History of Mad Hatter Studios

Originally established by legendary jazz icon Chick Corea, Mad Hatter Studios was named after his highly acclaimed 1978 album entitled “The Mad Hatter.” It had been decided after recording a few projects in his home studio, that an acoustically-perfect recording environment was needed.  Thus, in 1980, a new building was located, designs were drawn up and Mad Hatter Studios was created.

With the news of this state-of-the-art studio now open to artists, it was immediately booked with several of the world’s most highly-acclaimed artists who in turn created some of the most popular music ever produced.  From Prince to Paul McCartney and Beck to Blink 182, Mad Hatter has been the studio of choice. These recordings were done on our classic Neve 40-channel 8078 mix board (housed in our Studio A) acquired from Electric Lady Studios in New York City – a studio built by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1992, Studio B was opened for recordings (also housing a Neve 40-channel 8078 mix board) and saw as one of its inaugural sessions, the music recordings for the closing ceremony of the World Cup. At present, Studio B is primarily used for audiobook projects, voice recordings and ADR for films and TV—while still occasionally being used for music recordings.

Purchased from Chick Corea in 2003 by the audiovisual production arm of the Church of Scientology, Golden Era Productions, Mad Hatter Studios was renovated inside and out to give the studio a design like no other. And while many of the rooms changed and adjusted style, the refurbished Studio A maintained its class, and that never forgotten sound it has always held. Also, in addition to a refurnishing the original Chick Corea hand-picked classic Steinway model D piano in Studio A, both Neve 8078 boards were united to form an 80-channel Neve 8078, modified for 5.1 surround sound and installed in the Control Room.  

And now, having been fully redesigned and revamped inside and out, the Mad Hatter tradition continues.  Still equipped with the highest quality analog tracking equipment as well as its new state-of-the-art digital recording and mixing gear, Mad Hatter Studios is rolling like never before and stands today as one of the finest recording studios in the world.