Santo Recording was established in 2010 in Oakland, CA. It was built from the ground up in an old car repair shop by Christopher Sprague and Josh Roberts, and has hosted countless legendary recording sessions, workshops and events since its inception. In 2023, Jason Kick and Simi Sohota partnered with the original owners to breathe new life into this hidden gem of a studio. Our aim is to act as a resource and hub for creativity, community, and positivity in the Bay Area.
Santo is an analog and digital recording studio. We have a 2” analog tape machine, a large format vintage NEVE console, as well as Pro Tools, Logic, and a suite of the latest plugins. The vibey live room was lovingly designed to let bands relax and play well together. Our control room was recently tuned with a SIM system by Johnny Latimer of Meyer Sound. Email santorecording@gmail.com to book some time and become part of Bay Area music history!
Meet the FOUNDERS
Christopher Sprague began his musical journey in recording studios as a passionate 14-year-old, and his dedication to creating and supporting community through music has remained unwavering ever since. He has made significant contributions as a founding member of bands such as Tristeza, The Crimson Curse, Constantine Sankathi, and Naked Lights. Tristeza, in particular, gained global recognition for their unique fusion of instrumental, krautrock, and psychedelic influences. Throughout his musical career, he had the privilege of recording albums in renowned studios including KeyClub, Double-Time, Kingsize, and Louder.
In 2010, Christopher co-founded Santo Recording together with his partner Josh Roberts. The studio's ambiance and design reflect Sprague's Mexican heritage and Michigan roots, drawing inspiration from his childhood memories of watching old family VHS tapes of Mexican cinema, westerns, and Lucha Libre. Santo Recording stands as a hand-built dream realized, providing a platform for artists to bring their musical visions to life.
Christopher has left an indelible mark on San Diego, the Bay Area, and beyond through his artistic contributions, the realization of Santo Recording, and the dedicated crew involved. His continued dedication and contributions continue to shape and enrich the vibrant and diverse musical landscape.
Josh Roberts co-founded Santo Recording with Christopher Sprague in 2010.
Josh’s studio engineering and live sound mixing credits stretch back to the mid '80’s. He started out at the College for Recording Arts engineering program and then went on to work at Linear Sound as a systems engineer. That lead pretty quickly to regular mixing gigs for many local bands in the SF scene like Pearl E. Gates (Pearl Harbor and the Explosions) and Chris Isaak. Josh went out on his first big tour as a monitor engineer in ’87 for The Budweiser Superfest, mixing monitors for the whole lineup: Patti LaBelle, Luther Vandross, Earth, Wind and Fire, Atlantic Starr, The Gap Band, Franky Beverly and Maze.
After a few years working for sound reinforcement companies, Josh was able to finally stop lugging around huge PA systems and go to work full time mixing bands for live shows. Mixed in were several internships and assistant jobs at studios around the Bay to gain studio experience. A connection with the seminal SF band Consolidated lead to a long lasting connection with Jack Dangers from Meat Beat Manifesto in the early ‘90s. Josh mixed every Meat Beat show for more than a 10 year span all over the world. Working with Jack lead to live and studio gigs throughout that time. Some of Josh’s credits (studio and live mixing) during that time span: Meat Beat Manifesto, MC 900 Ft. Jesus, Consolidated, The Melvins, Snail, Rappin Fortay, Digital Underground (yep, he worked on the Humpty Dance), NIN (remixes), Depeche Mode (remixes), C. J. Chenier, Bootsy Collins, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Josh then moved into regular gigs at many of SF’s most popular clubs: Wolfgang’s, Slim’s, The Fillmore, The Warfield, The Great American Music Hall, Bimbo’s, The Stone, etc… He mixed hundreds of bands during this time frame: Curtis Mayfield, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Boz Scaggs, Santana, Carla Thomas, The Pogues, Butthole Surfers, Buck Naked and the Barebottom Boys, Los Lobos, X, Steve Earle, Firehose, Sun Ra and his intergalactic Arkestra, The Cramps and hundreds more.
Somewhere along here he played in Dieselhed, and continued to engineer projects in the studio with the goal of starting his own one day. Josh opened Roof Brothers Recording in Oakland in ‘96. In the late ’90’s and early ’00’s, he engineered records for SF punk bands like Handfulla Flowers, Hookey, Shotwell, Blonde Ambition, Verbal Abuse and more. As his studio credits continued, he engineered records by Sonny Smith, Seven Day Diary, Low Hum Satellite, Killing Floor, Epidemic, etc… As his chops got better, he did live gigs for larger bands like Ben Harper, King Crimson, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Beth Orton, etc…
For the past 9 years, Josh has been partnered with Christopher Sprague and has built two locations of Santo Recording. These days, you can find Josh working at Santo and running his new business, Clarity Estate Liquidation. www.clarityestateliquidation.com
MEET THE PARTNERS
Jason Kick is an engineer and musician living in Oakland, CA. He has produced, recorded, and/or mixed over 60 albums and projects since 2012. He has recorded dozens of bands at Santo including Mild High Club, Marinero, Healing Potpourri and Abracadabra. His production work on Mild High Club’s “Homage,” from the album Skiptracing, earned him a certified Gold Record by RIAA in 2022. Over the last decade, Jason has become one of the most in-demand engineers and producers in the Bay Area.
Jason is also a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and internationally touring musician. He currently plays in Shame Waves, Nervous Systems and his solo project J Chrystanthemum. Past projects include Maus Haus and Rent Control. His eclectic resume spans several genres and he has performed in one way or another on many of the records he produces. He is particularly fond of writing 3 part vocal harmonies and string arrangements,
He is now Head Engineer at Santo Recording, overseeing recording operations and managing a team of brilliant engineers. More info including a selected resume and spotify playlist of his recording work on Jason Kick's Crew Page.
Simi Sohota is a recording artist, internationally touring musician, and band leader based in Oakland, CA. He got his start playing in bands while DJing at KDVS 90.3FM, the college and community radio station in Davis, CA. He has been a part of the DIY Bay Area music scene for over a decade, playing in bands like Froogy’s Groovies, Friendless Summer, and Sonny & the Sunsets. He is currently the principal songwriter and front person for the band Healing Potpourri. He joined the Santo Recording family in 2023 as a Studio Manager and is excited to help build up and support his thriving and diverse Bay Area music community.