Adam Friedman Builds A Neve-Equipped Project Studio With Vintage King

Adam Friedman's project studio featuring AMS neve 1073 preamps, a 33609/N Compressor, and 8816 Summing Mixer.

Since coming to L.A. ten years ago, songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Friedman has charted a course of self-discovery through the music industry.

He’s released a string of upbeat pop singles under his own name; collaborated with artists like Mike Posner, Tai Verdes, O.A.R, Claire Rosinkranz, and Allen Stone,; contributed to the Rock Dog soundtrack; and made a splash on NBC’s Songland with “Be Nice,” which ultimately became a Black Eyed Peas single.

Today, Adam lends his musical talents to exclusive writing camps, helps develop up-and-coming artists he believes in, and keeps the inspiration flowing with freeform sessions at his new personal studio space.

Adam recently worked with Vintage King’s David Chessey to outfit his small but inspiring project studio with Neve 1073 CV preamps for recording drums and vocals, a 33609/N Stereo Compressor, and an 8816 Summing Mixer for giving his tracks a cohesive and polished sound.

Now that he’s had some time to settle into his new space and gear, we sat down with Adam to talk about his many collaborations, his approach to production, and what he wanted in a studio.

Tell me about your evolution as an artist, songwriter, and producer. How did you arrive at what you’re doing now?

I've always been creating for myself, learning recording techniques, and stuff like that. I tried the artist thing when I came out to L.A. ten years ago, and that particular project wasn't really working for me, but in the process, I ended up meeting Mike Posner. He heard some of my productions that I did in college and has brought me on to work on a bunch of his music since 2015. I've learned so much with Mike and he's become one of my best friends.

He took me under his wing and taught me how to be in the room. My first session was with him, Black Bear, and Ilsey Juber. That was in 2014, and I'd never been in a proper session before. Through the years I've met lots of artists, producers, and songwriters, and I’ve realized I'm naturally a producer and a songwriter who mostly writes for myself and then shares that with my artist and producer friends.

So I've continued to do that through the years, and through that process, I met Brendan O'Brien. He's produced some of my favorite records. He heard some records that I made with my friend Ray Goren, and he was like, “You guys should come to the studio.” It ended up turning into this year-long thing where he let us use his studio on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we would just make all these records.

Just being in the room with him, I learned so much. Nothing's precious; everything is just like, “Okay, next thing. Record the fucking thing, let's do it.” There's no, “Oh, but we like the sound of the guitar and that take was–” it's just like, boom-boom-boom. That taught me so much about producing, being in the room with people, and being efficient. That was a really big stepping stone for me.

I've been really lucky and grateful to have some great mentors, and for the last five years, I've really focused on songwriting and production.

Songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Friedman

What’s your production style, and what do you bring to those collaborations?

90 percent of the time it starts with the drum sounds, whether it's samples or whatever. That’s kind of like the roots, and then the branches are the instruments and stuff. I love, love, love, love nerding out on getting drums to sound great because when the drums sound right, it inspires me to write a certain lyric or melody or play a guitar part or a bass part or a keys part. I love the feeling of being in that flow state.

Sometimes I or my collaborators will start things on the guitar, like the song “AOK” by Tai Verdes. It was a demo sitting on my laptop for maybe two years, and it was just kind of dead-feeling. One day I was going through old recordings and I was like, “There's something here,” but I didn't know what it was. Then I started playing drums to it, and before long I put down a drum track. I had a towel on my kick drum so I could put my iPhone down, and I started playing the drum beat that is now in the song. So my iPhone-recorded drum kit from when I was a teenager is the primary drum sound on that record.

Out of that process, I've made some records that have brought me some income, which has allowed me to expand my equipment and go even deeper into making things that I want to make.

Speaking of expanding, what’s the story behind your new studio space?

I’ve been going to this awesome studio, Gold-Diggers Sound, and I've had so many great times there. In studio two, they have an old Neve console with ATC monitors and six tie lines to a little drum room. I would go there and do days where I would just record drums and I would be so happy. I loved it, but I live on the West side and it’s quite far from me, so I was like, “It'd be so nice to have something like this on the West side.”

When I stumbled upon some loot, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, which was to make my own version of what I love so much about working at Gold-Diggers and all the other studios that I've been to. I'm still going to go to Gold-Diggers, but I needed a place of my own.

I rented a space at lmnl Studios in Santa Monica, across the street from a park where I can throw frisbees with my buddies and smell the ocean breeze. It’s in this weird corner spot that they turned into two studios. It’s extremely small but it's perfect for me. It's got a little control room and an even smaller drum room, and it's got tie lines. I have six mic inputs in the drum room, which is all I need.

