Alex Bush // Sonikwire Studio

Mixing & Recording Engineer

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4 Reviews (1 Verified)
Alex Bush // Sonikwire Studio on SoundBetter

20-year experience Recording Engineer. Early on started out off the beaten path at nine inch nails Nothing Studios (in the old funeral home in New Orleans). From there have been home-based for nearly two decades at a Neve/SSL studio, located just outside of Los Angeles.

I'm always interested in finding an album/artists's sound, getting the best out of people and songs, getting the sounds right at the source and capturing something... or while mixing other people's productions trying to make it shine while respecting all the work that went into it. I believe ultimately in the song and in human performances. And that it's the imperfect moments that generally make the best music.

Remote Mixing, Drum Sessions, Guitar or Reamp sessions with my amp collection. Vocal Sessions. Whole projects from start to finish. Producing or Co-Producing.

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

AllMusic verified credits for Alex Bush
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Damien Jurado
  • Moxi
  • Lo Tom
  • Matt Brouwer
  • OneRepublic
  • B.o.B
  • Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • Mitchel Musso
  • MC Lars
  • From Ritual to Romance
  • From Ritual to Romance
  • John Wackerman
  • Fat Sam
  • High School Musical Cast
  • Withdrawal
  • Matt Brouwer
  • Midnight Movies
  • Jeremy Camp
  • Drop Logic
  • Drop Logic
  • C.B.T

4 Reviews

Endorse Alex Bush // Sonikwire Studio
  1. Review by SNoW
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    by SNoW
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    This was my first time using Soundbetter for my music, so I was a bit nervous at first, but it was really great working with Alex. I am very very happy with the mix, and every step of communication was awesome!

  2. Review by David Adojan
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    Alex is easily the most patient professional I’ve worked with in music, and maybe any industry for that matter. Time and time again, I’d come back to him with a small change and he’d see to it quickly and efficiently, often improving upon my original idea in the process. If you’re looking for a seasoned professional who will take as much time in mixing as you took in writing, recording, and producing, then you couldn’t be in better hands.

  3. Review by John H Williams
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    by John H Williams

    Working with Alex and Sonikwire was an easy decision for us. He responded quickly to our questions. He was collaborative and knowledgable. He has fantastic gear and was timely with his work. Couldn't be happier with our finished product either.

  4. Review by Chris Lopez
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    by Chris Lopez

    I’ve worked with Alex on several projects over the past years and have had nothing but stellar experiences. I’ve always been amazed by his knowledge of recording and getting the right sounds for the artist, all with the humblest approach. Let’s face it, in the world of overnight laptop recording, creative engineers with knowledge and years of experience behind a board, are a dying breed. Whether it be recording, mixing or producing, all in which I’ve had the pleasure of working with Alex on, he puts his back into all the projects he touches.

    -Chris Lopez (of the band Charity Swim)

Interview with Alex Bush // Sonikwire Studio

  1. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  2. A: Overall it's a very flexible hybrid setup: The front end is all analog from vintage tube microphones to old Neve Mic Pre's & EQ's. Outboard gear like Pultec tube EQs and all the different flavors of vintage Neve limiters. It's all about tone and definitely not about compromise here. Then for the digital side it's an HDX ProTools rig, with a 32-Fader D-Control ES, UAD Octo card, loads of plugins... particularly all things warm, saturating, or distorting. And on the backend I have summing options: a passive summing buss that can be used with different mic pre's for tone and color, the Neve BCM-10 sidecar summing, SSL mix buss cards that can be used to get a little of that flavor. It's entirely setup to be able to get all sorts of different sounds from the real actual old vintage good stuff... but still be able to move quickly like a modern setup.

  3. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  4. A: Every record is different... so whether I'm tracking from scratch or mixing, I'm usually exploring a bit and finding out what the sound of THIS album wants to be. And then I figure out what gear, and techniques, and mindset this album needs to get there. And that's always different... every record get's its own sound and has it's own identity.

  5. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  6. A: I love anything with big Drums, Bass, Guitars, Vocals. I also love anything with Acoustic Guitars, Pianos, Strings, Horns, Choirs, VIbes, B3's. I've also spent a ton of time over the years doing pop with electronic sounds and lot's of layers of background vocals. It seems there are a lot of engineers recently who specialize in one genre. Which is cool. That's definitely not my experience and I think actually I've always wanted to be the sort of engineer who can jump around genres, spending the career building an understanding of music in general and the studio chops to do so.

  7. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  8. A: Finishing up another (yet unreleased) Damien Jurado album as well as finishing remote mixing an album for a duo called Coyote Brother

  9. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  10. A: At mix: I think an objectivity and focus. I definitely spend a lot of time listening to what the artist has done and what's been recorded. And my aim is never to judge that, or try to change that, or put my stamp on it. I hope to take what's there and all the intent I can find... and make sense of it. To where you hear the mix and say "That's EXACTLY what that's supposed to sound like, I can't imagine it another way". And sometimes I nail that on the first try. Sometimes I'll do a second take on the first song to get that reaction from the client. But fingers crossed, we always seem to get there ;)

  11. Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

  12. A: Lifelong musician, I actually dropped out of conventional high school to take all the music theory and composition courses at the local community college instead. I attended CalArts for a couple years as a Music Composition major. But then I got access to their recording studio, aaaand that's where I found my real love. I've since dedicated myself to the studio for some 22 years since recording my first album for other people. And I've been so fortunate to spend that entire time in larger facilities using a silly amount of vintage and holy grail gear. I've been able to be a part of installing Neve consoles, and SSL consoles. I've gotten to learn from the techs. On top of the level of immersion of that life, I'm someone who doesn't take vacations, travel, or hang out with friends ;)... I am just obsessed with what I do. Music is my life, and my chosen place is on the studio side hoping to help artists create great music.

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From Rock to Indie to Acoustic

I was the Mixer and Engineer in this production

Gear Highlights
  • Vintage Neve BCM10 and 1073's
  • Vintage Pultecs
  • Vintage Neve limiters
  • Urei
  • DBX
  • EAR 660
  • old Focusrite Red 3
  • ProAcs
  • NS-10's
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