About me
Los Angeles based 19-Time Grammy® & Latin Grammy® Winner Producer/Mixer/Engineer Rafa Sardina has built an eclectic and impressive client list over the years: Stevie Wonder, Camila Cabello, D’Angelo, Dr. Dre, Rosalía, John Legend, Elvis Costello & The Roots, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Flor De Toloache, David Foster, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Placido Domingo, Celine Dion, Rachel Platten, Harry Conick Jr, Josh Groban, Tim McGraw, Mariah Carey, Shakira, Dru Hill, Armando Manzanero, David Morales, Luis Miguel, Paco de Lucía, Susan Boyle, Katherine Jenkins, Zaz, Stewart Copeland, Sheryl Crow, Soul Coughing, Angelique Kidjo, Beyonce, ChocQuibTown, Beto Cuevas, Eric Marienthal, Juanes, Angie Stone, Calle 13, Illya Kuriaki & The Valderramas, Alejandro Fernandez, blues legends Al Blake & Fred Kaplan, Juan Gabriel, Jackie Evancho, Michael Bublé, Cristian Castro, Clare Fischer Big Band, Vicente Amigo, Macy Gray, Robbie Williams, Nick Jonas, Anitta, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Patti Austin, Soweto Gospel Choir, Alejandro Sanz, Natalia Lafourcade, Miguel, and Residente among many others. He has received over 60 Grammy & Latin Grammy Nominations for his work with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga, Luis Miguel, Diego Torres, Clare Fischer Big Band, Illya Kuriaki & The Valderramas, Alejandro Sanz, Flor De Toloache, Calle 13, and D’Angelo & The Vanguard.
Rafa Sardina has served for over 10 years as Governor for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Grammy’s, as well as been appointed Chairman of the Producers & Engineers Wing at the Grammy’s in 2016, Trustee of the Latin Grammy’s and Vice-Chairman & Founding Member of the CPI (Circulo de Productores e Ingenieros), the equivalent organization representing Producers & Engineers in Latin America, Brazil, Spain & Portugal.
Rafa founded Fishbone Productions in 2001. He built his studio “AfterHours Studios” from the ground up with artists’ needs in mind and it was featured in Mix Magazine’s Class of 2017 list of most innovative studios of the year.
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 the 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-renowned 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.
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.