Meet the creator
Dave Askew is the chief designer, master solder slinger, and electron manipulator for Elektrophonik Recording Equipment. Dave started his musical journey from a very young age, is a classically trained musician, and a United States Army veteran. As a child, he would also take apart old cassette decks and radios to see how they worked. His primary instrument was trumpet, where he had several years of intense private study focusing on performance, and became an accelerated music theory graduate in high school.
After high school, Dave was a soldier in the United States Army band where he played trumpet, guitar, and sang. He toured the world, and also served a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He is decorated for his countless renditions of performing Taps for our fallen soldiers. You can tell by talking with him, his time served is something he is very proud of.
After the military, Dave took interest in the studio industry. Well before the time when recording wasn’t so easily accessible to everyone. He worked in several commercial studios as an audio editor, producer, and engineer. This is where he found his passion by being able to combine music, and electronics together.
“I was an early adopter of many common technologies we use today, it was very exciting to see all of this new tech at every corner of the rainbow”, he says. “Back then, this stuff was cutting edge. Audio interfaces, plugins, DAW’s etc… it just never existed”.
He took such an interest in it, that he eventually, became THE guru that many people would come to for questions. And, quite by accident, his career took a turn, as he was nudged into the realm of being a studio tech. He worked in this industry for well over a decade, contracting his work for some of the most prestigious audio companies, major label artists, and esteemed recording studios still operating today. During his service as an audio wizard, his spirit and appreciation for music electronics was once again rekindled. He had the opportunity to work on equipment old and new. Elektrophonik was born in 2018.
“This was a new avenue for me, I never thought of becoming a designer. I was just compelled to be able to share the sounds in my head, with everyone else.”
Then, COVID. Many businesses closed their doors, and our whole society was thrown into a tailspin. Dave took this opportunity to go all-out with Elektrophonik, design his first two pieces, the EVE and the Vintility, and thus, here we are today. These days, you’ll still find Dave geeking out with studio equipment in his private home studio, playing guitar, and producing. But his everyday focus is now on creating the coolest audio gear he can think up, and sharing it with his friends in music.
“I want soul in my sound, I want to hear the blood, sweat, and tears.”
He takes his inspiration from technologies old and new. His main goal is taking an uncompromising approach to designing gear that not only achieves the sound that inspires him, but in hopes to inspire others to create new and amazing sounds.