Gregory Fitzgerald
Owner - Engineer - Drummer
Gregory Fitzgerald is a passionate drummer and sound engineer based in the Montreal area. He got his first drum set 22 years ago and since then has devoted all his energy to music and recording. Graduate of Cégep St-Laurent's technical jazz interpretation program, where he developed his playing and musical language with renowned teacher Philippe Keyser, Gregory also studied with great jazz drummers such as Marko Djordjevic (Lionel Loueke , Wayne Krantz, Sveti) and Bob Moses (Pat Metheny, Dave Liebman, John Medeski).
In 2010, Gregory founded Studio Sophronik, which also allowed him to play and record with several artists. Today, the studio welcomes a variety of groups and artists of all kinds from all over the world. The space has several connecting rooms allowing live recordings with flexibility of configurations and a choice of high-end equipment. This is also one of the reasons why Studio Sophronik is coveted by several other engineers, directors and producers. Given the owner's passion for vintage instruments, the studio offers a collection of more than twenty guitar amplifiers, thirty snare drums, ten drum sets and over a hundred microphones.
His freelance career began in 2010 at the age of 19 years old with a first oversea gig in Asia. Since then, Gregory has had the chance to travel and perform in Canada, United States, Island, Europe, Africa and Central America. He is regularly on the road with zydeco group Le Winston Band, folk artist Kanen, pop artist Juurini and rock singer-songwriter Cédric Vieno. He also had the chance to work with Elisapie, Julien Sagot (Karkwa), Émile Bilodeau (La Voix), Erik West Millette (West Trainz), Jeffrey Piton (La Voix), Sarah Dufour (La Voix), Oktopus (klezmer/balkan ensemble), Les Parfaits Inconnus (circus-music) and many others.
Simon Walls
Producer - Mixer - Composer
Simon Walls is a producer and singer-songwriter. With more than 15 years of experience in the music industry, he has composed 3 albums under his name, written a book on his travel across Canada (on foot !) and has recorded/produced hundreds of groups and artists. from one continent to the other. Multi-instrumentalist endowed with incredible versatility, Simon follows and work with artists from A to Z in their process of creating and producing an album. From the first stammering of text, music and pre-production to the finalization of mixing and mastering, Simon invites artists to come and join him in his creative universe at Studio Sophronik.
More recently, he has worked on several projects such as Laura Niquay (EXCLAIM!, GAMIQ, LaPresse, CBC mentions and Polaris nomination), Zal Sisshoko (ADISQ and Canadian Folk Music Award winner), Claude Mckenzie (Kashtin), Tee Cloud, Raymond Sewell, Juurini, MIELS (GAMIQ nomination), Le Winston Band (ADISQ, GAMIQ nominations), Cédric Vieno (Music NB Awards winner and East Coast Music Awards nomination) and many others. He is also a producer for the organization Musique Nomade, which allows him to travel and record artists from different First Nations communities across Canada. Finally, Simon Walls is the founder behind Atty Records Label and co-creator of the Simon & Greg record the world web series.
Sylvaine Arnaud
Producer - Engineer - Arranger
Sylvaine Arnaud is a sound engineer, producer, musician and composer based in Montreal. Graduate in sound production (master's degree at ENSATT in Lyon) and in interpretation and musical theory (Conservatoire de Lyon), she has been making her way for 16 years and has worked in several studios in Paris, Québec and Toronto (Studio Davout Paris, Studio Belleville Paris, Studio Victor, Studio Planet, Studio Fast Forward, Studio Tempo, Studio Wild, Studio Chemin 4, Rose Room Recording Toronto). She has had the chance to collaborate with great artists including Gilles Vigneault, Daniel Bélanger and Patrick Watson. Today, Sylvaine mainly devotes her time to work with artists and groups in her creative space at Studio Sophronik. She is appreciated for her attentive listening leading the artist into a sonic intimacy and most relaxed atmosphere possible. Her efficiency and mastery of analog and digital tools make recording sessions smooth!
Her most recent collaborations include the intimate group Ambroise, the contemporary ensemble Whim, the folk project Lapeluda, the jazz-latin ensemble of Rachel Therrien, the indie group Excavation and poetry and the traditional music project Lilas l'bon temps. She is also a producer for the Musique Nomade organization and the Nikamowin platform, which allows her to travel to communities across Canada to produce music with First Nations artists. Sylvaine also loves to create in the context of live art (theatre, dance, cinema) and she has just finished the musical score for the web-theatre show Virus et Versa by Théâtre Harpagon.
You can also hear Sylvaine on upright bass in the jazz quintet Interstices, the tribute show Lhasa, I still laugh, the Argentine tango group Trio Argentino and with the folk artist Kanen. She regularly accompanies the swing group Christine Tassan et les Imposteures, with whom she has toured in British Columbia, France and Germany.