Sylvia Massy


Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Undertow, a full-length triple platinum-selling debut for alternative metal band Tool from Los Angeles, was her major breakthrough. In addition she has worked with System of a Down, Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and South Cry, a Brazilian rock band.
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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. Acts featured included Adolescents, Raw Power, Doggy Style and Mojo Nixon. Next she produced the punk band Verbal Abuse for Boner Records, was an engineer on two projects for metal band Exodus, and co-produced the Sea Hags independent album with a young Kirk Hammett, a guitarist who had just finished recording the Master of Puppets album with thrash metal group Metallica. She also produced "Television, Drug of a Nation" by the Beatnigs, the former band of Michael Franti from the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's.

From Green Jellö to Tool

In the late 1980s, Massy moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and worked at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. At Tower she met the members of Green Jellö, a band from Buffalo, New York and recorded their debut album. After becoming a staff engineer at Larrabee Sound in West Hollywood, California, Massy was hired by Zoo Records/BMG to produce Green Jellö's major label debut album featuring members of a new Los Angeles group called Tool. On Green Jellö's Cereal Killer album, Tool's Maynard James Keenan sings on "Three Little Pigs", and Tool's drummer Danny Carey plays on the album. A relationship was begun between Massy and Tool leading to two recordings, Opiate and Undertow.

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, Julio Iglesias, Seal, Skunk Anansie, Paula Abdul, Ryuichi Sakamoto and others. She worked with manager Gary Kurfirst on Irish rock band Cyclefly for Kurfirst's Radioactive Records. At Larrabee Sound, Sylvia connected with producer Rick Rubin and worked with him on several projects over 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 work at Sound City, several other successful projects were recorded on her equipment during those years including albums by Sheryl Crow, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Black Crowes, and Lenny Kravitz. Massy's equipment is visible in many scenes of Dave Grohl's film Sound City.

Rubin and beyond

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

RadioStar Studios and international acclaim

Beginning in 2001, Massy owned and operated RadioStar Studios in the Weed Palace Theater until it closed in 2012. She acquired the theater in 2001 in Weed, California, and operated it as a recording studio for 11 years with notable clients: Sublime, Dishwalla, Swirl 360, Econoline Crush, Cog, Spiderbait, Norma Jean, Built To Spill, and From First To Last Several international hits have emerged from RadioStar Studios in conjunction with Massy. Notable achievements include Spiderbait's "Black Betty", which reached No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia in 2004, and Cog's debut album The New Normal, which received a nomination into Triple J's "Album of the Year" J Award in 2005. Additionally, Seigmen's "Metropolis" achieved No. 4 on Norway's sales charts, while Klepht was recognized as the "Best Portuguese Act" by MTV Europe. Econoline Crush earned a Canadian Juno nomination and their 1997 album The Devil You Know was Certified Platinum. Furthermore, Animal Alpha's self-titled EP attained Certified Gold status in Norway in 2005.

Artwork, writing and music festivals

In the 2000s, she wrote a regular column in Mix Magazine called "Gear Stories" contrasting vintage recording equipment with modern equivalents. She wrote an essay about Thomas Edison's contribution to the recording industry which was included in the official Grammy Awards Program. In 2011, Massy co-founded the 4&20 Blackbird Music Festival 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. The book was published 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 also illustrated the book. The cover of the March 2016 issue of Electronic Musician features Massy's illustration of a dinosaur and a robot battling.

As an educator

In 2015 and 2018, Massy was a visiting professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2018 she taught a workshop at the Abbey Road Institute in London. In 2016 she lectured at SAE Institute's audio engineering schools in London and Munich, Germany. She has presented periodic recording workshops in Dresden at Castle Rohrsdorf and at Mix with the Masters in Les Studios de la Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the south of France. In 2017 Massy conducted a workshop and lecture at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Gilbert, Arizona and a workshop at Tecnólogico de Monterrey in Mexico City for several hundred students. She has conducted workshops in Sardinia, Oslo, Gdansk, Poland; and Rome. In 2017, Massy and co-author Chris Johnson began a collaboration for a professional recording course at Berklee based on their book, Recording Unhinged.
In 2019, Massy toured and conducted workshops for Abbey Road Institute locations in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, and London.

