Working Class Audio

For episode 620, Matt talks with Zach Bloomstein, a producer, mixer, and engineer, and the house engineer and manager at Jackpot! Recording Studio in Portland, Oregon. Zach grew up working in his family’s restaurant outside Boston, a business his grandfather started as a donut shop, and turned down every offer to take it over. After interning for Sean McLaughlin at 37ft and assisting at Peerless Mastering, he used the pandemic to move to Portland in 2021, freelanced at Jackpot! until a converter repair led to meeting Larry Crane, and now runs the place. They talk about what the restaurant taught him about working a room, when he finally felt comfortable calling himself a producer, engineering for Portugal. The Man, signing with management, and keeping six months of expenses in the bank.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Growing Up in Framingham and Working in the Family Restaurant
• A Danelectro From His Aunt’s Boyfriend and Raiding Dad’s CD Collection
• Spending Tip Money at Newbury Comics on Records With Cool Covers
• Turning Down the Family Business
• A Father Who Restores Vintage Pinball Machines and Arcade Games
• Producing the High School Morning TV Show
• The New England Institute of Art and Joining the School Record Label for More Studio Time
• Interning for Sean McLaughlin at 37ft
• What You Can’t Learn on YouTube: How Someone Presents in a Room
• Small Wins First: Getting the Best Performance From Artists
• Engineering for Producer Barry Marshall
• Learning to Call Himself a Producer
• Assisting at Peerless Mastering With Jeff Lipton
• Moving to Portland During the Pandemic
• An East Coast Work Ethic on the West Coast
• Engineering Portugal. The Man’s Shish
• Signing With Linear Management
• Freelancing at Jackpot!, Fixing Converters, and Meeting Larry Crane
• What Being a Staff Engineer Really Means
• Taking Over as Studio Manager at Jackpot!
• Living Modestly and Keeping Six Months of Savings
• Daily Routine: Peloton, Weights, and Phone on Do Not Disturb

Matt’s RANT!: The Follow Up

Links and Show Notes:

• Zach Bloomstein
• Zach Bloomstein on Instagram
• Jackpot! Recording Studio
• WCA #339 with Sean McLaughlin
• WCA #050 with Larry Crane

Credits:

• Guest: Zach Bloomstein
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

For episode 619, Matt talks with Marc Urselli, a producer, engineer, live sound mixer, and sound designer based in New York City. Born in Switzerland and raised in Italy, Marc built a studio in his parents’ basement at 17 and recorded punk and hardcore bands through the late ’90s. At 20 he took his first plane ride, landed in New York, and started as an unpaid intern at EastSide Sound, paying for a flooding $250 basement apartment by designing websites. Nearly 30 years later he’s EastSide’s chief engineer, and in 2025 he opened his own studio, Audio Confidential, in Chelsea. They talk about working both studio and live sound, managing a nonstop travel schedule, Jojo Mayer’s three M’s rule for taking a gig, and the MU-1, the ribbon and condenser hybrid mic Marc designed with JZ Microphones.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Born in Switzerland, Raised in Italy
• First CDs: Appetite for Destruction and Dark Side of the Moon
• Recording Demos at Pure Rock Studios in Brindisi and Buying the Console
• Building a Room-Within-a-Room Studio in His Parents’ Basement at 17
• Recording Punk and Hardcore Bands From 1995 to 1999
• Running a Music Magazine Since 1994
• Pen Friends, a First Plane Ride, and Landing at JFK
• Two Years as an Unpaid Intern at EastSide Sound
• A $250 Basement Apartment, a $15 Inflatable Mattress, and Web Design to Pay the Bills
• Why Engineering Beat Being a Rock Star: Variety Across Genres
• Rising to Chief Engineer at EastSide Sound
• Opening Audio Confidential in Chelsea and Bringing the Neve Genesis Out of Storage
• Offering Artists Two Studio Options at Two Price Points
• How Live Sound Started as a Byproduct of Ignorance
• Playing Tetris With a Confetti Explosion Calendar
• Self-Management, Fast Replies, and Filtering the Noise
• Staying on Top of Invoices While Always on the Road
• Jojo Mayer’s Rule of the Three M’s: Music, Money, and Mates
• Over 300 Microphones and Asking Whether You Need One More
• Long Distance Relationships and a Life of Travel
• Travel Tips: One Carry-On, Airport Lounges, and Melatonin
• The MU-1: A Ribbon and Large Diaphragm Condenser in One Body

