Los Angeles based Twelve-Time Grammy® & Latin Grammy® Winner Producer/Mixer/Engineer Rafa Sardina has built an eclectic and impressive client list in the recent years: Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Elvis Costello & The Roots, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Jordan Smith, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Placido Domingo, Celine Dion, Harry Conick Jr, Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, Shakira, Dr. Dre, Dru Hill, Armando Manzanero, David Morales, Jessy Moss, Luis Miguel, Paco de Lucía, Chris Botti, Susan Boyle, Katherine Jenkins, Zaz, Sheryl Crow, Soul Coughing, Beyonce, Beto Cuevas, Kevon Edmonds, Kina, Eric Marienthal, Juanes, Angie Stone, Calle 13, Illya Kuriaki & The Valderramas, Alejandro Fernandez, blues legends Al Blake & Fred Kaplan, Michael Buble, Juan Gabriel, Jumaane Smith, Jackie Evancho, Rachel Platten, Naturally 7, Michael Bublé, Jumaane Smith, Cristian Castro, Clare Fischer Big Band, Macy Gray, Robbie Williams, Alejandro Sanz, Natalia Lafourcade, Miguel and D’Angelo among many others. He has received over 44 Grammy & Latin Grammy Nominations for his work with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga, Luis Miguel, Clare Fischer Big Band, Illya Kuriaki & The Valderramas, Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, and D’Angelo & The Vanguards.
In 2016 Rafa Sardina got abother Grammy recognition for Best R&B Album for D’Angelo’s “Black Mesiah”.
As a musician, engineer and producer Rafa connects easily with artists and has tremendous respect for creating a studio vibe that's performance-friendly for both new and established talent.
Rafa’s love for music began at an early age playing guitar and attending recording sessions in his native Spain. After four years in Medical school, Rafa chose to pursue his life-long passion: Music. A live sound stint with folk, jazz and world artists in Northern Spain and South of France led him to the United States where he attended Full Sail University in order to expand his knowledge and abilities. He graduated with a Valedictorian Award for achievements and excellence. Soon after he landed an engineering position at the legendary Ocean Way Recording Studios in Hollywood and Record One Studios in Los Angeles. Rafa had the unique opportunity to work with world reknowned artists on a daily basis: from Natalie Cole to the Black Crows, Celine Dion, Greenday, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frank Sinatra, the pre-recording of The Academy Awards and worked on numerous movies. Rafa’s intuition to move to Los Angeles proved to be one of the most rewarding synergies of his life.
Though Sardina is best known for working on pop, rock and R&B projects, he has recorded and mixed just about any genre of music you can imagine: orchestral recordings, big band, R&B, dance, gospel, soul, rap, choral, film/TV soundtracks and movie scores like “Any given Sunday”, “102 Dalmatians”, “Michael Jordan- To the Max”, “Biker Boyz”, Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Family Reunion”, Johnny Depp’s “The Rum Diary” and many more.
Over the years Rafa has developed professional and personal relationships with many artists that he has grown to respect.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to a simple studio philosophy - I'm there to make sure the artist is able to realize his vision, intensely collaborate in the creative process and have fun in the journey.”
Rafa founded Fishbone Music Productions in 2001. He built his studio from ground up with artist’s need in mind. “Afterhours” was designed by Com-po-site architectural firm, who’s behind the design of very reputable studios like The Record Plant, David Lynch Studios and many other world-class facilities. “It helps me to be more flexible with today’s recording budgets and create a safe place for artists to work without having to worry about the clock,” says Sardina, who specified the acoustics and gear installation details of his studio in Los Angeles, California. He also frequents major studios around the world. “Basically, I go where the projects take me…”
Sardina’s Gear of Preference: Augspurger Speakers, Avedis Audio, Bricasti, Focusrite, Sennheiser, Waves, SPL & DUY Plug-ins, Neumann, Apogee converters, and Solid State Logic mixers.
