Padraic Coursey - Owner
St. Croix native Padraic Coursey returned home after 20 years spent between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. While in L.A. Coursey along with two time Grammy-winner Ted Greenberg created Fluid Productions, a company housed in the famed Cello Studio.
While in Philadelphia, at the age of 23, Padraic and his band Surge (later re-named Mothergod) opened for bands like Scorpions, Alice Cooper, Butthole Surfers, Sean Lennon and others. He teamed up with Eric Bazilian (songwriter for Joan Osborne's "One of Us") for his first solo album.
At Cello Studio in Los Angeles, Padraic kept company with the stars in Madonna, Butch Vig (Nirvana), P.O.D., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more. He's also worked on a number of projects for TV including Discovery Channel.
All the while he dreamt of building a state-of-the-art studio in his home island.
As a guitarist, Coursey has played and recorded with bands in both the U.S. and Caribbean. His musical taste is as diverse as the artists who have recorded at Aqua Sounds Studio.
Laurent "Tippy" Alfred - Producer/Engineer
Laurent "Tippy" Alfred, a native of St. Croix, is a musican, producer and co-owner of I Grade Records, LLC - a multi-faceted business that releases cutting edge conscious reggae music, distributes VI reggae music to the world, and sells music and cultural accessories to the St. Croix public through its retail store - Riddims. I Grade Records was launched in 2001 as a vehicle for releasing collaborative projects with Vaughn Benjamin of the world-renowned roots band Midnite. Over the years, Tippy has co-produced and released 19 albums with Midnite, Dezarie, Niyorah, Army, Abja, Danny I, Tuff Lion and several other artists from the VI.
As a musician, Tippy is the musical director and keyboardist with the Red I band - a backing band for many of the artists on the I Grade label. He is also a composer/producer of a wide range of musical creations from roots reggae, to hip hop to film scores. Outside of the realm of reggae, Tippy has co-produced 2 notable hip hop songs: "Hell Yeah" by dead prez feat. Jay-Z and "Ridin'" by David Banner feat. dead prez and Talib Kweli.
He has also recently composed the score for an upcoming documentary film entitled "Sugar Pathways." Tippy is also a member of the production collective - Zion I Kings - that is responsible for several productions on forthcoming albums by Norrisman, Jah Dan, Lutan Fyah and Messenger Selah.
As an engineer, Tippy has recorded and mixed countless records coming out of the VI roots reggae movement. He has also mastered several albums, most recently, Mada Nile's "On My Way."
St. Croix native Padraic Coursey returned home after 20 years spent between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. While in L.A. Coursey along with two time Grammy-winner Ted Greenberg created Fluid Productions, a company housed in the famed Cello Studio.
