Craft
Songs first. We partner with artists who value the work over the shortcut.
Independent label
The next chapter of real music.
Cranked Up Records is Curtis McKinney’s independent rock and country label in Carlsbad, New Mexico — distributed by Virgin Music Group, with Cranked Up Live, Cranked Up Country Nights on 105.1 KWMW, and Cranked Up Studios West in Los Angeles.
Founder
Curtis McKinney
Award-winning radio personality, concert promoter, best-selling author, and entertainment executive. McKinney’s shows have run on more than 200 stations worldwide across rock and country — including Cranked Up Live and Cranked Up Country Nights.
Nominations and wins span DJ of the Year in Las Vegas, personality awards in New York, Show of the Year in Los Angeles, Texas Country Music Awards, and New Mexico Broadcasters Association honors for both rock and country specialty radio.
Cranked Up Records is the label version of that career: a home for artists who pour their souls into the craft, and for listeners who still want identity, emotion, and staying power. The book is the unfiltered version of the same fight.
Los Angeles · David Dominguez
Cranked Up Studios West
This room is David Dominguez’s. Multi-platinum engineer, producer, and mixer. Twenty-five years in Los Angeles — NRG Recording in North Hollywood, Capitol Studios, and now Cranked Up Studios West, opened January 2026.
Mix. Master. Record. That is the work. Don Tanner Band’s “Rock Me” already went through this desk. The roster uses it. So can you.
“Together we’re building a home in Los Angeles where timeless records are still made the right way.”
Record
Tracking in Los Angeles with an engineer who has sat those sessions for twenty-five years. Full production or a focused run at the songs.
Mix
The mix is the record. David’s mixes have lived on multi-platinum albums, rock radio, and stages that do not forgive a thin mix.
Master
A master that translates — streaming, vinyl, the truck, the club. Finished so the song survives every speaker it hits.
Accolades
What David has already done.
- Multi-platinum engineer, producer, and mixer — 25+ years in Los Angeles rooms
- Longtime engineer at NRG Recording, North Hollywood
- Tracked at Capitol Studios, including work at Studio B
- Weezer — Pinkerton (engineer)
- Papa Roach — Infest (engineer), multi-platinum
- Staind — Break the Cycle (engineer), multi-platinum
- Guns N’ Roses — Chinese Democracy (engineer)
- Additional credits include 2Pac and Queen Latifah
Selected discography
Weezer
Pinkerton · Engineer · Platinum
Papa Roach
Infest · Engineer · Multi-platinum
Staind
Break the Cycle · Engineer · Multi-platinum
Guns N’ Roses
Chinese Democracy · Engineer · Platinum
2Pac
Selected sessions · Engineer
Queen Latifah
Selected sessions · Engineer
Book the room
Not just Cranked Up artists.
Independent bands, outside labels, and serious writers use Cranked Up Studios West the same way the roster does — mix, master, record with David. Call for rates, dates, and what the session actually needs.
From the founder · Hardcover
4 AM Truths
Chasing the Stage, Surviving the Sharks
Curtis McKinney
The music industry is a shark tank. Not the polished version you see on TV — the real one. Mattress salesmen, fake endorsements, buy-on tours, streaming math that looks like a breakthrough until it isn’t. Curtis McKinney has been on every side of it: radio, promotion, labels, live events. This book names the scams, explains why bands fail, and tells you what it actually takes to build something real — on your own terms.
200+
Radio stations, rock & country
Virgin
Global distribution partner
LA
Cranked Up Studios West
Telly
Award-winning artist visuals
Parent company
The Label Group
Cranked Up Records is an imprint in the The Label Group family, distributed worldwide with Virgin Music Group. That partnership puts our roster on the same global rails as a major — radio promotion, playlists, tour placement, merch, and 400+ outlets — without sanding the identity off the artist.
Authenticity
From rock to country and the records in between. Identity, emotion, staying power.
The long run
A campaign is not a post. Radio, film, the road, and a catalog that compounds.