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Pictured: George Pajon Jr. with El Cubano Studio Manager Charles Prada

What was the impetus behind building the studio?
Pajon: I work at a lot on the studios around town, and I needed a place that could compete with the big studios but didn’t have the craziness of those places. Unfortunately, you can’t finish a lot of projects in a project studio. So I decided to build a room that had everything that the big studios had there—here. Also, I wanted to offer a location for everyone to come and work for a lot cheaper. And I needed a place to write. Ever since the success of the band, it’s become extremely difficult… You have to outdo everybody.

How’d you first hear about Blue Sky?
Pajon: I know I’ll be doing my own studio stuff forever; it’s what I love to do. So I don’t like buying things that I know I’m going to have to replace later. I’d rather buy something that’ll be around for 10-15 years. I had bought a Genelec 7071A, one of the biggest subs you can buy, problem was it’s huge and I was in ‘bass hell’. Joe Taupier from West LA Music suggested Blue Sky’s Bass Management Controller MK II, which I bought and it worked beautifully!

I asked him what else does Blue Sky make, because I really needed mains. Joe said, ‘I have the perfect thing for you!’—Blue Sky’s SAT 12—and I bought those, too. For me, forward thinking products is a big thing, and if you have something that no one else has, I’m willing to listen to everything you make. Since I got the SAT 12s, everyone who comes in here, that’s the only thing they comment on. I have tons of other cool stuff, but they’re like, ‘What monitoring system is that? I want to put them in my studio!’ They sound great.

Now, everything is running through the Blue Sky BMC—the whole monitoring system. Genelec has its own satellite crossover system, built into their subwoofer, but the Blue Sky BMC is a lot more transparent and flexible. There is nothing out there like this—unless you hand-wire and built it yourself! For me, I didn’t want the bass to overpower everything—to be really bass heavy, the way everything often is these days— and this is what happens when you have a huge sub that isn’t setup right. To now be able to turn down the sub or turn if off and use the SAT 12s full-range input, is great. This flexibility is also a big advantage for the guys working on a TV project here, where they sometimes need to monitor without the sub or very little sub. This is because most TVs don’t have SUB’s and the engineer has to confirm if a mix translates without the last bottom octave or two. In the past it wasn’t so convenient, guys would have to unplug the sub, or leave and finish the project at another studio, now it is very easy to make a change.

How does using a subwoofer factor into the way you mix?
Pajon: For me, you have to turn it up and I’m also a pure tone guy. If you’re playing metal, tone doesn’t matter as much. Who cares if it’s flubby; who cares if it’s tight. It’s just angry energy you’re after. I’m more looking for that Stevie Ray, Clapton, and old Hendrix, really tight bottom end tone. My amps do that already with me playing, but it’s translating that to the digital recording that’s very difficult. I have that now, with my new system. Before, it was all bass and that was even worse than no bass, because everything was very bass-heavy and took all the frequencies and there was no room for a nice kick drum sound. So for me, that’s the foundation of everything, basically. That’s the meat of the whole rhythm track—kick and bass. Everything on top of that is just icing. So it’s very important for me. Plus, I’m in a hip-hop band and I need the ability to turn it ‘all the way up’, because that’s what all these guys want.

What do you love about the SAT 12 Monitors?
Pajon: I wanted to get a clarity, which I wasn’t getting from just reference nearfield monitors. I also wanted really nice sounding mains that weren’t going to overpower the room when I needed to turn it up. For me, it’s a personal thing. I have to feel it, once the music is in a form where I’m going to start recording solos, I have to have to turn it up ‘cause I’m a live player. I play live on stage and it’s loud on stage. I have three different sets of speakers, but when I’m writing or piecing things together, when I’m ready to feel it, I switch to the Blue Sky’s. Also, when I’m playing stuff for other people, I use the Blue Sky’s. The top end is really nice; the low end is really tight—which is really big for mains. A lot of the mains, even in the big studios, get really flubby. A lot of people don’t care, because at that point when you switch to the mains, what you’re trying to do is blow someone’s head off and get the impact of this being played in the club—which is necessary. And nowadays, that’s what most people respond to. Listen to what’s rumbling down the street. But, I hate it when the monitors are a flubby hell. But it’s not like that with these. I can turn them up… …They’re really cool.

Talk about some of the recent projects you’ve worked on.
Pajon: It’s hard to keep up with everything. I produced a song on Fergie's solo record called “Velvet”. I also did a Snickers® campaign with Wil—all that while we were on the road. And I’m working on my next solo record.

So what is the secret formula of the BEP?
Pajon: This is a huge camp. Everybody writes and everybody produces. We were on the road with Elephunk, and while we were out, we started writing Monkey Business. When we finished Monkey Business, we were still on the road, and started working on Fergie’s record. We never got off the road. We’d have stadium gigs on Thursdays through Sunday, and on Monday through Thursdays, before we got on a plane, we were in a studio wherever we were at—London, Sydney, wherever. We did it that way because we had the whole writing team, the whole creative team, on the road. We’ve got to keep this train rolling! The obvious thing was to do Fergie’s record next. After that, we’ll do Will’s, then apl.de.ap, then Taboo’s, and then the big, massive 10-year reunion of the Peas in 2008. We’re just trying to keep it together, and for the first time in music, we’ll go back to the days of Sly Stone and P-Funk. We’ll keep touring, and keep it just the Black Eyed Peas. We realize that this is working and we don’t want to break it up. It’s smart I think. So we continue to do things the way we do it, because that’s the formula that works and we’re going to stick to it.