Recent

Massy lives in Ashland, Oregon and works in a private studio. She continues to work as an independent producer, educator, and music promoter. She has 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 and Advisory Boards. In 2009, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for musicians' performance rights and is 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 Awards in London. The award was presented by John Leckie.
In 2015 Massy mixed for Cage the Elephant and Soilwork. In late 2015 and early 2016 she oversaw the production of Avatar's album Feathers & Flesh. In 2016 she recorded Seattle all-woman noise band Thunderpussy in an abandoned nuclear power plant's cooling tower for the song "Torpedo Love". She recorded singer-songwriter Sarah Brendel in the underground venue at the Merkers Show Mine, a retired salt mine in Merkers, Germany. In early 2017 she produced and engineered the Melvins at the Village studio in Santa Monica, California while being filmed by Mix with the Masters. She produced albums by Econoline Crush, Far From Alaska and Dishwalla, and was hired to re-work the recordings of Grey Daze, a side project by Linkin Park's frontman Chester Bennington. In early 2018, Massy produced the MTV Unplugged television broadcast of Molotov, a Mexican rock band in Mexico City. In the summer of 2018 she gained access to the abandoned London Underground station at Aldwych to record British band God Damn on the subway platform.
In 2019 Massy produced and mixed the follow-up to Life of Agony's River Runs Red album, named The Sound of Scars. Tracks were recorded at Studio Divine in Ashland, Oregon. Later in 2019 Massy mixed a solo album for Taylor Hawkins. The album features performances by Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Chrissie Hynde, LeAnn Rimes, Nancy Wilson, Perry Farrell, Roger Taylor, Chris Chaney and Duff McKagan.

