Joel Wanasek | |
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Background information | |
Born | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Genres | Rock, heavy metal, death metal, metalcore |
Occupation(s) | Mixing engineer, record producer, audio engineer, mastering engineer, entrepreneur |
Years active | 2006-present |
Website | jtwrecording |
Joel Thomas Wanasek is an American record producer and owner of JTW Recording [lower-alpha 1] [1] [2] [3] [4] in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wanasek started recording in 2002, initially as a self-taught producer, but by January 2006, he was able to quit his job and professionally dedicate to his recording business. [5]
He has worked with bands such as Blessthefall, [6] [7] Machine Head, [8] [9] Attila, [10] Miss May I [11] and Monuments, [1] [12] amongst others. [13] [14]
Joel Wanasek started playing violin at the age of 10, and guitar at the age of 12. He was inspired to practice by Randy Rhoads, forming a band called Crystal Reign which lasted for a number of years. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater [15] [16]
He created the now defunct instructional guitar web site InsaneGuitar.com, before forming his band Dark Shift in 2000, where he played lead guitar. [17] [18] They signed to AJA Records, but disbanded before releasing an album. Joel worked on Dark Shift's debut album "The Assault" which was released in June 2003. The band would then open up for Gigantour in Milwaukee, which featured Megadeth, Dream Theater, Symphony X, among others. [19] [18]
In his producing career, he has worked with labels such as Fueled by Ramen, Virgin Music, Century Media Records, No Sleep Records, Fearless Records, Nuclear Blast Records, among others. [14] In 2016, the song "Is There Anybody Out There?" by Machine Head chartted at #36 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock, which he co-produced. [8] [20] [21] [22] [23] In 2018, Wanasek mixed and mastered Miyavi's "Samurai Sessions Vol.2", with the opening song, "Dancing With My Fingers", topping the iTunes Japanese charts. [24] [25]
He uses Steinberg Cubase as his digital audio workstation. [5]
URM Academy is an online audio school created by Wanasek, Joey Sturgis and Eyal Levi, which describes itself as "the world's best online music school for rock & metal producers". [26] [27] [28] [29] Through its program Nail The Mix, the platform offers monthly mixing sessions with professionally-recorded songs and livestream commentary from the producer who originally mixed them. The program has featured bands such as Lamb of God, Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Chelsea Grin, Born of Osiris, A Day to Remember, Opeth, Neck Deep, Papa Roach, Meshuggah, Periphery, Gojira, etc. and producers such as Andrew Wade, Tue Madsen, Devin Townsend, Logan Mader, Jens Bogren, Kane Churko, Machine, among others. [30] [31] [32] [33] [26] Nail the Mix won two "2 Commas Club Awards" from ClickFunnels for "entrepreneurs who have used ClickFunnels to grow their business to the 7-figure mark". [34] The platform also offers a podcast, Q&As, lessons ("Fast Track") and, as part of its Enhanced subscription, "Mix Rescue", where students submit their own mixes to be critiqued and cleaned-up during a live broadcast. [26]
Drumforge is a music software company founded by Joel Wanasek, Joey Sturgis and Joe Wohlitz [35] that provides drum sample libraries and audio plug-ins. [36] [37] The company has released libraries by Taylor Larson, Luke Holland, Daniel Bergstrand, Matt Greiner and others. [38]
Riffhard is an online guitar school created by Monuments guitarist John Browne, in partnership with URM Academy, [39] and co-owned by Eyal Levi and Joel Wanasek, mainly dedicated to rhythm guitar. [40] [41]
Wanasek has also developed plug-ins in collaboration with Joey Sturgis Tones (JST), namely "Bus Glue Joel Wanasek", a series of bus compressors. [42] [43]
