WCA #617 with Anthony Gravino – Leaving Chicago, a 1940s Horse Barn, and Building High Cross Sound

Anthony Gravino is a musician and a recording, mixing, and mastering engineer. He returns to Working Class Audio nearly a decade after his first appearance on Episode 137. In 2020, he sold The Drake, his Chicago studio of 14 years, and bought a converted 1940s horse barn just outside Urbana, Illinois. Before signing anything, he had a friend bring over a drum kit so he could hear the room. He turned the barn into High Cross Sound, a 2,100 square foot studio and home with 25-foot peak ceilings, curved wooden walls, a loft control room, and a pool. Three months after moving in, he tracked 14 straight days with Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter. He and Matt get into why he left Chicago (gentrification, property taxes, and the pandemic all hit at once), how selling a building bought in 2006 and borrowing at 2.5% made the move work, dropping the API console for a small mixer and outboard preamps, and the tax advantages of living where 80% of the square footage is studio. They also talk about why the Champaign-Urbana music scene has more players than it has studios. Watch or listen 👉 https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca... Anthony Gravino on Instagram:   / anthonygravino   Anthony Gravino on Bandcamp: https://anthonygravino.bandcamp.com WCA #137 with Anthony Gravino: https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca... #WorkingClassAudio #AudioEngineering #RecordingStudio #StudioDesign #HighCrossSound #AnthonyGravino #KurtElling #CharlieHunter #RecordingEngineer #MusicProduction