Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob McCutcheon.
Hi Bob, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In 2018 my family converted our personal project studio, The Vault Recording, into a commercial venture that is now considered a state-of-the-art facility with an award-winning team and historic vintage recording equipment.
How it Started
But this journey started much earlier. I have been interested in music since an early age. First playing trumpet and then playing guitar in a rock band in high school. I started writing and recording my own music and ultimately worked my way through college recording other artists’ music in my first recording studio, Alternative Studios, built in my mother’s basement.
In 1991, I graduated from Robert Morris University with a bachelor’s degree in business and landed a job with PwC (then Coopers and Lybrand). Which led to a nearly three-decade career with the firm.
I met and married my wife Dana shortly after starting my career, and we were married in 1994. My time playing music diminished significantly during the time I started my career and our family, But after our two boys—Ryan and Brett—started to express an interest in music, the “hobby’ was rekindled.
Our son, Brett, started taking piano lessons at four. Later, he took up the saxophone and drums, started writing and recording his own music.
Ryan found a passion for percussion. He was drum captain in his high school marching band and played in a rock band in college. During this time, I built a small studio in our home, and we played and recorded music together.
In 2016, on a flight home from business trip in Europe, I flipped through the in-flight movies and stumbled upon a documentary about the history of Sound City Studios in California. I got off the plane, and thought, I always wanted my dream studio, now I’m in a position where I can, so why not?
I found an old bank building less than 10 minutes from our house, hired an architect out of Los Angeles to design the studio and opened The Vault in 2016, as a private, personal recording studio.
Then, in September 2017, my oldest son, Ryan, 19, was killed in an automobile accident while returning to his college campus after a long day assisting high school drum students at a local band festival. Everything changed in that moment. I started to question what was important in my life. It took a year for me assess but, in 2018, I retired from my position as the U.S. Industrial Products and Pittsburgh office leader at PWC. We established the “Ryan McCutcheon Rhythm19 Fund” with The Pittsburgh Foundation to support students in music and the arts. It was our way of giving back to the community and honoring Ryans memory.
Fast Forward
Over the past 10 years we expanded the studio beyond a small family affair to a world-class recording facility. We started a record label “Vault Records” and expanded the team to include a roster of world-class, award-winning producers and engineers. The first of which was 6-time Grammy Award-winning engineer Jimmy Hoyson—who had previously worked with Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and many other famous artists—who joined as the studio’s chief engineer.
We then expanded to 3 studios added a famous vintage NEVE 8058 recording console once owned by Pete Drake (George Harrison, Ringo Star, Eric Clapton) and then Scott Litt (REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Replacements, Nirvana) and a famous Studer A800 MKIII, used in London Bridge Studios in Seattle to record Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, et al. The engineer who recorded many of those records at London Bridge, Dave Hillis, joined the team in 2019. In 2020, Producer and Composer Rob Deaner joined the team and moved into Studio B. Then in 2024, Greg Gordon (Greta Van Fleet, Slayer, Slip Knot, Oasis) joined us to complete the current roster.
What Next?
I’ve never had second thoughts about my decision to retire and open The Vault. One of the things that I’ve learned throughout my career, further solidified after the passing of my son, is that your passions define the core of who you are. I’ve been blessed to have some success early in my career that allowed me to pursue this passion and to create opportunities for others to participate. The clarity I gained after the loss of my son gave me the strength to make changes are pursue this in retirement. Stayed tuned, there is so much more to come.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No. There are always obstacles and challenges. That’s only natural. The key is to stay focused, rely on the experts and your team and stay the course. Every challenge represents a new learning.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
We are a family owned business. This business is my personal, post-retirement passion. While we run it as a business we are considered semi-private. We focus on relationships first rather than transactions. It’s as much about the experience and the relationship as it is the final product.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thevaultrecording.com
- Instagram: @thevaultrecording
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVaultRecordingPittsburgh
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertwmccutcheon
