In the short year since moving to Los Angeles, Matt Green has been busy working as an assistant engineer, Pro Tools operator, mixer and engineer. So far, 'Matty' has assisted for a diverse group of successful artists including current stars Kanye West, Fallout Boy, Mary J Blige, Slim Thug, D'Angelo, Pharrel of the Neptunes , A Static Lullaby and the Pussycat Dolls, 80's sensation Rick Springfield and New Age music composer Kitaro. He's also moving up into Pro Tools operator, mixing and engineering, with the single mix for the hip hop group 'Gym Class Heroes', and Pro Tools engineering duties for smash alternative rock band Fall Out Boy. In fact, his sequence of camera shutters opens their hit album 'From Under the Cork Tree.'

OIART's Bob Breen talks to Matt Green about, um, having one syllable names that rhyme and his work in Los Angeles ...

You had a pretty clear idea what you wanted to do when you came to OIART, didn't you?
Yes and no. I knew I wanted to work in music. And OIART really helped me solidify and focus on what it really was I wanted to do, which is produce and engineer. In my time at OIART I gave everything from the film to video games a shot to see if I like them, but I knew it wasn' t for me. I didn' t find it nearly as fun as tracking music.

Did you imagine yourself eventually moving to Los Angeles and working in big studios as you have?
I knew I' d move away from Canada , my two dream cities were New York and LA, obviously right? Isn' t that everyone' s two dream cities? I' m just really happy I got everything together enough to move down here and get a job.

Your job description is pretty diverse. You're working with a lot of different people in different situations, from Pro Tools editing for producer/engineers Neal Avron and Matt Salazar, to assistant engineering at two different studios, and now you're starting to Produce and Engineer your own projects. Tell us a little bit about what you do day to day.
Day to day is so very random. I leave myself open for anything and everything that happens to pop up. I personally HATE cell phones, with a passion I might add, but it' s so necessary for this job. And being able to wake up to a cell phone ringing is very necessary, and sometimes incredibly difficult! One day I could be working on a rock project and the next maybe a hip hop record….except in hip hop they call songs records…..that took a while to get used to. So I just try to stay as available as I can for both studios and my own projects, flexibility and adaptability are two words I' m living by lately.

About my hate/love relationship with cell phones. I remember driving home from Chalice one night…or morning at 7:30am .  I was asleep by 8. But then Ocean called me at 10am , and needed me there ASAP. That sucked, but the other assistant was violently ill, so of course sleep deprivation takes a back seat to that. Oh well, there' s nothing like working 16 hours on 2 hours sleep! If that' s not fun, I don' t know what is.

So I was looking at the number one and two most downloaded tracks on iTunes last week and saw that you had worked on both of them. That's pretty impressive. What did you learn at OIART that helped you make a good first impression on the job so that these opportunities would open up for you?
Studio Etiquette is a HUGE one, which I feel OIART did a great job in teaching. There are certain ways to behave in a studio, which may seem a little abnormal, but will definitely help make a good impression. Like never speaking! (I' m partially kidding) It' s sound we' re dealing with, so anything not coming from the speakers better be important, or you may have just made everyone upset at you.

OIART also taught the importance of signal flow. This has helped me tremendously. I use this every day, twenty four hours a day. It helped me learn the rooms I work in, feel more confident walking into rooms I don' t know yet, and figure out why a microphone isn' t working quickly and efficiently. All this is noticed by co-workers and clients. It allows Studio Managers to trust you to work the bigger sessions, with the more “high profile” clients.

An important part of it I think is recognizing who you can learn from around you and making a point of taking in all you can. Have there been people you've met since you got there you've learned from?
EVERYONE!!! Both the techs at Ocean (Smith Craig) and at Chalice (Stacey Dodds!) have taught me a TON! Those guys rock! But, I mean literally every single person. Even if you' re working with a horrible engineer or a jerk for a producer, what you learn is how NOT to run a session, or how drums SHOULDN' T sound. If you' re not taking something away from everyone, then don' t put yourself in situations where you can' t learn anything. That' s what I really love about this job, is everyday, good or bad, I learn SOMETHING.

