{"id":8959,"date":"2013-02-06T18:34:53","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T01:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=8959"},"modified":"2013-02-06T18:35:13","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T01:35:13","slug":"joe-chiccarelli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2013\/02\/joe-chiccarelli\/","title":{"rendered":"JOE CHICCARELLI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"JOE CHICCARELLI<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Rock, pop, country or jazz, it\u2019s all about serving the music \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Michael Gallant<\/strong><\/p>\n

In more than three decades, Joe Chiccarelli has amassed an impressive roster of production and engineering credits\u2014from Alanis Morissette, My Morning Jacket and the White Stripes to Jason Mraz, Elton John, Christina Perri and the Shins. But it all began humbly for the multiple Grammy winner. \u201cI started in music as a bass player in rock bands, and that kind of failed,\u201d he recalls with a chuckle, \u201cbut I was always fascinated by the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

That fascination led to a move from his native Boston to L.A. in the late \u201970s, where he landed his first studio gig working as an assistant engineer at Cherokee Studios. A no-show by the engineer working with Frank Zappa created an opening for Chiccarelli, and he filled the new role with aplomb. The album, Sheik Yerbouti<\/em>, became a hit and propelled Chiccarelli\u2019s career in the process. Further engineering collaborations with Zappa followed, as did early calls to produce for acts like Oingo Boingo, Poco, Pat Benatar\u00a0and American Music Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngineering records is something I specialized in for a long time,\u201d says Chiccarelli. \u201cI still enjoy mixing records, and while these days the job of producer and engineer really feels like one and the same, my role is different for every project. Sometimes I\u2019m involved in every note of every song, but other times my role is much more limited. Sometimes I engineer myself, but there are also records where I hire someone else because I don\u2019t think I\u2019m the best engineer for the specific project. It\u2019s all about what best serves the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiccarelli\u2019s career encompasses a diverse range of musical genres, from rock and pop to country and Latin, but he holds a special place in his heart for jazz, and has worked with Larry Carlton, Kurt Elling and Pink Martini. \u201cThe more jazz I can do, the more inspired I become,\u201d he says. \u201cI love jazz and grew up listening to it, so it\u2019s something that\u2019s truly important to me.\u201d Chiccarelli talked with us about his recording philosophy, keeping flaws in the music,\u00a0and managing egos in the studio.<\/p>\n

