Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Beck's album Colors, becoming the first female mastering engineer to win in this category.
Early life and education
Lazar was born and raised in New York. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and Music from Skidmore College, graduating cum laude with honors distinction in her major. During college, she wrote music, played in bands, and worked as a freelance engineer, producer and mixer. After college, Lazar worked in some of New York City's most prominent studios. Later she earned a Master of Music Degree from New York University's prestigious Music Technology program. While there, she pursued Tonmeister studies and was awarded a Graduate Fellowship. Lazar's thesis on Sonic Solutions, combined with an internship at Sony Classical, eventually led to a position at New York City based mastering facility, Masterdisk.
Career
Lazar has worked on over 3,000 albums with such artists as Panic! At The Disco, Sia, Coldplay, Destiny's Child, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, The Prodigy, The Killers, Morrissey, Linkin Park, Vampire Weekend, Maggie Rogers, Depeche Mode, Dolly Parton, Angel Olsen, The Walkmen, Donald Fagen, Sky Ferreira, Alanis Morissette, Tiësto, The Shins, Lou Reed, Chainsmokers, Barbra Streisand, HAIM, The Raveonettes, Björk, Broken Social Scene, Cults, Boy & Bear, Goldfrapp, Moby, Paul McCartney, The Naked and Famous, Garbage, Sonic Youth, Nada Surf, Sinéad O'Connor, RZA, Wu-Tang Clan, Tegan and Sara, Sleigh Bells, Fucked Up, Chromeo, The Raveonettes, The Subways, Thievery Corporation, Death Cab for Cutie, Heffron Drive, BT, The Velvet Underground, Morgan Page, Armin Van Buuren, Jedi Mind Tricks, John Mayer, Anti-Flag, Third Eye Blind, Shiny Toy Guns, The Donnas, The All American Rejects, Vanessa Carlton, Jacob Collier and many more.
Current articles on Emily Lazar include features in NPR, Artist Pro (cover story), Bust, Electronic Musician (cover story), Home Recording Magazine, Mix Magazine, Billboard Magazine, Pro Sound News, Medialine, Remix Magazine, and Tape Op. She has been a featured panelist lecturing on college campuses and in numerous music business and recording conferences. Lazar has also been awarded the prestigious Palamountain Award for Young Alumni Achievement from Skidmore College and has served as adjunct faculty of New York University in the Music Technology Department. She is also a highly publicized product endorsee for Avalon Design (audio equipment), Apple Computers, Antelope Audio and Dangerous Music. Emily resides in New York and presently serves as a Trustee of the Recording Academy. She also serves on the NY Chapter's Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and previously Co-Chaired the NY Chapter's Producer & Engineer's Wing. Currently Lazar serves on the Recording Academy's P&E Wing National Steering Committee, P&E Wing National Advisory Council, and the Recording Academy's National Advocacy Committee.
In 2019, Lazar became the first female mastering engineer to win the Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical) Grammy, which she won for her work on Beck's Colors.
In 2021, Emily became the first mastering engineer to land 3 Grammy nods for Album of the Year. Leading up to the Grammy Awards, Chris Martin from Coldplay admitted that their latest album could have sounded terrible if it wasn't for one person — mastering engineer Emily Lazar.
The Lodge
The Lodge, an audio mastering facility, opened in 1997 in Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan.
We Are Moving The Needle
On March 8, 2021, Emily announced the launch of the We Are Moving The Needle foundation - aiming to create measurable change for women in the recording industry with the education, equipment and the mentorship needed to succeed. Mentors for the program include Brandi Carlile, HAIM, Maggie Rogers and many others.