Working Class Audio

I’ve known Josh Roberts for over 20 years now. He’s humble, fun, and one of the best human beings I know. He doesn’t waste time trying to impress people. To highlight that he doesn’t even have a web page, bio, Facebook page etc… He’s passionate about making records and is really good at letting people be themselves. I’ve been in a couple studio situations with him, I’ve toured with him and he was at my wedding. The guy is honestly in many ways from another time period. As a live sound person he has done sound from bands like the Squirrel Nut Zippers to politicians. As a studio rat he has worked with many including Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto. Santo, his new studio is a true incarnation of what Josh is about. Josh is a dear friend who I’ve learned a ton from over the years, so it with great pleasure I hand this interview over to the WCA audience to hear. Cheers, Matt

Producer/Engineer Ben Bernstein has worked extensively as a music producer and recording engineer. In recent years Ben has been working in game audio as a sound designer & project manager. He has also mixed several documentary films, online ads, and interactive in-app ads. Working with Disney Mobile, Pyramind Sound, KFOG , Microsoft as well as numerous Bay Area bands, Ben keeps his audio world diversified. Ben is also an incredible in-demand live and session bass player who has taught at the famous Blue Bear School of Music. Matt joins Ben at his home studio (Petting Zoo) for a chat that took place on New Years eve.

After getting his audio education Sebastien Richard took a position as the head audio engineer at Coast Recorders in San Francisco and quickly became a mainstay in the crowded San Francisco audio world. Sebastien went on to spend a few years in NYC and Prague where he toured and helped produce some of the biggest pop acts in the world. He then returned to San Francisco to become the lead audio engineer for the legendary Cafe Du Nord and opened up  Mission Recorders, an up and coming recording studio that has the claim to be one of the few in the city with an all original issue Neve console. He also is FOH for various venues including Slims, Great American Music Hall and The Chapel.Matt and Sebastien discuss running a studio, building your own equipment, touring, corporate audio and the ability to mix for 5000 people after having surgery!

Darrell Thorp is a seven time Grammy Award winning (OutKast, Radiohead, Switchfoot, Molotov, Beck) producer, mixer, engineer with over 18 years experience under his belt and many multi platinum records to his discography. Darrell moved to Los Angles in 1997 after a 4 year service in the U.S. Navy and started interning at smaller studios and eventually worked his way up to an Assistant Engineer at some of L.A.’s prestigious studios such as Track Record, Conway, and finally Ocean Way Recording. It was at Ocean Way recording that Darrell meet famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Shortly after meeting Godrich, Darrell became his full time engineer and ended up recording Beck’s “Sea Change”, Radiohead’s “Hail to The Thief”, Paul McCartney’s “Chaos and Creation In The Back Yard” and many others. Currently Darrell is splitting his time between mixing various records and projects and producing. Darrell has had the pleasure of being the principle recording engineer on Beck’s “Morning Phase” which granted him 3 additional Grammys for Best Engineered Album, Rock Album of the Year, and Album of the Year.Matt and Darrell talk about his time in the Navy and its influence on his recording career, the influence of Nigel Godrich, pacing yourself in the studio as well mixing in the box.

After 10 years working as a sales rep for a pro audio and recording equipment distributer, Robert Preston made the plunge into recording full-time by opening a recording studio (GetReel) and locating it inside a rehearsal facility (Secret Studios) surrounded by bands! As one would imagine Robert gets a lot of business directly from the many bands rehearsing in the building, since it’s easy for them to take their gear down the hall to GetReel. After 10 years in the first incarnation of the studio then 13 years in the “new” studio, Robert continues a steady stream of work. As Robert says, “I still love working with and recording bands and singer-songwriters and helping them with their projects and visions of their music. I come at the recording process from a player’s perspective. I’ve built the studio with the players in mind, and I think it shows.”Matt and Robert dissect Robert’s recording situation and talk gear, money, location and the pros and cons of growing.

Growing up in a house filled with music Peter studied the ʻclassicsʼ by day, but escaped to play – way underaged – at night in bars & clubs to gain the requisite “chops” – playing rock, blues, and jazz throughout high school. Although entering college in a pre-med program, he quickly re-found his musical bearings, and graduated with a degree in Electronic Music Composition! Upon completion of his degree, he went on to be a journeyman musician and engineer, and after several years working in recording studios in Boston, relocated to LA in 1980. His entrance into the recording scene there was facilitated by his technical background, and got a staff position at Capitol Studios as a studio tech. But he quickly got “in the trenches” – in sessions there, recording everyone from Prince, Frank Sinatra, David Lee Roth, the Stray Cats and Miles Davis along the way.The lure of films took him away from Capitol after 15 years, and he took a staff position at Sony Pictures Entertainment doing scoring. While there, his efforts were heard in films like “Black Hawk Down”, “The Patriot” and “Road To Perdition”.Then he felt a desire to return to sound-only media – and has been a part of Universal Mastering Studios in Hollywood for the last 10 years. While there, Peter has mastered hundreds of projects for the likes of Robin Thicke, Fergie, Steve Lukather, WAR, Marilyn Manson, John Waite and many more. While just a few years ago, much of Peterʼs schedule was filled with mixing the music for Rock Band  and Guitar Hero video games where artists from the Universal roster were being featured. Nowadays, he still mixes a few projects, recently for artists such as Toby Keith, Rachel MacFarlane, Rhiannon and Otmaro Ruiz.The recording scene nowadays has changed so much in the last decade. Peter has seen many of the old-guard first-call studios – AND engineers – fall by the boards as the new wave of record-making takes hold. But sitting at the “finish-line”, or Mastering, gives him a very valuable insight into what has become paramount in the making of modern recordings. He is here to share some of that with you.Matt and Pete discuss age, what makes Universal Mastering special, working at facility versus working as a freelancer, low-end management, Pete’s new video series The Star Chamber, and the brilliance of Al Schmitt.

