Sylvia Massy

Sylvia Massy
Birth name	Sylvia Lenore Massy
Born	Flint, Michigan, United States
Occupation(s)	Audio engineer, record producer, author
Instruments	Singer, drummer
Years active	1985–present
Website	www.sylviamassy.com

Sylvia Massy is an American entrepreneur, music producer, mixer and engineer, writer and artist in the United States. Massy is perhaps best recognized for her work on 1993's Undertow, the full-length double platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band Tool ^[1] and her works with System of a Down,^[2] Johnny Cash^[3] and Red Hot Chili Peppers.^[4]

History

Massy's first project was in the mid-1980s as producer, engineer, and mixer for a compilation album titled Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 3 on the CD Presents label.^[5] Acts featured included Adolescents, Raw Power, Doggy Style and Mojo Nixon. She followed this with producing the punk band Verbal Abuse for Boner Records,^[6] engineering two projects for metal band Exodus^[7] and co-producing the Sea Hags independent album with a young guitarist Kirk Hammett,^[8] who had just finished the "Master Of Puppets" album with thrash metal group Metallica. She also produced "Television, Drug Of A Nation" by Beatnigs, the former band of The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's Michael Franti.^[9]

From Green Jellÿ to Tool

Towards the end of the 1980s, Massy moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and worked at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd.^[10] At Tower she met the members of a Buffalo, New York band named Green Jello (later known as Green Jelly) and recorded their debut independent album. After becoming a staff engineer at Larrabee Sound in West Hollywood, she was hired by Zoo Records/BMG to produce Green Jello's major label debut album,^[11] which featured members of a new Los Angeles group called Tool. On Green Jello's "Cereal Killer" album, the voice of Tool singer Maynard James Keenan is heard on the song "Three Little Pigs", as well as Tool drummer Danny Carey playing on the album.^[12] This began a relationship Massy would have with the band Tool that would span two records: Opiate and Undertow.^[10]

Los Angeles and Larrabee Sound

In Los Angeles, Massy was an engineer, producer or mixer on recordings from artists including Aerosmith, Babyface, Big Daddy Kane, Bobby Brown, Prince,^[13] Julio Iglesias, Seal, Skunk Anansie,^[14] Paula Abdul, Ryuichi Sakamoto and many more. She worked with manager Gary Kurfirst on Irish rock band Cyclefly for Kurfirst's Radioactive Records.^[15] At Larrabee Sound, Sylvia connected with producer Rick Rubin and would work with him on several projects spanning seven years.

Sound City

From 1994 until 2001, Massy's vintage Neve 8038 console and other specialized recording equipment occupied Studio B at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California. Besides Massy's own work at Sound City, several other successful projects were recorded on Massy's equipment during these years, including albums by Sheryl Crow,^[16] Queens Of The Stone Age,^[16] Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Smashing Pumpkins, The Black Crowes and Lenny Kravitz.^[16] Massy's equipment is visible in many scenes of Dave Grohl's "Sound City Movie".

Rubin and beyond

Massy engineered and mixed several projects for producer Rick Rubin, including Johnny Cash's album Unchained,^[17] which won a Grammy award for Best Country Album in 1997. With Rubin, she also recorded Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Slayer, Donovan, Geto Boys, The Black Crowes, Danzig, and System of a Down's debut album.^[18] In the '90s, Massy produced material for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sevendust, and Powerman 5000, which featured guest appearances from Rob Zombie^[19] and actor Malachi Throne; and for newcomer Pauley Perrette.^[20] In 1997 Massy mixed the Beastie Boys' "Tibetan Freedom Concert"^[21] in New York with Adam Yauch and producer Pat McCarthy.

RadioStar Studios and international acclaim

Starting in 2001, Massy owned and operated RadioStar Studios out of the Weed Palace Theater^[22] until its closing in 2012. She acquired the theater property in 2001 in Weed, California and operated it as a recording studio for 11 years, with notable clients having been Sublime, Dishwalla, Swirl 360, Econoline Crush, Cog, Spiderbait, Norma Jean, Built To Spill and From First To Last (featuring Sonny Moore of Skrillex^[23]). Massy's production of Lisa Haley's "King Cake" album was nominated for a "Best Zydeco Album" Grammy Award in 2004.^[24] Several international hits came out of RadioStar Studios with Massy, including Spiderbait's "Black Betty" which reached #1 on Australia's ARIA chart in 2004; Cog's "The New Normal" album received the Australian Triple J "J Award" in 2005; Seigmen's "Metropolis" which reached #4 on Norway's sales charts; Klepht was named "Best Portuguese Act" by MTV Europe; Econoline Crush received a Canadian Juno nomination and Platinum sales status for their "The Devil You Know" album; and Animal Alpha's EP reached Gold sales status in Norway in 2005.

