Working Class Audio

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 card, and learned from Jay Messina. In 2004 he moved to Chicago, rented studio spaces for a decade, and in 2013 bought the building he now runs as a semi-commercial studio with a Sphere console, instruments on every wall, and a deliberately un-sterile feel. They talk about the HearYa live sessions that built his early reputation, word-of-mouth marketing and what comes next, Steve Albini and Electrical Audio, owning vs. renting in Chicago's studio ecosystem, and getting back out to shows.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in Bloomington, Illinois

- Church Choir, Guitar at Fourth Grade, and Early Bands

- A Business Degree at Miami University and Playing in Bands

- Moving to New York in 1998 With a Friend's Couch as a Launch Pad

- Learning Pro Tools Version 4 on the Fly

- Starting at the Hit Factory as a General Assistant

- The Culture Shock of New York Speed — and Learning to Shut Up

- Moving to a Jingle House: More Engineering, More Money, a Synclavier

- Building Pro Tools Systems and Getting a Pager From the Boss

- Learning From Jay Messina (Early Aerosmith, Jack Douglas)

- Getting His SAG Card and Discovering Mailbox Money

- Moving to Chicago in 2004 and Renting Studio Spaces

- Buying the Building in 2013 and the History Behind It

- SHIRK Studios: Semi-Commercial, Instruments on Every Wall

- Avoiding the Sterile Studio — Guilford of Maine Walls and Why He Hates Them

- Word of Mouth Marketing and Wondering What's Next

- Chicago's Studio Scene: Narwhal, Brian Deck, and the DIY Wave

- Steve Albini and Electrical Audio

- Owning the Building vs. Renting — Lessons From Chicago Studios

- Live-Work Lofts as an Option for Engineer-Owners

- Getting Back Out to Shows and Reconnecting With the Scene

- The Red Room: Chicago's Fifty-Cap DIY Listening Venue

- Dana Nielsen Listening to the Episode and the Buttoned-Up Business

Matt's RANT!: Getting the Job Done Part 2

Links and Show Notes:

- SHIRK Studios

- WCA #363 with Chaz Root

- WCA #137 with Anthony Gravino

- WCA #607 with Dana Nielsen

-WCA #164 with Steve Albini

Credits:

- Guest: Stephen Shirk

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 at Sear Sound on a Polygram AR’s dime, and eventually landed back in Connecticut to open a studio on a wing and a prayer in 2006. They talk about the Ed Wood approach to recording — get the vibe before the moment is gone — why he leaves the beauty marks in, pitching a studio to 90-year-old landlords, keeping a tight ship with bankers hours, vetting clients for energy, a proposal-based pricing model, and the Caribou Ranch mentality that has everyone leaving with fresh eggs from the chickens out back.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Twenty Years of Dirt Floor Recording in Connecticut
• Growing Up in a Sports-First Town and Finding His Voice in Chorus
• The Soccer Coach Who Changed His Life
• John Mayer, Keith Richards, and Goose — Connecticut’s Quiet Music Scene
• The Hot Tin Roof on Martha’s Vineyard — and Carly Simon’s Living Room
• Danny Kortchmar, Jerry Marotta, and Reading the Credits as a Kid
• New York City, Polygram, and Recording at Sear Sound
• Failing Guitar 101 in College and Trusting the Natural Thing
• The Troubadour Years — Singer-Songwriter on the Road
• Watching His Brother Make a Record With Jerry Marotta at Jarysville
• Discovering Tape Op and Saying Out Loud “I’m Going to Be in That Magazine”
• Starting Dirt Floor in Chester, Connecticut in 2006
• The Ed Wood Approach: Getting the Vibe Before the Moment Is Gone
• Beauty Marks — Why He Leaves the Imperfections In
• Why Real Music Is Winning Against AI
• Kids Discovering Van Halen and AC/DC on Their Own
• Ethan Johns, Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner — Who Inspired Him
• The Rented House That Became Dirt Floor’s Current Home
• Pitching a Studio to 90-Year-Old Landlords — and Winning Them Over
• Keeping Overhead Low — The Case for Renting vs. Owning
• Vetting Artists: Why He Turns Down Projects That Drain the Room
• Bankers Hours: 9:30 to 5:30 and Going Home
• Other Engineers Working Nights — The Studio Humming When He’s Not There
• Pricing by Proposal — Hourly, Day Rate, and Full Project Budget
• The Caribou Ranch Mentality — Full Hospitality for Artists Who Stay
• Everybody Leaves With Eggs — The Dirt Floor Signature

