Prairie Sun Staff & Extended Family

Mark "Mooka" Rennick
Owner/Founder

Born 1952, April 5, Stark County Illinois. Attended Military School. Student of political science, history. A voracious reader, Mark "Mooka" Rennick was born near Galesburg, Illinois, site of the Oct 7, 1858, Lincoln-Douglas debate. “I want to be an artist. Period," says Rennick, who in his limited spare time plays in a politically charged spoken-word ensemble, The Abolitionists, and plays bass in various local bands. After a short stint in Boulder, CO in the early 70s, he established his musical headquarters in Cotati, CA..

Nate Nauseda
Staff Engineer

Nate came to Prairie Sun in 2014 and quickly showed his aptitude both for studio engineering work and the behind-the-scenes work in the studio office. Today Nate spends all his time engineering, producing and doing tech work around the farm.   In 2018 alone he has worked with artists in hip-hop, reggae, jam band, acoustic rock, alt-metalish and other  varying subgenres and all the clients sing his praises  when they head home.

Matt Wright
Chief Staff Engineer

Matt came to Prairie Sun in 2005 and apprenticed under the engineering staff and veteran engineer Oz Fritz. Matt quickly jumped into session work and was soon drafted by Mooka to engineer the projects he was producing. Matt became our Chief Engineer in 2009 and has produced, mixed, and engineered dozens of records in our studios including albums for Turnpike Troubadours, The Brothers Comatose, Eric Gales, Dead Winter Carpenters, and Anadel. You can hear Matt's demo reel and view his discography on his website.

Travis Strain, Staff Engineer
Manager, Prairie Sun Live

Travis first came to Prairie Sun to apprentice as a studio engineer, and while he excelled in that position, he soon moved back to his native Texas to resume work in the live sound business there. It was not long, though, before Mooka tapped Travis to manage his newly-expanded Prairie Sun Live. Despite a busy schedule managing our sister company, Travis still finds time to engineer sessions in our studios and coordinate our studio maintenance.

Eddy Strickler
General Manager

Eddy came to Prairie Sun and the music industry as a very green 23 year old in 1993.  Interning off and on the next two years starting with the Waits "Bone Machine" sessions he learned, built his first band Zig and recorded his first album "Existence Street".  In the time between then and November of 2017 when he returned to the Sun he has parlayed that first forray into the business into an amazing journey.  That journey includes touring America and Europe extensively as stage and tour manager for Wayne Shorter, Stanley Clarke, Michelle Shocked, Buckethead, Jimmy Herring, Kenny Gradney and Richie Hayward from Little Feat, Vassar Clements and many more.  He did sound, booking, merchandise and nearly everything at Palookaville, Villa Montalvo, Paul Masson Winery , The Trout Farm Inn and 1015 Folsom.  And as Fatty Eddy he has performed onstage with Vinyl, Buckethead, Michelle, Leslie West, Jimmy Cliff and Jazz Is Dead.   As of January 1st 2018 he is back at Prairie Sun as General Manager and thrilled to have come full circle...if you want to experience the depth of his love for music and the musicians who make it call him at 530-344-6962 let him work with you to see your musical dreams come to life at Prairie Sun.

Oz Fritz
Producer/Engineer

Oz Fritz has been a professional sound engineer for more than 25 years working in both recording studio and live concert environments. He has collaborated on over 60 projects with producer Bill Laswell, engineered three Tom Waits albums (including the Grammy Winning Mule Variations, here at Prairie Sun), and generally amassed a credit list far too large and impressive to fit in this little paragraph! In one way or another, we've all learned a great deal about engineering from Oz, and every client we've referred to Oz shares our respect and admiration for his craft. Oz also writes a fascinating blog called The Oz Mix.

Isha Erskine
Staff Engineer

Isha Erskine is a Grammy winning, multi-platinum producer, engineer and composer with over 15 years studio experience. He has worked with major artists including Maroon 5, Ziggy Marley, Black Eyed Peas, Jeff Beck, and Wyclef Jean.  He has also worked on such major motion pictures as The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Book Of Eli, and Dragonball: Evolution. Isha has also worked with many local and independent artists over the years. For a full discography, demo reel, and details on Isha's production style please visit his webpage at www.IshaErskine.com.

Dave Rollans
Videographer, Photographer

Dave first started working at Prairie Sun as a session musician, drumming on a host of projects including Lauren O'Connell's Quitters. Dave's passion for documenting the sessions he played on soon developed into a thriving business producing "behind-the-scenes" and "live-in-the-studio" videos for many of our recent clients, helping them satisfy their fans' growing demand for multimedia content.

To schedule a tour of our studios or book your next session call:

​(707) 795-7011

Prairie Sun Recording
(707) 795-7011
​info@prairiesun.com