Studio Sweet Spot: Sundlaugin * Mosfellsbaer, Iceland
Facility Name: Sundlaugin Studio
Sundlaugin's famed swimming pool-cum-live room
Website: http://www.sundlaugin.com
Location: Mosfellsbaer, Iceland
How to Get Here from NYC: JFK to Keflavik Airport, then 40 minutes drive towards Reykjavik.
Where You Can Stay Once You Get Here: Hotel Laxnes, five minute walk from the studio. Or any hotel in downtown Reykjavik which is a 15-minute drive from the studio.
Neighborhood Advantages: Sundlaugin is literally one of the last houses before you hit the countryside. Quiet and green area with beautiful walks all around. A river runs three meters from the sweet spot in the control room. Outside, though.
Date of Birth: 2000
Facility Focus: Very well suited for live tracking as we have a fairly big main recording room with high ceilings and four other rooms/booths, as well as a great collection of microphones. Great for mixing also; Neve desk, nice outboard and loads of plug-ins.
Clients/Credits: Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Damien Rice, the Album Leaf, amiina, Mugison, Seabear, múm, Ólöf Arnalds, Skúli Sverris, Pétur Ben and many other foreign as well as Icelandic bands.
Key Personnel: Birgir Jon Birgisson, engineer/manager/owner; Kjartan Sveinsson, producer/owner
Ice cool control for local outfit Ensimi
System Highlights: Neve V0 desk; ProTools HD2; Otari MTR90 mkII w/Dolby SR; Manley, Neve, Empirical Labs, Lexicon, AMS, Alan Smart, Shadow Hills outboard; Neumann, RCA, AEA, AKG, Coles, Sennheiser, Melodium mics
Distinguishing Characteristics: Loads of natural light, especially in the control rooms which is a rare treat in a studio — makes it a lot easier to spend long hours working. Five separate rooms to record in, four of which you’d fit in a full drum kit. Each with different characteristics.
The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? Neumann U47 valve microphone
Rave Reviews: The vibes in and around the studio; we have a pond and a river just outside the control room with a view of a field and even a small forest which is a rare sight in our fair country.
Having such a nice environment makes everyone feel at ease which makes the process so much more enjoyable. Drummers also love the main room.
Most Memorable Session Ever: Super Mama Djombo; a 14-piece band from Guinea-Bissau. They taught me it’s not the gear you use but how you use what you have.
Sundlaugin, Icelandic for 'swimming pool,' has a pond and a river just outside the control room.
Session You’d Like to Forget: That one involves bad notes and Melodyne for six days straight.
Dream Session: The band would be Tom Waits, Dolly Parton, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Dave Grohl and Davíð Þór Jónsson.
— Biggir Jon Birgisson, Engineer/Manager, Sundlaugin