WCA #612 with Brian Starley – Utah, Cartage, Building a Studio in LA, and Relationships Before Gear

For episode 612, Matt talks with Brian Starley recording and mixing engineer based in North Hollywood, California, and owner of Bergatron Music Studio. Brian grew up in Salt Lake City with a dad who transferred vinyl to cassette for the car, chased a hockey career to Ontario, came home to Utah without a plan, and found recording through a coworker who'd interned at the Blasting Room. After learning Pro Tools at twenty bucks an hour and getting out of Utah in 2005, he landed at Musicians Institute in LA and then at Lon Cohen Studio Rentals a cartage company where he spent six years moving Tim Pierce's guitars and Mike Elizondo's Logic rig around the city. After going freelance in 2013, he built a YouTube live session channel, had his busiest mixing years during COVID, and then spent the better part of two years fighting LA permits, tariffs, and a construction crew to build his dream studio — refinancing the house to do it. They talk about what cartage taught him about gear and sessions, the mobile recording revelation that shaped his whole approach, building a studio in 2025 LA, the stress that put him in the hospital with diverticulitis, and why you should focus on relationships before gear.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in Salt Lake City, Utah — The Zion Curtain

- A Dad Who Transferred Vinyl to Cassette and Filled the Car With Music

- Hockey, Rage Against the Machine, and a Dream of the NHL

- Moving to Shelburne, Ontario to Play Junior Hockey

- Coming Home to Utah and Finding Construction Work for His Dad

- A Coworker From the Blasting Room Who Changed Everything

- Learning Pro Tools at Twenty Bucks an Hour on a Digi 001

- Getting Into Trouble and Getting Out of Utah — Moving to LA in 2005

- Musicians Institute and Finding the Path Into Recording

- Landing at Lawn — a Cartage Company for LA's Top Session Musicians

- Tim Pierce, Joe Chiccarelli, Abe Laboriel Sr., and What Cartage Taught Him

- Mike Elizondo's Logic Rig and the Mobile Recording Revelation

- Scab Dates, Church Choirs, and Recording With a Handful of Mics

- Post Production School, Roger Nichols, and Getting Certified in Pro Tools

- Going Freelance in 2013

- Live Sessions at Custom Vintage Keys With JJ Blair and the Boba Jam Channel

- The Decision to Build a Studio — and Reaching Out to Josh Nyback in 2023

- Two and a Half Years of Permits, Hidden Fees, and LA Bureaucracy

- Refinancing the House to Fund the Build

- Tariffs, Construction Costs, and Watching the Budget Disappear

- Supervising a General Contractor Who Didn't Know What a Studio Was

- Isomax Clips, Green Glue, and Checking Every Screw

- Diverticulitis in November From the Stress of the Build

- His Wife Allie — The Person Who Got Them Through It

- Crying in the Finished Room When They First Put the Speakers Up

- California Disability Insurance for Freelancers — and the Scott McDowell Episode

- You Don't Need All the Gear — Build Relationships First

- Support the Ecosystem — Book Studios, Pay for Mastering

Matt's RANT!: Things Matt Is Doing

Links

Credits:

- Guest: Brian Starley

- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau

- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell

- The Voice: Chuck Smith

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