Kathy Naunton’s obsession with music and music production began at a very early age. She was endlessly fascinated by the technology of the day, and laughs a little now as formats like vinyl and tape, that went out of style, are now back In fashion.
In 1984 Kathy started her professional career at Paradise Recording Studios owned by the outrageously talented Billy Field, who was then at the height of his own recording career. He had established one of the most exclusive recording studios in Sydney where Australia’s biggest names recorded their music, including Air Supply, Cold Chisel, INXS, Paul Kelly, Icehouse, Divinyls, Midnight Oil, The Models, the Angels, Gang Gajang. It was an incredible time in Australian music history, and Kathy feels lucky to have be on the engineering team for many of these recording and mixing sessions.
In 1985 Kathy jumped at an offer to join the engineer team at the famous Alberts Recording Studios, home to ACDC.
She worked alongside award winning engineers and producers David Hemming, Bruce Brown, David Nicholas, Guy Gray, Mark Opitz, Mike Chapman, Warne Livesey, Richard Lush. They engineered albums such as “Diesel and Dust“ by Midnight Oil, and “Under The Sun” by Paul Kelly, as well as film scores such as Strictly Ballroom. It was a wonderful and very fortunate apprenticeship.
Iva Davies and Ice House, The Choirboys, Hoodoo Gurus, Rockmelons, and Marcia Hines recorded some of their iconic tracks at Alberts during this period too.
While at Alberts Kathy formed an engineer/producer partnership with the late and great producer Robert Racic, a highly influential and groundbreaking DJ and remixer. He would create amazing extended dance mixes before anyone else was doing so by editing tape, (yes tape). Sounds impossible given the advances in digital audio editing software that we all take for granted now. Over the years, as digital technology advanced, they were there, adopting it and craving more. Racic produced several top 10 Billboard dance hits including tracks by Severed Heads and Boxcar.
“I believe my background in recording, producing, editing, mixing for bands, film and tv gives me an empathetic perhaps even telepathic understanding of how other peoples tracks and mixes have come together, the challenges that may have been faced during production and the possibilities that still remain for mastering to create the ultimate version” – Kathy Naunton
dB Mastering was established by Kathy and Robert in the inner city Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst in 1992 and began very organically. Their first success was mastering The Rockmelons album “Form One Planet”which we mastered in Robert’s tiny bedroom (complete with birds tweeting outside), using expensive boxes they’d borrowed from accomodating colleagues. From this album emerged the top 10 hits, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, and “That Word (L.O.V.E)” both featuring vocalist Deni Hines. The album was nominated for an ARIA award in 1993.
Word spread quickly and they soon had ARIA winning and nominated hits for South End, Paul Mac, Boxcar, Severed Heads and Itch-E and Scratch-E to add to their list of mastering credits.
This amazing and rewarding journey continued, expanding to include releases across all genres, including jazz and classical.
“I am in awe of all the musicians that I have had the supreme pleasure of working with. Blows my mind every day that I am lucky enough to be invited to play a small part in their success. Goosebumps!” – Kathy Naunton
dB Mastering relocated to the inner west Sydney suburb of Camperdown in 2000 and continued to offer the same highly personalised mastering service that had been synonymous with the name since 1992. Rarely if ever advertising, word of mouth was, and still is, the key to continued success.
As the new millennium began internet speeds improved and many clients began to ask if they could simply send in their files in for mastering, and not attend the often long and tiring sessions. This was the beginning of E-Mastering, and where dB Mastering has evolved to today. dB Mastering offers a complete streamlined and personalised service to local, interstate and international clients.
Looking forward to working with you soon!
“I master each and every project myself, as if it were my own and I believe this is why the quality has remained constant over the past 25 years. Yes it is a personal exercise, sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhilarating but always ultimately rewarding” – Kathy Naunton
“Kathy Naunton from dB Mastering is not only an exquisite person, but has the best mastering ears in Sydney. Having worked with us on our last 3 releases, Kathy has brought new life to already great-sounding recordings, and mastered for us the highest selling Australian jazz release of 2012, the ‘Best Jazz Album’ Aria-nominated album from 2011, and the ‘Best Jazz Album’ ARIA winner from 2013. The beautiful warmth and intricate nuance she brings to her work is matched only by her great depth of innate understanding of what any given recording needs from her expert sonic ‘polishing’. Not to mention how incredibly easy she is to work with. As long as Kathy’s still mastering, we won’t be going anywhere else in a hurry.”
“No matter how well you play, what great mikes you use, or who records your work – the result will always depend very heavily on how it’s mastered. That’s why I trust my music to dB Mastering, Kathy treats the sound with the same care and attention to detail as the musicians themselves.”
“Kathy Naunton is always my first port of call when it comes to mastering my releases. Not only does she have an amazing ear with sound, but what I dig about Kathy is that she genuinely loves what she does for a living. That love and attention to detail that she provides is so very important in producing a quality end product. It’s always a pleasure hanging out and working on a project with Kathy.”
“Mastering is a mysterious process, and not one I pretend to understand well, but as a producer who is often entrusted with the precious goods at the end of hundreds of hours of work, it is very reassuring to be in the safe hands of an expert with very good ears and a room full of good equipment. I have had the pleasure of working with Kathy many times on different projects for more than ten years now, and I’ve always been overwhelmed with the quality of the masters she delivers. She has a great way of dealing with people, and a great touch for sweetening your records before they are handed over to the audience.”
“I trust Kathy Naunton’s ear more than anyone else in the industry,
I always get the exact sound that I want plus more, I wouldn’t go anywhere else for mastering. And I love you!”
“I never go past the shine and wonderful master-after touches that Kathy puts into all my music deliveries…… whether it be music for production music libraries, scores to television series or features. I always book into dB Mastering for all my final tweaking — and it makes such a difference. And best of all, Kathy is a pleasure to work with, and I have a solid 15 year history with them to prove it !”
“Having worked with dB Mastering since it’s inception with the Volition label, I find a high level of skill and expertise that I can rely on – I return and always get the goods.
What I look for and get from Kathy at dB Mastering, is a quality finish for a quality album and over 15 years of consistency counts for a lot in my books.
On a personal level, it also pleases me greatly that the idea of establishing a superior mastering facility in Australia with her late great dB partner, Robert Racic, when the first Volition releases were coming through, is a reality that lives on. Respect!”
“While we have swapped and changed studios and producers, Kathy has been our single constant pillar in the recording process. We have used dB Mastering since the inception of our band and intend to continue doing so. Kathy’s quality of work and professionalism are second to none. The translation of the song from studio to mastered version is always night & day. She enables us to clearly hear everything that is going on in the mix, ultimately giving a warm, fully rounded, radio quality song.”