IGUANA STUDIOS PRESIDENT VIC BRANCO (SEATED)
& HEAD ENGINEER NICK LOBODYCZ IN THE CONTROL
ROOM WITH SSL 4082 G SERIES CONSOLE.
IGUANA
STUDIOS
A Classic Console, Good Vibes
& 25 Years of Music History
C
BY MICHAEL RAINE. PHOTOS BY NEAL BURSTYN, NTBCREATIVE.COM
reate a studio where musi-
cians would want to hang
out. That simple concept
was the bedrock on which
Iguana Studios was found-
ed and has seen it through
25 years of success. Yes, the studio sounds
good, and yes, it has an enviable console, but
its true essence is in the vibe.
(That console, though, it’s a close second …)
“When I got involved, it was kind of our
band’s hideout,” begins Iguana President Vic
Branco. “It’s where we made all our music, and
that whole philosophy, attitude, and vibe just
somewhat naturally bled over to our clients.
It wasn’t set up very business-minded; it just
evolved to being like, ‘OK, let’s rent this out to
34 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
other people and basically give them the same
vibe and service that we’re giving ourselves.’ It
was just a natural thing to do.”
Iguana Studios
4041 Chesswood Dr.
North York, ON, M3J 2R8
647-882-2697
www.iguanastudios.ca
Before there was a one-of-a-kind console,
floating floor, acoustically tuned control room,
or any of the other specialized features of a
professional studio, there was a simple record-
ing set-up in the home of Bruce Dies in the
late ’80s. It became the regular spot for demo-
ing songs for the Toronto-area band Jag, which
included Branco and Dies’ studio partner, Peter
Culbertson.
“I was doing the band thing and then next
thing you know, around ’93, when the studio
ended up at its current location, that’s when I
got involved. One thing led to another, I really
had no plan and things just happened. I took
over the studio, I guess you could say, and I
bought all the guys out and just kept it going,”
explains Branco. “A lot of what we did was just
trial and error and learning along the way.
There was no model, no blueprint, nothing.
It was a bunch of musicians putting a studio
together and trying to make a go of it. That’s
really the beginning of Iguana.”
The formative years of Iguana through
the mid- and late-‘90s were also a time when
professional audio technology “was just going
bananas,” Branco recalls. “We were working off
of 2-in. tape and the next thing, before I was
settled in, ADATs and [TASCAM] DA-88s were
kind of introduced at the same time. I am like,
‘OK, what’s going on?’ Kind of overnight we
now had to have those machines.”
Around that same time, early versions of
Pro Tools were hitting the market and making
waves in the audio community. “Then there
was a time in the late ‘90s when all of those
formats were being used simultaneously in the
studio. It was, I don’t want to say a nightmare,
but it was tricky; let’s put it that way. Like, ‘Do
you want to record on ADAT, a 2-in. tape, a
1-in. tape, a DA-88, or Pro Tools?’ So, it was like
a mad scramble in the late-‘90s and by about
the early 2000s, it was very apparent that Pro
Tools was going to take over the pro record-
ing industry and tape was going to become
bougie and boutique and very expensive to
work with.”
With that perspective and history in mind,
it’s interesting that Branco chose to go all-in
with the purchase of a massive 22-ft.-long,
80-channel analog console in 2001. That said,
this is not just any mixing board; it’s “the Ark of
the Covenant” of studio consoles, in the words
of Iguana’s Head Engineer, Nick Lobodycz.
Iguana’s SSL 4082 G Series desk was cus-
tom-built for the legendary Power Station
recording studio in New York City. It practically
oozes music history, with producers and engi-
neers like Bob Clearmountain, Chris Lord-Alge,
Tom Lord-Alge, Andy Wallace, Mark “Spike”
Stent, Will Schillinger, and Alan Moulder having
worked on it. The list of platinum-selling artists
whose songs have been recorded and mixed
on it is just as impressive and includes the likes
of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Madonna, Bon Jovi,
Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Dream Theater,
and a ton more.
Prior to getting the SSL 4082, Iguana
cycled through what Branco calls “an unprec-
edented amount of console changes.” From