A Classic Now More Classic: Electric Lady Studios Expands, Adds Neve, API Consoles

GREENWICH VILLAGE: Most people know it as the house that Jimi built: Electric Lady Studios, that storied rock-and-roll recording haunt on 8th Street. But what most people do not know is that the studio – made famous by classic 70s sessions with the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, AC/DC and Patti Smith – is today in the midst of a new golden age to the tune of Kanye West, Beastie Boys, Coldplay and John Mayer.

And now, on the heels of a strong five-year-run under manager Lee Foster, new ownership is investing in the business, enabling Foster to makeover and build-out the facility in ways he’s been plotting for years.

“It’s almost like we’re starting over again,” says Foster, who is now a minority equity partner in the studio. “We’d reached top tier and needed a capital investment to meet the level of service required to insure return business.  It was time to show our clients that we are willing to return their investment in us, and the new owner allowed it.”

“We’ve taken everything we know about the business, and basically developed a new company. We took the staff and boiled it down to a core group – then quickly added new people to round things out.”

The physical renovations began several months ago. While the studio has been steadily booked, Foster and crew have been busy bees executing a plan that included significant technical, acoustic and cosmetic upgrades to Studio A and common areas as well as a brand-new new mix suite on the second floor – building out the hive.

For Foster, these latest developments have been a long time coming. When he took over management six years ago, he began a series of upgrades: first, to restore the studio from a state of disrepair, then to update and refine, and now – with the new owner’s input and backing – to sweeten and blow-out.

Accordingly, Studio A is now home to a Neve 8078 console acquired from Clinton Recording, completely restored and recapped by Vintage King, and equipped with Martin Sound Flying Faders II. As Foster puts it, the idea was “to make Studio A more classic,” noting: “The new owner and I sat down and decided, we’ll do this to the standards of 1974 – no short cuts; character over convenience.”

The newly installed Neve 8078 in Electric Lady Studio A. Photo by Alan Gastelum

Replacing the larger footprint-SSL 9080 J console, the Neve brings a new look and feel to the room, which has been accordingly revamped with vintage-style cosmetic treatments. And technically, Studio A has been completely rewired and outfitted with a new Pro Tools HD rig and Antelope Audio Trinity Atomic clock.

Meanwhile, the Studio A live room underwent renovations last year – both to address the river running underneath the basement studio (with French drains and modern plumbing) and to beef up and even out the flooring and acoustics throughout the room.

“We took up the floor and walls and rebuilt it with suggestions from [the original studio architect] John Storyk,” says Foster. “The floors had been redone a few times over the years and somewhere along the way, someone got it wrong. The room acoustics were a bit spotty in the corners as a result – so we put in all new floors, which gave the room a much hardier backbone, a really solid foundation. Now the room has this really even sound throughout – which clients immediately commented on.”

The entrance and reception got a makeover too though of course all in keeping with the classic look and feel of Electric Lady – incorporating deluxe hi-fi system, mid-century modern furniture and flashes of psychedelia for the perfect retro futuristic underground rock-and-roll bunker vibe.

Electric Lady's newly refurbished reception area. Photo by Alan Gastelum

“There’s nothing like walking into the reception area and hearing that sweet sound of a vinyl record playing on the record player going through a great tube Macintosh system,” says master mixer and long-term Electric Lady resident Michael Brauer. “It’s the way I like to start my day as I head down the hallway to Studio B that’s been my home for the past couple years.

“I love it here, thanks to Lee Foster, one of the greatest studio managers I’ve ever known and to our new owner whose love for music is evident the moment you step through the doorway of the lady.”

PART II: THE API MIX SUITE

Last year, the studio celebrated its 40th Anniversary amid production on some of the most anticipated records being made in NYC – Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the latest from The Strokes and Interpol, and albums with Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow. This year is no different. With Coldplay or John Mayer in Studio A, and Michael Brauer mixing steadily in Studio B, the SSL 9000 J- equipped Studio C has often been the only room not in a longer-term lockout.

Mixer/producer John O’Mahony has been a staple of this room, working on records with Metric, Oh Land and Kashmir, among many others. Now – to even better accommodate O’Mahony and provide a more affordable option for indie clientele, Electric Lady has opened a new API Mix Suite on the second floor.

Electric Lady's new API Mix Suite. Photo by Alan Gastelum

“We work with recognized artists all the time, but it’s important to service the up-and-coming acts too,” says Foster, “The rock acts doing their first or second albums – the suite will be an incubator for those artists.