Larry Crane has been involved in music since the late seventies, when he self-released home recordings of his own music. Since then he’s been a musician, record producer/engineer/mixer, Tape Op Magazine founder and editor, book editor, studio owner, archivist, disc jockey, small label owner and even a record distributor employee.From 1994 to 1997, Crane ran Laundry Rules Recording, a home studio in his basement in Portland, where he recorded artists that include Versus, Stephen Malkmus and Cat Power. Since 1997, Crane has owned and run Jackpot! Recording Studio, Inc., a busy mid-sized studio in Portland, where he has worked with artists such as Sleater-Kinney, The Joggers, The Decemberists, Jenny Lewis, M. Ward, The Go-Betweens, Elliott Smith, Death Cab for Cutie, The Thermals, Stephen Malkmus, Quasi, The Portland Cello Project, Jason Lytle and Richmond Fontaine.Crane has spoken on and moderated panels about recording for TapeOpCon, South by Southwest, North by Northwest, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Potluck Audio Conference, Indie Music Forum and College Music Journal. He has worked in the past as a record label owner, radio station music director, disc jockey, record distributor employee, freelance music journalist and band manager. Starting in 1984, he has been a bass player in several bands, including Elephant Factory, Vomit Launch, Sunbirds, Foggy Notion and Flaming Box of Ants.Larry and Matt talk about almost 20 years of Tape Op Magazine, his experience running Jackpot! Recording, the symbiotic relationship with pro audio manufacturers, working at other studios and a little business advice.http://www.larry-crane.com/Jackpot! Recording StudioTape Op Magazine

You gotta love this guy. I asked him for a bio and I got this....."I hate bios. Bios suck. For more information about me you can visit my website at http://www.robotlemon.com/"So in an effort to have a little bit more info here's this....  F. Reid Shippen is a New Jersey-born, Nashville-based, highly motivated, completely caffeinated multiple Grammy® award-winning producer/engineer/mixer.Matt and Reid talk family, work/life balance, his power supply to his SSL, interns and much more. Listen in and enjoy.Happy Thanksgiving to my American audience! -Matt

Bill Simpkins started in a music career by teaching guitar at the age of 16. In the early 1990s, he started recording his own projects and other bands mostly in the local hardcore punk or straight-edge metal scene with some ADATs and a Mackie mixer. He then worked for several years at Binary Recording Studio with regional bands, eclectic audio projects, orchestras and films. In 2001, Bill graduated with a degree in Mathematics and became a software engineer but still did audio part-time. In 2011 he created Alpenglow Sound Studios in the downstairs of his house and has been mostly mixing and recording local/remote artists and doing part-time software engineering.Bill may be best known for his blog titled "aediaries" that aims to present highly-filtered information and useful philosophies for those who don't want to sift through endless forum posts and opinions.He enjoys climbing, snowboarding and surfing. He sings and plays guitar in the heavy metal band "Slavemason".Some of the artists Bill has worked with are over the years are: AeTopus, Spindle, Jae Apollo, Dig the Particulars, Regan Mckinnon (Little Kingfisher), Amy Hindman, Kastle King, Clambake, Celestrial Navigation, Medici, Skeptoid Podcast, Mcknarley's Rant, Phil Kelly, Jayhawker, Andy O, Hakon Sveinsson, G8a, Dana Lyons, Big Sur ... Bill and Matt talk about having a day job and still running a recording studio, Martin Birch (Producer Iron Maiden), how engineers can do better by there clients and the role of quality equipment. https://www.facebook.com/AEDiarieshttp://billsimpkins.com/http://www.alpenglowsound.comhttp://aediaries.com/

John Vanderslice (born in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and recording engineer.He is the owner and founder of Tiny Telephone, and Tiny Telephone Oakland, Bay Area analog recording studios.In 10 full-length albums, and 5 remix records and EPs, Vanderslice’s songwriting is characterized by deeply personal and political lyrics and the use of experimental analog recording techniques. His declared musical influences are diverse, ranging from Neutral Milk Hotel and Radiohead to Public Enemy and Henry Cowell. He has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Mark Kozelek, St. Vincent, and John Darnielle.He is currently a full-time producer and has worked with The Mountain Goats, Teen Daze, Spoon, Strand Of Oaks and Sophie Hunger.Matt and John sit down for a chat in Tiny Telephone studio A where they discuss borrowing money, the opening of Tiny Telephone Oakland, smoking pot & climate change. After all that…they go out for amazing Mexican food in the Mission District of San Francisco.