Rick Slater Goes Inside Area 51 NYC With Tony Drootin

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: A year or more back, I was looking for a solid room for overdubbing or mixing. I found it in Seven Seas Studios, run by my friend Tony Drootin and staffed by the very capable engineer Drea Young and assistant Anna Eliopoulos.

Area 51 Studio North

Now known as Area 51 NYC, since Tony and partner Roey Shamir purchased the business from the original investors, this facility forgoes the cushy digs of Tony’s previous studio home at Sony Music Studios for great sounding gear in a studio that sonically translates in the outside world.

With Roey bringing years of high-level studio experience, you can expect these guys to deliver a solid back-line, and they do. In other words; a studio I can depend on that my clients can afford.

Studio North at Area 51 features the Euphonix S5 Fusion with Pro Tools and Pyramix capability. There is a wide choice of monitors including Tannoy, Yamaha, B&W, and Genelec models. The mic locker features a solid array of mics originally collected by Sony Music Studios, including the personal collection of the late David Smith, formerly Sony Music Studios’ VP of Engineering.

Outboard gear includes Manley EQ and compression, Focusrite Red channel, Avalon and Grace mic pre’s and vintage Urei LA3A compressors. The plug-in list here is also extensive — probably one of the most comprehensive I’ve found in a commercial studio.

The newly-online Studio South is a production room centered around Pro Tools / Pro Control with a good-sized iso booth Grace mic pres and Urei LA3A’s for overdubs.

Gear aside, however, one of the main reasons Area 51 works so well is Tony Drootin himself. Tony ran NYC’s Unique Recording as well as Sony; he’s great with clients and resolving any/all kinds of issues that come up in the day-to-day studio business. In formulating this article on Area 51, I realized I should just go straight to the man himself and provide an interview with Drootin which will give you a sense of who he is and what kind of establishment he’s running in Area 51. Enjoy!

Rick: Your parents were musical folks and you have managed both Unique Recording and Sony Music Studios, how did it influence you and what do you carry with you now in your duties at Area 51? What can you do now, as owner that you didn’t have the option of doing as manager?

Tony: My father was a gigging musician since he was 13 growing up in Boston. My mom was a music major and taught piano in our apartment when I was a child. My uncle was a clarinetist, cousin a pianist, and so on. My family was always musical. I grew up with a great appreciation for music and for those who worked hard studying and performing it. I really never thought I would be in the music business per say, but I guess it was inevitable.

Unique Recording Studios was truly a learning experience for me. It was a fantastic place to learn the ins and outs of the business. It was not a glamorous studio like some of the bigger facilities, but there was a lot of innovative technology rolling through there and some great clients and staff.

For instance we were beta testers for Yamaha and Akai, we had the first Casio CZ101, we had all the Simmons kits, EMU 1, 2, and 3, etc. The owner Bobby Nathan used to hold classes to teach everyone about technology and tricks such as how to program and stripe SMPTE with an SBX-80. (Of course with much pizza and beer!)

Some of the top engineers in the country were working there when I started, like Chris and Tom Lord-Alge, Steve Peck, Bob Rosa. All types of music came out of that place. When I started it was Cameo doing “Word Up”, then Steve Winwood, Arthur Baker and the Latin Rascals, KRS-1, LL Cool J and Run DMC, Donna Summer…the list goes on and on. After 13 years there I felt it was time to move on. An opportunity came up for me to manage Sony Studios on West 54th Street and I jumped at the chance.

Sony was Unique on steroids. It had the most unbelievable staff — very talented people. The resources that were available to me would make any studio manager and owner jealous. The best part about it was the diverse client base. We did live broadcasts from the main stage with web simulcast. We did voice-over work for Pixar and Disney animated films. We did album work for everyone from Jay Z to Renee Fleming. We had a video, audio, and stage department and really could do almost anything you could imagine from a writing session to a live show with audience, front of house sound, and web simulcast. We could record, tape, edit, mix, master, post, and then digitally deliver. It truly was one of the best experiences in my life.

At Unique and Sony I learned many things, but the most important lesson is that the client comes first. No matter what, they are the most important part of your business and the service you provide and relationships you build will make or break you. Chris Lord Alge told me once “everyone has speakers, a console, tape machines…the one with the best coffee wins!”

Now, being an owner, I have another set of responsibilities — payroll, taxes, paying the utilities and making all those unattractive annoying money decisions. It is just another hat to wear. It does obviously give you more freedom, but at a cost. Before buying my 51st Street location from Seven Seas, I was only a part owner. Let’s just say the approval process was different. I now have the freedom to make decisions, and more quickly. Plus I wear a bigger hat!

Obviously there is Studio 4 from Seven Seas, what else is new since becoming Area 51?

Inside Area 51

Area 51 has the original Studio 4 from Seven Seas days, which we have renamed the North Room. We have combined what used to be Studio 2 and 3 (now called the South Room) and beefed up the isolation, built a machine room, lounge, and some additional storage. Our client base has grown in the past few months and we are building new relationships every day.

You’ve had some great projects come through the studio. What are some of the highlights?

Recently at Area 51 we have had Joe Ferla mixing the very talented Esperanza Spalding, Lucie Arnaz mixing a tribute LP for her father called Latin Roots, writers Roy Hamilton, Deputy, Angela Beyincé, Phantom Boys, Jared Cotter. We have some great projects coming up.

We have started doing some voice over work, editing audio for video, and are continuing to mix everything from hip-hop to classical. We also have a fantastic mic collection having bought the old Sony Classical Remote kit, and on a selective basis, we are renting mics to people we feel will respect them as we do.

Any current news you’d like to share?

Current news…I have taken on the position as Director of Studio Operation for Daddy’s House Studios. My first job there is to oversee the renovations of the current facility. I have known Puff from the days of Uptown Records and always had the highest respect for his intuition both as an artist and business man. I will oversee the renovations, and then the new facility and its operations. I am very excited about this project and look forward to making Daddy’s House a premier commercial recording facility.

As you can see Tony is a man who won’t be held down. I recommend you try Area 51 NYC for yourself and catch the vibe. — Rick Slater

Contact info: bookings@area51nyc.com
917-733-8138

Rick Slater is a NYC-based producer/engineer who’s recorded and/or mixed with Chuck D, Robben Ford and James Chance, and worked in NYC studios such as Mediasound, Quad and Sony. Learn more and get in touch at http://www.slatermix.com.

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