He has also participated in the Joey Sturgis Forums Podcast, along with Sturgis and Levi, which was said to "cover a range of music industry topics such as marketing, touring, mixing and producing" [44] [45] [46] [47]
Album | Released | Artist | Credit | Label | Chart [lower-alpha 2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phronesis | Oct 5, 2018 | Monuments | mixing, mastering [1] | Century Media | Heatseeker Albums - #6 [48] |
Trinity | Oct 31, 2018 | ChuggaBoom | mastering [49] | ||
Arbors | May 5, 2017 | Arctic Sleep | engineer, mixing, mastering [50] | The Church Within | |
Passage Of Gaia | Aug 21, 2014 | Arctic Sleep | producer, recording, mixing, mastering [51] | Dripfeed | |
Samurai Sessions Vol.2 | Nov 8, 2017 | Miyavi | mixing, mastering [52] | Virgin Media | Billboard Japan - #9 [53] |
Samurai Sessions Vol.3 -Worlds Collide- | December 5, 2018 | Miyavi | mixing [54] | Virgin Media | Billboard Japan - #27 [55] |
Catharsis | Jan 26, 2018 | Machine Head | post-production [56] | Nuclear Blast | US Billboard 200 - #65 [57] |
Electrogram | Sep 23, 2014 | Vinyl Theatre | producer, mixing, mastering [58] | Fueled By Ramen | Heatseeker Albums - #35 [59] |
PWNZ | Sep 23, 2014 | CHALLENGER! | producer [60] | ||
All Is Vanity | Jun 9, 2017 | Christina Grimmie | mastering [61] |
| |
March Of Rome | Feb 10, 2017 | Bases Loaded | mastering [62] | ||
Home Is What You Make It | Mar 10, 2017 | Bases Loaded | mastering [63] | ||
Are You Out There? | Jun 23, 2017 | Rilian | mixing, mastering [64] | Kenobi | |
Blood Money Part 1 | Oct 28, 2016 | Dope | mastering [65] | Steamhammer | Billboard 200 - #27 [66] |
To Those Left Behind | Sep 18, 2015 | Blessthefall | mixing assistant [67] | Fearless | Billboard 200 - #23 [68] |
Future Golden Age | Dec 8, 2015 | Fallstar | mastering [69] | Rat Family | |
An Achor To The Abyss: Chapter One | Dec 4, 2015 | A Hero Within | mastering [70] | ||
Navarasam (An Ennead) | 2015 | Thaikkudam Bridge | mastering [71] | Satyam Audios | |
Viceversa | Feb 4, 2014 | Unarmed For Victory | mixing, mastering [72] | Red Cord | |
Movement | Oct 9, 2012 | Inhale Exhale | mastering [73] | Red Cord | |
Change the World | Jun 12, 2012 | From The Eyes Of Servants | mixing, mastering [74] | Red Cord | |
The Fire Inside | Oct 8, 2013 | Righteous Vendetta | composer [75] | ||
The Vitality Theory | Jun 15, 2010 | Rosaline | producer, engineer, programming, orchestration [76] | Good Fight | |
Broken Mirrors | Oct 24, 2011 | Mercy Screams | mixing, mastering [77] | Good Fight | |
This Is Our Rise | Aug 21, 2015 | First Decree | producer, mixing, mastering [78] | ||
We Are One | Dec 2, 2015 | The Bloodline | producer, mixing, mastering, vocal engineer [79] [80] | Another Century | |
Passage | Sep 30, 2011 | The Chosen | mixing [81] | Red Cord | |
Making the Man | 2010 | Stranger Than Fate | mixing, mastering [82] | Red Cord | |
Inheritors | Aug 23, 2011 | Serianna | engineer, producer [83] | Bullet Tooth | |
Hope for Now | Jul 22, 2014 | Silent Screams | mixing assistant [84] | Artery | |
Exotype | Oct 3, 2014 | Exotype | mixing [85] | Rise | Heatseeker Albums - #27 [86] |
Departure | May 14, 2013 | Ocellus | producer, mixing, mastering [87] | ||
California Cauliflower | Jun 18, 2014 | Ian and the Dream | mastering [88] | ||
Bad Dreams and Melodies | Oct 9, 2012 | Southbound Fearing | strings, synthesizer, programming [89] | Red Cord | |
Babylon | May 14, 2010 | Milosny | engineer, mastering [90] | Red Cord | |
30 Minutes or Less | Dec 12, 2010 | Action Madison! | producer, mixing, mastering [91] | Red Cord | |
Killers & Thieves | Feb 25, 2014 | Embers in Ashes | producer [92] |
Album | Released | Artist | Credit | Label | Chart |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stories From The Book Of Metal | May 21, 2008 | Zephaniah | producer [93] | ||
Gaining Ground | Oct 16, 2006 | Dark Shift | mixing [94] | Dark Shift, LLC | |
The Deepest Rise | Jun 24, 2008 | Dichotic | mixing, mastering [95] | Psycho Drive Studios | |
Kiss Of The Thorn | Sep 28, 2007 | A Tortured Soul | recording, mixing, mastering [96] | Eyes Like Snow | |
Living The Dream | Sep 28, 2007 | Rictus Grin | recording [97] |