OIART really stressed that to me as well. There are “17 ways to do everything” the RTEC teacher Mark always used to say. And he' s absolutely right. 17 is just an arbitrary number, because sometimes there are 99 ways to do it. If you know 16 ways, one day you' ll be in a situation to learn the 17th way, as long as you' re paying attention, you' ll see it.

I feel like OIART gave me an understanding to see and look for every way possible to do anything. Because only once you know something inside and out can you be creative with it.

What were the Kanye West sessions like? Hip hop people work a little differently from rock people don't they?
It is a completely different world. Rock and Hip Hop are like alternate dimensions. I have my preference, but some people like hip hop sessions. Rock sessions have a structure most of the time. And there are very few breaks. You come in and record guitars for 12 hours and go home, maybe with 30 minute lunch and dinner breaks. Hip Hop however, there are more breaks than work. It can be very frustrating.

An engineer once told me a saying he uses for the first day of most hip hop sessions which is “Million Dollar Jukebox”, because more often than not, the first day is strictly listening to CD' s, at ear popping volumes. There are days where all that happens is putting different CD' s in. I wear ear plugs on those sessions because hip hop guys listen SO loud…..and as they get more deaf, the volume just goes up! Protect your ears!!!

The one thing I will say about the Kanye West session was the engineer in my room was REALLY good, and the producer Jon Brion was amazing! The music on that record is incredible! Live drums on a hip hop record??? Brilliant!!

What sort of problems were you called on to solve?
Well I remember one night, I was in Studio A and a new assistant was in Studio B, we finished in A at around 6:30am . And I couldn' t WAIT to go get some sleep, but just as I was turning the lights out and getting ready to go to bed (I was just sleeping at Chalice during those sessions because I was getting MAYBE 3 hours a night) the other assistant came in and said his recall was messed up and asked if I could go take a look at it. The board they were using in B is a Neve 88R. So I went over all his recall notes and made sure everything was where it said it was. There were a few minor changes but nothing major. But the recall still wasn' t right!!! They were A/B ing between the one mix printed and the recall (In theory they should be the same) But they weren' t, so either the assistant' s documentation was wrong, or the board wasn' t recalling correctly. Either way I spent 45 minutes with it, to no avail….so I told them I' d have the tech look at the board in the morning and there was nothing we could do that night. They never did get that recall up and going.

Besides that just the usual mic checks, I had to give the engineer in Studio B a quick tutorial on the Neve' s automation system, gear going down, I had to change some blown out tubes in a Pultec EQ, which was kind of fun. Gear breaks down, so knowing when to say this is broken, you can only troubleshoot for so long. You eventually have to come to a conclusion with clients in the room. And with hip hop sessions there are usually 20-30 people crammed into these tiny control rooms….it can make for a very difficult working environment.

Could you tell the Fall Out Boy record was going to be big when you were working on it?
Well that was my first “real” session. When I say real I mean getting paid, because EVERY session is a real session. Whether it' s tracking vocals to a 002, or doing an involved drum tracking session. It all counts. I thought they were going to be big because of the way the A&R guy was talking about the promotions going in behind them, but because it was my first real LA session, I really wasn' t sure if he was exaggerating or not. I did know they had a VERY large following, so I thought it definitely had some serious potential, and sure enough... That was a very fun session though. Two months of some good old rock! I love it.

You've also done some work at Sunset Sound and The Record Plant. Chalice and Ocean are very different studios as well. You've worked on hip-hop, rock, and new age sessions. Was there anything in your OIART training that helped you be so flexible?
Definitely. I feel like OIART helped me to be ready for anything and everything. I think OIART really trains the students well to understand how ALL gear works instead of how a few pieces of gear work. This way you can walk in anywhere and understand why something is doing something and what it' s going to do instead of, this button does this on this piece of gear, but I don' t know why or how. Every session runs differently, from the structure of the music, to how they want things coming up on the board. You really have to understand why something is happening in order to troubleshoot it. Otherwise you' re just pushing buttons….monkeys can do that. OIART is giving students the knowledge to figure things out instead of training button pushing monkeys.

