Golden Time with Sonic Union’s Adam Barone
The audio community in New York is a tight scene, dominated by a small number of companies and people who all seem to have worked with each other at one time or another. One standout example is Adam Barone. The well known and equally well-liked Managing Director at Sonic Union co-founded the studio with Sound Designers and Mix Engineers Steve Rosen and Michael Marinelli – the latter a pal since college days – back in 2008. Since then their multidisciplinary team has continued to grow while racking up some truly impressive credits, everything from major award-winners to Big Game mega-hits to its original composition work for Amazon, which was Shortlisted in the Original Score category at the 2025 AMP Awards.
Carefully curating and managing its culture of fun, togetherness and support is Adam, who’s been focused on music and audio in almost all its forms since his schoolboy days. A not-so-secret member of Bills Mafia, his enduring support for Buffalo’s NFL team has yet to be rewarded with that Super Bowl victory. But we digress. How does he spend his weekend hours? We had to ask; here’s what he had to say.
Where do you live? And how long have you lived there?
Adam: I’m a “small-medium-large.” I went from a small upstate New York village that I can best describe as the East Coast of the Midwest to ‘Kodak Kapital,’ better known as Rochester, to finish college. I ended up staying for another decade. Then, 25 years ago, I sold it all and started over in Manhattan. I flirted with living in Spain or London along the way, but, well, here I am.
How’d you get into the business? And how long have you been in your current role?
Adam: I’ve been in some form of media production since I was in 7th grade. Like many of my peers, I got that first tape recorder, which was actually a very large, heavy, reel-to-reel machine, with speakers that were part of the case. (They stuck a handle on it so it could be called “portable”.) I grew into the visual/film/graphics side as well. So I’ve been that technician, creator and producer. But I seem to have always ended up taking on the sort of stuff that would have me be the station manager in every situation. Which led me to start and run specialized creative businesses, like Sonic Union. In my case, I still use creative chops internally, as opposed to on our client work.
How often do you end up working on the weekend? How much time do you spend on work-related stuff from Friday night to Sunday night?
Adam: I work because I choose to, and because I have an innate sense of responsibility, so if I’m working on the weekend, that’s why. Is thinking working? How about reading? I’m lucky to like what I do, it lets me dip into many areas within a day, working with extremely talented, caring and dedicated people.
The thing is, there were a few decades where I worked 70 to 80 hours a week regularly. In my first career, out of college, I built these crazy 18-projector, animated multi-image productions that somehow had us pulling constant all-nighters. But it was cool, and here’s why: I could write, design, shoot, process film, edit, program the sequencers, select music, and supervise mixes and VO recording sessions. The whole thing would be shown once only, at some corporate event’s fancy retreat hotel, and then I’d pass out and do it all over again the next month.
After that, I co-founded a cinema ad business that eventually became Aussie-owned, and I felt like I worked both the US and Oz shifts many days (or was it nights?). In that business, I learned a great deal from the parent company’s CEO, Terry Savage. (Yes, that’s the same Terry Savage who ran Cannes Lions for many years and is now chairperson at the London International Awards.) Suffice it to say, I can handle a couple of weekend hours now and then, especially when I know it is my choice as a business owner.
What’s your favorite weekend decompression activity? How often do you get to pursue it?
Adam: Well, I know a lot of people like to get out of the city - and sometimes I do, but there’s no regular place or thing in that way. Maybe I’m watching football (Go Bills). I’m often parenting at a slower pace. And learning to play bass. Sharing memes with friends that get me. Diving into aspects from other cultures. And trying to think up ways to bring anything that was once cool or very cringe into being seen in a whole new way.
It’s a three-day weekend. How do you spend that bonus day?
Adam: With an incredible neurodiverse teenage daughter who likes to have me around, and a dog that feels the same way, I balance that good fortune with time spent with favorite souls and get sorted for the week. I also have an obsession with all things Philly, so I often head there and check out a new neighborhood each time.
How much time do you spend on your phone/tablet/laptop on a typical weekend?
Adam: First off, shout out to the Clearspace app to keep from scrolling on and on. (You have to get this; it forces limits that can only be extended with deep breathing or pushups, for example, in order to buy extra social media minutes.) But I’d say quite a lot. Though lately, like many of us, I’m reducing my news consumption. When there’s more about solutions instead of gasping at every daily malfunction, I’ll dial back in.
What have you been watching lately? How do you keep up on all the streaming content out there?
Adam: I’m overwhelmed by all of the choices and top lists, TBH. I keep a running draft of show and film recommendations (and from whom I got them), and go there first. I’m often starting a series when it’s completed its entire run (see: “Ozark,” “Squid Game,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Wire,” “Fargo,” etc.) But I could be just as happy watching Rick Beato break songs down all day and night on YouTube.
What do you listen to? What’s on your playlist?
Adam: It’s got tracks from a wide variety of artists, but the common element I suppose is some sort of groove or unusual chord progression. Honestly, I like to counterprogram like how, say, Quentin Tarantino would score a film – with some old country ballads next to Daft Punk, UMO and some throwbacks in The JudyBats, disco/funk, Boston and Zero 7. It’s more like what’s not on it…
Best weekend live experience of the past year: concert, sporting event, gallery visit, movie? What made it special?
Adam: Oh, I just saw eXTC - that’s an original member from the band with some friends, playing down a huge chunk of the XTC catalog, and I was astounded. I never thought I’d ever hear a single one of those songs live, let alone hang out with the original drummer 45 years later.
So it’s Sunday night already! How do you get ready for Monday morning? What’s your Sunday night routine?
Adam: Ideally, I catch my 9 PM online meditation class, check the calendar, then I budge Scootr over – he’s my eight-year-old 8 lovable pitbull – and appreciate that I’m not pulling nighters anymore, as if I’d gone into medicine. I’m better suited for businesses where you want your client back sooner rather than later.