Artwork, writing and music festivals

In the 2000s, she wrote a regular column in Mix Magazine called "Gear Stories" ^[25] which discussed vintage recording equipment vs. modern equivalents. She wrote an essay about Thomas Edison's contribution to the recording industry which helped award him a posthumous "Technical Grammy" award,^[26] which the Edison family received in 2010 at the Grammy Awards. Massy's written submission about Thomas Edison was included in the official Grammy Awards Program. As a graphic artist her artwork recently appeared on the cover of Grammy nominated Lisa Haley's "King Cake" album. In 2011, Massy co-founded the 4&20 Blackbird Music Festival^[27] which operated for two years in downtown Weed, California. The festival drew approximately 7000 people and featured 250 musical acts during its run.

In January 2015, Massy began to write a book called "Recording Unhinged" for Hal Leonard Publishing.^[28] The book will be released in March 2016. Interviews and contributors for the book include Hans Zimmer, Geoff Emerick, Bob Ezrin, Bruce Swedien, Michael Franti, Bob Clearmountain, Al Schmitt, Elliot Scheiner, Linda Perry, Ross Robinson, Matt Wallace, Ross Hogarth, Shelly Yakus, Paul Wolff. Massy will also be illustrating the book.

The cover of the March 2016 issue of Electronic Musician Magazine features Massy's illustration of a dinosaur and a robot in a battle.

As an educator

In 2015 Massy was a visiting professor at Berklee College Of Music in Boston . In 2016 she lectured at SAE Institute's audio engineering school in London and presented recording workshops in Dresden, Germany at Castle Rohrsdorf and at Mix With The Masters in Les Studios de la Fabrique in Saint-Remy-de-Provence in the south of France.

Current status

Massy lives in Ashland, Oregon and works out of her private studio. Recent projects include Pink Grenade in 2014, which she engineered, mixed, produced and arranged strings. The album features performances by members of the Wu-Tang Clan and actor Johnny Depp.^[29] In 2015 she produced and engineered Australian band Filthy Lucre. She also mixed for Cage The Elephant and Soilwork. The latter part of 2015 saw her overseeing production of Avatar's as of yet unnamed follow up to 2014's Hail the Apocalypse.^[30]

Massy continues to work as an independent producer, educator and music promoter. She recently appeared on an episode of "Pensado's Place", an industry video program with producer/mixer Dave Pensado and was nominated for "The Big Award" at the Pensado Awards in 2014 . Massy is a member of NARAS and served on the P&E Wing Steering Committee^[31] and Advisory Boards. In 2009, she traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby for Musician's Performance Rights and continues to be involved with musician, producer and educational advocacy work on behalf of NARAS. In February 2016 Massy won the Music Producers Guild's "MPG Inspiration Award" at the MPG's Awards show in London. The award was presented by John Leckie.

Works

Sylvia Massy has worked with the following musicians (roles abbreviated here are P, E, and M for Producer, Engineer, and Mixer, respectively):