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Twenty Years of Dirt Floor Recording in Connecticut
• Growing Up in a Sports-First Town and Finding His Voice in Chorus
• The Soccer Coach Who Changed His Life
• John Mayer, Keith Richards, and Goose — Connecticut’s Quiet Music Scene
• The Hot Tin Roof on Martha’s Vineyard — and Carly Simon’s Living Room
• Danny Kortchmar, Jerry Marotta, and Reading the Credits as a Kid
• New York City, Polygram, and Recording at Sear Sound
• Failing Guitar 101 in College and Trusting the Natural Thing
• The Troubadour Years — Singer-Songwriter on the Road
• Watching His Brother Make a Record With Jerry Marotta at Jarysville
• Discovering Tape Op and Saying Out Loud “I’m Going to Be in That Magazine”
• Starting Dirt Floor in Chester, Connecticut in 2006
• The Ed Wood Approach: Getting the Vibe Before the Moment Is Gone
• Beauty Marks — Why He Leaves the Imperfections In
• Why Real Music Is Winning Against AI
• Kids Discovering Van Halen and AC/DC on Their Own
• Ethan Johns, Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner — Who Inspired Him
• The Rented House That Became Dirt Floor’s Current Home
• Pitching a Studio to 90-Year-Old Landlords — and Winning Them Over
• Keeping Overhead Low — The Case for Renting vs. Owning
• Vetting Artists: Why He Turns Down Projects That Drain the Room
• Bankers Hours: 9:30 to 5:30 and Going Home
• Other Engineers Working Nights — The Studio Humming When He’s Not There
• Pricing by Proposal — Hourly, Day Rate, and Full Project Budget
• The Caribou Ranch Mentality — Full Hospitality for Artists Who Stay
• Everybody Leaves With Eggs — The Dirt Floor Signature

Matt’s RANT!: Getting the Job Done!

Links and Show Notes:

• Dirt Floor Recording
• WCA #363 with Chaz Root
• WCA #341 with Cynthia Daniels
• WCA #552 with Daniel Holter
• WCA #575 with Michael Beinhorn
• Tape Op Magazine

Credits:

• Guest: Eric M Lichter
• Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
• WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
• The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 shop and access to synthesizers. Too broke for Berklee, he took a corporate function band gig that got him to Nashville, where he cold-called Music Row for a year and a half before landing a spot at Studio Nineteen. Ten years on Music Row followed, and then a move to London in 2003. They talk about what Nashville taught him about song craft and on-the-floor tracking, learning persistence in two different cultures, surviving a lull before the Ellie Goulding record turned things around, managing money as a freelancer, and why longevity attracts a different kind of client than talent alone ever did. Enjoy!

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in St. John, New Brunswick

- "Sultans of Swing" as a Portrait of His Hometown

- A Musical Family and a Father Who Taught Guitar

- Keyboards at Eleven and a Part-Time Job at a Music Shop

- Access to Synthesizers and the Recording Bug

- Too Broke for Berklee — and the Corporate Function Band That Got Him to Nashville

- Cold-Calling Music Row for a Year and a Half

- Studio Nineteen: A Five-Week Course, a Trident Desk, and Patsy Cline's Living Room

- Learning the Craft in Nashville's Legendary Rooms

- What Ten Years on Music Row Taught Him About Song Craft

- On-the-Floor Tracking: Finishing a Record in One Session

- Nashville vs. London: Tracking Rooms, Production Rooms, and Culture

- Moving to London in 2003 for a Woman — and Building a Career From Scratch

- Learning Persistence in Two Different Cultures

- The Lull, the Ellie Goulding Record, and the Comeback

- Universal, Polydor, and Building a Repeat Client Base in the UK

- Nonsuch Park Studio: A Purpose-Built Room in the Back of the Garden

- Managing Money as a Freelancer: Living Below Your Means

- Why Longevity Attracts a Different Kind of Client

- The Conversations About You That You'll Never Hear

Matt's RANT!: Random Items

Links and Show Notes:

- Julian Kindred

- Nonsuch Park Studio

- DriveDX

- ExifTool

- NeoFinder

Credits:

