Paul Heck

Last updated

Paul Heck (born July 23, 1967) is an American record and video producer. He produces music projects in a range of styles, as well as related concerts and videos. [1]

Contents

Early career

Heck was raised in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. He was named HS All-American in boys lacrosse in his senior year at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. [2] [3] In 1985, he attended Brown University, majoring in Art History and Economics. [ citation needed ]

AIDS Music Project (AMP)

In 1991, Heck created the AIDS Music Project [4] to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and normalize discussing safe sex. In this endeavor, Heck pursued the idea of an AIDS benefit alternative rock compilation. He partnered with fellow Brown alumni Chris Mundy (a Rolling Stone senior writer) and Jessica Kowal (a freelance writer for Newsday ) to produce the album No Alternative , the third album in the Red Hot Organization's (RHO) AIDS Benefit Music series. No Alternative , released on Arista Records in October 1993 featured original tracks from the alternative rock scene of the 90s. [5] The album received an A+ review in Entertainment Weekly and was described by Rolling Stone as "a jaw-dropping compilation of musical gems." [4] A No Alternative MTV special and VHS featured a mix of live performances by Smashing Pumpkins and Goo Goo Dolls, music videos, short films by directors Hal Hartley, Tamra Davis, Michael Stipe, Jim McKay and Matt Mahurin as well as information about AIDS for an audience otherwise untargeted by other AIDS organizations. No Alternative raised over $1.5 million and the proceeds were donated to AIDS relief organizations across the US.

Following the commercial and critical success of No Alternative, Heck has produced other HIV/AIDS awareness raising albums and a series of concerts at Brooklyn Academy of Music. [6] Heck's subsequent productions include: Red Hot + Bothered, Offbeat, Red Hot + RIO, Red Hot + Rhapsody, Red Hot + Indigo, [7] [8] Red Hot + RIOT, [9] Red Hot + RIO2, [10] [11] Red Hot + FELA [12] [13] and Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell. [14]

In 2004, Heck was honored by Brown University as the recipient of the John Hope Award for Career Public Service. [15]

Heck co-produced Dark Was The Night (2009), an AIDS benefit album that raised over $1 million and featured artists like The National, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, My Morning Jacket and Jose Gonzalez. [16]

In 2013 Heck produced a 20th Anniversary reissue of No Alternative on vinyl (Sony Legacy) for Record Store Day. [17]

In 2019 Heck produced Love is the Drug, [18] a campaign in N. Carolina featuring live music pop-up events with video storytelling focused on raising awareness around Harm Reduction and Opioid Addiction. The project was funded by a grant from the Open Society Foundation.

In 2020 Heck invited another Brown alum, fine artist Keith Mayerson, to create a portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci as a part of a limited art edition fundraiser for Treatment Action Group (TAG). [19]

Music and film credits

Heck served as original score composer and music supervisor on the film "East of Havana" (2007) a film about three young rap artists in Cuba and their struggle for survival and self-expression. The film was produced by Charlize Theron and D+D Films and released by SonyBMG Films. [20] [21] [22]

He co-produced The National's second album "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers" (with Nick Lloyd and Peter Katis - Brassland, 2003) [23]

Heck was a part of the Red Hot team that provided Music Supervision for "How To Survive A Plague", (2012) an Academy Award-nominated documentary film directed by David France about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and the efforts of ACT UP and TAG. He introduced the idea of using the music of Arthur Russell in the film, an avant-garde gay songwriter and performer who was living in downtown Manhattan during the time frame covered by the film who died of AIDS-related causes in 1992. [24]

Heck worked as an A&R for Arista Records and Warner Bros. Records in the mid-1990s.

Heck was produced the compilation albums:

With his company Cobeep, Heck has produced video projects and live events for Steve Martin, Yo-Yo Ma [32] and Joe Walsh's annual VetsAid benefit concerts and livestreams. [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrobeat</span> West African music genre, distinct from Afrobeats

Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles with American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead Prez</span> American hip hop duo

Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fela Kuti</span> Nigerian musician and activist (1938–1997)

Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti, also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the King of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers". AllMusic described him as "a musical and sociopolitical voice" of international significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meshell Ndegeocello</span> American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist (born 1968)

Meshell Ndegeocello is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning one. She also has been credited for helping to "spark the neo-soul movement".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baaba Maal</span> Senegalese singer and guitarist (born 1953)

Baaba Maal is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Femi Kuti</span> Nigerian musician and singer-songwriter

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mix Master Mike</span> Musical artist

Michael Schwartz, better known by his stage name Mix Master Mike, is an American turntablist best known for his work with Beastie Boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Allen (musician)</span> Nigerian musician (1940–2020)

Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The National (band)</span> American indie rock band

The National is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Carin Besser, the wife of Matt Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.

Yerba Buena was a Latin fusion band. The group, active between 2003 and 2009, was founded by Venezuelan musician and producer Andres Levin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hot Organization</span> US-based nonprofit dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture

Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to promoting diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture.

<i>Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti</i> 2002 compilation album Charity Album by Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series , (Various Artists)

Red Hot + Riot is the fourteenth in a series of music compilation projects produced by Paul Heck and John Carlin of the Red Hot Organization and Grammy-winning music producer Andres Levin to be used as a fundraising tool for AIDS awareness efforts. The album, which takes inspiration from the late Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, was released by MCA on October 15, 2002 and featured more than three dozen artists on a score of tracks.

