Working Class Audio

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.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
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

Matt’s RANT!: Matt’s Dad
Links and Show Notes:
Michael Frondelli
WCA #614 with Michael Frondelli, Part 1
Vincent Boudreau — Obituary

Credits:
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'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