Recording Studio Rockstars

My guest today is Tony Succar a two-time Latin Grammy award-winning and #1 Billboard charting artist, producer, and composer/arranger Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Miami, Florida. Tony’s produces music in the world of salsa, jazz, pop, and afro-latino-inspired music. He has a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from Florida International University. In 2018, Tony was nominated for the prestigious Latin Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Song, “Me Enamoro Mas De Ti.” He received four nominations in 2019 for Album of the Year, Best Tropical Song, Best Salsa Album, and Producer of the Year for his most recent album, Mas de Mi. Tony took home two Latin Grammys for Producer of the Year and Best Salsa Album, making history as the youngest winner to have ever won both categories. Mas de Mi was released by Tony through his independent label, Unity Entertainment. His inspiration for the album was to write and produce non-traditional songs that will appeal to younger generations. He has also worke

My guest today is Kurt Ballou is a Grammy-winning producer, engineer, mixer and studio owner in Salem MA with extensive production credits on some of aggressive music's most successful albums. In addition to his studio work, Kurt is the guitarist in ground breaking hardcore/metal crossover act CONVERGE. Kurt's studio, God City Recording, was constructed in 2003 and contains the finest analog and digital recording equipment available. God City has hosted bands such as Grammy winner High on Fire, American Nightmare, NAILS, Darkest Hour, Code Orange, Four Year Strong, Converge, Russian Circles, Torche, Cave In and many more. Kurt also designs guitar pedals and guitars under the name God City Instruments where you can get the heaviest guitar distortions and fuzzes pre-built and ready to use or build your own with ready-made PCB boards and kits. Thanks to Brian Murphree for the introduction. Thanks to our sponsors! Soundporter Mastering: Get your free mastering demo at https://www.soundporter.com JZ Microphones: U

My guest today is Billy Decker a Nashville producer, engineer, and mixer with multiple #1 hits for clients like Chris Young, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, Jaime Lynne Spears, and Sam Hunt and even George Jones.  Billy is known for his high-speed method of mixing using templates and systems for getting to the creative side of mixing immediately without getting bogged down in the tech side of mixing. He was a guest on the podcast previously on episode RSR210 and recently he has written a new book called Template Mixing and Mastering. So today we will dig deeper into Billy’s template mixing and get an introduction to what you will find in his new book. I highly recommend that you pick up the book since he does a wonderful job of breaking down every detail beautifully with images and charts to help you set up your own template for mixing in your studio. Thanks to our sponsors! Soundporter Mastering: Get your free mastering demo at https://www.soundporter.com JZ Microphones: Use coupon ROCKSTARS to g

My guest today is Justin Francis is a multiple Grammy Award nominee as an engineer, #1 Billboard chart mixer, and budding producer based right here in East Nashville. His work can be heard on records ranging from Ronnie Milsap to Alice Cooper including Top 40 hits for Little Big Town and Kelsea Ballerini; soundtracks with Kacey Musgraves and P!nk, and releases from diverse artists as Rodney Crowell, Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Buddy Guy, Deep Purple, Anti-Flag, Rozwell Kid and Diarrhea Planet reaching millions of streams every month. Justin has been a guest on the podcast previously one episode RSR220 when we got to talk about his background in the recording. So this episode we will continue to dig into mixing and production and ways that we can ramp up the quality of our work in our own pro or home studios. Thanks to our sponsors! Soundporter Mastering: Get your free mastering demo at https://www.soundporter.com JZ Microphones: Use coupon ROCKSTARS to get 50% off The BB29 mic at JZmic.com Spectra1964: https

My guest today is Chris Adams, aka Ahee, an EDM producer and artist with extensive experience touring clubs and festivals known for his prolific musical output, helpful YouTube tutorials, high-quality sample packs, & crowd engaging live sets. I discovered Ahee’s Youtube channel when I was searching for tutorials on using the Serum wavetable synth from Xfer Records and really enjoyed the ways that Chris broke down EDM production and techniques for everything from creating DIY synth drum samples to production using his custom sample and sound packs for Ableton Live, to mixing through RTA frequency analyzers so that we can compare our own home studio mixes to a huge club and festival mixes by top EDM producers like Skrillex. Plus Chris affectionately refers to his audience by introducing each video with “Yo What’s Up Aliens” which obviously a great way to talk them don’t you think so Rockstars? Some of his collaboration and remix credits include The Funk Hunters, Manic Focus, Defunk, Stylust, Psymbionic, Sti

