Alex L’Estrange has been surrounded by music from an early age. Raised by a classical pianist and a hi-fi loudspeaker designer, he grew up with equal exposure to performance and the details of how recorded music is made and heard.
As a producer, writer, mixer and mastering engineer, his ambition is to uncover the true nature of a song. When represented authentically and creatively, recorded music has the power to transport the listener and create profound meaning and atmosphere. Alex approaches audio as both a technical craft and an emotional endeavour.
He began recording the bands he played in and built an early studio in the basement of a share house; gradually refining it into a professional space. As a multi-instrumentalist and solo artist he toured widely across Australia and the UK, before relocating to London in 2017. There he immersed himself in the UK and European scene, working across multiple studios and running his own production and mixing facility in East London for four years. He returned to Australia in late 2021 and built the first Sound Aquarium in Sydney’s east.
Alex’s credits include an ARIA Award nomination, an ARIA No. 1 album, Triple J Hottest 100 placements, and tens of millions of streams across DSPs. He currently works out of his own facility in Byron Shire NSW, Australia.
Located on Bundjalung Country in the Byron Shire of New South Wales, Sound Aquarium is Alex’s purpose-built production, mixing and mastering studio. It features a carefully tuned, world-class listening environment and a sonically rich hybrid setup of analogue and digital equipment.
For attended sessions, please get in touch.
Outboard: Pultec EQM-1A3 Mastering Equalisers X 2 Manley Variable Mu Limiter/Compressor Stereo API 5500 Stereo Equaliser API 3124V Preamplifiers X 4 Sytek Audio Systems MPX-4A Preamplifiers X 8 Tape: Technics RS-1500 2-Track 1/4 Inch ATR Grand Master Tapes Collection of NOS Tape Microphones: Neumann KM184 Condenser X 2 Coles 4038 Ribbon X 2 Sontronics Mercury (with NOS Mullard Valve) Valve Condenser Shure 545 USA Vintage Dynamic Shure SM7B Dynamic Shure SM58 X 2 Dr Alien Smith Alien8 Figure 8 Dynamic Electro-Voice N/D468 Dynamic Monitoring: Aaron HMF-600 Modded Loudspeakers Aaron SW-400 Modded Subwoofers Technics SE-A3 Amplifier Instruments: Ludwig Legacy Maple 22,16,12 (Steve Maxwell Drums Custom 60s Spec) Ludwig Black Beauty 14x5.5 Large collection of Zildjian, K & Istanbul Cymbals Fender American Deluxe Players Stratocaster Rickenbacker 4003 bass (vintage) Orange Rockerverb 50 MKI Amplifier