John Agnello
Encyclopedia
John Agnello is a producer, recording engineer and mixer who has been involved with many albums throughout the last 25 years. Most recently, John has been involved with Kurt Vile
, Sonic Youth
, Sweet Apple, Dinosaur Jr. Thurston Moore
and Jemina Pearl
, to name a few.
in Manhattan. John worked his way up the ladder and became the studio’s go-to-assistant. He assisted on a number of albums including those by Aerosmith
, Twisted Sister
, Scandal, John Cougar Mellencamp, and John Waite
. John also worked briefly on “Born In the USA” with Bruce Springsteen
, “The Boss” himself. However, working on Cyndi Lauper
’s She’s So Unusual! had the biggest recording and production impact on him at the time. He worked with some of the great engineers and producers of that time, including, Jack Douglas
, Jimmy Iovine
, Rick Chertoff
, William Wittman, Mike Chapman, Dave Thoener, Jay Messina
, Roy Cicala
and Shelly Yakus
.
He got his first true break engineering on the second album by The Hooters
. He was involved with artists such as Patty Smyth
, Sophie B. Hawkins
and The Outfield
. The Outfield’s first record, Play Deep, had a #2 hit with “Your Love.”
Around that time, he also got to do one off session with Bob Dylan
and Mick Jagger
, two of his favorite artists. The Bob Dylan
song was “Series Of Dreams” which he co-mixed with Bill Wittman. That version was used by NARAS when presenting Bob Dylan
with his lifetime achievement award. And the Mick Jagger
song, “Hard Woman,” was for a special made-for-MTV only video.
. This collaboration has extended through almost a dozen records. In fact, John recently mixed the heralded Dinosaur Jr. reunion record, Beyond, with the original lineup. He was also responsible for productions with artists such as Buffalo Tom
, Jawbox
, Chavez
, Redd Kross
, Madrugada and Patti Smith
, among others. He also worked with Alice Cooper
on The Last Temptation Of Alice Cooper.
, The Living End
, Andrew W.K.
, Drive-By Truckers
and Social Distortion
. He has helmed both Boys And Girls In America and Stay Positive by The Hold Steady
.
Even though he excels at the hard edge sound of many of the aforementioned artists, he’s also adept at working with the subtler sounds of artists such as Son Volt
, The Kills
, Thurston Moore
, The Walkmen
, and Five for Fighting
.
John Agnello has also been involved with many newer artists. Scottish band The Hazey Janes
are one example. John mixed one of their records in Spain in 2006 and they came to the US to record their follow-up album, Hands Around The City. John also worked with Jennifer O'Connor
on her latest, Here With Me, for Matador Records
. John encouraged her to sing all her vocals live.
Not to be limited to the United States
, John has had commercial success overseas. The three records he did with Norwegian band, Madrugada, have scored both critical and commercial success. In the press release for the current record, Madrugada, they describe John as, “the external creative force that has had the most influence on Madrugada’s artistic development.” John has also had success with another Norwegian band, Turbonegro
, on their last record, Retox.
Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Sweet Apple, Dinosaur Jr. Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
and Jemina Pearl
Jemina Pearl
Jemina Pearl Abegg , known by the stage name Jemina Pearl, is an American singer, formerly the frontwoman of Be Your Own Pet....
, to name a few.
Early Work
John’s life in the studio began in 1979 at the age of 19 while working as an intern at the legendary Record Plant StudiosRecord Plant Studios
The Record Plant was a series of three famous recording studios which were founded by Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone, beginning in New York City in 1968. The next year, Kellgren and Stone opened a second studio in Los Angeles. In 1972, the company expanded again with a third location in Sausalito,...
in Manhattan. John worked his way up the ladder and became the studio’s go-to-assistant. He assisted on a number of albums including those by Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
, Scandal, John Cougar Mellencamp, and John Waite
John Waite
John Charles Waite is an English rock singer and musician. He was lead vocalist for The Babys and Bad English. As a solo artist, he scored several international hits, including 1984's "Missing You", a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, reaching #1 in the...
. John also worked briefly on “Born In the USA” with Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, “The Boss” himself. However, working on Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
’s She’s So Unusual! had the biggest recording and production impact on him at the time. He worked with some of the great engineers and producers of that time, including, Jack Douglas
Jack Douglas (record producer)
Jack Douglas is an American record producer. He was born in New York City. Starting out as folk musician and performer, he worked on Robert Kennedy's senatorial campaign as a song-writer. Douglas then moved to England and joined a succession of bands before returning to New York to attend the...
, Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy Iovine
James "Jimmy" Iovine is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.-Biography:...
, Rick Chertoff
Rick Chertoff
Rick Chertoff is a five-time Grammy-nominated producer responsible for such hits as Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Time After Time” and Sophie B...
, William Wittman, Mike Chapman, Dave Thoener, Jay Messina
Jay Messina
Jay Messina is an American audio engineer, mastering and mixing engineer and music producer. He started out recording sessions for legendary arranger Don Ellion and quickly promoted to A&R Recording. He later moved to the Record Plant when it opened in 1968...
, Roy Cicala
Roy Cicala
Roy Cicala is an American producer, engineer, song-writer and musician. His body of work includes over 10 Platinum Records for producing, writing, engineering and management for talent from the 70’s through today...
and Shelly Yakus
Shelly Yakus
Shelly Yakus is considered as one of the best engineers and mixers in the music industry. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, Yakus' engineering work has help sell in excess of one hundred million records, equaling over one billion dollars in sales...
.
