Interview of Ethan Dussault as told to Ben Cuba
Ethan Dussault – Recording Engineer/Producer/Musician-Audio engineer. Co-owner of New Alliance Studios, Somerville, MA at Milk Row Studios and volunteer at #ArtStaysHere arts advocacy collective.
What music are you listening to right now?
Aside from all the amazing bands coming through the studio (too many to list and I don’t want to leave anyone out!), I’ll take the question to mean, “What’s on my turntable?” Right now its the new Toadies record called The Charmer which dings a lot of bells for me as a music lover. First, as a teen in the 90s, I loved the Toadies as a band and Steve Albini as a recording and mixing engineer. This is their first and sadly last time making a record together. RIP Steve. Also, one of my first recording opportunities was as a recording engineer for a Toadies live album performed at the Paradise Rock Club back when I was just 21. This new record is a showcase of ascendants of the craft both for the band as musicians and Albini as a recorder.
What was your first concert?
REM and Luscious Jackson at Great Woods in 1995!
What musical artist have you seen the most?
See?! Now this question makes me want to shout all the bands I played with back when I was a touring bassist. Kids Near Water, Jerry Built, Sunfactor, Second Rate, Hundred Reasons, Burning Airlines, and so many more. As simply a fan going to shows? Boston Bands like Barbaro, Scissorfight, Crack Torch, the Lot Six, The Campaign For Real-Time and so many more. National acts like Stone Temple Pilots, The Jesus Lizard, The Cult, Shiner, The Life and Times, Girls Against Boys. When you’re in it, you’re in it. Impossible questions to ask a lifer!
How did you gravitate toward the production/engineering end of music? You have/had a career as a performer, so what made you want to take on the production side of things?
The sparks flew when I heard a song called Dumbjaw on a record called Gimmick by a band called Barkmarket. I was playing in bands and reading liner notes on my favorite records. The best liner notes are like clues to hidden treasure. (Get back to physical media, y’all!). Follow the trail of hints. Toadies and the Pixies both thanked this band Barkmarket in their liner notes, so I had to check them out. When I heard this song, I had to know who was behind it. BACK TO THE LINER NOTES! There I discovered that the singer/guitarist was ALSO the recorder and mixer on the records: D. Sardy. I got the bug.
At that point, I realized that I wasn’t just in for playing the bass or guitar. I could figure out how to make records like the ones changing my life. So, I did. And I am incredibly fortunate to have made it my career. It’s not an easy career to sustain and I’ve made it work. It’s not for everyone!
Could you give a general rundown of New Alliance and your work in such a space? Could you give a general history of the space/company?
New Alliance began back in the Fenway in 1987 in an old tire warehouse. It was founded by a group of local musicians and sound engineers that included Alvan Long and Andrew “Mudrock” Murdock. It lasted there until about 2005, just after the Red Sox won the World Series ending that long drought. The Fenway was promptly redeveloped and multiple music and artist buildings were displaced forcing out hundreds if not over a thousand musicians from the neighborhood.
Back then there were still buildings down the street to move into. Luckily (for a time) we landed at the EMF Building in Central Square where we were the first in and last out. This time the biotech industry won the world series and hundreds were displaced again. Thankfully the strength of the music community had something left for us and we were able to re-home New Alliance Audio (recording and mixing) and New Alliance East (mastering) in Union Square Somerville. Not only that, we were able to bolster the visual arts component of our community by creating New Alliance Gallery right outside our studio doors. Now, we have the music studios and a mix of affordable artist workspaces with visual artists all supporting one another. It’s magical.
I pretty much spend all my time making records and advocating for affordable artist workspaces. I don’t want to move again and if we have to, I hope it is to a permanent location in Somerville.
Help!
What projects are you currently working on?
Rong, Obsolescence Technician, Uma Thermos, Alfred Be Loud, Orbiter, The Jim Healey Band… How much space do we have? This could be like unending liner notes!
What do you value in a client/collaborator/musician/artist? What qualities make for a
pleasant work/creative environment?
Embracing the feedback loop of listening and performing. I will always be working on improving these two skills and the only way that’s possible is to improve both. I will work with just about anyone who is at any stage of development in these two areas. I’ve worked with complete beginners and folks on major labels and everywhere in between.
The best is when the players know their songs and their roles within the songs as well as I know the studio and all its tools. Perform. Listen. Adjust. Repeat. And, you can even shuffle the order and number of participants.
How has your process changed/evolved over the course of your journey in music
production?
Balancing the creative and the technical aspects of the job is probably the most evolved part of my work. So much so that philosophy is now creeping in to the process in unexpected ways.
The range of good sound is broad. In the beginning I thought I had a grip on what sounds good and what sounds bad. While the technical part of the work is important, it has harder boundaries based on physics and economics. It’s not really up for much debate or negotiation. The way something sounds though is up to the listener. Some have said that their favorite sounding
recording that I’ve made is the same recording that is someone else’s least favorite.
The exploration of all the ways we make the immaterial material has become the most rewarding and exciting part. Collaborating with people who are bringing thoughts, feelings, dreams, and stories out of their minds and into song and performance is the fuel that keeps me excited every time I go in to the studio. So sure, I have refined my technical process though I have found that the creative questions are where the best parts are. That’s the realm I hope my collaborators can spend most of their time in when in the studio with me. If I can get the artists talking about the sounds reflecting what was imagined instead of some technical jargon, we’re in the sweet spot of the process.
Let me as engineer handle most of the technical stuff so musicians can make music.
How does the City of Somerville foster a sense of community for you? In other words,
what makes Somerville’s artistic community special?
Somerville is an arts city. Not many cities are, and way more should be. There have been ups and downs. Right now, I think we are climbing up from a down and still have a long way to go. Somerville’s zoning policies regarding the arts and creative economy are trail blazing, as is the city’s Neighborhood Council ordinance. There’s so much good being done here—and not just in the arts—in spite of all the rough stuff going on around the globe. Though we can’t solve all the problems, we have to keep what we can. Given what people in this community are capable of when it comes to joining together, I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of it all. We need to keep working toward making Somerville a city for everyone.
Is there any project, artist, or event that you would like to promote?
Come visit the New Alliance Gallery (newalliancegallery.com)! We have a wonderful community of visual artists, musicians, and craftspeople who host art shows a handful of times a year. The vibes are always great at the opening receptions. Go see local music! Any local music! And, come make a record with me (newallianceaudio.com). We have a good time!
More Artists of the Month from 2026
Andrew Stearns & Stacy Friedman, May 2026 Artist of the Month
Archives
About the Artist of the Month
This program is inspired by the Nave Gallery’s “Featured Artist” program, which ran from 2005 to 2009.
SAC’s Artist of the Month program is a way for us to celebrate the enormous wealth of talent in our city, by shining a spotlight on a different creative Somervillian each month.
This program has been put together by a whole raft of people: Coordinators Jenn Harrington (2013-2014) and Kellie Veiga (2013), Gilmore Tammy (2017) and Somerville Arts Council board members Matt Kaliner, Tim Devin, Valeria Amato, and Michael J. Epstein, Bill House (2019-2020), Charan Devereaux (2019-2025), Tori Weston (2019-2025) and Andrea Read (2022-2025). Current coordinators, are Kerrie Kemperman (2019-), Seth Garcia (2025-), and Ben Cuba (2026-).
Know of a great Somerville based artist who should be recognized, please nominate the artist for consideration. We seek artists who contribute to the community through their strong work and community collaborations. Artist should either reside in the City or contribute to the City’s vibrant art scene.