Engineers & Producers

Our experienced engineers have worked on countless successful projects.

Whether it’s tracking, editing, mixing, or production, we can pair you with the right person to make your dream recording so you can focus on being creative and capturing great performances.

Tom Dobrzanski

Producer / Senior Engineer / Founder

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Tom Dobrzanski is a Juno nominated Canadian record producer, engineer, mixer, musician and studio owner.

He began his career in 2005 when he built Vertical Studios and produced debut albums for bands like Said The Whale, Hey Ocean!, and  We Are The City. His favourite projects to work on are often new artists that are looking to make their first serious studio recording.

Tom is also a founding member of the Vancouver band  The Zolas, and although since launching Monarch is more focused on production and recording, continues to work with the band on their studio recordings.

Tom has been recognized with many award nominations including WCMA awards for Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Rock Recording of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year, Independent Album of the Year, and most recently Juno nominations in the Alternative Album, Traditional Roots, and Breakthrough Group categories. Tom has also had multiple top 10 singles on Canadian radio charts, including a #1 with Said The Whale’s song “I Love You”.

Alex Penney

Producer / Senior Engineer

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Alex Penney has always been surrounded by music. He played piano growing up, with a taste influenced by a father who loved prog-rock and a sister who studied jazz. This developed into a love for hip-hop and electronic music and sounds from around the world.

During university he became interested in DJing and production and started buying records and making beats. This eventually led to a move to Vancouver BC to pursue a career in making sound and he has been working as a Producer/Engineer/DJ ever since.

Alex has worked with artists such as Dani LeRose (Jade the Moon), Jay Rock (Top Dawg Entertainment), and Jarrett Martineau (CBC Reclaimed / RPM Records).

Aaron Klassen

Engineer

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Aaron Klassen is a Vancouver-based a recording engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist specializing in drums and synthesizers.

As a performer, Aaron has over a decade of experience playing stages across Canada, the US, UK, France, Germany, and as far as India with musical acts such as Bad Pop (FKA Hot Panda), Ben Rogers, Dustin Bentall, Ghostmeat and Altered By Mom.  The songs shared on this bio playlist showcase some of that work.

After completing the Digital Music Production program at Langara College, Aaron found his love of all things engineering and production.  Blending the old and the new, analog meeting digital, is where Aaron finds the most joy in recording and are what keep him in the studio with a smile on his face at any hour.

Quirky indie rock, classic and contemporary alternative, electronic, post disco and pop music are the blueprints for the music that Aaron creates personally and loves to work with artists of any genre that hold a passion for putting out something new to the world.

Dave Sikula

Producer / Freelance Senior Engineer

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David Sikula is an award winning recordist, mixing engineer, guitarist, and producer from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Since completing his undergraduate degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto in 2002, David has gravitated toward a career in audio production while continuing work as a guitarist.  With over fifteen years of experience as an audio engineer and over thirty years of experience as a professional musician, David has become an in-demand audio engineer and producer for both local and international artists of many styles ranging anywhere from jazz, to Persian classical music, to singer/songwriter and pop and rock styles.

Past clients include Jodi Proznick, Katherine Penfold, Cory Weeds, Jeff Hamilton, Bells Clanging, the Vashaan Ensemble, Peter Bernstein, Steve Kaldestad, Mike LeDonne, Louis Hayes and many others.

Please inquire about rates and availability with Dave Sikula.

Charlotte Duggan

Engineer

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Charlotte Duggan is an accomplished audio engineer and music producer, with experience working in over a dozen recording studios across Vancouver, Banff, Los Angeles, and London. She creates unique sounds across a multitude of genres, from hip hop, punk and noise, to alternative rock, folk and pop. 

Charlotte has two Audio Engineering and Music Production diplomas from SAE Institute Vancouver. In addition, she completed an Audio Recording Engineer Practicum at the prestigious Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she focused on classical and orchestral recording. 

Recently Charlotte celebrated 35 million streams for her engineering work on Lauren Spencer Smith’s “Mixed Emotions” EP; the lead single "All I Want" is currently at 25 million streams and counting. 

She is passionate about uplifting underrepresented voices and is dedicated to providing safe environments for artists to be creative in.  

Charlotte currently splits her time between Vancouver and London, UK. 

Olivia Quan

IN LOVING MEMORY
December 22, 1996 - July 1, 2022

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Olivia Quan was a Juno-nominated engineer, producer, and mixer in Vancouver, BC.  She joined Monarch in 2016 and became one of the studio's main engineers.

Over the years, her tenacious nature allowed her to work with some of the city's finest artists, engineers, and producers. She dedicated herself to the art of merging analog and digital mediums to make sounds that stood out.

Olivia was a huge part of our family at Monarch and the loss of her immense talent,  energy, and generosity will be felt by the enormous community of people that had the opportunity to collaborate and learn with her.

May her spirit live on in all of our hearts.