Show Notes
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 The Friends of the School of Music Transition Award. During his studies, he also partook in a number of recording studio internships around Australia, including: Studios 301, Sydney; Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne; Infidel Studios, Canberra; work experience with ABC Classic FM, and assisted Magoo (Dr Lachlan Goold), Brisbane. Over his career his work has amassed 160+ million streams. His work with Callum Henshaw resulted in an Album of the Week on Classic FM; his work with SAFIA resulted in an Album of the Week on Triple J, 5 songs in the Hottest 100, and in 2016 saw the band nominated for an ARIA Award. He has been awarded multiple Gold and Platinum singles, as well as a Gold Certified album. He has worked at Abbey Road Studios, London; Studios 301, Sydney; Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne; Golden Retriever, Sydney; Rolling on the River, Tasmania; and Supersize Recording Studio, Budapest. In 2018 he was part of a team that won Best Sound for Interactive Media at the Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards. In 2022 Louis was nominated for Industry Legend of the Year at the Music ACT Music Awards, in 2024 he produced the Music ACT Music Awards Release of the Year (Flik - Stormchaser), in 2025 he was nominated for MPEG Breakthrough Producer of the Year. Chapters:00:00 Intro02:11 About Louis Montgomery02:32 Early experiences with music08:25 Discussing the education system10:36 Early experiences of sound engineering14:20 Interning and assisting22:39 The importance of extensive demoing25:52 How to navigate when things aren't going right29:22 What is a "great mix"?32:57 A discussion about mix notes37:14 There's no answer for how to create the "perfect" piece of art39:02 What Louis has learnt about business over the years42:45 Networking and relationships45:15 Recording live and to tape52:10 What's coming up for Louis55:01 Best bits of advice for producers/engineers and artists56:41 Conclusion/Outro How you can support the podcast:Subscribe on YouTube Buy some merch Donate Follow on Instagram:What's That Sound? Stu Watts Louis Montgomery Louis Montgomery website Stu Watts website Listen to Louis' work on Spotify Listen to Stu's work on Spotify Enquiries and suggestions: [email protected]
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Get 20% off The Home Studio Drum Recording Masterclass: https://buy.stripe.com/cNidR86Un8SUcAYeqkbZe03?prefilled_promo_code=WTS20 Stu Watts chats with Joel Farland who is the music director and composer trusted to deliver stadium scale with orchestral precision for many of the world’s biggest artists, brands and events. Founder of Far Land Creative, Joel is equally at home with Parkway Drive as he is on a luxury runway. His expertise stems from a conservatoire education – First Class Honours from the Royal College of Music, London – tempered by tour smarts from years on the road. He has music directed for 50 Cent, Charli XCX and Rita Ora, co-produced with Tones and I on her feature in Aquaman 2, led the music on ABC New Year's Eve since 2020 and built the TikTok Awards performance segments four years running. His ceremony work spans the Australian of the Year, Global Citizen Nights, Cartier's Inter-Regional High Jewellery Gala, the First Nations concert First and Forever, and the 2026 Asian Women's Cup where he was ceremonies music director and composer of the tournament anthem. As a producer, he has recently made records with Tones and I, Peach PRC, Matt Corby, Kita Alexander and Midnight til Morning, and is currently producing Parkway Drive's live symphonic album and concert film, Home. How you can support the podcast: Sign up to our monthly newsletter Subscribe on YouTube Buy some merch Donate to the podcast What's That Sound? on Instagram Stu Watts on Instagram Joel Farland on Instagram Stu's Website Joel's Website Listen to Stu's work on Spotify Listen to Joel's work on Spotify Enquiries and suggestions: [email protected]
Stu Watts chats with Darius Papak, who is a Melbourne-based recording/mix engineer, and music producer specialising in Indie-Pop Rock, Rock and Pop-Folk. Working out of his inspirational, sunlit Mudbrick Studio in Lower Plenty, he creates warm, organic, and thoughtfully crafted productions that prioritise artistic vision and sonic exploration.With over 20 years of experience writing and recording music and having worked with various producers and engineers, he has honed his approach towards production to ensure the artist knows he cares about their vision and their music.Darius draws inspiration from producers renowned for their innovative soundscapes and artist-empowering approaches, including Sylvia Massy, Dan Nigro, Catherine Marks, and Shawn Everett. His process emphasises patience and openness, ensuring he's never satisfied until the artist is. How you can support the podcast: Sign up to our monthly newsletter Subscribe on YouTube Buy some merch Donate to the podcast What's That Sound? on Instagram Stu Watts on Instagram Darius Papak on Instagram Stu's Website Listen to Stu's work on Spotify Enquiries and suggestions: [email protected]
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