Matt’s RANT!: AES 2026 Debrief

Links and Show Notes:

• Marc Urselli
• Marc Urselli on Instagram
• Audio Confidential
• EastSide Sound

Credits:

• Guest: Marc Urselli
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

For episode 618, Matt talks with Chris Dacoron, a Bay Area mixing engineer working mainly in R&B, pop, and hip hop. Chris runs his mix business, Skye Heart Sound, out of his home studio in Martinez, California, and has been at it for over 20 years. The two met at a Bay Area Audio Nerds gathering. Chris started out as a singer in an R&B boy band that moved to Los Angeles in 2004, became an accidental studio assistant along the way, and switched to engineering full time when the group broke up in 2006. They talk about learning by level-matching his mixes against finished records, the Auto-Tune idea he shot down years before T-Pain, the artist vision form that cut his revisions to one or two, going hybrid after one hardware EQ changed his mind, saving rough iPhone vocals, why networking in person still matters, and how to DM artists without sounding like a car salesman.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Growing Up in the Bay Area Singing Along to Boyz II Men
• Forming an R&B Boy Band and Moving to Los Angeles in 2004
• Winning a Talent Competition and Becoming a Studio Assistant Nobody Was Looking For
• The Group Breaks Up in 2006 and the Clean Cut to Engineering
• Coming Home to the Bay Area and Building a Freelance Career Through Word of Mouth
• Setting Rates in the Middle Based on What Outside Engineers Charged
• Learning From Claudio Cueni, Tony Shepperd, and Ken Lewis
• Level-Matching Mixes Against Finished Records to Learn What a Final Sound Is
• Always a Student: R&B Sounds Change Every Five Years
• The Auto-Tune Idea Chris Shot Down Before T-Pain Made It a Hit
• The Artist Vision Form: Understanding the Artist Before Moving a Fader
• Handling Revisions as a Collaboration Instead of a Critique
• Going Hybrid After One Hardware EQ Changed Everything
• Making iPhone Vocals Sound Like a Real Studio: Silver Bullet, Saturation, and Expansion
• Matt’s Tip: Cleaning Up Rough Vocals With Adobe Podcast
• Money: Balancing Gear Spending With Marketing Yourself
• Try Everything: Networking Events, SoundBetter, Websites, and DMs
• Get Out of Your Herman Miller Chair and Meet People in Person
• How to DM Artists: Do the Work, Make It Personal, Don’t Sell Right Away
• Why AI-Written Pitches Are Easy to Spot

Matt’s RANT!: Stop Asking for Permission

Links and Show Notes:

• Skye Heart Sound (Chris Dacoron)
• Skye Heart Sound on Instagram
• Adobe Podcast

Credits:

• Guest: Chris Dacoron
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

For episode 617, Matt welcomes back Anthony Gravino, musician and recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, nearly a decade after his first appearance on WCA 137. In 2020, Anthony sold The Drake, his Chicago studio of 14 years, bought a converted 1940s horse barn just outside Urbana, Illinois, and turned it into High Cross Sound, a 2,100 square foot studio and home. They talk about why he left Chicago, what drew him to the barn, tracking 14 straight days with Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter three months after moving in, the Champaign-Urbana music scene, and the business side of owning, living in, and working out of the same building.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• 14 Years in Chicago: The Drake Studio on Drake Avenue
• Why Anthony Left: Gentrification, Property Taxes, the Pandemic, and Seeing the Right Property at the Right Time
• The Old Horse Barn: 25-Foot Peak Ceilings, Curved Wooden Walls, and Listening to Drums Before Signing
• Building High Cross Sound: Control Room, Isolation Booth, and Wiring a Former Home Into a Studio
• Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter: 14 Straight Days, Three Months After Moving In
• The Psychology of Vertical Space and Natural Light on Musicians
• Champaign-Urbana: REO Speedwagon, the Rose Bowl Tavern, and a Music Scene Bigger Than Its Studio Supply
• Moving During the Pandemic: Every Session Canceled in March, Perfect Time to Be Out of Commission
• Selling the Chicago Building After Buying in 2006, Financing at 2.5% Interest
• Dropping the API Console, Going to a Small Mixer and Outboard Preamps
• Keeping the Rate, Then Raising It When He Saw What Others Were Charging
• Isolated Ground, a Private Transformer Shared With Three Houses, and a Quieter Noise Floor
• Living and Working in the Same Building: Tax Advantages When 80% Is Studio Space
• Music Videos, University Work, and the Snowball Rolling Down the Hill
• The Pool: More Romanticized by Clients Than Actually Used

Matt’s RANT!: Your Mindset

Links and Show Notes:

• Anthony Gravino on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonygravino/
• Anthony Gravino on Bandcamp: https://anthonygravino.bandcamp.com
• WCA Episode 137 with Anthony Gravino: https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-137-with-anthony-gravino/

Credits:

• Guest: Anthony Gravino
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 cherry-picked apart. The book covers 100 years of microphone history, from David Edward Hughes's 1877 burnt-stick carbon transducer to the ribbons and condensers most engineers grew up with.

• The Studio in Ashland: Converted Radiator Shop, Five-Bay Garage, Concrete Construction
• Chris Joshnson: Co-Author, Life Partner, and the Man Who Negotiated a Microphone Museum
• Bob Paquette's Collection: 3,500 Mics, Milwaukee Radio History, and Keeping It Together
• The First Microphone: David Edward Hughes, 1877, a Burnt Carbon Stick
• Crystal Mics, Carbon Telephone Elements, and Technology That Lasted Into the 1990s
• Condenser Development: From a Wooden Box Power Supply Down to the Pencil Condensers We Use Today
• The First Directional Microphone
• A Condenser That Went to the South Pole With Admiral Byrd
• The Glow Discharge Mic: Plasma Between Two Electrodes, Banned After 1928
• Art Deco Mics That Looked Like Spaceships and Sounded Worse Because of Their Cases
• Western Electric Birdcage, Tadpole Mics, Bakelite, and the 1947 Astatic 600S
• The ChicLet: Color Options
• Pearl Mics From Sweden and the 6102 RFP
• Sylvia's Favorite Mic for Female Vocal
• Microphone Seeds: Ribbons, Dynamics, and Condensers

• Sylvia Massy
• Preorder The Great Book of Vintage Microphones
• WCA Episode 14 with Sylvia Massy (2015)

• Guest: Sylvia Massy
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 of Capitol Records Studios, where his first artist was Frank Sinatra and he quietly produced Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on a $100,000 investment that grossed $7 million. They also talk about AI and copyright, the importance of pre-production, apprenticeships in audio, network as the real currency of a career, and what Phil Ramone told him about what recording engineers actually do.

• Moving to Los Angeles via Keith Forsey and Richie Zito
• Giorgio Moroder’s Oasis Studios: Breakfast Club, Beverly Hills Cop, and Three Films at Once
• The World Premiere Digital Playback of Moroder’s Restored Metropolis
• East Coast vs West Coast Recording Culture
• Keeping an Apartment in Brooklyn and One in LA
• VP of Capitol Records Studios: How He Got the Job
• Learning to Run a $5 Million Business
• The First Business Plan Ever Written for Capitol Studios
• Frank Sinatra as the First Artist: Phil Ramone, Al Schmitt, and Building a Custom Vocal Booth
• Union Negotiations, Health Benefits, and Taking Care of the Staff
• Being Told He Was Too Old to Start a Label at 44
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: $100,000 In, $7 Million Gross, 500,000 Records by May
• Crowded House, Gary Stamper, and Don’t Dream It’s Over
• AI, Copyright, and Why You Must Register Before You Use the Platform
• Apprenticeships, the Music Producers Guild, and Passing It On
• Network as the Real Currency of a Career
• Still Working: James Gadson, Autism Speaks, and Making Records

