About Us
From humble beginnings
M.O.B. Studios was founded in 2008 inside of a gritty 100 year-old live/work warehouse in downtown Seattle’s SODO district. We survived off word-of-mouth “advertising” and by running sound at some of Seattle’s finest punk rock dives. We recorded mostly local independent groups such as Rat City Ruckus, The Blue Ribbon Boys, Point Three, Vice Versa, ROWAN, Karma Bomb, and Neon Nights.
In 2018, with the help of some amazing investors, we decided it was time to put on our big boy pants and transform M.O.B. Studios from a smelly punk rock crash pad into one of the baddest recording studios this city has ever seen! And one that our friends could actually afford!
To get the best bang-for-the-buck, we augmented our lifelong collection of carefully chosen mics, preamps, outboard and backline gear by scooping up broken stuff we couldn’t afford and repairing it. We built DIY gear from scratch. We used salvaged wiring and construction materials wherever possible and did much of the demolition and remodel work ourselves. When that wouldn’t cut it, our amazing investors were always willing to spring for brand new gear or hire incredibly talented professional contractors to get the job done!
We are extremely proud of the hours upon hours of hard work everyone has contributed, and the truly amazing space we’ve created as a result. Thanks again to all of our beautiful friends who helped along the way and anyone who’s ever attended a show or booked a session at MOB over the years! We love you all! Extra special thanks to Josh Menashe and Dean Dahley. None of this would’ve been possible without you guys! Now that we’re all done, let’s get started!
LET’S PUT SEATTLE MUSIC BACK ON THE MAP!
Studio Gangsters
Evan Kolpack
Engineer / Owner
Evan has been recording music since 1996, majored in Digital Audio Production and has run sound at several local Seattle venues and for countless national touring acts. He founded MOB Studios in 2008 and is our lead engineer and chief tape operator.
Sig Wynkoop
Engineer / Manager
Sigfried was in diapers when his pops was obnoxiously strumming a six string and singing some Spanish variation. He now finds joy in strumming along, kickin a beat, and producing tunes. Sig met the MOB crew not long ago yet loves them like family and will write, record, and jam with em til death do them part.
Gena Wynkoop
Marketing Director
Gena is the Marketing Coordinator at M.O.B. Studios. As a journalist and digital producer, Gena has worked with several media outlets local to Seattle and beyond, both in writing and editing, digital production, communications, and social media management. You can find Gena making music with her brother Sig, running around the city and Instagraming everything she sees, or snackin’ on a charcuterie board with her mom..
Josh Menashe
Exec Producer/Owner
Josh is a familiar face around Seattle. He is a lifetime West Seattle resident and has been working at the neighborhood’s favorite family-owned jewelry store, Menashe & Sons Jewelers, for over 25 years. Josh and his wife have three beautiful children and love being involved in the community. That love of community is what inspired Josh to co-found MOB Studios.
James Pink
Tech / Video Lead
James has been running sound for venues in Seattle for more than 5 years now. He offers a lot to our team between system architecture, gear, sound and video production. He currently is our video tech. and as of now has the second longest hair in the MOB.
Zech Valette
Producer / Owner
Zech is an artist and performer who has produced many Seattle bands. Check out his song “Carolina Girl” for an example of the work he does, or find him playing piano at Keys on Main or at an upcoming Seahawks game.
We’ve got a great team of talented individuals!
Our History
We’ve been recording bands at our discreet SODO facility since 2008.
The original guitar wall!
One of the first projects completed upon moving into our home @ 624 Lander was an 18 foot guitar wall. We had an in-house repair shop for both guitars (Ziko) and amps (Zukas), collectively known as “ZZ Shop”.
Ten years of recording, producing, mixing and mastering
Major renovations begin
Interior design brought to you by Shan™
Uh oh…
After lots of this…
…and this…
…and finally, calibration!
1.23 VAC RMS 1k sine = 3.47 VPP = +4dBu input yields -2dBu nominal internal operating level @ patch out = +4dBu bus out with analog fader @ 0 (after VCA bypass mod). CHECK!
TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!!!
Looks great, sounds AMAZING!
Every audio capacitor replaced with Nichicon MUSE or Panasonic FM. PSU rewired and caps upgraded to Nichicon. All capacitance and voltage values doubled for lower noise and improved low freq response. Ripple on DC output is under 15mV! Stock patchbay upgraded to Switchcraft. Every molex connector, pot and switch cleaned by hand and treated multiple times with DeOxit and Stabilant 22. Several channels custom modified with API-based EQ and preamps by Richie Vee. Vintage op amps and Transamp modules in several channels replaced with high-performance discrete op amps and Sonic Imagery Labs fully balanced differential output amplifiers for a cleaner, more modern tone if desired. Calibrated all i/o to factory spec.
We couldn’t be happier with the results. THIS CONSOLE SOUNDS AMAZING!!! Warm, fuzzy, fat, smooth, silky, low-noise floor with tons of headroom! It is especially great on rock, funky R&B/soul or anything with analog vibes! If you bring the talent, it can do the Staxx, Motown, Muscle Shoals or 70’s rock thing for days!
Our First Video Project!
Our 7th Annual MOB Christmas Party
Starting to look like a studio!
Zech inspecting the third level
MOB 3.0 begins
24 track tape necessitates a 24 bus console
Our Sound Workshop Series 40 console before ground up restoration, mods and upgrades.
…and this…
Every….single….wire. Stripped, tinned, tested, labelled, soldered with normals, retested, squeezed into the tiny little rack space of the stock patchbay, and tested again, then terminated on the opposite end, hooked up, and tested again.
All done! It’s show time!
One of our first projects since officially opening as “MOB 3.0” was a music video and live recording for Dwele that looks and sounds amazing! Special thanks to his amazingly talented band of local Seattle cats! Check out our content page for a sneak peak!