81db – Impressions LP (P-E-M) (2011) Acroma – Orbitals (Republic/Universal) (P-E-M) Adjacent To Nothing – self-titled (P-E-M) Aerosmith - The Other Side - Matt Dyke Remix (M) Awaking State – Into The Machine (P-M) Air Dubai – Day Escape (P-E) Alanis Morissette - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Animal Alpha – EP (Racing Junior) (P-E-M) Gold Animal Alpha – Pheromones (Racing Junior) (P-E-M) Antiproduct - Bungee Jumping People (M) Apex Theory - Lightpost (M) Avatar - Feathers & Flesh (P-E-M) Bebe and Cece Winans - "The Blood" featuring MC Hammer (Capitol) (E) Belladonna - The Noir Album (P) Bigbang - self-titled (E-M) Björk - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Blur - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) The Blushing Gun – EP (P-E) BugGIRL - Dirt In The Skirt (P-E-M) Bulk – Guardian (Nordic Records) (P-E-M) Carmen Electra - Prince single (Paisley Park) (M) (1992) Casanovas – Overload (Rubber Records) (P-E-M) Ingrid Chavez - May 19, 1992 (Paisley Park) (E) The Cliks – Dirty King (Tommy Boy) (P-E-M) Cog – The New Normal (MGM) (P-E-M) Cog – Sharing Space (MGM) (P-E-M) Counterfist – Give up the Ghost – EP (P-E-M) (2011) Cyclefly – Generation Sap (Radioactive) (P-E-M) Dante – The Rorschach Manifiesto (P) (2011) The Deadlights – self-titled (Elektra) (P-E-M) Deftones – "Can't Even Breathe" from Escape From LA soundtrack (Milan Records) (M) Dishwalla - self-titled (P-E-M) Distortion Mirrors – Circle of Wolves (Surrism-Phonoethics) (P-E-M) The Dollyrots - A Little Messed Up (Blackheart) (M) Econoline Crush – The Devil You Know (EMI/Restless) (P-E-M) Platinum Econoline Crush - Ignite (FNN) (P-E-M) Exodus - Pleasures Of The Flesh (Combat) (E) Filthy Lucre - upcoming release (P-E-M) Five Star Iris – self-titled (Hooptiville Records) (P-M) Foo Fighters - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Godhead - Songs from "At The Edge" - (M) Green Jellÿ – Cereal Killer (Zoo) (P-E-M) Gold Greta - No Biting (Mercury) (P-E-M) Horsehead - Onism (Mushroom Records) (P-E-M) Insolence - Revolution (Maverick/Warner Bros) (P-E-M) J27 – Generazione Mutant (Vrec Venus) (M) produced by Pietro Foresti (2012)[32] Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien (Relativity) (Addt. Eng.) (1987) Johnny Cash – Unchained (American) (E-M) Grammy Johnny Cash – The Legend Of (American) (E-M) Platinum Junkyard - self-titled (Geffen) (E-M) (1990) Kill The Capitol – self-titled (featuring Sye McRitchie) (P-E-M) Klepht – Hipocondria (P-M) Kula Shaker - Hush (Columbia) (M) Lax'n'Busto – RELAX (Global Music) (P-E-M) Lax'n'Busto – La Luna (Global Music) (P) Lee Perry and Mad Professor - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Lesser Key - Lesser Key EP Sumerian Records (P-E-M) Lisa Haley – King Cake (P-E-M) Grammy Nomination Lollipop Lust Kill – My So Called Knife (Artemis) (P-E-M) Lucky Lew – Beauty In Aggression (Big Noisy Records) (P-E-M) Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye (Grand Royal/Capitol) (remix) Luscious Jackson - Deep Shag (Grand Royal/Capitol) (M) Lustra – Lustra (XOFF) (P-E)

Machines of Loving Grace – Gilt (Atlantic) (P-E-M) Major Parkinson – Major Parkinson (Degaton Records) (P-E-M) Mankind Is Obsolete – Trapped Inside (P-M) My Glorious – Inside My Head Is A Scary Place (2011) (P-E-M) Oingo Boingo - Farewell (A&M) (M) (1996) One-Eyed Doll – Committed (Kimberly Freeman Productions) (P-E-M) (2013) Pink Grenade - featuring Johnny Depp (E-M) Powerman 5000 – Tonight the Stars Revolt! (DreamWorks) (P-E) Platinum Prince – New Power Generation (Warner Bros) (E) Prince – Diamonds and Pearls (Warner Bros) (E-M) Multi-Platinum Patti Smith - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert - (E-M) Pavement - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Pay Money To My Pain - Drop Of Ink (P) Pygmy Love Circus - Drug Run (M) (1996) Red Hot Chili Peppers – Love Rollercoaster (Geffen) (P-E-M) Gold RedOak – REDesign (2013) (P-E-M) R.E.M. – Road Movie (Warner Bros./HBO) (M) Revery - Avarice and Absolution (Evo Recordings) (M) Savoy – Savoy Songbook Volume 1 (Universal/Norway) (M) Scott Huckabay - Secret Portal (P-E-M) Sea Hags - debut album (Rat Music) (Co-Produced with Kirk Hammett-E-M) Seek Irony – Blend (Israel) (P-E-M) Seigmen – Metropolis (Sony/Norway) (P-E-M) Gold Seigmen – Total (Sony/Norway) (P-E-M) Seven Day Sonnet – self-titled (P-E-M) (2011) Sevendust – "Fall" from Scream 3 soundtrack (Wind-Up Records) (P-E-M) Seven Mary Three – Welcome Race Fans (P-E-M) Seven Mary Three – Dis-Location (P-E-M) (2004) Seven Years Past – 24 Days in May (P-E-M) Shivaree - I Oughtta Give You (Capitol) (E-M) Showbread – No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical (Tooth and Nail Records) (P-E) Showbread – Age of Reptiles (Tooth and Nail Records) (P-E-M) Showbread – The Fear of God (Tooth and Nail Records) (P) Showbread – Who Can Know It? (Come & Live Records) (P) Skunk Anansie – Paranoid & Sunburnt (One Little Indian/Epic) (P-E-M) Gold Solid State Logic - Circuitry (E-M) Sonic Youth - songs for the Tibetan Freedom Concert (Capitol) (E-M) Sophie B. Hawkins - Wilderness (M) South Cry – Blue Moon (Big Sky Rock)[33] (P-E-M) Spiderbait – Tonight Alright (Universal Australia) (P-E-M) Platinum Spade Ghetto Destruction – S/T (Zoo Entertainment/BMG) (P-E-M) Staple - Of Truth And (Flicker) (P-E-M) Stereo Cult – Chaos (Clone Records) (P-E-M) Stompbox - Stress (Columbia) (P-E-M) Sublime – (P-E-M) System of a Down – self-titled debut (American) (E) Gold Tallman – Mechanism (Aperture) (P-E-M) The Time - "Chocolate" (Paisley Park) (E) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Songs and Music from "She's the One" (Warner Bros) (E-M) Tool – Undertow (Zoo/BMG) (P-E) 2x Platinum Tool – Opiate (Zoo/BMG) (P-E-M) Platinum Tripdavon – The Enlightened Operative (Oxygen) (P-E-M) Tuxedo Moon - Live LP (M) Uncledog – Face on the Floor (P-E-M) (2011) Warrior Poet – The Promise (Maldido Records) (M) produced by Pietro Foresti (2010)[34] it:Wishin' Cap – Wishin' Cap (2009) Ziggy Marley - Live LP (Virgin) (M) (1991)