Stomp 442 is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released in 1995 by Elektra Records. The band and the Philadelphia-based producers Butcher Brothers produced the album, which includes the singles, "Fueled" and "Nothing". The album debuted at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 charts. The album is their last to be released by Elektra Records, as they left the label after claiming that they didn't do enough to promote the album. Stomp 442 is the only Anthrax album not featuring the traditional Anthrax logo on its artwork.
Slipknot is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, following a demo containing a few of the songs which had previously been released in 1998. Later, it was reissued in December 1999 with a slightly-altered track listing and mastering as the result of a lawsuit. It was the first release by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction. This is the only album to feature original guitarist Josh Brainard who left at the end of recording in late 1998 while the band was taking a brief break. Jim Root, who recorded two tracks at this point, would appear full time on subsequent albums starting with their self-titled album.
Paul Stanley is the first solo studio album from American musician Paul Stanley, the singer-songwriter is best known for serving as the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of hard rock band Kiss. It was one of four solo albums released by the members of Kiss on September 18, 1978, coming out alongside Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Gene Simmons. It is the only release out of the four Kiss solo albums to feature all original songs, as Simmons, Criss and Frehley each recorded one cover song on their albums.
Destiny's Child is the debut studio album by American R&B group of the same name, released by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment on February 17, 1998. It features the singles "No, No, No" and "With Me", both of which preceded the album. "Killing Time" was also featured in "Men in Black: The Album" and released as a promotional single in 1997. Prior to release, the album was set to be called "Bridges". The album spent twenty six weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number sixty-seven. To date the album has sold a total of 831,000 copies in America. In the United Kingdom, it reached the top fifty, peaking at number forty-five. It was re-packaged and re-released in several countries after the success of the follow-up album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999). The album was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics, including AllMusic and Rolling Stone, and won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.
Don't Worry About Me is the debut album released by Joey Ramone as a solo artist. It was released posthumously on February 19, 2002, by Sanctuary Records, less than a year after his death. The album was produced by Daniel Rey, who also did most of the guitar work. Rey had previously produced three of the Ramones' albums, between 1987 and 1995.
Blessthefall is an American metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, signed to Rise Records. The band was founded in 2004 by guitarist Mike Frisby, drummer Matt Traynor, and bassist and vocalist Jared Warth. Their debut studio album, His Last Walk, with original vocalist Craig Mabbitt, was released April 10, 2007. Their second studio album, Witness, with current vocalist Beau Bokan, was released October 6, 2009. Their third studio album, Awakening, was released on October 4, 2011. Their fourth studio album, Hollow Bodies, was released on August 20, 2013. To Those Left Behind is the band's fifth studio album, released on September 18, 2015. Their sixth studio album, Hard Feelings, was released on March 23, 2018. Following Traynor's departure, Warth became the band's only remaining original member. In May 2023, the band returned from a brief hiatus with the release of "Wake the Dead", their first song in five years.
