Working Class Audio

ZACK OHREN is an Oakland-based audio engineer & producer whose work includes over a thousand recordings over a two-decade long career. Alongside his friend and former co-conspirator Aaron Hellam, he ran Castle Ultimate which quickly became synonymous with high-quality, accessible recordings. Since 2013, he’s been mainly working out of Sharkbite Studios. Zack has been described as “wi...

Phil Greiss is a multiple-award-winning record producer. He left his name on numerous gold, platinum & diamond records, focusing on both production and songwritting aspects of Pop songs. Very much at ease on his own or collaborating with others, he’s been known to deliver award winning albums and songs, and chart topping singles wether composing, writing, producing, arranging, mixing, or...

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 Akinmusir...

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 (“Sup...

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’ projec...

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, in...

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 Mana...

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...

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...

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 l...

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, Dar...

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”...

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 year...

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...

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 ti...

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 o...

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...

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 s...

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 m...

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’...

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 engine...

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. Just...

Andrew Maury is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixing engineer based in Brooklyn, New York. Maury has worked with artists such as Lewis Del Mar, Ra Ra Riot, Shawn Mendes, Grace Mitchell, Strange Names, Post Malone, RAC, Panama Wedding, Atlas Genius, Kimbra, Delicate Steve, Milagres, High Highs, Penguin Prison, Kisses, Satchmode, COIN, The Kooks, and CRUISR. In the summer of 2009,...

James Tuttle is an recording/mixing engineer and producer with 40 years in the trenches. After growing up playing in local bands in the midwest and Colorado he traded his place on stage for a place behind the console and never looked back. He has worked with everyone from Carole King and Dan Fogelberg to Joe Ely and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. He is a 2 time Grammy nominee for his mixing work...

Katie Tavini began working as a producer and engineer before a piece of advice changed everything for her.  “I was looking to improve my mixes,”  she recalls.  “Someone told me that if I wanted to do that I should learn to master. Whether it was good advice or not I took it. I loved what I discovered and never looked back.” With a fine balance of curiosity and experience, Tavini is...