to lend a helping hand, gear or advice to upcoming young engineers that he collaborates with. In this episode we discuss Working with Willie Nelson Sharing knowledge Legal Pads Bei...

Paul Drew is a producer, engineer, mixer, session guitarist, and member of Production Expert. He's also the D in DWB Music Ltd and DWB MIXING. His experience is diversified and has served him well. Paul walks us through the details of all of it and tells us about his new venture The Studio Rats. In this episode we discuss The Asian music market The value of diversification His transition to Studio...

Patrick Meza is a Mix Tech at Warner Brothers. He is a prime example of how perseverance can open doors and shape your career. While still at the early stages of that career, Patrick has worked at some amazing places including Somatone Interactive, Disney, Pandora, and Skywalker Sound. In this episode we discuss The power of connecting over LinkedIn The importance of staying hungry Assuming the ro...

Brian David Hood is a producer/engineer, studio owner, and entrepreneur. Brian takes us through his journey, from playing drums on tour, opening a studio in his parent's basement, hitting a major low point that spurred him on to better opportunities, creating a video course and a podcast and his entrepreneurial ventures.   In this episode, you’ll discover: Brian's podcast that addresses the b...

Dan Shike started college at the University of Evansville and considered a major in physics with intention of a career in acoustics and speaker design – that is, until he heard of the Recording Industry program at Middle Tennessee State University. Within a week of learning of this “recording industry” and that he could go to school to be in it, Dan applied to MTSU and planned the big move to...

Sebastian Visconti boarded a plane In 1989 in his hometown of Philadelphia to attend his sister's wedding in Los Angeles, and he never returned. He was a young drummer with rock and roll dreams. He spent his early years playing and touring with local bands while supporting himself waiting tables at Ed Debevic’s in Beverly Hills and opening the famous House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. When he bought h...

Damien Rasmussen is a producer, engineer, and mixer located in San Francisco. He got his start in audio in 1983 as a college radio DJ on KDVS at UC Davis. He was schooled in the ways of the studio from John Barsotti at San Francisco State University and really cut his teeth at Dave Bryson's (Counting Crows) Dancing Dog Studio in Emeryville, California. Since then he's done live sound, corporate AV...

Clint Bennett lives in Los Angeles, CA and works in the film & television industry as a music editor. He’s recently worked on such films as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Kong: Skull Island, Widows, Bad Times at the El Royale, New Girl & The Cabin In The Woods. He began his professional career in the 90’s San Francisco music scene playing in bands and...

Kieron Menzies is a mixer, producer, and engineer based in Los Angeles.  He was born in Toronto to a Trinidadian-Canadian family who eventually relocated to California.  This is where Kieron became engulfed in music and began to pursue a career in recording and production.  Over the years, Kieron has been a resident at 4th Street Recording in Santa Monica, Stiles Music in Portland,...

Cameron Webb is a producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with many artists most notably Motörhead, Sum 41, NOFX, Megadeth & Limp Bizkit. In 2004, he won a Grammy for his work on Kelly Clarkson’s album “Breakaway”. Cameron has been Motörhead’s producer and mixing engineer for over 12 years, since producing Motörhead’s album “Inferno”. About this interview: Cameron joins me to talk about b...

Working Class Audio #235 with Dave Nelson!!! Dave Nelson ’s career spans over twenty years in the film, sound and recording industry. As a composer, sound designer and re-recording mixer, his work involves an interesting mix of documentaries, features, shorts as well as albums, some of which have been nominated for Academy, Emmy and Grammy Awards. About this interview: Dave joins me to chat about...

WCA #234 with Eric Kuehnl Eric Kuehnl  is a composer, sound designer, and educator. He is the Co-Director of the Music Technology Program at Foothill College, the Director of Partner Programs for Next Point Training, and also teaches at Pyramind in San Francisco. Previously, Eric was an Audio Training Strategist in the Avid Education Department, and a Senior House Engineer for Sony Compu...

Beau Sorenson is a freelance audio professional (producer/mixer/ engineer) based in California. He also writes, records, and remixes music as Beaunoise . As producer/engineer, He's worked on multiple albums for Death Cab for Cutie, Bob Mould , and Superchunk , as well as albums for Tune-yards, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Mac McCaughan, Mike Krol, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Dod...

Buddy Lee Dobberteen  grew up in a small town in Michigan. He got into playing guitar at a young age and was always fascinated with music but never really pursued it because he was too busy playing sports. He did an electrical internship all through school and after graduation began doing side gigs wiring houses but had always dreamed of something more. In early September of 2001, Buddy joine...

Brendan Duffey  is a 3x Grammy nominated producer/engineer who lives in Davis, California. He has engineered, mixed, mastered and produced some of the largest names in music in Brazil, working with such artist such as Daniela Mercury, Caetano Veloso, Lulu Santos, Kiko Loureiro Angra,50 Cent, The Mission, and many others. Brendan owned Norcal Studios in São Paulo, Brazil for a decade and...

Chris Shaw  is a four time Grammy Award winning American producer, engineer, mixer, and musician. Beginning his career at Greene Street Recording, he quickly worked his way from his start as an NYU intern, to assistant engineer, to a position as a staff engineer working with influential hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J. In 1991 he played bass...

Ed Brooks  has been making records since the dawn of time, well almost. Ed started his career producing amd engineering records in basement studios, working his way up into major studios during Seattle’s music explosion of the early 90s. He started full time as a mastering engineer 18 years ago. Artists Ed has mastered projects for include, REM, Pearl Jam, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab For Cutie, Co...

Shani Gandhi  is a producer, engineer and mixer residing in Nashville, TN. She has engineered for such artists as Dierks Bentley, Kelsea Ballerini, Alison Krauss, The Mountain Goats, Parker Millsap, and Sierra Hull. In 2017, she received a GRAMMY Award as an engineer for Sarah Jarosz’s folk album,  Undercurrent , and was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. About this...