The hitmaking Los Angeles studio Blue West, run by producer/musician Bill Jabr and head engineer James Kang, has installed an API 2448 recording console to better meet the needs of clients who include Andre 3000, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Kiko Cibrian, Wale, Ne-Yo, Pi’erre Bourne and tracks for the late Juice Wrld’s posthumous album.
“Our API gives us a solidly built, quality analog body that stands on its own,” says Jabr, noting the front-end tracking, monitor section and ease of use as standout features. “Together with the convenient direct outs and small fader inserts for more tracks at mixdown, this all gives us the capability to track and mix larger projects in a smaller footprint. There is no better sound on guitars and drums than the API sound and the API punch.”
Jabr started his first facility, the Blue South production room in Atlanta in 2009, with Kang joining as the studio’s first intern. In 2014, the duo branched out to Los Angeles.
“We approached breaking into the Los Angeles scene the same way we did with Atlanta, from the ground up,” Jabr says. “We put our small setup in the best room we could afford at the time and got to work. Six years later, our Atlanta facility has turned into one of the premier locations of the Southeast, while in Los Angeles we’ve been fortunate to be a part of countless number one records.”
