In the heart of Westside Los Angeles, studio Le Garage is now home to two music men, producer and extraordinary musician , Freddy Koella (Bob Dylan, KD Lang, Willy Deville) and producer and mixer/engineer Ken Allardyce (Fleetwood Mac, Green Day, Madmoiselle K)

"It's the laid back atmosphere here,"says Koella with a big smile. "We share certain sensibilities when it comes to music. We see eye to eye on lot of production decisions and then when it's time to duel it out, we do it well," says Allardyce. "That's what happens when you get two Europeans in one room, I guess. We (the Scots) have saved the French on several occasion during history," says Allardyce with a chuckle.

Koella and Allardyce have been collaborating together on number of productions to include: Folk singer/songwriter, Lila Nelson and singer songwriter, Kenny Edwards. "It works. When you put solid sound and music together. I love the organic approach to music," says Koella.

Both men have been collecting gear over the years -- some of the gear includes: ProTool HD, Studer A800 24 track tape machine and the Harrison 10B console takes the centerstage. Le Garage offers a collection of vintage guitars, amps and mcirophones and a wide range of preamps including Helios and vintage Calrec pre amps. Genelecs and NS10s are available for monitoring.

Ken Allardyce Ken Allardyce is an outstanding engineer, mixer, producer and musician with numerous chart-topping popular artists to his credit including:
Green Day’s "Nimrod," and “Warning” cd's for Reprise, Weezer’s “Green Album” for Interscope with producer Ric Ocasek, and the Goo Goo Doll's "Dizzy Up The Girl" and "Gutterflower" albums for Warner Bros. A long liaison with Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham resulted in tracks for Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" album, Stevie Nicks' "Twisted" from the movie "Twister" as well as "Shakin' the Cage" for The Zoo, Fleetwood's offshoot band. Ken produced and mixed the legendary band, The Yardbirds "Birdland" cd released on Favored Nations. Other notable recordings include Supertramp's "It Was The Best of Times" recorded live at the Albert Hall in London, and tracks for Avril Lavigne's "The Best Damned Thing". Ken has recorded and mixed with French legends Eddie Mitchell and Sylvie Vartan on their latest albums and has recorded for Johnny Halliday. He has also produced and mixed the French punk rock band Les Wampas on their "Rock'n'Roll Pt 9" album, and recently produced and mixed the Paris -based alternative rock band Mademoiselle K's latest release"Jamais La Paix."

Koella who plays guitar and violin has toured with Bob Dylan (2003 and 2004), KD Lang (2007), Willy Deville, Zachary Richard and Doctor John. He moved to New Orleans from his hometown Mulhouse/France In 1990. Later he spent 9 years in Louisiana, working with the locals and at Kingsway, Daniel Lanois' studio before moving to L.A in 1999. Freddy produced Kenny Edwards' first album and co-produced the band The Subdudes album “Miracle Mules” at Warren Dewey’studio in Santa Monica. "It’s with Warren’s help that I was able to put this studio together," says Koella.

Although Ken likes the live recording approach, he's also known for his layered and lush productions . "The productions are very much customized to suit each artist. We try to convey to the final product with as much integrity as is possible, what the artist is trying to portray. This involves a different approach for each project and indeed sometimes for each song," says Allardyce.

Next time you're in the hood, stop by and say bonjour Le Garage! Call to schedule a tour - you never know who'll be answering the door!

Contact: Claris Sayadian-Dodge
studioexpresso
818-990-3031