• Michael Frondelli
• WCA #614 with Michael Frondelli, Part 1
• Vincent Boudreau — Obituary

• Guest: Michael Frondelli
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 in the 60s, studied business in college, landed a maintenance tech job at Broadway Recording on 1697 Broadway, and from there made his way to Electric Lady in November 1975, where he spent nine years. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Growing Up in Astoria, Queens
• Music in the Family and Learning Guitar
• Soul Bands, Rock Bands, and the 60s
• College, the Draft Lottery, and Moving to Manhattan
• Carpentry, Soundproofing, and Finding a Way Into Recording
• Broadway Recording at 1697 Broadway
• Learning to Listen, Watch, and Visualize Signal Path
• Landing at Electric Lady in 1975
• Nine Years in the Room: Zeppelin, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell
• Working With Eddie Kramer on Song Remains the Same
• Rebel Yell: Finding Billy Idol a Drummer
• Keith Forsey, Charlie Sexton, and Don't You Forget About Me
• Getting Management and Learning the Business
• Going From $5 an Hour to $2,500 a Mix

Matt's RANT!: Revisiting Backing Up and Archiving

Links and Show Notes:

Michael Frondelli" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael's site

Credits:

• Guest: Michael Frondelli
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 manufacturing and church sound, and why the business side of audio doesn't sound like fun until it absolutely is.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Northern Virginia, Born and Raised
• A Dad at Toys R Us and a Mom in the Church Choir
• Recording Bands on a Tascam Four-Track at Ten Dollars a Song
• The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio — Audio Boot Camp
• Learning Signal Flow Before Hardware
• Manufacturing Cassettes and CDs at Lion Recording
• Moving Into Graphics — Quark Express, InDesign, and Terrible Early Websites
• Roadie and Merch for a Month-Long US Tour With Frodus
• Getting the Farm Festival Gig
• Ten Years of Sunday Church Sound — and What He Learned About Temperament
• The Drummer in the Crowd Who Got Him the Venue Gig
• Real-Life Social Proof — Likable Enough (For a Live Sound Guy)
• Curiosity as a Career Strategy
• Nothing But Noise — The Studio and the Freelance Life Since 2014
• Debt, an Inheritance That Didn't Change the Slope, and the Pandemic
• Implementing the Profit First System
• Of Every Thousand Dollars, Only $150 Is Spendable — and Why That's the Point
• Self-Financing Gear and Paying Yourself Back on a Payment Plan
• The Sweetwater Rep Who Said You've Got a Lot of Gear
• The Business Side Doesn't Sound Like Fun Until It Is

Matt's RANT!: Doing Things the Alternative Way

Links and Show Notes:

• Nothing but Noise
• Profit First — Mike Michalowicz (book)
• Profit First — Audiobook on Libro.fm
• WCA #133 with Alan Evans
• WCA #328 with Alan Evans
• WCA #576 with Alan Evans

Credits:

Guest: Ben Mellott

Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 learning Pro Tools at twenty bucks an hour and getting out of Utah in 2005, he landed at Musicians Institute in LA and then at Lon Cohen Studio Rentals a cartage company where he spent six years moving Tim Pierce's guitars and Mike Elizondo's Logic rig around the city. After going freelance in 2013, he built a YouTube live session channel, had his busiest mixing years during COVID, and then spent the better part of two years fighting LA permits, tariffs, and a construction crew to build his dream studio — refinancing the house to do it. They talk about what cartage taught him about gear and sessions, the mobile recording revelation that shaped his whole approach, building a studio in 2025 LA, the stress that put him in the hospital with diverticulitis, and why you should focus on relationships before gear.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in Salt Lake City, Utah — The Zion Curtain

