American Sushi Records

By: Stephen Wilkens

Originally published November 10, 2016, by Plasma Magazine 

Michael Dean, creative director, pictured on the left and Jamie Lake. Photo Credit: Jamie Lake

Jamie Lake grew up in Ocala, Florida with dreams of a career in basketball, but like most of us, his path changed in ways he could have never expected. Now he runs and owns American Sushi Records in Little Five Points. When Jamey first came to Atlanta he had a goal to work with as many big name artists as he could and at Tree Sounds Studio, in Norcross, he could have fulfilled that goal. Life once again took another unexpected turn.   

Ocala, Florida is located in the northern central portion of the state where few venture to and few are able to escape from. Jamey grew up playing basketball and thought he was well on his way to at least a college career in the sport. Around age sixteen Jamey and a longtime friend started making music together. Jamey would supply the lyrics while his friend would compose the beats and backing tracks. It wasn’t long till a friend at the local radio station was playing them during his late night sets. While few listeners were still tuned in during the wee hours, their songs grabbed the attention of the staff at the station. During Jamey’s senior year he started to focus more on music, learning how to make his own beats and focused less on sports. “I realized how I was, just like basketball, I could do everything. I’m just a jack of all trades”, Jamey told me. In one last ditch effort to pursue his collegiate basketball career he played in a summer league after his senior year and that’s when he decided it was over. Instead of following his hoop dreams he chose to follow his musical aspirations and attended Fullsail University in Orlando.

Since then he has worked at Fireside Studios in Nashville, Skylab Studio in Gainesville, Fl and Hit Factor in Miami. Lake has worked with artists across many genres and says,” People like to work with me because I am an artist myself.” He brings experience as a songwriter and engineer into every session which allows an extra element of collaboration which can help when a song feels stagnant or there is a creative block on the artist's side. When working with punk bands in Miami he would use his experience working with R&B artists to give them a unique sound that could distinguish them from others in their genre.

Jamie moved to Atlanta with hopes of working with big name artists and winning awards, but his time at Tree Sound Studio changed that. Lake seems to have let go of wanting to produce mainstream hits and really focus on creating a sound that is both unique to each artist as well as to Atlanta. Jamie has made American Sushi a safe place where creatives can come and feel comfortable while recording. It has great acoustics and relaxed down home feel. Check out their social media and website they are putting on workshops and events in the next coming months.