I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Tim O’Sullivan one of the amazing staff engineers at Barefoot Recording. Tim gave us a marvellous studio tour sharing a brilliant history of the studio. It’s amazing how many great records were influenced within its walls.

Tim is currently the studio and booking manager at Barefoot Recording in Hollywood Artists. Tim has worked with artists including: Karen O, N.A.S.A., Derrick Green (of Sepultura), Weird Radicals, Anderson Paak, RZA, American Darlings, The California Feetwarmers, Grace Potter, Doyle Bramhall II, Scientist, KRS-One, DMX, Lizzo, K-Flay, Money Mark (of the Beastie Boys), Childish Gambino, and James Murphy.

Barefoot Recording

Eric Valentine has owned Barefoot Recording in Hollywood since 2000, where he’s worked with a “who’s who” of incredible artists like Queens of the Stone Age, Smash Mouth, Good Charlotte, and Third Eye Blind, among others. In addition to being an amazing producer and engineer, Eric also co-founded UnderTone Audio where he designs professional audio equipment. UTA notably produces the Unfairchild compressor which we discussed at length!

Prior to becoming a renowned recording studio, Barefoot Recording was built as a post office in the early ’50s. Some time later, Andrew Berliner acquired the space, converting it into Crystal Industries Recording Studios in 1967. At the time, the studio hosted an all-star list of clients, including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Supertramp, Eric Clapton, and James Taylor. Most notably, perhaps, Crystal Industries is where Stevie Wonder recorded Songs in the Key of Life.

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, producer Matt Hyde leased the facility to work on such projects as Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros. When Eric acquired the building in 2000, major renovations were made as a restoration effort, and Barefoot Recording has hosted its own incredible list of artists over the past two decades.

The UTA Console

In studio A stands the LC60 is the first console commissioned by UTA. It was designed and assembled at Barefoot Recording and currently holds a full time job in Studio A making records it was made for Eric to use at the studio, he loved it so much it lead to the production of a second console for studio B and so many people wanted to buy one it lead to the production of rack gear and the making of Unfairchild and since then 8 more custom consoles have been made and sold.

LC60 UnderToneAudio Custom Console:
Specifications:
•60 channels of UTA channel strips
•24 busses
•6 aux sends
•4 additional external monitoring inputs
•Tube mix buss and control room outputs
•Analog VU metering for channels, busses, & aux sends
•Individual level & pan control on buss sends for surround mixing
•Undertone Audio EQ on every channel
•Built-in audiophile headphone amp
•Equipped with Martinsound Flying Faders II system

Watch Eric Valentine Interview (Queens of the Stone Age, Slash)