- Guest: Julian Kindred

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 with no plan, he found his footing at Guitar Center on Sunset, caught a break on a System of a Down session with Dave Schiffman, and built a career in Rick Rubin's camp alongside Andrew Scheps, Greg Fidelman, and Philip Broussard. Now with 450+ credits and 30B+ streams, they talk about the unspoken rules of the studio hierarchy, keeping cool when everything goes wrong, running six albums at once, and the financial discipline (—SEP IRAs, 529s, and a high-yield savings habit—) that keeps a freelance life sustainable.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Musician First: Jazz Saxophone at Loyola University

- The Brian Blade Fellowship Album That Changed Everything

- Keys to the Studio: His First Real Recording Access

- Growing Up Outside Chicago and Reading the Credits

- Chasing Daniel Lanois: The Phone Call to Teatro

- How That Call Became the First Chapter of a Friendship With Philip Broussard

- Moving to LA With No Job and Landing at Guitar Center on Sunset

- The Film Lot Engineer Who Told Him to Say What He Wanted

- Learning to Read the Room and Raise His Hand

- Breaking In: System of a Down With Dave Schiffman

- Meeting Andrew Scheps

- How Rick Rubin's Camp Became His World

- The Unspoken Rules: Hierarchy, Knowing Your Role, and Keeping Notes

- Passing Gems Up the Chain Without Stealing the Credit

- How One Alliance Becomes the Next

- Recording Justin Timberlake's Vocals With a Green Screen and No Metering

- Keeping Cool When Everything Goes South in the Studio

- Six Albums at Once: Managing Multiple Projects With ClickUp

- Client Management With Dubsado and Automating the Paperwork

- Feast or Famine: How He Structures the Money

- SEP IRAs, High-Yield Savings, and a 529 From Day One

- Buying Gear as a Tax-Deductible Investment That Appreciates

- The Financial Advisor Who Got Them Into Their Culver City Home

- Telling People What You Want — From the Studio to the Rent Check

Matt's RANT!: Taking Stock of Our Profession

Links and Show Notes:

- Dana Nielsen

- Mix Protégé

- Dana Nielsen (Instagram)

- WCA #294 with McKay Garner

- WCA #590 with Phillip Broussard

- WCA #398 with Dave Schiffman

- ClickUp

- Dubsado

Credits:

- Guest: Dana Nielsen

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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. Eighteen years on, they talk about the accidental great-sounding drum room, rebuilding bigger during COVID, pricing, being honest with young people about studio careers, and the joy of recording bands live on the floor.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Meeting Matt Over a Pint in Cambridge
• Eighteen Years of Half-ton Studios
• Writing for Sound on Sound
• Learning Drums When School Friends Started a Band
• Why So Many Engineers Are Drummers
• A Decade of Gigging Without a Payoff
• A Music Tech Degree at 26
• Discovering He Could Write
• The Group Email and the Unit Next to a Brewery
• Starting With £7,000 and Favors
• The Accidental Great-Sounding Drum Room
• First Gear: a £700 Soundtracs Desk
• MySpace, Flyers, and Rehearsal Income
• Rebuilding Bigger During COVID
• Working With an Acoustician
• How the New Room Draws Bands From London
• Pricing and the Independent Band Rate
• Honest Advice for Young Engineers
• Workshops and Taster Sessions
• Why He Limits Mixing Work
• Recording Bands Live on the Floor

Matt’s RANT!: CLUTTER!

Links and Show Notes:

• Half-ton Studios
• Neil Rogers at Sound on Sound
• Half-ton recording & mixing workshops

Credits:

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

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 Town With No Internet and No Roadmap
• Community College Recording and Moving to Nashville at 20
• "I Am Working Class": No Safety Net, No Umbilical Cord
• The Unpaid Internship and the Downtown Bellman Job That Funded It
• Trading Every Favor to Pull Studio Shifts
• Keys and Alarm Codes to Ten Studios
• Seeing the Same Gear Used a Million Different Ways
• Working Across Every Format: 2-Inch, RADAR, DAT, and Early Pro Tools
• The Nashville Number System and Country-Session Efficiency
• Bringing in Rock Bands and Running Them Like Pro Country Dates
• Justifying Your Existence When the Guitarist Has Pro Tools at Home
• Coming Up With Welcome to 1979 (and the Runner-Up: "Simulated Wood Grain")
• Pitching a Studio to His Pregnant Wife for $1,100 a Month
• "You Can Break Even As Long As You Want"
• Yoli Quitting Her Job to Run the Business Side
• How Mara Machines Was Born From a Side Hustle
• Multiple Income Streams and Why They Carry the Weight
• Watching Your Overhead Before It Sinks You
• Is That Gear Going to Make You Money, or Just Sit There?
• Renting Rooms Instead of Buying Them
• Saying Yes to Everything and Learning on Someone Else's Dime
• 18 Years, No Partners, Almost No Borrowed Money, Still Married
• The Recording Summit, Tape Camps, and Vinyl Camps

