Resident Engineers
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Cus Engineer
Cus or A Kid Named Cus started in the 1990’s at the infamous Power Play Studios. It is here where he got his initial break as an assistant engineer on the Large Professor produced remix of Nas’s “It Aint Hard To Tell.” After getting behind the main chair, Cus was back and forth between Power Play and Unique Studios as a staff engineer on both rosters.
Although HipHop has been his first love, he’s ventured into all genres including R&B, pop, jazz, rock, reggae, gospel, broadway, and even opera. Mixing is his specialty as Cus enjoys moving at his own pace to guarantee quality. He has mixed for the likes of Notorious BIG, Korn, Ice Cube, Phil Collins, Chante Moore, Rakim, Sizzla, Slick Rick, Foxy Brown, City High, etc. Cus has come close to the prize with Grammy nominations for mixes for Big Punisher and Fantasia.
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Matt Chiaravalle Engineer, Producer
Producer Matt Chiaravalle has worked with such diverse and successful artists as Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Courtney Love, Spooks, Spacehog and Kittie. His warm and intuitive approach to production is informed by his keen understanding of the creative process. He grew up playing in bands, his previous band before going into production full time released 3 albums in 6 years and he learned the art of recording organically. “I think I’m able to relate to artists so well because I’ve been in their shoes, I’ve been on the other side of the glass,” he says.
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Sidney Mills Engineer, Producer
Sidney Mills has been an integral part of the Steel Pulse line-up since he joined the band on keyboards in 1988. Born in London, England in 1959, the youngest of thirty-one children, Sidney moved to Jamaica in the late sixties. He then moved to New York in 1981 and later, he played with the renowned Calabash Band and the A-Team Band backing up such celebrities as Shabba Ranks, Judy Mowatt, Beres Hammond, and Queen Latifah, to name a few. He was part of the Ras Tesfa band with Kevin Batchelor and Jerry Johnson for a couple of years. While on tour with Judy Mowatt, Sidney was asked to work with Steel Pulse where he has remained for the past fifteen years. It is his position as keyboard player and musical arranger for Steel Pulse that has placed Sidney Mills among reggae’s prominent musicians.
In 1998, he supervised the music for Jamaica Beat, a Blue Mountain Film and a year earlier he scored and produced the music for the soundtrack “Fly By Night.” Years of experience have inspired Sidney Mills to expand his Living Room Studios into a competitive label and they have released two compilation albums featuring Dennis Brown and Sylvia Tella. Sidney has also collaborated on albums released by Ziggy Marley, Shelly Thunder, Shinehead, Frankie Paul, Sister Carol, Worl-A-Girl, Shabba Ranks, Neville Brothers, Gwen Guthrie, Afire, Mikey Dread, The Meditations, Big Mountain, Glenn Washington, Kevin Batchelor and Sly & Robbie.
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Hernan Santiago Engineer, Producer
Mastering and mixing engineer Hernán Santiago is recognized industry wide for his meticulous attention to detail. A Bronx native, Hernán got his start at (PLATINUM) Island Studios in Manhattan in the mid-nineties and through the years gradually worked his way up from intern to recording and mixing engineer. His reputation for excellence being built throughout the years, industry heavies seek him out for their recording sessions knowing that he will deliver. While other engineers have a black book with phone numbers, Hernan’s black book is filled with the secrets of how to bring to life the sound the artist is imagining in their mind, having done so for Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Ice-T, Savage Garden, Tru-Life, SpankRock and Macy Gray.
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Brian Cid Engineer, Producer
Founder of Extinct Records. Billboard/UK Charted DJ&Producer / 2X Platinum Mix Engineer. Always one to keep listeners on their toes, New York’s own Brian Cid is a leading taste maker among American electronic music artists. With over 15 years of experience, this 29 year old has showed no limits working with some of the most recognizable names in the industry as Cher, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Sean Kingston, Bruno Mars, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and many more. Aside from his production career, Brian is a widely renown DJ that works very actively in the underground house scene, playing in the most respected venues and festivals in New York as Pacha, Cielo, Output, Verboten and Marquee. Proclaimed by his clients as the quickest engineer in NYC, his speedy effective recording and mixing techniques help squeeze the best performance out of any artist.