My guest today is Jacob Winik, the COO, Technical Director, and Sound Designer at Cosmic Standard, an audio production company he co-founded with his wife, Eliza Smith, in January 2020. Jacob has collaborated on projects with TED, Patagonia, Dropbox, KQED, Samantha Crain, Meernaa, Doe Eye, and Steep Ravine. He previously worked as an audio engineer at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco.
In this episode, we discuss

Bay Area Upbringing

Parents' Musical Influence

Early Punk Music

Divorce Sparks Punk Interest

Gillman Street Experiences

Technology at Home

Early Instruments

School Band Reluctance

Discovering DIY Punk

College Band Experience

House Shows in College

Obsessed with Music Making

Improving Live Sound

Early Recording Awareness

DIY Recording at Gillman

First Demo Recording

College Film Studies

Pursuit of Music Recording

Internship at The Compound

Learning Basic Recording Skills

Building Client Relationships

Internship at Fantasy Studios

Analog Tape Recording Challenges

Journey Recording Experience

Interning with Magic Magic Orchestra

John Vanderslice

Studio Setup at Tiny Telephone

Transition to Professional Engineer

Hands-on Learning with Tape

Podcast Company Formation

Balancing Overhead Costs

Scalable Team Structure

Remote Work Adaptation

Handling Pandemic Challenges

Client Training Remotely

Improved Quality of Life

Building Client Relationships


Matt's Rant: Moving Through Your Audio Career with Blinders On
Links and Show Notes

Cosmic Standard

John Vanderslice on WCA


Credits

Guest: Jacob Winik

Host: Matt Boudreau

Engineer: Matt Boudreau

Producer: Matt Boudreau

Editing: Anne-Marie Pleau 

WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell 

Announcer: Chuck Smith