Matt's RANT!: A Brain Dump

Links and Show Notes:

• Welcome to 1979: https://www.welcometo1979.com/
• Mara Machines: https://www.maramachines.com/
• Recording Summit: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#recordingsummit
• Tape Camp: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#tapecamp
• Vinyl Camp: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#vinylcamp
• Lij Shaw / Recording Studio Rockstars: https://recordingstudiorockstars.com/

Credits:

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

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 an Ableton Certified Trainer, and years touring as a producer and artist — before pivoting fully into mastering as the pandemic hit. He learned the craft by badgering his way into Greg Reierson's Rare Form Mastering and trading questions with Mandy Parnell, then sold his entire modular synth rig to buy the speakers for his own room. They get into the "Should everything sound the same?" note on his desk, resisting the loudness game, controlling your space, putting the art before the money, and the health toll of going too hard.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in the Dakotas and “Flyover” Music Culture

- A Coffee Shop, a Venue, and Touring Bands Passing Through

- Born With Half His Fingers: From Guitar to Drums

- Catching the Recording Bug on Cakewalk in High School

- The Guitar Shop That Introduced Him to Ableton

- McNally Smith, Composition, and Dropping Out

- San Francisco, the LA Beat Scene, and Becoming an Ableton Certified Trainer

- From Producer and Artist to Mixing and Mastering

- A Studio in the Back of a South Dakota Guitar Shop

- Old Tools, Limitations, and Learning Phase and Mics the Hard Way

- The Dua Saleh Remix Album That Tipped Him Into Mastering

- Backing Off Touring Right as the Pandemic Hit

- Learning From Greg Reierson at Rare Form Mastering

- Badgering Mandy Parnell for Lessons

- "Should Everything Sound the Same?" Resisting Homogenization

- Why He Won’t Master to the Loudness of a Reference

- Controlling Your Space and Reducing Variables

- Selling His Modular Synths to Buy His Speakers

- Empathy, the Artist’s Vision, and Serving the Music

- Art First, Money Second, and Time as the Real Currency

- Health, Overwork, and Backing Off Before It Broke Him

Links and Show Notes:

• Alec Ness / Ness Mastering
• Rare Form Mastering (Greg Reierson)
• WCA #599 with Alex Newport
• Mandy Parnell
• Michael Beinhorn on WCA

Credits:

- Guest: Alec Ness

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 Brooklyn's most community-minded studios over eleven years. Along the way his string session with violinist Bobby Hawk turned out to be a Taylor Swift record, which led to Ye's Donda, which led to his ongoing work with Ms. Lauryn Hill. They get into the two tiers of gigs (community vs. famous), funding a studio build with a patron's retainer, why he treats generosity and conflict de-escalation as business strategy, and the honesty it takes to work with visionary artists. Enjoy!

- Growing Up in Nyack, New York, in an Integrated Music Town

- From Hip-Hop and Turntables to Hunting Down the Bass

- The Fugees, Wyclef, Jerry Wonda, and Outkast as a Way In

- Becoming a Session Bass Player to Live in Studios

- Interning at Second Story Sound Under Scott Lehrer

- Being Sent to the Library to Read the Dry Theory First

- Why He Left to Start His Own Shops and Chase Creativity

- Building a Brooklyn Studio Over Eleven Years

- Winning Over Landlords: "Your Success Is Our Success" (and Cookies)

- The Patron Who Funded a Studio by Commissioning a Musical

- Survival Economics: Production Suites That Pay the Rent

- Community as a Business Model

- The Two Tiers of Gigs: Community vs. Famous

- The Bobby Hawk String Session That Became a Taylor Swift Record

- One Credit Leading to the Next: Folklore to Donda

- Working for Ms. Lauryn Hill

- Telling the Truth in the Room With Visionary Artists

- What "He's Gonna Be Okay" Really Means at That Level

- Why High-Profile Credits Do (and Don’t) Create More Work

- Generosity and De-escalation as Studio Strategy

- Why He Struggles With Interns

- Restoration Sound

- Lorenzo Wolff (Instagram)

