What's That Sound?

Stu Watts chats with Fletcher Matthews, who is based in Sydney, Australia. His journey through the industry has seen him amass an array of achievements — from charting successes, to commercial and sporting syncs, to critical acclaim. With over 60 million streams across songs he’s produced and written, Fletcher's musical prowess shines brightly, elevating artist projects to new heights. Whether it's crafting anthemic tracks ...

Stu Watts chats with Jack Prest, who is a leading audio engineer and producer in Australia’s independent and alternative music scene, specialising in forward-thinking electronic, jazz, and experimental music. His credits include prominent Australian and international artists such as Sampa The Great, Godtet, Jonti, Tasman Keith, Omar Musa, Urthboy, Kelly Lee Owens, and labels like Stones Throw, Kitsune, and Future Classic. Jack’s ap...

This episode is a discussion on how AI is impacting the music industry, hosted by Stu Watts and features guests Joe Carra (Grammy nominated mastering engineer) and Simon Moro (producer/engineer/mixer).

Joe Carra 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 recei...

Stu Watts chats with Mickey Nox (aka Stephan Nardella) who burst on to the Melbourne club scene in 2007 and soon had a reputation for playing the harder styles of dance music. This soon led to starting his own productions as a producer, and eventually full DJ sets of only original music in a time where if you wanted to hear the music, you’d simply have to go and watch him play. By doing this Mickey Nox amassed quite the following. ...

Stu Watts chats with Josh Simons, who is the CEO of Australia’s only ASX-listed music company, Vinyl Group (ASX:VNL), and Founder of Vampr. Described as a visionary entrepreneur, Simons has raised $35M historically for his technology startups from various sources including venture capital, institutional, HNW, family office and angel groups. These ventures have seen him reside in Los Angeles, London, Sydney and Melbourne.Formerly kn...

Stu Watts chats with Tim Maxwell, who is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, producer and mix engineer based in Melbourne, Australia. He first made his mark as the producer and frontman of the band Loser. Their debut album, Mindless Joy, was nominated for an Australian Music Prize in 2020, marking the start of Tim’s career as a producer. The follow-up album, All The Rage, achieved over 1 million Spotify streams, with two singles a...

Stu Watts chats with Myles Mumford, who has been making music and making records professionally since the late 90s. Starting trombone with his Dad, Monte Mumford, he completed a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Music) with trombone and composition before moving to Melbourne in 2002 to study at the VCA. After completing a Graduate Diploma in Dramatic Art (sound) Myles took over the operation of the VCA recording studio and hasn't lo...

Stu Watts chats with Louis Montgomery, who is a Melbourne based music producer, mix engineer, recording engineer, composer, and musician; working mostly between Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney. 

Louis graduated from the ANU with a Bachelor of Music - First Class Honours. In this, Louis specialised in Creative Recording and was awarded the prestigious Bernard Neumann Memorial Prize, The Peter and Lena Karmel Anniversary Award, and Th...

Stu Watts chats with Nick Franklin, who is a mastering engineer, (sometimes) recording and mixing engineer and the owner of electronic gadget company Franklin Audio.Nick grew up in a small coastal town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, playing in bands and recording music with friends. His parents were incredibly supportive—soundproofing the garage, helping him buy his first recording equipment, and ultimately encouraging ...

Stu Watts chats with Hayden Lauersen, who is a mix engineer and record producer based in Melbourne, Australia. With a background in songwriting and production of original works, he offers a premium service tailored to the artist experience, highlighting emotional expression with compelling sonics. Studio credits include Kate Ceberano, Clare Bowditch, Haiku Hands, Tentendo, ISHAN, Kee’ahn, Sophiya, Woodes, RARIA, Blush’ko, AKOSIA an...

Stu Watts chats with Stefan Du Randt, who is one of the select few engineers who work exclusively from Studios 301 and has capitalised on that by building a reputation as a prolific producer, mixing and recording engineer. His credits are highlighted by his work on Mac Millers‘ posthumous album “Circles“, and include many exciting Australian and international artists such as Coldplay, Zedd, Katy Perry, Thelma Plum, Guy Sebastian, E...

Stu Watts chats Lewis Mitchell, who is a Sydney-based music producer and engineer known for his exceptional craftsmanship and versatility across multiple genres and roles. With over a decade of experience, he’s built a reputation for helping artists reach new creative heights while fostering strong, lasting relationships. Over the course of his career, Lewis has worked in-house at Sony Music and Universal Music and collaborated wi...

We’re not done with the live event yet! Here’s part 2 - the audience Q&A section filmed at Marshall Street Studios, where host Stu Watts and the amazing panel—Anna Laverty, Nicholas Di Lorenzo and Becki Whitton—answer some awesome real-world questions including fighting burnout, scheduling and managing creative energy, creating safe and inclusive studio spaces and much more!

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:55 How do you avoid bu...

In this - part one of the very first live episode, host Stu Watts is joined by an incredible panel of music production professionals—Anna Laverty, Nicholas Di Lorenzo, and Becki Whitton—to discuss the ins and outs of building a career in the music industry. Topics include client acquisition, managing finances, social media strategies, and so much more!

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:42 Panel Introduction 00:06:10 What does a generi...

Stu Watts chats with Stephen Mowat, who is an ARIA award winning, multi disciplinary, multi genre loving music person. He has worked as a DJ, producer, recording engineer and songwriter all over the world for around 15 years. Extended stints in NYC, Nashville, as well as his hometown of Melbourne, have informed his love of all forms of music. From hip hop to soul to rock and beyond. Mowat is currently based out of The Aviary Studio...

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 recognise...

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...

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 dabbli...

Stu Watts chats with George Carpenter, who is a record producer, songwriter, arranger, recording engineer and mixer. An avid music nerd since a young age, he was classically trained in drums, percussion, piano and composition/arrangement at school before going on to complete a Bachelor of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2009. Having previously been a member of several notable groups such as The Delta Riggs, Mourn...