Working Class Audio

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.

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