Lee Prebble

Lee Prebble (also credited as Dr. Lee) is a New Zealand recording engineer and producer, and the founder of The Surgery Studios in Wellington. He has received 19 Aotearoa Music Awards (AMAs) nominations, winning six for engineering and production. Prebble is known for long-term collaborations with The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, Fly My Pretties and L.A.B. He has also worked with artists such as Mel Parsons and Dave Dobbyn.

Background and early career Prebble was born in Hawke's Bay and studied radio broadcasting in Christchurch. which achieved platinum certification.

Prebble began collecting studio gear and analogue equipment, much of it acquired from Radio Active when the station transitioned to digital.

In 2001, while still at Marmalade, he worked after-hours with Trinity Roots on their debut album True (2001), recording in the band's basic basement studio in Newtown. During these sessions, the band nicknamed him “The Doctor” for his ability to solve technical problems and improve sound, a moniker that evolved into "Dr. Lee." As the sessions progressed, the space accumulated more of Prebble's gear, and by the end of the project they recognised they had established a functioning recording studio, which they named The Surgery. True achieved platinum certification and Prebble toured Europe with Trinity Roots as their live mixer.

Career

2000s–2010 During the early 2000s, Prebble engineered and produced albums for artists associated with the “Wellington Sound,” most notably The Black Seeds and Trinity Roots. In 2004, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) described his work as “landmark local recordings.”

Prebble subsequently left Marmalade to formally establish The Surgery Studios, expanding the basement space into a dedicated recording and rehearsal hub for Wellington musicians.

Prebble was nominated for Best Engineer at the 2004 AMAs for The Phoenix Foundation's debut album Horsepower (2003). He continued to receive nominations throughout the following years, winning Best Engineer and Best Producer in 2008 for The Phoenix Foundation's Happy Ending (2007).

In 2010, he won Best Engineer for the band's album Buffalo (2010), which received eight nominations and won four awards.

2010–present In 2012, the original Surgery building was demolished. Barnaby Weir described the studio as ‘having the feeling somebody’s loved it and built it from the ground up,’ noting that ‘there’s a lot of [Prebble’s] personality in The Surgery."

Musicianship

Performances and collaborations Beyond his studio work, Prebble is also a musician. He played lap steel guitar with The Woolshed Sessions, a collective featuring Age Pryor, Dream Chambers (then known as Jess Chambers), and other Wellington artists. Their self-titled 2009 album, which Prebble mixed, was nominated for Best Roots Album at the AMAs and included the APRA Award-winning single "Stringing Me Along". He has also performed live with Fly My Pretties, a collaborative performance collective featuring a rotating lineup of prominent New Zealand musicians.

Remix work In 2024, Prebble contributed remixes to Dub & Fire (2024), a dub version of The Black Seeds' 2022 album Love & Fire, alongside Jamaican producer Scientist (Hopeton Brown).

Education and outreach Prebble has worked to increase accessibility to the recording industry through workshops for women and young adults, held both around the country and at his studio, working with organizations including Recorded Music New Zealand, YAMI, and RecordEnable.

Aotearoa Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards recognise outstanding achievements in New Zealand music.