Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Sola.
Hi Steve, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
They call me “The Mix King,” but behind that title is over three decades of grit, late nights, and a deep obsession with quality sound.
As a New York City audio engineer, mixer, and producer, I’ve had the privilege and honor of working and shaping music that has contributed to over 25 million records sold worldwide, spanning numerous gold and multi-platinum hits.
While I’m widely known as a legend and sonic architect for East Coast hip-hop and R&B, my ear has always been versatile enough to handle everything from rock to pop to dance etc etc .
As a matter of fact I started as a guitar player, singer and songwriter for a few Pop-Rock-Dance-Alternative bands in the 80’s.
I even played at iconic venues including Studio 54, My Fathers Place and Northstage.
My professional audio engineering journey started the way it did for many professional engineers, first going to college for audio engineering and then interning at a studio.
It was an honor for me to start at the world class Soundtrack Studios. This is where I worked on hip-hop and R&B records during Hip Hop’s golden era from 1994–2002.
I developed an early affinity for analog tape, huge mixing consoles, classic outboard gear and monitors, mastering fundamentals of sound engineering long before digital and software took over the industry.
I also embraced digital recording, editing and mixing early on. I used an SSL digital daw in 1995 on my first platinum plaque with R&B group Jodeci on the “ The Show, the After Party, the Hotel “ album.
By the late 1990s-2000s I had become a staple engineer at some of Manhattan’s most historic and legendary World Class Studios:
Hit Factory, Electric Lady, Battery Studios, Right Track Studios and Sony Music Studios (1998–2009): I engineered massive commercial projects here .
Daddy’s House Studios (2002–2009): I served as a mixing engineer at Sean “Puffy” Combs’ iconic home base, famously engineering and mixing for legends like Notorious B.I.G. and the Bad Boy Records roster.
Some Iconic Collaborations throughout my career include:
Mobb Deep & Prodigy: I formed an incredibly tight collaborative bond with the group, engineering and mixing foundational tracks like “Quiet Storm” “Got It Twisted” “The Learning” “Hey Luv” and ultimately executive producing Prodigy’s HNIC 2 and HNIC 3 albums.
Hip-Hop Royalty: My technical precision and love for Hip Hop helped bring the music of Nas, Eminem, Method Man, Notorious BIG, Jadakiss, 50 Cent, LL Cool J and more to higher quality standards .
Genre-Bending Success: Proving my versatility outside of hip-hop, I also worked on major projects like the grand, orchestral rock sounds of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Movies: co-wrote the title track “Struggle No More” featuring Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim and Music Soulchild for the Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls Movie and Title Song from the soundtrack.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the music business—especially within the competitive, high-stakes pressure of the New York City studio world—the road was rarely, if ever, smooth. While my career might look like a steady climb of multi-platinum success from the outside, achieving and maintaining longevity for over 30 years has meant navigating industry shifts, being flexible and surpassing hurdles.
The primary struggles and challenges I’ve had to conquer along the way include:
Like most audio engineers of my generation, I didn’t just step behind a million-dollar mixing board. I had to pay my dues from the bottom up.
Starting out as an intern and assistant engineer meant working 18- to 20-hour days for little to no pay, running errands, cleaning studios, and wrapping cables.
As a Staff engineer you had to prove your worth instantly and consistently. When a major artist or producer asked me to patch a piece of gear or fix something in a mix, I did not hesitate for even a second.
Surviving that high-stress environment required a thick skin and flawless technical precision under extreme pressure.
Engineering for iconic, uncompromising artists meant balancing intense creative energies.
When working at world class studios the clock was constantly ticking on massively expensive studio time.
As the engineer, I made sure that a historic creative moment didn’t get lost due to a technical glitch. Managing the late-night schedules, abrupt creative pivots, and erratic hours of the hip-hop elite required an immense amount of patience, mental stamina, and emotional intelligence.
As the music industry shifted toward home setups and major New York commercial facilities began to close their doors, I looked toward the future. I decided to step out on my own, take the financial risk and established Plain Truth Entertainment Recording Studio in 2006, my own thriving, commercial recording, mixing and producing studio right in Manhattan.
I’ve been able to keep complete control over my sonic environment.
Today, as Chief Recording, Mixing, Producer, Mastering Engineer and instructor, I continue to bridge the gap between old-school analog warmth and modern digital techniques. I remain fiercely active in the studio—mentoring newer artists, producing beats, teaching audio production and ensuring that independent and mainstream musicians alike walk away with a polished, world-class sound.