- Guest: Lorenzo Wolff

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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 Del Rey, The Killers, Liam Gallagher, George Ezra). Now he's transitioning into his own career as a mixer and producer. They get into the realities of high-level mix prep, what seven years of assisting actually teaches you, why UK managers tend to bring in work in a way American managers often don't, sharing expensive London rooms, his skeptical take on Atmos, and the differences between the UK and US recording ecosystems.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Growing Up in Winchester With Two Violinist Parents
• From the Beatles and Guitar to the Pull of the Studio
• Why It Was Always About the Music, Not the Technology
• Studying Performance and Recording at the University of West London
• Realizing He'd Rather Record Great Players Than Compete With Them
• Cold-Emailing Abbey Road, RAK, and Getting No Replies
• Landing the Assistant Job With Dan Grech-Marguerat (on the Second Try)
• Seven Years Assisting One of the UK's Busiest Mixers
• The Soft Skills: Managing Clients, Files, and Spinning Plates
• Mixing in the Box: Pro Tools, Recall, and Multiple Machines
• Deep Mix Prep: Rebuilding Logic and Ableton Sessions in Pro Tools
• Learning a Mixer's Quirks So They Never Leave the Creative Space
• Transitioning From Assistant to Mixer and Producer
• Getting Management and Why UK Managers Bring in Work
• How UK and US Managers Differ
• Building a Network While Assisting Five or Six Days a Week
• Studio Identity: Staff Engineer vs. Independent Freelancer
• The London Studio Ecosystem: Abbey Road, AIR, RAK, and Metropolis
• Renting a Room at Pony Studios and Sharing Space in Expensive London
• Neumanns, Genelec 1031s, and Working on Headphones
• His Take on Atmos: Right for "Dark Side of the Moon," Wrong for AC/DC
• Camaraderie Over Competition in London

Matt's RANT!: Technology Prices

Links and Show Notes:

• Luke Burgoyne
• Dan Grech-Marguerat
• WCA #600 with Andrew Scheps
• WCA #102 with Frank McDonough

Credits:

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

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, teaching at conservatories in Ghent, and most recently a deep dive into immersive audio that produced his book STEREO – Was a Nice Try. He joins from the Flemish countryside — where he also runs a 200-liter brewery and grows his own hops — to talk about how he manages time across all of it, why he learns best by teaching, how ADHD and dyslexia shaped an offline, notebook-driven discipline, and why he believes the future of immersive music is composing in 3D from the very first note rather than up mixing stereo.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Living a Passion-Driven Life Across Music, Academia, and Beer
• Managing Time When You Do a Dozen Things (and Cycling to Clear the Mind)
• Growing Up in Flanders: Flute, Pink Floyd, and a Cracked Cubase on an Atari
• Why He'd Rather Create Music Than Perform It
• A PhD in the Sociology of Music and Four Books on Pop History
• Teaching Music History, Sociology, and Production in Ghent
• Going All-In on Mastering for a Year with Friedemann Tischmeyer and Ian Shepherd
• How ADHD and Dyslexia Shaped His Offline, Notebook-Driven Learning
• Why Teaching Is How He Actually Learns
• Discovering Immersive Audio Through Apple Spatial Audio on Earbuds
• Why a Good Immersive Mix Makes the Headphone Experience Better
• Writing STEREO – Was a Nice Try Because No Good Handbook Existed
• "13 Reasons Why Dolby Atmos Sucks" — and His Rebuttals
• Creating Immersive From the Ground Up vs. Upmixing Stereo
• A Format-Agnostic Workflow: Object, Channel, and Scene-Based, Then Choose Atmos or Auro-3D Later
• Teaching Immersive at a Conservatory With a Dolby Atmos Room
• Translating Student Tracks to a Live Immersive System at Ghent's Winter Circus
• Pricing Mastering, Student Discounts, and Treating Gear as the Real Payment
• Gear Acquisition, Buy-and-Return, and "a Hobby That Pays for Itself"
• Finding Community Online Through Chris Salim's MCC
• Running a 200-Liter Brewery, Growing His Own Hops, and Why Beer Is Like Making Music

Matt's RANT!: Time

Links and Show Notes:

• Gert Keunen
• STEREO – Was a Nice Try (book)
• Briskey
• Ian Shepherd on WCA
• Friedemann Tischmeyer / Mastering Academy
• Nuendo (Steinberg)
• Chris Selim on WCA

Credits:

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