JLM Sound Expands: Roman Vail Promoted to Staff Engineer, Adds Studio Manager Diana Zinni
JLM Sound, the DUMBO mastering facility founded by Joe Lambert, continues to expand. This week, Lambert announced that he has promoted Roman Vail to the post of Staff Engineer.
“When I opened JLMSound in 2008 I asked Roman to join me — he was my studio manager the last three years I was at Trutone in midtown,” says Lambert. “I wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible, so keeping the team together was a big help. When you’re a small company everyone does a lot of different tasks and Roman has been doing everything I’ve asked of him over the years. Since being at JLM Sound Roman has been doing more and more mastering sessions, so I’ve been wanting to transition him out of the management role to free him up to handle more session work.
“My workload has steadily increased and in the last year or so it’s really exploded, making it’s necessary to bring Roman along to handle the projects that I’m not able to do, as well as the clients that he has cultivated himself over the last couple of years. It also allows us to have different price options for people while still offering the quality of work and attention they expect.”
In addition, JLM Sound has brought on Diana Zinni as studio manager. “Diana is the perfect person to take over the operations of the studio for us,” Lambert notes. “She’s experienced in the New York studio environment, and is someone I can trust to handle the day to day needs of our clients. She’s capable of all the things I ask of the position — which is a lot!”
The developments at JLM Sound seem to be a positive indicator for the overall health of NYC-based mastering in 2011. Recent sessions at the facility include new full-lengths by Moby, Panda Bear, Gang Gang Dance, Guillemots, Obits, The Papercuts, Milagres, Lia Ices, and Austra. “It’s a lot of work to create a successful studio,” says Lambert. “So when you see it grow and take off in new directions it’s a challenge, but also a lot of fun.”
— David Weiss