WCA #613 with Ben Mellott – Northern Virginia, Church Sound, Farm Festivals, and Profit First

For episode 613, Matt talks with Ben Mellott — recording engineer, mixer, and owner of Nothing but Noise studio in Northern Virginia. Ben has been freelance since 2014, balances studio work with live production at churches, farms, and local venues, and runs every dollar through the Profit First system. They talk about building a career on curiosity, the alternative path through cassette manufacturing and church sound, and why the business side of audio doesn't sound like fun until it absolutely is. In This Episode, We Discuss: Northern Virginia, Born and Raised A Dad at Toys R Us and a Mom in the Church Choir Recording Bands on a Tascam Four-Track at Ten Dollars a Song The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio — Audio Boot Camp Learning Signal Flow Before Hardware Manufacturing Cassettes and CDs at Lion Recording Moving Into Graphics — Quark Express, InDesign, and Terrible Early Websites Roadie and Merch for a Month-Long US Tour With Frodus Getting the Farm Festival Gig Ten Years of Sunday Church Sound — and What He Learned About Temperament The Drummer in the Crowd Who Got Him the Venue Gig Real-Life Social Proof — Likable Enough (For a Live Sound Guy) Curiosity as a Career Strategy Nothing But Noise — The Studio and the Freelance Life Since 2014 Debt, an Inheritance That Didn't Change the Slope, and the Pandemic Implementing the Profit First System Of Every Thousand Dollars, Only $150 Is Spendable — and Why That's the Point Self-Financing Gear and Paying Yourself Back on a Payment Plan The Sweetwater Rep Who Said You've Got a Lot of Gear The Business Side Doesn't Sound Like Fun Until It Is Matt's RANT!: Doing Things the Alternative Way Links and Show Notes: Nothing but Noise Profit First — Mike Michalowicz (book) Profit First — Audiobook on Libro.fm WCA #133 with Alan Evans WCA #328 with Alan Evans WCA #576 with Alan Evans Credits: Guest: Ben Mellott Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell The Voice: Chuck Smith