Working Class Audio
500 episodes listed below
Matt Boudreaux interviews working audio engineers about the real business of recording.
Working Class Audio treats professional audio as a trade, not a fantasy. Its conversations move from early breaks and studio jobs into client work, creative choices, business pressure, health, and the daily realities of staying employable.
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Working Class Audio is an interview-format podcast hosted by audio engineer Matt Boudreaux, who talks one-on-one with a different recording professional most episodes, typically running 60 to 80 minutes. Guests are working engineers, producers, mixers, and mastering engineers spanning music production, film and game audio, and archival restoration, rather than celebrity musicians. A consistent arc across episodes is career origin: guests describe unpaid internships, cold-calling studios, self-taught home recording setups, and manual labor jobs before landing steady studio work. From there conversations move into practical craft, including drum sound replacement on metal records, tape baking and cleaning for archival reissues, signal-path philosophy, and choices between tube gear, modeling plugins, and AI tools. Several episodes center on studio business decisions, such as financing a multi-room facility, setting rates, and avoiding debt tied to gear acquisition. The show also carries a recurring historical thread, with guests who worked on notable records or with well-known studios and labels. Sponsor mentions for audio gear and services (Grace Design, Audioscape, SoundCredit, DistroKid, ADK Mics, Kali Audio) appear in most episodes but are not the focus of the conversations. The show benefits working and aspiring audio engineers, home studio owners, and musicians curious about the production side of recorded music. Matt Boudreaux keeps the tone collegial and shop-floor rather than promotional, treating guests as working professionals rather than success-story figures.
Made for: Working and aspiring audio engineers, mixers, and home-studio owners seeking practical career and business insight from other professionals.
What sets it apart: Centers each episode on one engineer's career survival story and studio business decisions rather than gear reviews or production tutorials.
Peel back the glamour of the professional recording world. Guests from the world of audio for music, film, games, restoration, and more share their insights on how they made their journey, how they survive, their advice on the real things including wins, losses, working with other people, money, and career advice. Hosted by audio engineer Matt Boudreau. The Working Class Audio Podcast - Navigating the World of Recording with a working class perspective.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Detailed engineer interviews connect studio technique with the business, judgment, and persistence behind a life spent making records.
Working Class Audio treats recording as both a craft and a livelihood. Matt Boudreaux interviews producers, mixers, engineers, and artists about studio decisions, career turns, client relationships, and the business required to keep working.
A weak kick drum becomes thousands of phase corrections, and somehow you want the whole story.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Steady talk about independent hip-hop production in the UK, with a long lead-in before the conversation opens up.
Working Class Audio keeps its focus on Tyrone Harris, also known as Crossbone T, as he traces a path through independent hip-hop production in the UK. The appeal is in how plainly it lets him speak for himself, without turning the discussion into a slogan.
A grounded studio talk about keeping the performance ahead of the gear.
Philip Broussard feels like a natural fit for Working Class Audio, and the credits attached to his name give the discussion real heft. What lands best is the plainspoken point that a strong performance matters more than the gear around it.
A practical, history-minded conversation about how one early R.E.M. session became something more.
This session works best when it stays close to the mechanics of the record: Mitch Easter, the producer-engineer-musician-songwriter known for his early R.E.M.
A practical studio-career conversation with grounded advice and useful shop talk.
Working Class Audio presents Joe Costa's career as a steady lesson in knowing what one's work is worth, moving from internships and assisting to a reset in Nashville and then into independent work.
A grounded chat about studio judgment, gear credibility, and the business behind the room.
Working Class Audio uses Willie Green's return to ask a basic but useful question: what business are you really in, and what kind of room helps that work?
A plainspoken interview about older techniques, newer tools, and a long audio career.
Stephen D. Acutis gives the discussion a steady, seasoned feel, and the best stretch is the practical one: younger engineers learning complex software fast, older methods still doing real work, and a flanging example that points back to the sound itself.
A practical conversation about extreme metal engineering, with especially detailed drum talk.
Working Class Audio brings back Alex Crescioni, a Los Angeles based guitarist, music producer, and mixing and mastering engineer who runs Stygian Sound in the SoundCity Complex, for a conversation about extreme metal.
A steady reissue story centered on the hands-on work of bringing Hospital for the Chemist back.