My guest today is Daniel Schlett a Producer, Engineer, Mixer and owner of Strange Weather Studio seen on the cover of Mix Magazine in 2019 as one of the best rooms in Brooklyn NY. Daniel’s production finds itself at the creative intersection where acoustic and rock recording meets loop and edit based production. His discography ranges from NYC hip hop to live in-studio performances, to rock production from Mali with a clear sense of how each sounds best.  Daniel has worked with many great artists including Iggy Pop, Booker T., Songhoy Blues, Peelander-Z, Ghostface Killah, War on Drugs, Luke Temple and Here We Go Magic, Combo Chimbita, The Lost Brothers. And I’ve been enjoying a fantastic sounding playlist of videos for you in the show notes.  I’m psyched to talk with Daniel today about his philosophy of production with a wide range of musical styles and see what we can learn about working with a variety of artists. Thanks to Dave Hintze at API for making our introduction. Thanks to our sponsors! Soundporter M

My guest today is Brian Murphree mastering engineer at Soundporter Mastering in Spring Hill TN. After recording his first band in 1994 at a studio in Decatur, AL, and taking the mix-engineer helm in 1999 for his punk band, Random Conflict, followed by a 5-year stint with Surf Rock band, Daikaiju, Brian has been focused on recording, mixing, and mastering for underground artists who might lack the budget to track in major professional studios.  Brian spent 20 years recording, mixing, and mastering music in the North Alabama, Middle TN area, helping artists find their best sounds without blowing their budget. For the past 4 years, he has focused solely on mastering and has been able to grow his client list even in the challenging climate of COVID-19.  Grammy-winning “Boo” Mitchell of Memphis’ Royal Studios, Mark Slaughter, Melly Baldwin, and BZ Lewis are just a few clients Brian has worked with and his goal is to always help his clients realize their best production and mix no matter who they are, and to do it

My guest today is Kevin McMahon of Marcata Recording first started by The Walkmen in 2000 as a purely analog facility located in Harlem inside what had been a Nascar production facility.   Kevin joined in 2003 and took over daily operations, bringing his collection of vintage microphones, preamps, and a long history of studying great live performance from the decade of work as a live sound engineer/designer at the now-defunct but not forgotten venue Brownies in New York City’s East Village.   Doing live sound is where Kevin developed his love of living interactions between musicians, and the ability to recognize the spirit of an artists’ vision and to act with a sense of urgency toward nurturing an environment to allow that vision to be realized at any cost.  Some of Kevin’s credits include: Real Estate, Pile, Parlor Walls, Mr Gnome, The Walkmen, The French Kicks, Diarrhea Planet, and Herzog to name just a few.  Thanks so much to Caleb for making our introduction. Thanks to our sponsors! JZ Microphones: Use c

My guest today is Morgan Page a GRAMMY-nominated producer and DJ with hundreds of millions of plays, and charted multiple Billboard, Beatport, and US Dance Radio #1s.  Morgan has built a massive live following performing at major festivals across the world, including Coachella, EDC, Electric Zoo, Burning Man, and Ultra Music Festival, as well as countless shows in the world’s top venues and clubs. He typically tours nearly year-round and holds a Las Vegas residency at Daylight, having previously held a three-year residency at Wynn Las Vegas.  Morgan also curates and hosts a weekly radio mix show, ‘In The Air,’ which airs on Sirius XM and broadcasting weekly uninterrupted for nearly ten years, and has surpassed episode number 500!  Outside of music, his two main passions are the environment and technology, and particularly where the two intersect. The Tesla-driving producer installed solar panels to power his recording studio; he is always on the cutting edge and an early adopter and advocate of new tech.  In

My guest today is John Storyk, registered architect and acoustician, is a founding partner of WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group).  He has provided design and construction supervision services for the professional audio and video recording community since the 1969 design of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City. John Storyk received his architectural studies from Princeton and Columbia Universities.  As an independent designer, engineer and principal designer of WSDG he has been responsible for over 3.5k world-class audio/video production facilities, including studios, radio stations, video suites, entertainment clubs and theatres.   His work includes private studios for Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Ace Frehley, Russ Freeman, Taylor Dayne’s producer Rick Wake; Johnny Yuma Recording in L.A.; Greenway; C & C Music’s Robert Clavicles; Oven Studios (Alicia Keys); Roc the Mic (J-Z) and others. Professional audio video installations include Soundshop, Nashville; Crawford Post, Atlanta; Talking Ho

