meet the team

Photo credit: Julia Gromek

David Juro

co-owner, engineer/producer

David is the co-founder of Cart Studios, a trained audio engineer, music producer, and lifelong musician.  Having played instruments since childhood, he has always held a passion for creating and supporting music in a variety of forms. Obsessing over countless records, joining bands in high school, and experimenting with homemade demos led David to the recording studio and eventually Drexel University’s Music Industry program (thanks to student loans).  Since then, he has worked on projects and styles ranging from fuzzy indie rock [blue jean’s in retro(spect)//in retro(grade)] to melancholic emo punk [Harmony Woods’ GRACEFUL RAGE] to earthy singer-songwriter country [James Clark’s “Vance Palmer”] to his own eclectic recordings as a solo artist over the years [David Juro’s Bloom & Decay], and each has given him valuable insights into the process of creating songs.  In 2021, David met Matias through freelance audiovisual work at the Barnes Foundation and soon started both engineering live performances videos at studio spaces across Philadelphia and performing instruments on friends’ songs produced by Matias [Meet the Bug’s “Bettyjo”].  Fatefully, David and Matias teamed up with another Barnes AV coworker, Thomas Costello, to pool together microphones, outboard gear, various instruments, furniture, and more at a warehouse space off of Baltimore Ave in West Philly—Cart Studios was born and recordings abounded!  When he isn’t engineering or performing, David enjoys eating at local restaurants, spending quality time with friends and their pets, and consuming political news coverage a.k.a. doomscrolling.

Matias Van Order Gonzalez

 Founder, co-owner, engineer/producer

Matias is the co-founder of Cart Studios and the founder of the Cart Music video sessions. After a great experience in a small project studio as a teenager with his band he’s been obsessed with recording and producing, which as a teenager he (stupidly) thought was an easy way to make money in the music industry. Matias went to Bard College to be a music major, ended up spending lots of time studying weird music professors make (abstract electronic music) and recording anyone on campus who would let him near them with a microphone. After college he moved to Philly because one of his friends told him there was a spare room he could move into for $420 a month (and because of the incredible music scene). After several years of scrappy basement recordings and bouncing around different Philly studios (including tons of recording at the legendary Hidden Fortress) Matias convinced David and Thomas to put their gear into a warehouse space that would become Cart Studios. 

Matias has recorded, mixed and produced for many bands and artists spanning genres, styles and processes, a full list is available on his personal website: https://mativg.com/ . Matias has also recorded hundreds of bands for the Cart Music live session video series on youtube. When he’s not recording Matias is playing guitar in his band Glitterspitter, trying to do some sort of outdoorsy thing (hiking, climbing, skiing, running), or cooking a meal for the homies. 

Thomas Costello

Founder, engineer
Thomas loves hardcore, punk, and various eccentric music.  He's been working in recording, live sound, and art installation audio full time for the last 15 years.  He plays guitar in Get Well and likes rock climbing.  
Send him your worst ideas.

Anthony Aguilar

Mastering engineer
Anthony began studying classical guitar in a Las Vegas public high school academy before branching into jazz, fusion, and progressive music, cutting his teeth working live sound in casinos and showrooms across the city. After moving to Philadelphia, he met Matias through live sound and joined Cart Studios in April 2024, where he now offers dedicated mastering services.

With a penchant for mathrock and all things technical, Anthony runs his own mixing and mastering studio, Set The Tone Records, working with bands like Save Us From The Archon, Gods., Fake Pollocks, Cloutchaser, and Floral. He spends his free time playing Super Smash Bros. Melee (the best one) and hosting craft nights.
Studio manager, engineer/ producer

Em Damm

Em grew up in Southeast Florida making music with their friends on the beach. They started working at studios in high school and upon moving to Philadelphia, interned at Headroom Studio and began freelancing. Em joined the Cart team in late 2025, and mostly has experience working with folk, indie, and alternative artists, but enjoys working on all kinds of music! Outside of work, Em likes to go for a nice walk, cuddle with their cat, or read. Recently, they’ve had an affinity for making small figures.
Engineer/ producer

Matt McMenamin

Matt is a recording and mixing engineer in Philadelphia PA. He’s been making records since 2012 ranging from basement DIY projects to large studio recordings. He’s worked on projects in just about every genre with Fontaines D.C., Tierra Whack and countless Philadelphia artists. You can find more of his work at mattmcmenamin.com

Justin Wilkerson

With a vision for building something meaningful, our founder brings a blend of big-picture thinking and hands-on experience. They set the tone for everything we do.

Engineer/ producer
Justin “Ocean Heights” Wilkerson is a Mix Engineer / Multi-instrumentalist who has built a small town local band into a touring act with millions of streams. Specializing in RnB, Rap and alternative music.

Jonah Shortall

Videographer
Jonah can see light in darkness (magical or otherwise) up to 60ft. He’s been shooting music for 5 years and has no intention of slowing down. He loves making these sessions look as good as possible by bringing in a Sony FS7 and a Fujifilm X-H2 and giving a healthy color grade to the image. He’s also available to shoot full multicam concerts and make music videos! Find out more at jonahshortall.com
Photographer

Tam Stockton

Tam is photographer and visual artist working with Cart Studios to create promotional imagery, designs, and album artwork for artists who make use of our space. External to Cart, Tam has exhibited his work across the east coast and internationally, as well as had his imagery featured in major publications like The New York Times, Wired Magazine, and Matte Magazine. He enjoys sweet pastries, sunny days drinking by the schuykill, and the scent of vanilla stop bath.
Tam also took most everyone's headshots featured here! Thank you Tam!

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