Apogee Studio in Santa Monica, CA is a recording studio and performance venue in the heart of Apogee’s solar powered Berkeley Street headquarters. The large space adjacent to the company’s offices and warehouse has been a host to legendary recording artists, up-and-coming artist showcases, and serves as “The Lab” for Apogee’s product development and testing. In its short but impressive history, artists such as John Fogerty, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and many more have recorded and performed at Apogee Studio.

The road to Apogee Studio began when Apogee moved into the building in 2005. Legendary mix engineer Bob Clearmountain—a member of Apogee’s Advisory Board and product development team—suggested Apogee use the extra space to create a simple environment for live recording. The space was ultimately transformed into a world-class recording studio and live performance facility. To make it all happen, Apogee would provide the resources for construction and Bob would oversee design and outfit the studio with the best in vintage analog, as well as the most modern digital audio equipment. Along with engineer Brandon Duncan and advice from Bret Thoeny at Boto Design Architects, Clearmountain consulted on the studio’s construction and gear installation which laid the ground work for a space that would later host some of the music industry’s biggest icons. Clearmountain and the design team envisioned the marriage of classic analog gear with Apogee’s digital audio converters. This led to the search for the vintage Neve 8068 analog console. Clearmountain always loved the 8068 he often used at Power Station in New York and by a crazy stroke of luck, he found that exact desk had come up for sale. To complete the recording chain, Clearmountain installed Apogee’s flagship Symphony I/O converters and Mini-MP microphone preamps along with Apple’s Logic and Avid’s ProTools DAW.

With the addition of a state-of-the-art sound system and lighting rig, the studio has also become the perfect venue for intimate music showcases where the performances are captured with second-to none audio quality. This has been utilized most notably by National Public Radio affiliate, KCRW, for an incredible series of live performances for their broadcast.

As part of Apogee’s many philanthropic activities, with each project that is booked at the studio, all profits are donated to Corazon de Vida, a U.S. charity providing funding, services and support to aid the plight of Mexico’s abandoned and orphaned children in the 50 orphanages of Baja, California.