Hairball Audio

We’re audio nerds. Yup. And super proud of it! In a lot of ways, you almost have to be if you’re spending hours and hours in a studio experimenting with sound. A while back, our drummer/producer friend Teo Shantz (Kore Ionz, Owuor Arunga, Otieno Terry) hipped us to Hairball Audio, who delivers high quality audio equipment with a commitment to local manufacturing. Their products include the Lola andElements mic pres and 500/FET compressors. And the best part of all…is that Hairball Audio is located right here in West Seattle!

Teo encouraged us to reach out to Hairball and after sending them an online inquiry, owner Mike Mabie immediately replied and said he’d love to meet with us. A week later he came down to Youngstown to meet the youth and offered to donate two mic pres and a 500 series compressor to the studio! What?!

The Lola, named after Mike’s dog, is their signature “modern classic” mic pre, which Tape Op Magazineclaims will “bring out the most of any mic selected.” The 500/FET compressor, based on the iconic Universal Audio 1176, is considered to be “the most classic FET compressor sound.”

Thanks to Hairball Audio, our recordings will be that much more sweeter! Much love to Mike and, of course, Lola!