[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen one of the preeminent producers in the metalcore genre invites me to make a house call and catch up on the latest and greatest, it’s an offer I’m pretty hard pressed to turn down. So a few hours before Super Bowl XLVIII kicked off I paid a visit to the incomparable Joey Sturgis. If that name isn’t familiar to you, then I’d imagine that others like The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Of Mice & Men, I See Stars, Crown The Empire, Miss May I and Attila wouldn’t be either. Why? Because their careers as major label recording artists all started with Joey Sturgis at the helm in the studio.
Now an established producer, Joey has recently been tackling the issue of how to make the most of his esteemed reputation. His answer? Taking the tools that have made his work a cut above the rest and releasing them to the market as studio production products. He ended 2013 with the unveiling of Joey Sturgis Tones; an ongoing series of unique sounds and effects for various styles of rock, metal, and experimental music. But Joey’s latest offering is something even more remarkable: a plugin that allows the user to replicate his own signature vocal sound in the studio. It’s called ‘Gain Reduction’.
This interview is brief, yet honest glimpse at a defining contributor to the modern sound of one of alternative music’s most popular genres. Find out how Joey Sturgis got his start, what he’s working on right now, what he does with his free time, and how he’s found the balance needed to thrive as a producer.
