107-120 Sonnenschein Way Saskatoon, SK
Efren Pereira Jr: Owner/Producer/Engineer/Musician
Efren’s experience in the music industry spans over 25 years performing, writing, touring, producing, and engineering in many genres of music. He is a graduate from Trebas Institute’s Audio Engineering program (Montreal, QC). Some credits to his name include self-producing his band (The Band Ef), album “Bob and the Starship Salvation Pt.II”, which garnered the Grand Prize in The National Airwaves Contest for Independent Release. He has worked with countless artists including Earl Pereira (Wide Mouth Mason, Mobadass), Bill Bourne (Juno Award winner), and Don Johnson (Grammy Award Winner).
Efren’s studio, StarLab Recording, opened its doors in October, 2008. Like many studios, it was built around Efren’s lifelong dream of having a place where artists and clients alike could enjoy the comfort of an environment to express their creativity.
The studio officially got its start with the help of Saskatoon non-profit organization, Ideas Inc. The organization is a business incubator, who nurtures the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during their start-up or growth periods. By co-locating in a building with other entrepreneurs launching their own start-up businesses, the entrepreneurial fire within is encouraged.
When an opening came up inside this building, Efren immediately envisioned the space would be a great starting point for his studio. “There’s a certain creative synergy that’s happening with Ideas Inc., with businesses like my own, and others such as The Stall Art Gallery, Cave Caffe, Cava Cuisine, among others. And we’re located right along the river in Saskatoon’s south downtown district,” states Efren.
“When we got the space we began to design it from the ground up contracting builders and electricians in the process. The cool thing was that there was a lot of research involved to design the studio, so that soundwaves could travel at their optimum peak and that there would be no standing waves,” explains Efren.
Design also included using a lot of recycled materials such as insulation, flooring, and metal studs. They also had to keep in mind that there were other businesses in the building, so they had to pretty much “build a room inside a room” to attenuate sound from traveling outside into the common areas.
Whether your looking for voice-over recording, location sound recording, post-production for film/tv, PA equipment, or studio rentals, Starlab Recording offers all kinds of services. Since opening their doors, they have worked on a variety of projects from full-length albums, demos, pre-production, post-production, singles and EPs. Recent clients included These Hands, Sarahtonen, Higgs Bozon, Dustin Ritter Band, The Classy Chassys, Sean Viloria, T. Murphy, One Bad Son, Wide Mouth Mason with Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar), The Swindlers, Bassavoce, and more.
Efren’s Favs:
Musical influences - in no particular order: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Who, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Guided By Voices, Pavement, The Pixies, Super Furry Animals, The Clash, Radiohead, Klaatu, David Bowie, .Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley, Spoon, Frank Black, Elliot Smith, The Monks, John Lennon, George Harrison, Sloan, and Willie Nelson, to name a few.
Producers and Engineers: “I always believed that producers and engineers were only as good or great as the artist,” states Efren. Some of his favourits include Steve Albini, Daniel Lanois, Ric Ocasek, George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Nigel Godrich, Rob Schnapf, David Leonard.
Photos courtesy: B.Jonathon Michaels
If your studio is interested in being featured under the Studio Spotlight, contact info@saskmusic.org.
By Jen Eisler for SaskMusic, Originally published Summer 2010
