Stu Watts chats with Joe Carra, who is the chief mastering engineer and owner of Crystal Mastering. With over 3 decades of experience, Joe has mastered for cassette, vinyl, CD, and in recent times, embraced the immersive audio of Dolby Atmos. In 2020 Joe received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, for the Teskey Brothers ‘Run Home Slow’ album.

Joe has mastered various ARIA award winning albums and in 2023, was recognised with a nomination in the MPEG Awards for 'Mastering Engineer of the Year’.

Having mastered successful releases on the ARIA & American Billboard charts, Joe’s clients include Pond, The Slingers, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Courtney Barnett, Amyl & The Sniffers, Genesis Owusu, The Murlocs, San Cisco, Babe Rainbow, Bliss N Eso, The Waifs and many more.

In addition to his regular mastering duties, Joe shares his knowledge as a guest lecturer at colleges such as SAE, JMC, RMIT, and Box Hill Institute. Through these engagements, he imparts his deep understanding of the intricacies of mastering to aspiring students.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:34 About Joe Carra 00:03:34 Attending university 00:04:56 Learning instruments 00:07:25 What music Joe grew up listening to 00:08:30 What university was like and learning synthesis 00:15:07 Searching for a job 00:18:01 First job at Dex Audio 00:22:41 Tape Op & Assistant work at Newmarket Studios 00:25:55 The early years of CD Mastering 00:30:21 Joe's early Mastering experience & why loudness was so important 00:39:24 Learning In-The-Box Mastering during COVID 00:44:36 Donate to the podcast! 00:45:00 The beginning of Crystal Mastering 00:51:43 Moving Crystal Mastering to Thornbury 00:56:03 High-calibre engineers & artists vs. Amateur engineers 01:00:02 The creative aspect of being a mastering engineer 01:04:41 The importance of great relationships & collaboration 01:07:54 Misinformation on Instagram Reels and TikTok 01:09:15 Continuing with in-person consulting & collaboration 01:14:45 Joe's best pieces of advice 01:23:27 Conclusion/Outro

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Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@whatsthatsoundpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stu Watts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@stu.watts.audio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Crystal Mastering: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@crystal_mastering

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stu Watts website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Crystal Mastering website

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to Joe's work on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Stu Watts chats with Chelsea Warner who is a Sydney based producer, songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who creates forward-thinking Pop, R&B, & Hip-Hop. As a true multi-hyphenate, she thrives in all facets of the song creation process, from beat making to vocal arranging to songwriting and more. She has worked with a long list of artists, and has cuts with acts like Kid Cudi, Lil Durk, TIA RAY, and Guy Sebastian. With a background as a singer and having studied jazz & music theory, Chelsea is also a prolific loop & sample maker. She has attended songwriting camps across the world, including the Bali Songwriting Invitational, K-Pop camps in Seoul, UMPG in Hong Kong, and has written in London, Nashville, New Zealand and across Australia. She is the first recipient of Milk & Honey's female producer mentorship, being mentored by Oak Felder (Demi Lovato, Kehlani, Ariana Grande) in LA. Chelsea entered the music industry as an artist, and signed a global publishing deal in her first year of music school. Now, with a multitude of skills, love for storytelling and an unmatched creative versatility, she is building a lane of her own.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:34 About Chelsea Warner 00:03:05 Chelsea's younger years 00:05:21 Learning about production 00:06:36 Songwriting alone and with friends 00:07:49 How school was a formative time 00:11:05 Being in writing rooms 00:14:53 What sessions look like these days 00:16:15 Having an "all or nothing" approach 00:19:37 The differences and similarities between producing and songwriting 00:21:26 Harnessing creativity 00:22:56 Capturing ideas 00:25:47 Donate to the podcast! 00:26:10 Difference between writing for pitching and working with artists 00:27:57 Being flexible in a songwriting session 00:29:45 Favourite things to work on 00:31:48 Forcing yourself to finish an idea 00:34:36 What good and bad sessions look like 00:38:03 Relationships are the key to having a career 00:40:40 Prioritising time 00:43:29 Would you have done anything differently? 00:46:13 How confidence plays into how well you perform 00:49:08 What the next few months look like 00:50:35 Chelsea's best pieces of advice 00:53:26 Conclusion/Outro

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Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@whatsthatsoundpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stu Watts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@stu.watts.audio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Chelsea Warner: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chelseawarnermusic

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stu Watts website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to Chelsea's work on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to Stu's work on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast.whatsthatsound@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for any enquiries.

Stu Watts chats with Nadav Cohen (aka aMess). Raised on an eclectic mix of classic rock, Buddha-Bar and electronic music from his father’s collection, the 25-year-old producer and instrumentalist has been consistently releasing vibrant, sonically rich soundscapes for over half a decade. Born Nadav Cohen in Melbourne, Australia, he began recording music in 2012, in the spare room of his family home on an 8 track mixer. After dabbling with guitar playing, Cohen discovered a fascination for cinematic composers like Hans Zimmer and Thomas Newman. Cohen began scoring local short films in 2017 and would continue to write ambient and cinematic music for the following years. It was after this period that Cohen discovered a deep passion for the recently burgeoning wave of Lo-Fi music. Immersing himself in the unique atmospheres that the genre had to offer, Cohen embarked on a new journey of creating music. Having amassed over 150 million streams in the past 3 years alone, as well as the release of his 2022 Middle Eastern inspired chill beats album “Tales from Babylon” Nadav’s passion for creating and sharing music has only grown stronger over time. Nadav’s current artistic focus involves creating music for TV, Film and working with singers and songwriters.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro 00:01:44 About Nadav Cohen 00:02:31 Where music came into his life 00:04:30 Producing for other artists 00:05:50 Learning about producing ambient and lo-fi 00:10:11 Using guitar as a main element 00:11:56 Figuring out what you are good at 00:13:13 How to get into the creative mode 00:17:22 How to start a session, removing pressure 00:21:31 Being a songwriter/producer for hire 00:25:19 How music libraries work 00:26:20 Donate to the podcast! 00:26:45 Being a business 00:33:41 What Nadav's day-to-day looks like 00:38:07 Collaborating with other artists 00:43:44 What the next 6 months looks like for Nadav 00:46:48 Give people something without expecting something in return 00:48:48 Dealing with rejection 00:52:58 Nadav's best bits of advice 00:55:00 Conclusion/Outro

Make sure to subscribe or follow this channel and share it on your socials!

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@whatsthatsoundpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stu Watts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@stu.watts.audio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Nadav Cohen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@amessvv

⁠Nadav Cohen website⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stu Watts website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to Nadav's work on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to Stu's work on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Donate to the Podcast!⁠⁠⁠

Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast.whatsthatsound@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for any enquiries.