WCA #607 with Dana Nielsen – Jazz School, System of a Down, SZA, and the Money Side of a Long Career

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

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(606)

WCA #606 with Neil Rogers – Eighteen Years of Half-ton Studios, Bootstrapping in Cambridge, and Writing for Sound on Sound

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 payo...

28 Heinä 1h 7min

WCA #605 with Chris Mara – Building Welcome to 1979, Restoring Tape Machines, and Saying Yes to Everything

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 Machin...

20 Heinä 1h 3min

WCA #604 with Alec Ness – Mastering in Minneapolis, Resisting Homogenization, and Putting the Art First

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 w...

12 Heinä 1h 4min

WCA #603 with Lorenzo Wolff – Building a Brooklyn Studio, Session Bass to Taylor Swift, and Working for Ms. Lauryn Hill

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 fr...

5 Heinä 1h 1min

WCA #602 with Luke Burgoyne – Seven Years Assisting a Top UK Mixer, Mix Prep, and Going Solo in London

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 s...

28 Kesä 1h 4min

WCA #601 with Gert Keunen – Immersive Audio, "Stereo Was a Nice Try," a Dozen Careers, and Brewing His Own Beer

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 ye...

21 Kesä 1h 18min

WCA #600 with Andrew Scheps – Atmos, Imposter Syndrome, Coding Plugins with AI, Climbing Walls, and 600 Episodes

Matt celebrates episode 600 of Working Class Audio with a guest who's been there since the beginning — mixer and producer Andrew Scheps, who first appeared back on episodes 009 300 & 477. Andrew joins...

14 Kesä 1h 19min