My guest today is Patrick Rene aka Killah Trakz a Miami native rapper and hip hop music producer who has worked with artists like Iconz, Rick Ross, 2 Live Crew, and Uncle Luke to name a few.  An analog junkie at heart adapting in the world of digital, Trakz has been at the forefront of the digital revolution of music distribution by having one of the most downloaded albums in the MySpace / Napster era titled “ Hoodz Prodigy “.  Getting his start in '07 at a time when the "Internet" was at its peak of popularity for all advocates of music, sites like AcidPlanet, UGHH, MP3.com, and hundreds more were gaining more notoriety by the day. Within the first week, Trakz saw his debut album surpass 50,000 downloads with ease. Overnight Success was an "understatement" for what would follow. After landing several placements with his production on numerous indie films, Trakz got calls from everyone wanting his sound. By 2008, his sound was hitting the radio waves but getting heard by millions by "ghost producing" for the

My guest today is Stephen Shirk an engineer, producer, and owner of Shirk Studio in Chicago. Originally from Bloomington, Illinois, he began playing in bands through junior high college at Miami University where he earned a degree in Business and Marketing.  In 1998 he moved to New York City to chase his dream of working in a recording studio where he worked at The Hit Factory, Pink Noise and Three Tree Productions as well as assisting on sessions at many legendary NYC facilities like Avatar (Power Station), Clinton, Right Track, and Sound on Sound. Recording in New York also exposed Stephen to a unique artistic community beyond that of music. His collaboration with Nadine Robinson would ultimately land one of his sound designs in the Museum of Modern Art’s Tempo exhibit in 2002.    In 2004, Stephen relocated to Chicago to continue producing and recording bands, creating sound for art installations, as well as providing audio services for the advertising community. This was the beginning of SHIRK studios. Thr

Marc Daniel Nelson is a Latin Grammy-nominated producer/mixer. He has been producing, mixing and managing creatives for over 19 years. Since our last interview, Marc has been diving headfirst into the film and tv world for music. In 2018, Marc engineer and mixed the score for the film “Amanda” that went on to be nominated for the French Academy Award for “Best Score”. That following spring he mixed the score and music for the Ukraine film “Ya, Ty, Vin”, which was the last film Zelinsky Vladimir starred in before becoming president. “Ya, Ty, Vin” went on to having the largest film opening in Ukraine history. In 2019 and 2020, Marc engineered and mixed the scores for a few Netflix originals movies. Outside of film score work, he has kept busy mixing numerous large action trailers and continuing work in the album world, with mixes for Francesca Battistelli, Eric Burdon / Ben Harper and more. Thanks to our sponsors! JZ Microphones: Use coupon ROCKSTARS to get 50% off The BB29 mic at JZmic.com PreSonus Studio One:

My guest today is Shawn Èverett, a Juno and Grammy-winning Canadian producer, engineer, previously a guest on episode RSR137. In that interview, we talked with Shawn about his background schooling and his production and mixing philosophies.  He has worked with many great artists including Grammy-winning Alabama Shakes, Weezer, Margaret Glaspy, Pete Yorn, Warpaint, John Legend, The Killers, Julian Casablancas, and The Voidz, Kesha, Har Mar Superstar, Local Natives, and many many others. In 2019 he won his fifth Grammy for mixing Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour which included songwriting and production from Daniel Tashian and engineering from Craig Alvin both previous guests on the show as well. You can hear their episodes at RSR176 and RSR232. I’ll have these links in the show notes. I have also become a huge fan of Sound & Color by the Alabama Shakes which Shawn engineered and mixed winning a Grammy in 2015. I feel like this record has set the bar pretty high for my own mixes. Thanks to our sponsors! JZ Micro

My guest today is Bill Cheney co-owner with Jim Romney of Spectra1964. Bill designs mic pre amps, eqs, and compressor limiters for studios following in the footsteps of William Dilley who founded the original Spectra Sonics company in 1964.  Bill has been a guest on the podcast before to talk about the history of Spectra Sonics and Spectra 1964 on episode RSR227. So if you want to learn more about the background go back and check that episode out. Bill talked about the original Spectra 101 amplifier circuit, its original role in the military as part of the Minute Man missile defence system, and the history of the Spectra consoles at the Record Plant and Stax Studio. Today Bill and Jim are taking the classic sound of the Spectra 101 amplifier and retrofitting it into 500 modules to allow us to get that same incredible sound in our pro and home studios. Bill has already brought us the STX100 mic pre, the STX 500 eq, and now has also taken the classic C610 complimiter design and found a way to add that as well b