<i>No Alternative</i> 1993 compilation album from the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series

No Alternative is an alternative rock compilation album produced by Paul Heck and Chris Mundy that was released in 1993. It was the third compilation put together by the Red Hot Organization, a charity dedicated to raising money for and awareness of AIDS relief. The album features original tracks and cover versions from bands who went on to define the alternative rock scene of the 1990s. It was released with two different versions of album art: the standard version depicting a boy, and the alternate version depicting a girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Window in the Skies</span> 2007 single by U2

"Window in the Skies" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and is one of two new songs featured on their 2006 compilation album U218 Singles. It was released on 1 January 2007 as the album's second single. It was recorded in September 2006 at Abbey Road Studios in London and produced by Rick Rubin. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemi Ghariokwu</span> Nigerian artist (born 1955)

Lemi Ghariokwu, also known simply as Lemi, is a Nigerian painter, illustrator and designer who is most renowned for providing many of the original cover images for the recordings of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Dessner</span> American musician, songwriter, and record producer

Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade.

Béco Dranoff is a Brazilian-American music producer and creative Brazilian music events and film producer and co-founder of the Ziriguiboom Discos music label.

<i>Inspiration Information</i> 1974 studio album by Shuggie Otis

Inspiration Information is the third album by Shuggie Otis, who produced it and performed most of its instrumental parts. Released in 1974 on Epic Records, it reached number 181 on Billboard's Top 200 Pop Albums list, and its title track also reached number 56 on the U.S. R&B singles chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invisible (U2 song)</span> 2014 single by U2

"Invisible" is a song by Irish rock band U2. Produced by Danger Mouse, it was released as a non-album single on 2 February 2014. The song was unveiled in a Super Bowl XLVIII television advertisement, launching a promotion that offered the song as a free digital download in the iTunes Store from 2–3 February. For each download of the track, Bank of America donated $1 to (RED), an organisation co-founded by lead vocalist Bono, to fight HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, $3.1 million was raised during the 36-hour promotion. Since 4 February, "Invisible" has been available as a paid download that continues to benefit (RED).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDDO</span> Nigerian music producer

Ayoola Oladapo Agboola also known as KDDO is a Nigerian record producer, songwriter, and artist. He's best known for producing and writing "Under The Influence" by Chris Brown, charting at number 1 on the Billboard Rhythmic Chart & number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition KDDO wrote and produced Afrobeats longest charting Billboard single "Fall" by Davido, renowned for breaking Afrobeat Music globally. The song peaked on US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart at number 13 and US Hot R&B Songs chart at number 25 on Billboard. KDDO is the first Afrobeats producer in history to be certified by the Recording Industry Association of America, after Fall became a certified gold record in the US. He is currently managed by Christian McCurdy & Rehan Manickam at LEGION Management.

References

  1. ↑ "30 years of Red Hot". brownalumnimagazine.com.
  2. ↑ "James Metzger - Everything I ever needed to know about business I learned on the sports field » All American Lacrose Team". Jamesmetzger.net. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Seiler, Andy. "Red Hot: Bridgewater man produces major new rock album as a fund-raiser for AIDS", Courier-News , October 24, 1993. Accessed July 23, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "'My family always asks me, "What are you going to do next?" and I say, "I don't know,"' said Heck, a Bridgewater native and, currently, an aspiring actor in New York City.... Heck compared his persistence to his days as an All-American and All-State lacrosse player at Bridgewater High School East."
  4. 1 2 "No Alternative". Rolling Stone . November 11, 1993.
  5. ↑ SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. October 1993.
  6. ↑ "Red Hot + Rio 2: The Next Generation of Samba Soul".
  7. ↑ "Eddie Murphy sings on the Shrek soundtrack". Ew.com. March 8, 2001. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Roots, Blige, MMW Highlight Red Hot Ellington Tribute". MTV News. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ "'Red Hot and Riot' CD Honors Fela Kuti". Npr.org. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ O'Connell, Sean J. (June 28, 2011). "Don't Call It a Comeback: Red Hot + Rio 2's Paul Heck". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Show Me Love: An Interview with Red Hot Organization Founder John Carlin". Popmatters.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Behind Red + Fela". Lifeandtimes.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  13. ↑ "All Star Fela Kuti Tribute In The Works". Clash Magazine. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Red Hot Projects Streaming Era". thebody.com. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  15. ↑ "John Hope Award". Alumni-friends.brown.edu. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Show Me Love: An Interview with Red Hot Organization Founder John Carlin". Popmatters.com. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ "No Alternative Turns 20". Stereogum.com. October 28, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Free concert uses music to raise awareness of the opioid crisis, change perception". June 30, 2019.
  19. ↑ Weeden, Leslie, "HIV/AIDS," Brown Alumni Magazine, April–May 2021
  20. ↑ Seitz, Matt Zoller (February 1, 2007). "Courage Through Rhymes (Published 2007)". The New York Times . Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  21. ↑ Koehler, Robert (July 21, 2006). "Review: 'East of Havana'". Variety.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  22. ↑ "A Chat with Paul Heck of Red Hot Cuba". The New Cuba. May 22, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Brassland | Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers". Brassland.org. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Film review: 'How to Survive a Plague'". Washingtonblade.com. September 27, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Shuggie Otis on Returning to 'Inspiration Information,' Re-emerging With 'Wings of Love'". MTV News. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  26. ↑ "The resurrection of Shuggie / Soul rocker Otis back after decades of obscurity, and critics say he's a master". SFGate. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Fela Kuti: The Underground Spiritual Game Album Review | Pitchfork". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Gravadora americana lança coletânea dedicada a Tim Maia - Correio de Uberlândia Online" (in Brazilian Portuguese). September 25, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  29. ↑ "African artists assemble to celebrate U2 on compilation". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  30. ↑ "le petit nègre". Lepetitnegre.com. June 11, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  31. ↑ "In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 | Village Voice" . Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Yo-Yo Ma bringing 'Day of Action' to Pittsfield Common".
  33. ↑ "Joe Walsh".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.