Adam Friedman's personal studio showcasing his Neve studio gear, keyboard, and guitar collection.

A drum set sitting on a rug with a large condenser microphone suspended several feet above the snare drum.

When did Vintage King enter the picture, and what has it been like working with David Chessey?

David at VK has been absolutely wonderful. I'm really well versed at putting together a home studio, but not when it comes to getting the heavy-duty shit. I'm sure I could have figured it out in a few months, but I wanted this quick, so David just expedited what would have been a long process.

When you build a studio, there are thousands of wires and so many failure points; something's bound to go wrong. For me, it was peace of mind to know that no matter what happens, I'm covered. I always felt very confident that if there was a problem, I could always call David. For instance, the EQ button on one of the 1073s wasn't working, so I just sent that out and I got a new one the next day. It's been super comforting to know that ultimately there's no failure point because they'll fix it.

Why did you choose Neve for most of your preamps and outboard gear?

Being in L.A. for ten years, I've done the rounds and worked at so many wonderful studios, and over the years I’ve learned that I gravitate toward the Neve sound. It just speaks to my soul. I love being in my headphones, playing drums through some 1073s with some compression.

I had a budget, and I was like, “I just want Neve stuff.” I wanted the Neve sound for drums, but I also love guitars, so I wanted some tasty stuff to put the guitars through. And I also have some synths, so I wanted some tasty stuff for those, too. So David was basically like, “Well, you probably want this, this, and this,” and we kind of went back and forth.

I knew I wanted 1073s. I’ve used those and I've known them forever. But I didn't know about the summing mixer or the Rupert Neve Designs MBT. And then the 33609 that I really wanted—I forget the exact model—was like $30,000 for a vintage unit and there was only one available and it was in Prague. So I was like, “I'll just get like the modern version because modern shit rocks, too.”

A rack of studio gear including AMS Neve 1073 preamps and an AMS Neve 33609/N Compressor.

So, you’ve gone from iPhone recordings to a whole rack of Neve gear. Are you primarily an in-the-box or out-of-the-box person?

I had this dream years ago to make a hit record on a laptop, and I did it with “AOK.” I just love the idea of picking up the laptop, not plugged into anything, and that's it. It's all you need. But now I have all this awesome shit that feeds the laptop, so I'm working with the tastiest-sounding drums and synths and stuff because they went through this gear. And when I leave the studio, I just pull out one cable and I can get on a plane and still work on my laptop.

I was 30,000 feet in the air recently, and I pulled out my laptop and opened this session that I'd been working on. I had the drums and guitars in there, and everything sounded so good because I did it in my studio. I got inspired on the plane and played a MIDI horn line on my keyboard, and that sent the song into a new direction. Then, I brought it back to the studio and added some other things. So I'm fairly in-the-box, but I mess around a lot outside of the box and then bring it all back in.

What’s a typical day in the studio for you? What have you been working on lately?

It changes from day to day. Right now I'm working with this wonderful artist, Devon Cole. She’s just such a lovely soul. I'm working on her EP remotely. We have a notes list that we update when she has to record a vocal or I need to do some production stuff, so lately I'll go in and check the notes and see if there's any work that I need to do.

I'm also working with a writer that I signed through my publisher: my friend and wonderful musician and human, Ray Goren. He started a project called Mayor with his buddy Dayle Hammers, so I've been helping them get their music in front of different people and giving feedback on a lyric or a drum sound or whatever. I’m mainly just being a fly on the wall for them, but I’m very excited about the music they're making and to be helpful in any way I can.

Most mornings I wake up at 5am, get to the studio by 6am, put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” and start playing drums. I just set a tempo and start playing a beat. I'll put the headphones on and play for 20 or 25 minutes, and eventually, I just find myself locked into a groove I like. Then, I go back into the control room, chop up a 16-bar loop or something, and pick up the bass or guitar; whatever comes to me. If nothing comes quick, I just bounce it and put it in my drum loops folder.

My only hard and fast rule is that there's no such thing as writer's block. If I don't find something that I love within an hour, I'm over it and I'm on to the next thing.

A close-up of a rack of studio gear including AMS Neve 1073 preamps with several guitars sitting on a stand in the background.

A close-up of a rack of studio gear including a patch bay, LA-2A compressor, and more.

A close-up of a drum kit with a pair of headphones sitting on the snare drum.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the gear mentioned in this blog for your studio, we're here to help! Contact a Vintage King Audio Consultant via email or by phone at 866.644.0160.