Operating out of my private facility, Plain Truth Entertainment, in the heart of New York City, my work serves as the critical bridge between raw artistic creation and commercial radio readiness.
I would like to make clear that all the struggles are so worth it when the artists are so happy with your work, you hear songs you’ve worked on on the radio, make the billboard charts and receive awards. The struggles become smaller in your heart compared to the love of the music.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
• Elite Mixing: I take individual raw audio tracks (stems) recorded by an artist and meticulously blend their volume, panning, frequency, and dynamics into a cohesive, hard-hitting, high quality song.
• Mastering: The final polish. I balance the overall sonic elements of a stereo mix and optimize playback across all audio systems—from club monitors and car stereos to streaming algorithms.
• Vocal Production & Tuning: I specialize in making vocals sit perfectly inside a dense instrumental, utilizing EQ, compression, and subtle pitch-correction techniques to maximize emotional impact.
What I Am Known For (The Signature “Sola Sound”)
I am renowned for a specific sonic signature:
• The New York Low-End: I’ve built a reputation for my ability to engineer bass and kick drums that hit with power without muddying the rest of the track and clear vocals.
• Analog Warmth with Digital Precision: While many modern engineers mix entirely on a laptop (“in the box”), I use a hybrid approach. I route digital signals through high-end analog hardware—compressors, tape machines, and tube gear—to infuse tracks with a rich, expensive, and three-dimensional warmth that digital plugins alone cannot replicate.
What I Am Most Proud Of: is building and sustaining my own independent, state-of-the-art studio in a ruthless New York market, ensuring the classic NYC studio tradition stays alive for the next generation.
What Sets Me Apart from Others:
Many younger engineers mix with their eyes, looking at visual waveform graphs on a monitor. I also look at waveforms to do edits and other tasks but I mostly mix with my ears and soul, relying on over 30 years of experiences, vibes and instinct.
I don’t just turn knobs, I know how to read the energy in a room, pull the absolute best performance out of a vocalist, and protect the artist’s original vision. I also offer and bring ideas on how to take that vision to the highest level.
I’ve been producing more music than ever before like great legendary artists like Imam THUG, Ruc Mr QB and Artists on the rise like Magg-1 and Ta’rell.
Also check out The Mix King “EP” and The Mix King “Not For Free” albums featuring major and independent artists. I’ve recorded, mixed, mastered and produced every track on these albums.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
While many engineers credit an established studio boss for teaching them the ropes, I didn’t have a traditional mentor in the industry. Instead, I learned by carefully observing and listening to every successful and talented person around me.
The chief engineers, studio managers, artists and producers while I was an assistant engineer.
Learning organically, listening and watching the success and of course talent of everyone working at the studios.
Shout out to Mobb Deep, Havoc & Prodigy.
An engineer is often only as iconic as the artists who insist on keeping them in the room. In terms of client loyalty, no relationship was more definitive to my career than my bond with the legendary Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep (Havoc and Prodigy).
The Role Played: They weren’t just clients; they were true creative teammates. Trusting me to mix foundational, definitive hip-hop classics and eventually tapping me to executive produce Prodigy’s HNIC 2 and HNIC 3 solidified my place as an indispensable architect of the East Coast sound. Their unwavering belief in my ear cemented my status in hip-hop history.
Super Producer Havoc was the first to let me produce a non released track on the Murda Muzik album by Mobb Deep.
Havoc is one of a kind GOAT, he is a legendary producer and also is an incredible artist, and his approval was one of the greatest honors of my career.
Legendary producer The Alchemist served as a major advocate and a bridge to massive commercial projects. When working on Eminem’s platinum-selling Eminem Presents: The Re-Up compilation album, The Alchemist brought me in to mix the tracks he produced. Opportunities like this from trusted industry peers consistently elevated my profile on a global scale.
Special shout out to the past and present Team of engineers and producers at Plain Truth Entertainment.
A studio cannot survive without a loyal community of local and remote artists, indie managers, engineers and assistants who keep the rooms humming. Independent acts who recognized the value of having a multi-platinum engineer mix their records became the lifeblood of Plain Truth Entertainment. By acting as vocal advocates and spreading my name through word-of-mouth and social media , this network has kept my business thriving and relevant through changing economic climates.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.themixking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevesola/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevesola1
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesola/
- Twitter: https://x.com/plaintruthent
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/howtostudiochannel
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/plain-truth-ent-nyc-recording-studio-new-york?dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/plaintruthent-1
- Other: https://coast2coastlive.com/judges/judgedetail.aspx?judgeid=14773