“I like to see the hallways and rooms buzzing with artists diverse in genre, background, and experience.”

The room is equipped with a custom-built, vintage API 3288 with original 550As, formerly of Sonora Recorders. The board was completely refurbished by Primal Gear in Nashville and is equipped with Martin Sound Flying Faders and a Steve Firlott modified stereo bus.

“The owner and I love vintage,” says Foster. “We want to be the classic console spot.  And, we have a great new tech to maintenance them – Roger Deller.  Roger was the tech who had been living with the Neve desk at Clinton.”

View the entire Electric Lady revamp in 3 1/2 minutes:

The API Mix Suite is also equipped with Pro Tools HD, an array of new outboard equipment including the Chandler Curve Bender, URSA Major Space Station, distressors, Drawmer Gates, Eventide 3000se, Lexicon reverbs and Anthony DeMaria Labs S/C/L 1500, and monitors, including the new Barefoot MicroMain 27s.

On the day of our visit in June, O’Mahony was in mixing with Dave Hamelin, formerly of The Stills, on a record for his new band Eight and a Half.

“The console sounds amazing,” O’Mahony said, adding a bit on the board’s history: “When we heard about this console, I sent a picture to my producer friend, Rob Schnapf out in LA, to ask if he knew it.  He was like ‘Yes – I’m mixing on it right now!’

“Also, we realized the only record Metric mixed without me was mixed on this console.  And the mix passes are still in the computer, ten years later.”

Pictured at the API: John O'Mahony (left) and Dave Hamelin

Needless to say, the board felt destined for its new home.

In addition to his rolling racks of outboard filling out the room, O’Mahony also had an AMS-Neve Genesys console setup to his right during the Eight and a Half session.

“The idea with the Neve board is that I’d be able to work on two projects at the same time,” O’Mahony notes. “My clients are rarely in town, and I spend a lot of time waiting for emails and notes – this way I can move onto something else on the other console. Or, for bigger mixes, I might use the two consoles together.”

For O’Mahony, the studio represents a perfect progression in workflow. “Before, I had a home studio where I would work on records which didn’t have the budget for the studio. So I was in this weird limbo of having this full-on studio at Electric Lady (Studio C) with a live room and lounge that basically no one used and then my tiny home setup, and I wanted to marry it all together – land somewhere in the middle. This is perfect.”

Foster’s always made a point of catering to extended stints with top producer/engineers and cultivating a professional community out of Electric Lady. Anchored by Michael Brauer in Studio B, this community of resident engineers will now expand into the API Mix Suite, and – potentially – beyond.  On the other side of the new Suite’s back wall is a small production room + booth where Chris Coady has actually mixed a few albums recently, including Cold Cave’s Cherish The Light Years.

NEXT-LEVEL PLANS

With studios A and B optimized and the new API suite up-and-running, Foster now has sights set on Electric Lady’s third floor and how to maximize the space further. Ultimately he anticipates the building’s third level being a deluxe self-contained unit featuring Studio C, private lounge and an additional mix/edit suite.

Lee Foster. Photo by Alan Gastelum

“Everything we’re doing is based on client feedback, requests, and observation,” Foster notes. “We have a lot of clients who seem to want two rooms. They’ll be working on their album in one room, but may have other projects, or additional songs they want to work on simultaneously in a secondary room – ‘Ok, great.  Let’s make that happen.’”

Even in this cyclical and fickle business, a facility like Electric Lady – under smart management – is as close to a proven model as you’re going to get. NYC is a destination for artists, and Electric Lady has long been this city’s most religious recording experience: a rock-and-roll mecca.

“The New York market has improved substantially during the past year.  Two years ago, I saw the industry move toward LA – artists, producers, even managers,” says Foster. “But now top-tier artists are moving back to NYC, and our community is increasingly stronger.  Also, the industry has realized that skipping big studios was never an appropriate answer to the woes of piracy, and industry changes – that a creative, wandering pre-production period precedes the much more focused recording process.  No one wants a lesser product, so the awareness of time management ultimately became key.”

And, ultimately the recent upgrades at Electric Lady serve this purpose.  “The industry invests in us, so we’re investing in the industry.  If we’re technically perfect – with the best recording equipment and staff available, the process will assist our clients in managing their time and perfecting their sound. We strive to be an ally on every level.”

Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.