What's been your most interesting session so far?
I' d have to say a session I did with this guitar player named Phillip Sayce. He plays guitar for Melissa Etheridge. He was doing his solo record at Ocean, with the drummer and bass player from Melissa Etheridge, so just three killer studio musicians, doing a record in a week. A WHOLE RECORD, 12 songs, tracked and mixed; in ONE week….that' s 7 days!!! It was some insane hours, but it couldn' t have been more fun. We were working 10am until anywhere from 5am to 8am everyday. They tracked live, and then did a few guitar and vocal overdubs. The basic tracks were done in two days….it was madness. The players were just incredible. I remember on like day 3 of everyone getting like 2 hours of sleep a night, the Bass player made a mistake at like 2am , because obviously he was tired! The engineer said, “It' s all right, I' ll punch you in there.” Seems reasonable….but instead this guy stands up, puts his bass down and says, “I' m sorry I' m wasting everyone' s time.” And he just leaves! ONE MISTAKE!!! Needless to say he came in the next day and nailed it. That session was killer to say the least….there really are amazing musicians out there still.

You've told me a couple, okay numerous, stories about co-workers from other schools who didn't last very long and weren't very popular. Without naming names or anything, what are a few of the mistakes you've seen that are typical. I realize you don't want to come off like a know-it-all here...

DON' T HAND OUT DEMOS!!! No one cares!!! That' s a big one that will have everyone in the studio making fun of you instantly!

Know when to talk, and when you' re just being annoying. If you' re invited into the room, Great! Now, sit down, and be quiet, no one should know you' re there. If they do, you' re doing something wrong. Don' t ask questions while anything is going on. I' ve had interns walk up and start asking me questions while I' m patching things in for the engineer. That doesn' t go over well. Write down all your questions, and ask when there are no clients in the room.

It' s great to be enthusiastic about learning! Everyone loves that, but you also have to be thrilled to clean the toilets, everyone wants to help the kid that keeps the place insanely clean. They have to trust you to get food and cleaning, before they' ll trust you in a control room.

Show initiative. Whether it' s coming in on days off to learn the room, or organizing your desk. Show that you care to learn. And ask questions if something doesn' t make sense to you. It' s better to ask a question and get it right, then to not ask and mess it up.

Just use common sense.

How did you enjoy your time at OIART? What was your favourite aspect of the program?
I loved the immersion of it all. I think it really prepares you for the types of hours you' re in store for! It also helps you to learn to think when you' re tired, which is a big part of this job. It' s a whole lot easier to keep track of things on 8 hours sleep than on 2 hours sleep.

I also loved the practical exams. That' s the best judge for how you' re doing in the program. Ok, you have the theory down, but can you do it?? It' s a great pressure situation with a lab instructor. It really prepares you for a pressure situation with a client. When a preamp or microphone goes down, you can' t freak out. You have to appear incredibly calm at all times. If you freak out, the client freaks out. So I really liked how they prepare you for that. OIART Rocks, I really love that place.

How did you approach your education here to get the most out of it?
Live and breath it. I' m a strong believer in you only get out of it what you put in. That goes for anything. The teachers are incredibly supportive and the extra help is there if you need it. If you' re really not getting a concept, put the effort in to learn it. OIART is definitely willing to help you. I was not willing to walk away from there not having learned everything I felt I could.

Have you had much time to enjoy life in LA beyond the studio?
A little, but I mean I' m always happiest in the studio. If I have a weekend off or something, I' m just bored and want to go back to the studio.

Would you have it any other way?
Nope.

What are your long term goals?
Make some great sounding, kick ass rock records!!! Repeat.

Thanks Matt! Best of luck!
Thanks Bob. You rock! Long Live Weezer.=W=