What are you working on now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m in the middle of a solo album for Bernard Fanning, who was lead singer in the hugely successful Australian band Powderfinger. It\u2019s been a lot of fun. He\u2019s a great singer, and we\u2019re working on songs that sound like classic rock, but with a very modern twist. I\u2019m also working on an album for an indie band called Hellogoodbye from Orange County, Calif. They had a huge hit a few years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Describe your process with Alanis\u00a0<\/strong>Morissette for her recent album.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That one was different because Guy Sigsworth had done the writing with Alanis and put the songs together in a way that was very electronic and programmed. She decided that she wanted to give this new album a bit more edge and human element, and that\u2019s when I got involved. I took the work that they\u2019d done and, in some cases, kept many of their parts. In others, we kept nothing but the lead vocal and rebuilt everything around it. There were some songs where we kept the arrangement that had been programmed but had the parts replayed by a live band. There were other situations where those same arrangements didn\u2019t work with live musicians, so we came up with different parts that would work in that context. The whole process was really about augmenting what had been programmed, and sometimes changing song structures and arrangements to fit the new vibe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was tracking her vocals like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once she\u2019s written the songs and lyrics, Alanis goes in and rather quickly does a vocal in a few takes. All of her albums have been very spontaneous once the song is written. In some cases, we worked harder at the vocals in terms of trying different approaches, but she goes in and does her thing very quickly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about vocal mics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alanis always records with an AKG C12 and specifically asked for that mic when we started working. She knows how to work the AKG and is very good with it in the vocal booth. But every singer is different. For Jason Mraz, it\u2019s a Telefunken 251. Petter Ericson Stakee from Alberta Cross, who I just produced, uses a Telefunken U 47. Bernard Fanning\u2019s vocal mic is a Sony C-37A.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How was it working with Jason Mraz?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jason\u2019s a great singer and the perfect collaborator. I felt as though I had a tremendous amount of freedom throughout the process. But if things got too left of center for him\u2014if we got too weird with keyboard sounds or the arrangement got too tricky and began interfering with the lyrics\u2014he\u2019d politely reel things in. He\u2019s a storyteller, and his emotions are voiced strongly in his songs, so it\u2019s always important that the arrangements and production not crowd the story. It was a wonderful project to work on, and it\u2019s been fantastic to see it do so well. The single has sold 2.5 million copies and the album is at gold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prefer digital or analog?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both. It just depends on the budget of the project. Analog tape is certainly a choice of sounds now\u2014another option on your color palette\u2014as is working on an analog console versus mixing completely inside the computer. For record companies, mixing in the computer is beneficial, since somebody always wants you to do a remix or recall a session to fix some tiny detail. It\u2019s a blessing to be able to call things up easily in the digital world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You worked with Etta James.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I adored her\u2014and learned so much from her. For me, she set the bar as far as great singers go. She was comfortable in the studio and very quick when it came to tracking vocals. It was never more than a few takes, and if we didn\u2019t get the vocals on any given day, we\u2019d come back when she was feeling it a bit more and get another one or two takes. She was all inspiration, and the biggest trick was knowing how to record her, making sure the mood was right and the gear was set up, so all you had to do was be inspiring\u2014and press record. There was always a strong chance that her first vocal take would be the vocal take, and you didn\u2019t want to risk missing that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is producing Latin music different?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not at all. I just did a new Caf\u00e9 Tacuba album, and the thing I love about bands like them is that they rely on their traditional influences, but at the same time, they draw so much from British or American pop. They are extremely adventurous. It\u2019s a real pleasure to work with them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How have you evolved as a producer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve learned is that it\u2019s important to trust the musicians you\u2019re working with and offer them space and freedom. It\u2019s your job as producer to gently guide them. I used to be much more hands-on and had very specific thoughts about how parts should be played and how things should sound. Over time, I\u2019ve become much better about looking at the big picture and understanding the things not to worry about.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For example?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes you get so caught up in your specific interpretation of an idea or what a guitar part should be that you don\u2019t leave enough room for the musician to put his or her own interpretation on it. I\u2019ve learned to be much more of a collaborator and director than\u2014dare I say it\u2014a dictator.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you deal with big egos?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s the artist\u2019s album and it\u2019s your job to get inside his or her head and help fulfill a vision for that specific record. It\u2019s almost easier with big personalities because they tend to be very specific and vocal about what they want, what they like, and what they don\u2019t like. It gets harder when you have somebody who isn\u2019t clear about what he or she wants, or isn\u2019t vocal about it. That can get tough. Someone who is very focused and clear about where the project should go makes your job as producer much easier.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you avoid overperfecting a record?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perfect is boring to me, and the concept of being perfect is one I try to avoid. Bands I\u2019ve worked with like the Raconteurs, the White Stripes, or even My Morning Jacket leave little oddities in their music that make things special. It\u2019s often the flaws and idiosyncrasies you didn\u2019t get right that tend to be the most attractive things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you know a record is done?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It just feels complete. It satisfies you and you feel engaged for the three-and-a-half minutes of that song. You\u2019re glued to the story. I watched a great documentary on the abstract painter Gerhard Richter, and he was asked the same question. He said, \u201cIt talks to you and says stop. That\u2019s it!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you see the producer\u2019s role changing in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be largely the same. If you think back to Teo Macero, who worked with Miles Davis, or even George Martin, it\u2019s still the same. The job changes from artist to artist, and sometimes you have to rely on your strengths more as a technician than a musician\u2014or vice versa. Technology will continue to get better and cheaper, and perhaps things will be done more in informal environments rather than commercial studios. But nothing can replace a good-sounding acoustic space, whether it\u2019s at home or in a commercial studio.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n


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JOE CHICCARELLI Rock, pop, country or jazz, it\u2019s all about serving the music \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 By Michael Gallant In more than three decades, Joe Chiccarelli has amassed an impressive roster of production and engineering credits\u2014from Alanis Morissette, My Morning Jacket and the White Stripes to Jason Mraz, Elton John, Christina Perri and the Shins. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3844],"tags":[4537,6027,6025,834,1063,5740,3278,6024,6030,6029,5885,3512,6023,2470,6028,6026,3399,776],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8962,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8959\/revisions\/8962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}