- A Dad Who Transferred Vinyl to Cassette and Filled the Car With Music

- Hockey, Rage Against the Machine, and a Dream of the NHL

- Moving to Shelburne, Ontario to Play Junior Hockey

- Coming Home to Utah and Finding Construction Work for His Dad

- A Coworker From the Blasting Room Who Changed Everything

- Learning Pro Tools at Twenty Bucks an Hour on a Digi 001

- Getting Into Trouble and Getting Out of Utah — Moving to LA in 2005

- Musicians Institute and Finding the Path Into Recording

- Landing at Lawn — a Cartage Company for LA's Top Session Musicians

- Tim Pierce, Joe Chiccarelli, Abe Laboriel Sr., and What Cartage Taught Him

- Mike Elizondo's Logic Rig and the Mobile Recording Revelation

- Scab Dates, Church Choirs, and Recording With a Handful of Mics

- Post Production School, Roger Nichols, and Getting Certified in Pro Tools

- Going Freelance in 2013

- Live Sessions at Custom Vintage Keys With JJ Blair and the Boba Jam Channel

- The Decision to Build a Studio — and Reaching Out to Josh Nyback in 2023

- Two and a Half Years of Permits, Hidden Fees, and LA Bureaucracy

- Refinancing the House to Fund the Build

- Tariffs, Construction Costs, and Watching the Budget Disappear

- Supervising a General Contractor Who Didn't Know What a Studio Was

- Isomax Clips, Green Glue, and Checking Every Screw

- Diverticulitis in November From the Stress of the Build

- His Wife Allie — The Person Who Got Them Through It

- Crying in the Finished Room When They First Put the Speakers Up

- California Disability Insurance for Freelancers — and the Scott McDowell Episode

- You Don't Need All the Gear — Build Relationships First

- Support the Ecosystem — Book Studios, Pay for Mastering

Matt's RANT!: Things Matt Is Doing

Links

• Bergatron Music
• Brian Starley – Credits (Muso.ai)
• Brian Starley (Instagram)
• Brian Starley (TikTok)
• Bergatron Music – Studio Build Videos (YouTube)
• Josh Nyback – Nyback Builds
• Nyback Builds (Instagram)
• WCA #611 with Scott McDowell — California Disability Insurance
• Libro.fm — Audiobooks
• Four Thousand Weeks — Oliver Burkeman
• M-DISC — Wikipedia
• Steinberg SpectraLayers

Credits:

- Guest: Brian Starley

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 before something happens.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Co-owning a Studio, Making Records, and Working in Game Audio
• Growing Up in Novato — North Marin County
• A Broadcast Engineer Dad
• Working Niners Games on the Sideline
• Heading to Berklee for Trumpet
• A Hernia That Ended the Trumpet Career and Started the Recording One
• City College SF, SF Soundworks, and Getting Fired
• John Vanderslice, Tiny Telephone, and the Referral to Justin Phelps
• Interning at Hyde Street Studios With Justin Phelps and Jaimeson Durr
• Filling the Calendar for Six Months to Avoid Being Replaced — Then Getting Made a Partner
• The CDR Run That He Thought Was a Firing
• Eight Years of Game Audio
• COVID Survival
• Getting Hit by a Car in Northridge
• The TBI, the Wheelchair, and Coming Back
• California Disability Insurance Elective Coverage — Why Every Freelancer Should Sign Up

Matt's RANT!: Accumulation

Links and Show Notes:

• Fader Solo: https://fadersolo.com/
• California Disability Insurance Elective Coverage (EDD): https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/Disability_Insurance_Elective_Coverage/
• WCA #082 with Justin Phelps: https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-082-justin-phelps/
• WCA #211 with Jaimeson Durr: https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-211-with-jaimeson-durr/
• WCA #047 with John Vanderslice: https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-047-with-john-vanderslice/

Credits:

• Guest: Scott McDowell
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith