Wash-House Music business partners Brian Foster, seated, and Jonas Teele
Wash-House Music, a record label specializing in rap, reggae, hip-hop and music from different urban cultures, has completed a new studio complex in Oahu, Hawaii, featuring a Solid State Logic Duality SE console in Control Room A. The studio was designed to be the high-end recording division of its core business located in San Francisco.
The new facility has become the creative refuge for J. Boog, best new artist winner at the 31st Annual International Reggae and World Music Awards, and George “Fiji” Veikoso, pioneer of the Lost Coast Sound, among others.
“Five years ago we decided to expand our catalog to include artists from Hawaii because my partner, Jonas Teele, is from Oahu,” says Brian Foster, co-owner of Wash-House Music Inc. “As things progressed, we decided to build a premiere studio, and that meant getting an SSL console. In the world of hip hop and rap, the SSL J Series was always the console of choice because of the SuperAnalogue sound quality. When we did the research, we found that Duality offered us a refined version of SuperAnalogue, so we had the same sonic signature, but in a package that was kicked up to work with a DAW in a modern setting —definitely the best choice for our new venture.”
The Wash-House Music property features a new building that houses Studio A, a room large enough for a six-piece band, as well as Control Room A, which features the Duality, outboard gear and a 5.1 surround monitoring system. A pre-existing large house next to the new construction has been converted so that all the rooms can be used as recording spaces. The entire complex is connected back to the Duality via fiber.
“We decided to build a big studio concept because Hawaii is a destination area where many artists come to write music, but do not necessarily have a facility adequate enough to complete a project from start to finish,” continues Foster. “We are also catering to the artist who wants to drop tracks here before they continue on tour. We have surround sound in the control room and are set up to work with TV and movie sound bites and the like. In past, those projects were handled off island. In essence, we wanted a state-of-the-art studio that could handle multiple missions. That is another reason we chose Duality.”
Inevitably, many projects completed in the San Francisco facility were brought to the new studio and run through Duality with impressive results.
“We have brought in work recorded in the San Francisco studio and we were blown away by the incredible sound quality, depth and imaging we experienced with Duality,” Foster adds. “Now, we insist that all our artists come here to record and mix projects. We wanted to offer the best studio to attract the best artists. Duality helps to sell the studio and meets our needs for now and in the future. What a great console!”
For more information, visit www.solidstatelogic.com and washhousemusic.net.