He got his first true break engineering on the second album by The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
. He was involved with artists such as Patty Smyth
Patty Smyth
Patty Smyth is an American rock and roll musician. She first enjoyed mainstream success in 1982 as lead singer of the band Scandal and later scored a solo #2 hit with her song "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough"...
, Sophie B. Hawkins
Sophie B. Hawkins
Sophie Ballantine Hawkins is an American singer, songwriter, musician and painter. Her biggest hits are "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover", "Right Beside You", and "As I Lay Me Down".- Career :...
and The Outfield
The Outfield
The Outfield are an arena rock-influenced English pop rock/power pop power trio based in London, England. The Outfield are unusual for a British band in that they enjoyed commercial success in the U.S., but never reached the album or singles charts in their homeland...
. The Outfield’s first record, Play Deep, had a #2 hit with “Your Love.”
Around that time, he also got to do one off session with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, two of his favorite artists. The Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song was “Series Of Dreams” which he co-mixed with Bill Wittman. That version was used by NARAS when presenting Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
with his lifetime achievement award. And the Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
song, “Hard Woman,” was for a special made-for-MTV only video.
1990s
During the early nineties John started his association with Dinosaur Jr. and the Screaming TreesScreaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
. This collaboration has extended through almost a dozen records. In fact, John recently mixed the heralded Dinosaur Jr. reunion record, Beyond, with the original lineup. He was also responsible for productions with artists such as Buffalo Tom
Buffalo Tom
Buffalo Tom is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis. The band's name is derived from the band Buffalo Springfield and the first name of the drummer.-Career:Dinosaur Jr...
, Jawbox
Jawbox
Jawbox was an alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., U.S.. Its original members were J. Robbins , Kim Coletta and Adam Wade...
, Chavez
Chavez (band)
Chavez is an alternative rock/math rock band from New York, formed in 1993. After a period of inactivity, the band reformed in 2006. They released two independent non-charting albums in the mid-1990s...
, Redd Kross
Redd Kross
Redd Kross, a rock band from Hawthorne, California had their roots in 1978 in a band called The Tourists begun by Jeff and Steve McDonald while the brothers were still in middle school...
, Madrugada and Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, among others. He also worked with Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
on The Last Temptation Of Alice Cooper.
2000 - Present
In this decade, John has worked with such artists as Sonic YouthSonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, The Living End
The Living End
The Living End are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, Victoria, formed in 1994. The current lineup consists of Chris Cheney , Scott Owen and Andy Strachan...
, Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
, Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
and Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
. He has helmed both Boys And Girls In America and Stay Positive by The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2004. The band consists of Craig Finn , Tad Kubler , Galen Polivka , Bobby Drake , and Steve Selvidge...
.
Even though he excels at the hard edge sound of many of the aforementioned artists, he’s also adept at working with the subtler sounds of artists such as Son Volt
Son Volt
Son Volt is an alternative country group formed by Jay Farrar in 1994 after the breakup of the band Uncle Tupelo.-History:The group formed after Farrar met Jim and Dave Boquist during the final Uncle Tupelo tour. Together with former Uncle Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn, the band rehearsed and...
, The Kills
The Kills
The Kills is a rock band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince . Their first three albums, Keep On Your Mean Side, No Wow, and Midnight Boom, have garnered much critical praise...
, Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, The Walkmen
The Walkmen
The Walkmen are an American indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon , Walter Martin , and Matt Barrick —and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer and Hamilton Leithauser . All but Bauer...
, and Five for Fighting
Five for Fighting
Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik. He is best known for his piano-based rock, such as the Top 40 songs "Superman " , "100 Years" , and "The Riddle" .-Early years:...
.
John Agnello has also been involved with many newer artists. Scottish band The Hazey Janes
The Hazey Janes
The Hazey Janes are an indie pop band from Dundee, Scotland.The band consists of Andrew Mitchell , Liam Brennan and siblings Alice Marra and Matthew Marra .Formed around 2000 by guitarist Andrew Mitchell and bass player Matthew Marra, the band's music has...
are one example. John mixed one of their records in Spain in 2006 and they came to the US to record their follow-up album, Hands Around The City. John also worked with Jennifer O'Connor
Jennifer O'Connor
Jennifer O'Connor is an Australian netball player. She played with the Queensland Firebirds from 2006–07 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, and from 2008–09 in the ANZ Championship.-References:...
on her latest, Here With Me, for Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
. John encouraged her to sing all her vocals live.
Not to be limited to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, John has had commercial success overseas. The three records he did with Norwegian band, Madrugada, have scored both critical and commercial success. In the press release for the current record, Madrugada, they describe John as, “the external creative force that has had the most influence on Madrugada’s artistic development.” John has also had success with another Norwegian band, Turbonegro
Turbonegro
Turbonegro is a Norwegian punk rock band that was initially active from 1989 to 1998, and later reformed in 2002. Their style combines glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band describes as "deathpunk"....
, on their last record, Retox.
Discography
(To see John’s entire discography, click here.)- Dinosaur Jr., "Farm", 2009
- The Hold Steady, Stay Positive, 2008
- The Living End, White Noise, 2008
- Jennifer O’Connor, Here With Me, 2008
- Madrugada, Madrugada, 2008
- The Hazey Janes, Hands Around the City, 2008
- Thurston Moore, Trees Outside The Academy, 2007
- Turbonegro, Retox, 2007
- Dinosaur Jr., Beyond, 2007
- My Midnight Creeps, Histamin, 2007
- The Ponys, Turn the Lights Out, 2007
- Son Volt, The Search, 2007
- Oxford Collapse, Remember The Night Parties, 2006
- The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America, 2006
- Andrew WK, Close Calls with Brick Walls, 2006
- Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped, 2006