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James Lugo, President
Singer, Voice Coach, Composer, Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist &
Artist Manager
Vocal Asylum is James' world, he does it all; vocal coaching for some
of today's biggest artist as well as develope the stars of tomorrow.
Also to his credit, he's an accomplished commercial composer with many
song placements under his belt as well as a world-class record producer.
His affiliation with American Idol, Nickelodian, Disney, Warner Brothers,
Atlantic Records, Virgin Records and iPOP has secured his place as a
top industry powerhouse and artist manager. with vision and recourses.
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Karen Key, Vice President
Artist Management, Admin
Upon gradating from University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Karen's
journey took her into the exciting and competive world of fashion. As
manager for Abercrombie and Fitch she cut her teeth in today's hottest
trends, she developed a reputation as a savvy salesman and potent closer.
Those are the attributes that are her foundation and make her an indispensable
asset to Asylum Artist Management. As James says 'everything has to
be sold', selling is the cornerstone of artist representation and Karen
is as good as they get.
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Dan McMains
Producer, Composer, Guitarist
Dan started at the studio as the guitarist in James' band 'The Hollywood
Inmates' and has developed into the 'go-to guy' at the Asylum. He's
a master guitarist with a diploma from Musician's Institute in Hollywood
and is one of LA's top guitar player for hire guys. Dan has been groomed
by James to run the studio like a ship. His musical intuition is spot
on when producing music whether it's pop, rock, metal or punk. He pretty
much does it all, accomplished musician, protools engineer and stylish
modern record producer... and hell of a nice guy...
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Gregg Sartiano
Producer, Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Mixer
Gregg has been one of James' greatest mentors. Gregg Sartiano is a
music genius with a masters in music composition and a client list to
die for. Gregg as known in the hip hop world for working with the best;
Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Method Man, KRS-One and Lil' Jon just
to name a few. To watch Gregg run protools is to watch sheer madness,
he's as skilled as anyone on earth. Gregg plays all the instruments
and percussion and his musical ear is breathtaking. G as we call him
around the studio is the man and our primary mixer.
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Mike Amren
Producer, Composer, Guitarist
Mike started assisting at the studio early 2008 after being one of
James' student that just never left...lol Mike is the guy who basically
lives at the studio doing everything from assisting during tracking
to editing drums. Mike has become James' primary day-to-day guy and
is being groomed to run things at the Asylum. Mike is also working on
his own music at the studio for his band 'Searching For Satellite'.
Mike is a cross between Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain. His future is so
bright he has to be dressed cooler then anyone else on this page. Mike
is the future of Vocal Asylum.
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Susan Baughn
Lyricist, Composer
Susan has brought a new ray of sunshine to the Asylum. Her talent as
a wordsmith and
passion for people have made an immediate impact. As a music lover,
Susan's
stylistic influences are not limited by genre whether it's Bonnie Raitt,
Stevie
Wonder, The Eagles, or Avril Lavigne. Susan's eclectic artistry meshes
the steadfast
with the cutting edge.
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Nicole Weingart
Photographer, Layout, Graphics
Nicole came to Asylum Artist Management as a referral from Karen Key
and has proven to be a brilliant addition to the staff. Her years as
a Hollywood print photographer have really paid off in helping AAM to
achieve its goals as a top artist placement company. Her work with Tegan
speaks for its self. Nicole has a never say die work ethic and will
push the artist to get the right shot.
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Julio Romano
Hair Stylist
While sitting at the world famous Barney's Beanery in Hollywood James
was greeted by a server with the best hair he'd ever seen. Asking her
who was her hairdresser was she said 'Julio Romano' or as he's known
around town as Julio Shampoolio. So James went to see what this Tommy
Lee lookin' dude was all about. James witnessed the madness that is
Julio. A follicle aficionado with a leaning towards modern rock and
pop looks Julio has been on some on TV's best fashion shows, Extreme
Makeover and Fashion Teen and done hair for Incubus, Nine Inch Nails,
Madonna and Blink-182.
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Karina Vega
Make Up Artist
Karina cut her teeth in hair and makeup as Julio's assistant at Estilo's
Salon On Beverly Blvd in Hollywood. Karina also has leanings toward
modern pop and rock and is a master at extreme makeup if the job calls
for it. Working with her on jobs has really drove home the importance
of having a professional makeup artist on call at photo session. Makeup's
the paint job and at the end of the day that's what people see. Karina
is awesome and continually amazes us at AAM.
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Gregg Cash
Bassist
Gregg Cash is a rock star in the making. He has such a perfect feel
and for a guy who's only 22 years old he plays like a seasoned pro thanks
to the mentoring from his father who's a top session bassist in Philadelphia.
When Cash is on the gig all is good. \M/
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Adam Gust
Drummer
Adam was the first session musician to ever play a track at Vocal Asylum
Recording; James has a special place in his heart for Mr. Gust. Towering
over the world at nearly 6'8" Adam is one the best session drummers
in LA. After graduating from acclaimed North Texas State where he studied
under Keith Carlock Adam loaded up the wagon and headed west to conquer
Hollywood and he did. Adam has a knack for writing the right drum part,
he's got it.
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Charles Ruggerio
Drummer
Charles is new around here. He worked in the studio with his band Sweet
Avenge and blew us all away. This guy plays with massive emotion, hits
hard and grooves. He cut his teeth with New York rock band 'Slunt'.
Big Chaaaaaarles is the man.
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Matthew Jordan
Piano, Keyboards
Matt and James go way back. Matt started as a voice studio years ago
and when James saw him play piano he was stunned. Matt's a lot like
Cash, young but seasoned. Matt is a pop maniac, he's one of those guys
who always plays the perfect part, it's in his DNA and has beautiful
phrasing and chops galore.
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Micah Hulscher
Piano, Keyboards
What can one say, to watch Micah play piano is beautiful thing, his
whole being IS piano, he IS piano. End of story. Before moving to LA
he ran across an add James had posted on craigslist looking for a piano
teacher for himself, Micah responded and sent James a link to his myspace
and that was it. James spent a month listening to Micah's myspace music
before even meeting him. He's great at blues, country, soul, rock, pop,
jazz, alternative and New Orleans swing. Vintage keys are his thing.
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Keith Ridenour
Composer, Guitarist
Keith and James go way back, so far back we shutter to say...lol They
played in bands in the 80's in Florida and Keith was one of James' earliest
inspirations for doing what he does. Keith since has moved to Nashville
and become a top songwriter and publisher. Keith currently comes to
LA every few months to write with James.
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Mike Gehring
Composer, Piano, Drummer
Mike also started out as a voice student and soon recorded a record
at the Asylum where he and James became very close friends and work
on many commercial projects together. Mike's an accomplished songwriter,
piano player and drummer and currently drives the fastest car out of
all of us, Porsche. Lol
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