Meet Joe Marlett: The Music Producer Who Took No Shortcuts

"Don’t ever allow self-doubt to dictate your future. I grew up on a farm in Northern CA with no electricity and no running water. So if I can come from humble beginnings and end up traveling the world, working with the biggest artists on the planet, you can find success too—as long as you believe in yourself."

Joe Marlett

Can you recall a specific moment or event that solidified your decision to pursue this path?  

In the mid-90s, I enrolled in the recording arts program at Miracosta College in Oceanside, CA. Initially, I enrolled to meet musicians to start playing in bands, as I was a drummer and had just moved to San Diego from Northern CA. However, once I started spending time in the studio, I felt a certain draw to the gear—to the recording consoles, to the microphones. I became more and more obsessed with learning about the recording and production process.

While I was in recording school, I took a job as a computer programmer. The owner of the company saw I had a lot of potential as a coder. He took me under his wing and started training me to code backend software for online credit card processing. It was not my passion, but it paid very well, and I knew there was a lot more money to be made.

The day came when he offered me a ridiculous amount of money to quit my pursuit of music and go all in with coding. I had to make a decision: Do I give up my passion for security and money, or do I follow my dreams into the unknown?

I sat back and looked at his life—he had a huge house, cars, boats, motorcycles, and pretty much every other expensive toy one could imagine. However, he seemed deeply unhappy and never satisfied with what he had. He was always searching for the next 'thing' to buy, as he had the money, but his soul seemed empty. I did not want to become that. No matter how financially secure I’d be, I couldn’t see myself as a soulless rich person.

So, against everyone’s advice, I left the programming world and went into full-time music production in January 1999.

What was the most unexpected challenge you faced early on, and how did you address it?

I had a lot of success from 2000 to 2005. I recorded with Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, Seal, and even started producing bands in Spain. So, I started traveling a lot. I was working on records in London, Spain, Mexico, and all over the US. I earned multiple Gold and Platinum records and my first Grammy nomination.

Then... it stopped. I went from feeling on top of the world, making a lot of money, and traveling the world, to feeling like a complete loser and unwanted by the industry. How was this possible?

What I realized during this low point was that the industry evolves quickly. A&R at labels are in one day, out the next. Contacts and managers move around as their jobs are in constant flux dependent upon the success of their artists. What I learned is that being a producer required a lot more than just making great records. In order to stay relevant, I had to stay in the peripheral of the labels, managers, A&R, execs, and even other producers and engineers. This was my first big lesson in the actual 'business' of the Music Business.

A tough lesson to learn, as it took me a couple of years to climb back out of the hole I found myself in.

Who were the key people or resources that helped you achieve your success?

Several key people helped me along the way.

Two studio owners in San Diego saw my drive, brought me in early, and allowed me to hone my skills and start giving me recording sessions. These were not the best sessions, of course, but I had to cut my teeth on something. I remember those late-night sessions, recording bands that hadn’t even learned how to tune their instruments—it was grueling! But a great learning experience.

Another key person was the late producer Jerry Finn. He produced the Blink records I worked on. Not only did I learn so much from working with him, but he also introduced me to several key people in LA, and I got my first engineering position at Conway Studios with his endorsement.

Conway changed my life. I worked with so many amazing artists and producers at that time—it was a complete game-changer, and I don’t think I would have had the same trajectory had it not been for these people.

How do your current projects challenge you in new ways compared to your past work?

Over the past year, I have developed a learning center for aspiring producers called Alchemix440. It’s a producer’s course, built into a branded app, that focuses on the psychological side of producing rather than technical skillsets. Over 25 years of working with artists in the studio, I have learned that producing records is largely based on my interactions with the artists as humans, rather than my ability to use the gear.

There are millions of YouTube videos and many online resources that show the technical side of making records, but no one has really gotten into the deep aspect of how to inspire artists and elicit their emotions to get the perfect takes. That’s the void I hope to fill with Alchemix440.

The challenge of this new venture is getting the point across to the younger generation of producers and engineers the importance of 'Human Engineering.' Everyone seems intent on learning how to use their DAWs and sidechain compression. Of course, knowing the perfect 'vocal chain,' they completely miss the boat on realizing none of that makes any difference if they have dead music with no vibe or soul.

What is the best piece of advice you received during your career, and how has it influenced you?

Early in my career, a Grammy-winning engineer named Tommy Vicari gave me this advice:

"At some point in your career, you will get 'THE' call you’ve been waiting for. It will be an opportunity of your lifetime, the one you feel will change your life. BUT, before you say 'Yes,' you will need to honestly ask yourself, 'Am I Ready?' Because you will have many more opportunities come your way, but only one chance to prove yourself."

I didn’t really understand what he was talking about at the time. It didn’t make any sense to me, so I said, "Thank you," and went on my way.

A few months later, I got that call. It was the first call I got from Spain to record a band that had just signed to Warner. I was like, HELL YEA!! Then I remembered what Tommy said to me. I thought for 2 seconds and was like, "I got this, I’m ready!" A couple of months later, I was in South Spain to record an album.

The studio was a disaster. Small, terrible equipment, and the room sounded like sh@t! Day 1, I couldn’t get drum tones. Day 2, tried everything I could... no drum tones. Day 3 - Drums sounded terrible, and we hadn’t recorded a single second. That night, I sat in my hotel room, freaking out. Tommy’s voice in my head, over and over... "ask yourself, 'AM I READY'"

Tommy was right... I wasn’t ready!!!

I packed my bag, and sat there in the middle of the night, planning to go to the airport and just leave. However, as I sat there, I thought to myself that my career would be over. This would get out, and no one would hire me ever again. So I thought and thought about how to fix the problem. I stayed up all night and finally came up with the solution.

The next morning at the studio, I had the drummer set up in the lounge, which had a huge ceiling and amazing wood walls. The drums - SOUNDED AMAZING. Record saved. My career saved. To the band, I was a hero, and the label? Well, they hired me a few months later to mix their biggest rock artist, and he has become one of my closest friends to this day.

In the end, Tommy was right, and deep down, I was ready. If it wasn’t for his words, I probably would have left Spain that night, and I’d be sitting here writing bank code and not doing this interview!

"Don’t ever allow self-doubt to dictate your future. I grew up on a farm in Northern CA with no electricity and no running water. So if I can come from humble beginnings and end up traveling the world, working with the biggest artists on the planet, you can find success too—as long as you believe in yourself." - Joe Marlett

Check out Joe's company - Alchemix440

Follow Joe on Social Media:

https://bit.ly/m/Alchemix440