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.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
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

Matt’s RANT!: Client Mix Approval Server
Links and Show Notes:
Sylvia Massy
Preorder The Great Book of Vintage Microphones
WCA Episode 14 with Sylvia Massy (2015)

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