His Last Walk is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Blessthefall. The album was released on April 10, 2007. It is the only studio album by the band to feature original vocalist Craig Mabbitt, who would later be replaced by Beau Bokan. The album was released before Blessthefall started to play on the Taste of Chaos tour. The last song, "His Last Walk", features a hidden track called "Purple Dog", which is a joke song made by the band members in which all members sing the song and clap their hands.
Before Their Eyes is an American post-hardcore band from Findlay, Ohio, United States. The band is currently signed to InVogue Records.
Witness is the second studio album by American metalcore band Blessthefall. It was released on October 6, 2009, through Fearless Records. It is the band's first album with Beau Bokan on lead vocals and final album with original guitarist Mike Frisby. The album was co-produced with There for Tomorrow drummer, Christopher Kamrada. This album includes a post-metal entrance, "2.0", and some songs without any screams or death growls.
Joey Sturgis is an American record producer and owner of The Foundation Recording Studio in Connersville, Indiana. Sturgis started recording in 2004 including producing the Asking Alexandria single "The Final Episode" which has gone on to earn an RIAA certified Gold Record. He also received RIAA-certified Gold Records for Asking Alexandria's "Not the American Average", "Moving On" and Of Mice & Men's "Second and Sebring". He has recorded over 100 albums in his career, and was known for doing a majority of the workload by himself in his early years, including engineering, mixing, mastering, and production.
Awakening is the third studio album by American metalcore band Blessthefall. It was released on October 4, 2011, through Fearless Records. It is the band's second album with singer Beau Bokan and first album with rhythm guitarist Elliott Gruenberg after the departure of Mike Frisby. The album was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette, producer of the second album, Witness. On September 12, the song "40 Days..." was released on the IGN site. It debuted at No. 32 on the Billboard 200, selling over 11,290 copies in its first week. In Canada, the album debuted at No. 88 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Like Witness, the album features a few songs without harsh screaming or death growls.
Blessthefall is an American metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 2004. They have released six studio albums, two extended plays, twenty singles, and twenty-two music videos.
Life Cycles is the second studio album by American metalcore band The Word Alive. The album was released on July 3, 2012, through Fearless Records and was produced by Joey Sturgis. The album features a heavier and more "metal-headed" sound as stated by lead vocalist Tyler Smith. Life Cycles is the first release by the band to be without keyboardist, Dusty Riach, who parted ways with the band at the beginning of 2012.
Hollow Bodies is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Blessthefall. It was released on August 20, 2013, through Fearless Records and produced by Joey Sturgis. It is the third album to include lead singer Beau Bokan, second album to include rhythm guitarist, Elliott Gruenberg and the first to include the same members in consecutive albums.
The Last Word Is Yours to Speak is the second studio album by American metalcore band Phinehas. The album was released on July 23, 2013, through Red Cord Records. It was produced by the band themselves and Chris Galvez. This is the first release with bassist Bryce Kelley and the last with guitarist Jason Combs.
To Those Left Behind is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Blessthefall. The album was released on September 18, 2015, through Fearless Records and was produced by Joey Sturgis. It is their last album to be released on this label before the band signed to Rise Records in 2018. The first single, "Up in Flames" was released on July 9, 2015, while the band was on Vans Warped Tour 2015.
Conquer Divide is an American rock band whose members are from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, with one former member coming from Serbia.
Stephen Aiello is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known for touring and recording with American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He was one of the founding members of Monty Are I, a band he formed in 1998 with some friends. Aiello has also worked with artists such as Mumford & Sons, Cheyenne Jackson, Lana Del Rey, Junkie XL, Young Guns, Cobra Starship, Every Avenue, Starset, and The Knocks, among others.
Phronesis is the third studio album by British progressive metal band Monuments. It was released through Century Media Records on 5 October 2018. Phronesis is derived from the ancient Greek word for "wisdom". It is the band's last release with vocalist Chris Barretto, drummer Daniel Lang and guitarist Olly Steele.
Conquer Divide is the debut self-titled album by American rock band Conquer Divide. It was released on July 24, 2015, by Artery Recordings.