WCA #605 with Chris Mara – Building Welcome to 1979, Restoring Tape Machines, and Saying Yes to Everything

Chris Mara owns Welcome to 1979, one of the larger recording studios in Nashville, along with his wife Yoli. He joins Matt for episode 605 to talk about moving to Nashville at 20, building Mara Machines and a vinyl mastering department alongside the studio, and running it for 18 years with no partners and almost no borrowed money.In This Episode, We Discuss:Growing Up in an 800-Person Wisconsin Town With No Internet and No RoadmapCommunity College Recording and Moving to Nashville at 20"I Am Working Class": No Safety Net, No Umbilical CordThe Unpaid Internship and the Downtown Bellman Job That Funded ItTrading Every Favor to Pull Studio ShiftsKeys and Alarm Codes to Ten StudiosSeeing the Same Gear Used a Million Different WaysWorking Across Every Format: 2-Inch, RADAR, DAT, and Early Pro ToolsThe Nashville Number System and Country-Session EfficiencyBringing in Rock Bands and Running Them Like Pro Country DatesJustifying Your Existence When the Guitarist Has Pro Tools at HomeComing Up With Welcome to 1979 (and the Runner-Up: "Simulated Wood Grain")Pitching a Studio to His Pregnant Wife for $1,100 a Month"You Can Break Even As Long As You Want"Yoli Quitting Her Job to Run the Business SideHow Mara Machines Was Born From a Side HustleMultiple Income Streams and Why They Carry the WeightWatching Your Overhead Before It Sinks YouIs That Gear Going to Make You Money, or Just Sit There?Renting Rooms Instead of Buying ThemSaying Yes to Everything and Learning on Someone Else's Dime18 Years, No Partners, Almost No Borrowed Money, Still MarriedThe Recording Summit, Tape Camps, and Vinyl CampsMatt's RANT!: A Brain DumpLinks and Show Notes:Welcome to 1979: https://www.welcometo1979.com/Mara Machines: https://www.maramachines.com/Recording Summit: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#recordingsummitTape Camp: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#tapecampVinyl Camp: https://welcometo1979.com/events/#vinylcampLij Shaw / Recording Studio Rockstars: https://recordingstudiorockstars.com/Credits:Guest: Chris MaraHost/Engineer/Producer: Matt BoudreauWCA Theme Music: Cliff TruesdellThe Voice: Chuck Smith