References

1. Massy, Sylvia (2010-01-01). "Gear Stories With Sylvia Massy". Mixonline.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
2. "Sylvia Massy: From Tool to Mount Shasta... | Tape Op - the Creative Music Recording Magazine". Tapeop.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
3. "Recording Johnny Cash". Gearslutz.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
4. "RHCP -One Hot Minute". Gearslutz.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
5. "Various - Rat Music For Rat People Vol. lll (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
6. "Sylvia Massy Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
7. "How to Be a Record Producer in the Digital Era - Megan Perry". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
8. "CD Presents - Timeline Photos". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
9. "Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, The Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
10. "Producing Hit Records - David John Farinella". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
11. "Dream Factory or Just a Bad Dream? - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. 1997-03-24. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
12. "Three Little Pigs by Green Jelly Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
13. Massy, Sylvia (2010-02-01). "Gear Stories With Sylvia Massy—Prince and the Gemini II". Mixonline.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
14. "Sylvia Massy | Credits". AllMusic. 1992-05-19. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
15. "Searchandbusinesses.com". Love-it-loud.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
16. "Artist List – Sound City Studios". Soundcitystudios.net. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
17. Massy, Sylvia (2010-01-03). "Gear Stories With Sylvia Massy: Johnny Cash and the Sta-Level". Mixonline.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
18. Forlenza, Jeff (2006-01-08). "Sylvia Massy Shivy's RadioStar Studios". Mixonline.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
19. "Tonight The Stars Revolt! Review | Powerman 5000 | Compact Discs | Reviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
20. "Woman Thing Music Dance Single Creative Brief" (PDF). Beta.industryrecords.library.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
21. "Various - Tibetan Freedom Concert (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
22. Forlenza, Jeff (2006-01-08). "Sylvia Massy Shivy's RadioStar Studios". Mixonline.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
23. "30 Things You Should Know About Skrillex". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
24. "Lisa Haley Official website - Cajun Zydeco Music". Lisahaley.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
25. Massy, Sylvia (2010-06-24). "Gear Stories With Sylvia Massy: Cockroaches and SM58s". Mixonline. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
26. "Special Merit Awards: Family of Thomas Edison". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
27. "Photos: 4&20 Blackbird Festival rocks Weed - Mount Shasta Herald - Mount Shasta, CA - Mount Shasta, CA". Mtshastanews.com. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
28. "2015 NAMM - Hal Leonard Corporation". Facebook. 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
29. "Pink Grenade (Dipstick Video); A Sociological Experiment in Hip-Hop Music". RebelPundit. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
30. "AVATAR ENTER STUDIO WITH SYLVIA MASSY". teamrock.com. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
31. "THE RECORDING ACADEMY® PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING® ANNOUNCES 2009-2010 STEERING COMMITTEE". GRAMMY.org. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
33. "Brazilian Band | About South Cry – How We Began |". South Cry. Retrieved 2012-08-15.

External links

• Official website
• Sylvia Massy on The Producer Series on Triple J
• Sylvia Massy at AllMusic