Don Sitaro returns to Working Class Audio with a close look at the reissue work behind Gary Young's out-of-print Hospital for the Chemist. The conversation gives credit where it is due, pointing to Don and his label partner, with help from Gary before his death, Jerry Young,…
Apple details, software habits, and everyday technical friction.
Records worth hearing, reasons worth arguing over.
Celebrity, clothes and chaos, talked through at full speed.
Tyrone Harris, aka Crossbone T, sits down with Matt for a grounded talk about independent hip-hop production in the UK.
Philip Broussard describes moving from Nederland, Texas, near the Louisiana border, where his family listened to 45s, albums, tapes, and stereo gear, into studio work that began with unpaid internships and restaurant shifts.
Session 589 opens on opportunity.
Joe Costa starts with the job, not the legend.
Willie Green, also known as Paul Womack, returns to Working Class Audio from Brooklyn to discuss taking over Brooklyn Recording Paradise, where his greenhouse room becomes part of a three-room facility.
This episode continues a discussion with audio engineer Richard Chycki about managing career momentum, avoiding complacency in the music industry, and balancing work with creative fulfillment.
This episode features an interview with producer Jade Elise Berry about her career in audio, overcoming health challenges, navigating industry dynamics, and practical advice for home studio owners.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews Grammy-winning engineer Tom Camuso about his career and discusses economic re-evaluation of backup systems.
This episode features an interview with multi-platinum mixer and engineer Richard Chycki, discussing networking, finances, adapting to technological changes in audio, and learning from major artists.
This episode features an interview with Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Joel Weldon Willis, discussing his journey from church to indie music, freelancing, remote mixing, and the importance of collaboration over competition in the music industry.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews producer/engineer Sanford Parker about his journey in the recording industry, emphasizing a working-class perspective.
This episode features an interview with producer-engineer Steve Shady recorded live at NAMM 2026, focusing on his techniques for tracking bands live in the studio and the value of networking at audio conferences.
This episode features an interview with Fran Cathcart discussing his career as a producer and engineer, studio ownership, influences like Herbie Hancock, managing stress, and his recent move to the Bay Area.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews mastering engineer Joe Kaithness about pro audio minimalism, gear consolidation, and navigating the recording industry from a working class perspective.
Host Matt Boudreau interviews producer Justin Gray about his Grammy-nominated immersive album and the realities of working in audio.
This episode features an interview with Alan Evans discussing health, creativity, reflections, client interactions, and plans for 2026, with host Matt Boudreaux sharing his own inspirations including Brian Eno's daily creative process.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews producer Michael Beinhorn about his career and the realities of working in the music recording industry.
Session 574 keeps the coffee close and gets down to work.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews mastering engineer Natalie Bibby about presenting oneself as an audio professional on social media and in bios.
Session 572 gets loud fast.
Session 571 gets specific in a hurry.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews Ken Sluder about the process of remixing classic records for Dolby Atmos.
A deep dive into audio preservation, archiving, and restoration with experts Dan Johnson and Catherine Veracoli.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews John Cunaberti about his One Mic series and career in audio engineering.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews Grammy-winning producer and engineer Gina Johnson about her career and observations on environmental noise intrusion.
Host Matt Boudreau interviews producer/engineer Mike Blodgett about electricity in recording studios and shares thoughts on headphone listening.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews producer/engineer Mike Blodgett about electricity in recording studios, with a working class perspective.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews mastering engineer Stefan Bach about his career and the importance of forming local audio nerd groups.
Host Matt Boudreau interviews producer Daniel Holter about the 'Curse' of being an audio professional who hears things others don't.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews producer Daniel Holter about the 'curse' of having a highly trained ear in the audio industry.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews producer/engineer Dane Giordano about his journey and discusses the importance of session documentation in modern recording.
Host Matt Boudreau discusses session documentation techniques for solo engineers, then interviews producer Dane Giordano.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews Grammy-winning engineer Justin Francis about simplifying audio workflows and navigating the music industry.
Host Matt Boudreau interviews Grammy-winning engineer Justin Francis about simplifying audio workflows and navigating the music industry.
Host Matt Boudreaux interviews mastering engineer Ian Shepard about his podcast and career, with a companion episode on The Mastering Show.