My guest today is Bill Schnee an internationally renowned producer, engineer and mix master. In a highly decorated career that spans five decades, Bill has engineered many gold and platinum albums with a wide variety of artists that include Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Chicago, Steely Dan, Natalie Cole, The Jacksons, Marvin Gaye, Dire Straits, Ringo (with all the Beatles), Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Michael Bolton, George Benson, The Pointer Sisters, Bette Midler, Amy Grant and Whitney Houston, including her mega-single "I Will Always Love You”.  Bill also produced multiple projects with Huey Lewis and the News, Boz Scaggs, Pablo Cruise, Joe Sample, as well as internationally renowned direct-to-disc recordings with Thelma Houston and James Newton Howard and Friends.  In addition to working on dozens of Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums, Bill has been personally nominated 11 times for The Best Engineered Album category and has won twice for Aja and Gaucho, both from S

My guest today is Marc Frigo a mix engineer, recording engineer, and producer based out of Nashville, TN with multi-platinum credits and over 29 years of experience.  Marc started out in his hometown of Chicago in 1990 but relocated to Nashville, TN in early 1991 where he became a staff engineer at Woodland Studios. It was there that he was able to work with and learn from some of the best engineers and producers in the world, such as producers Peter Collins, Don Was, T-Bone Burnett, Tony Brown, Josh Leo, Jay Joyce and engineers David Leonard, Steve Marcantonio, Rick Will, Bob Bullock, Steve Tillisch, Bill Schnee, and so many others that were great mentors.  During his days as an assistant engineer, he worked on projects with Bob Seger, Keith Urban, Restless Heart, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, The Divinyls, Nancy Griffith, Larry Carlton, Gillian Welch, and the list goes on.  Eventually moving out of assisting and into engineering, Marc engineered and/or mixed projects for The Indigo Girls, K.T. Oslin, Nelson,

My guest today is Dana Dowd whose father was the legendary Tom Dowd an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records with a credit list of top artists in jazz, blues, doo wop, soul, and rock records spanning 5 decades of recording from the 50s-90s. Credited with innovating the multitrack recording method and linear console faders from their original round knobs Tom engineered through the various phases of recording technology starting with direct to disc all the way through analog tape 2 track, 4 track, eight-track, 16 24 and finally Pro Tools in the 90s. His first hit in the 50s was Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake". And he went on to record popular artists such as Ray Charles, the Drifters, the Coasters, the Spinners, Ruth Brown and Bobby Darin.  He recorded iconic jazz records by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Herbie Mann and continued through other genres of music recording Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bla

My guests today are Buick Audra and Jerry Roe of Friendship Commanders, a heavy duo from Nashville TN. Their new EP - HOLD ON TO YOURSELF released in April of  2020  follows their second LP, BILL, which they made with Steve Albini Electrical Audio. HOLD ON TO YOURSELF was tracked between Fort Knockout and Sound Emporium studios in Nashville TN. It was mixed by Kurt Ballou at GodCity in Salem MA and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland OR. In this body of songs, Friendship Commanders examines the world around them, their part in the problems and potential solutions, and even challenges the patriarchy. The release also gets personal and discusses what it looks like to be an adult who survived childhood trauma.  The band’s primary songwriter, Buick Audra, is an abuse survivor and has chosen to dedicate this work to other survivors. Her outgoing message is summarized in the EP’s title. The phrase has been a personal mantra for Audra; she has a habit of writing it down every morning as a reminder.

My guest today is Marc Urseli a 6-time Grammy-nominated, 3-time Grammy Award-winning engineer, producer, mixer, sound designer and front of house engineer Marc Urselli works with many artists from around the world. He has worked with U2, Foo Fighters, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Sting, Keith Richards, Kesha, and Laurie Anderson and scores of other amazing artists performing rock, pop, metal, jazz, experimental/avantgarde/new music, urban and electronica and classical. Marc also composes music for film and television, creates sound design for commercials and mixes audio for film and television as well as mixing more than half a dozen movie soundtracks. Born in Switzerland he moved to Italy and opened his first commercial recording facility at 17 years old later moving to New York City, where he currently resides and works as Chief House Engineer for the historic & legendary recording studio EastSide Sound. Marc works in the highest calibre studios worldwide, including Village Recorders (LA), Capitol Sound (LA), East