Recording
Get it right
at the source.
Most of my sessions happen at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. The big room fits a whole band playing together, and a second room handles overdubs. Not in the Bay Area? I’ll fly to a studio near you. Or, if your band is up for an adventure, I’ll bring the studio to a house, a barn, wherever the record wants to be made.
Three ways to do it
In a Bay Area studio
Most of my sessions happen at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. The big room fits a whole band playing together, and a second room handles overdubs. I also work out of 25th Street Recording, Brothers Chinese Recording and Shiny Eyes when a record suits one of them. You’re paying for me and for the room, and the estimate below splits the two out so you can see where the money goes.
In a studio near you
If you’re not in the Bay Area, I can fly to you and work in a purpose-built studio in your city, whether that’s LA, Portland, London or Iceland. I recorded Tiger Touch at Jackpot in Portland this way. You get a proper room with the infrastructure already in place, and you don’t have to move the band. Tell me where and I’ll put together a number.
The adventure
If you’re in the Bay Area and your band is up for it, rent a house, a barn, a rehearsal room, any space with the right character, and I’ll bring the whole rig. Remote recording is an adventure and a lot of fun to do, and the record picks up the sound of the place. It’s usually the more interesting record, and the one people don’t know they can ask for.
Production
“You record, mix
and master. Do
you produce?”
Yes. Any day of the week I’m an engineer with opinions. And when you need a creative leader or co-leader, I’m here from the start to bring leadership, counsel and organization to finishing the record: making the calls on arrangements and takes, and keeping everyone pointed at the same record.
I’ve produced or co-produced a number of releases over the years, including The Samples’ Rehearsing for Life, Room 219 Combo’s Saturday in September, and Domes of Energy’s “Girl U Want”, where I also played drums and mixed.
The
producer’s
ally.
Just as often I’m the producer’s right hand: helping them in any way I can to support the band, and keeping the session moving so they can focus on the music. Joe Chiccarelli brought me in to do the Atmos mixes for Arde Bogotá’s record, and I worked alongside John Cuniberti on his OneMic series. Whichever role the record needs, that’s the one I take.
Arde Bogotá, MCGS
Joe and I go back to 1994, when he produced my band Seven Day Diary for Reprise/Warner Bros. Thirty-odd years later he produced Arde Bogotá’s Manufacturas del Club de la Gente Sola and brought me in for the Atmos mixes (Sony Music Spain, 2026).
Joe’s career runs from Frank Zappa and Oingo Boingo to U2, Elton John, Beck, The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Killers, The Shins and My Morning Jacket, with multiple Grammys along the way.
OneMic
John Cuniberti’s series where a full band plays live to a single stereo ribbon mic. No multitrack, no edits, no overdubs: what the room hears is the record. John co-produced and engineered Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien and holds a Grammy for mastering.
Estimate
Work out
your sessions
A note from Matt
Budgeting your time
What I call a day is 8 hours, 10 max if we’re on a roll. After thirty years in the studio, here’s my advice:
It always takes longer than anyone thinks it will.
Don’t try to cram too much into a day. Quality suffers.
When tracking basics, if you practice or play live occasionally, three songs a day should be the max. Basics means the band playing together to get the foundation: drums, bass and rhythm parts.
If you tour and practice constantly, maybe five basics a day if you’re lucky. Overdubs, vocals and solos come after, and need their own days.
Write down what you want to accomplish so budget and time don’t disappear to poor planning.
Ready when
you are.
Tell me what the record is, roughly how many songs, and whether you have a room in mind. I’ll come back with days and a number.