Discography

Massy has worked on the following projects:
YearArtistProjectTitleProducerEngineerMixNote
2023SnailbonesSingleLeave the Scene
2019Taylor HawkinsLPGet The MoneyRepublic Records
2019Life Of AgonyLPThe Sound Of ScarsNapalm
2018God DamnLPGod DamnOne Little Indian label
2018MolotovLP/VideoEl DesconecteMTV Unplugged performance
2017TurbonegroLPRock & Roll Machine
2017Far from AlaskaLPUnlikely
2017MelvinsSingle"From the Heart / Not a Leech"
2017DishwallaLPJuniper RoadCo-producer
2016Red Sun RisingSingle"Uninvited"
2016ThunderpussyLP
2016AvatarLPFeathers & Flesh
2016Justin KawashimaEP
2015Die So FluidSingle
2014Pink Grenade with Johnny DeppLPFear of a Pink Planet
2014Cage the ElephantSingle
2014SoilworkSingle
2011Dead SaraSingles
2011Molotov JiveAlbumStorm
2011ShowbreadAlbumWho Can Know It?
2011Air DubaiEPDay Escape
2011One-Eyed DollAlbumDirty
2011Lillian AxeAlbumXI: The Days Before Tomorrow
2010The CliksAlbumDirty King
2010KauraAlbumThat Which Defines Us
2010Distortion MirrorsEPCircle of Wolves
2010South CryAlbumBlue Moon
2010Sublime with RomeEPYours Truly
2010ShrubAlbumSenorita
2010The CrashAlbum
201081dbAlbumImpressions
2009Lucky LewAlbumBeauty in Aggression
2009The GrandSingle
2009ShowbreadLPThe Fear of God
2009The DollyrotsLPA Little Messed UpCo-mixer
2009Seven Years PastLP24 Days in May
2008Lax'n'BustoLPObjectiu: La lluna
2008GodheadSingle from LPAt the Edge of the World
2008BelladonnaLPThe Noir Album
2008The CliksLPDirty King
2008Johnny CashSongs fromThe Legend of Johnny CashCertified platinum
2008Econoline CrushLPIgnite
2007COGLPSharing Space
2007Mankind Is ObsoleteLPTrapped Inside
2007SavoyLPSavoy Songbook Vol. 1
2006Mt. HeliumLPFaces
2006Annie MacLPIgnition
2006Apex TheoryEPLightpost
2006ShowbreadLPAge of Reptiles
2006Silver GriffinLPHere in the Night
2006Five Star IrisLPFive Star Iris
2006Major ParkinsonLPMajor Parkinson
2006P.T.P.LPDrop of Ink
2006TripdavonLPEnlightened Operative
2006AtomicLP
2006FuriaLP
2005Animal AlphaLPPheremonesCertified gold
2005StapleLPOf Truth and Reconciliation
2005Re:IgnitionLPTrue Love
2005Scott HuckabayLPSecret PortalCo-producer
2004SpiderbaitLPTonight AlrightCertified platinum
2004ShowbreadLPNo Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical
2004DishwallaLP
2004COGLPThe New Normal
2004MnemonicLPCo-producer
2004BigbangLPBigbang
2003ZedLPThis Little Empire
2003Sophie B. HawkinsSinglesWilderness
2003Fighting JacksLPThe Dying Art of Life
2003Seven Mary ThreeSinglesDis/Location
2002AcromaLPOrbitals
2002LustraEPLeft for Dead
2001Lollipop Lust KillLP My So Called Knife
2000System of a DownSingle"Störagéd" – Heavy Metal 2000
2000LoudermilkLPThe Red Record
2000Powerman 5000Single"Get On" – Scream 3
2000SevendustSingle"Fall" – Scream 3
2000System of a DownSingle"Spiders" – Scream 3
2000Powerman 5000Single"Nobody's Real" – End of Days
2000ShivareeLPI Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump
1999Second ComingSingle
1999The DeadlightsLP The Deadlights
1999System of a DownSingle"Marmalade"
1998Powerman 5000LPTonight the Stars Revolt!Certified platinum
1998CycleflyLPGeneration Sap
1998Melissa EtheridgeSingles
1998DigSinglesLife Like
1998FirewaterLPThe Ponzi Scheme
1998System of a DownLPSystem of a DownCertified gold
1998The Smashing PumpkinsSingleMachina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
1998Kula ShakerSingleK
1998ReefLPRides
1998Cowboy MouthSinglesMercyland
1997Kula ShakerRemix from K"Hush"
1997The OutsidersLPViper Room
1997Porno for PyrosLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Alanis MorissetteLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Foo FightersLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997BlurLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997BjorkLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Lee PerryLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Patti SmithLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997BeckLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Rage Against the MachineLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997The Smashing PumpkinsLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997FugeesLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Cibo MattoLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997PavementLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Sonic YouthLPTibetan Freedom ConcertCo-producer
1997Econoline CrushLPThe Devil You KnowCertified platinum
1997ReefSingle"Don't You Like It" – Glow
1997Luscious JacksonRemix"Naked Eye"
1997Flea / JewelSinglesCo-producer
1997GluelegLPClodhopper
1997DeftonesSingle"Can't Even Breathe" – Escape from L.A. Soundtrack
1997Mary Beats JaneLPLocust
1996Red Hot Chili PeppersAlt. mixesOne Hot Minute
1996Red Hot Chili PeppersSingle"Love Rollercoaster" – Beavis and Butt-Head Do America SoundtrackCertified gold
1996Johnny CashLPUnchained
1996R.E.M.Road Movie
1996Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers"Climb That Hill" – She's the One
1996DonovanLP"Eldorado" – Surtras
1996Love and RocketsLPSweet F.A.
1996Pigmy Love CircusSingle"Drug Run to Fontana"
1996HorseheadLPOnism
1996Oingo BoingoLPFarewell
1996BigelfLPCloser to Doom
1995Skunk AnansieLPParanoid and SunburntCertified gold
1995Machines of Loving GraceLPGilt
1995SeigmenLPMetropolisCertified gold
1995Brutal JuiceLPMutilation Makes Identification Difficult
1995SlayerLPDivine Intervention
1994Luscious JacksonSingle"Deep Shag" – Natural Ingredients
1994Babes in ToylandSingle"Say What You Want" – S.F.W
1994SeigmenLPTotal
1993ToolLPUndertowCertified multi-platinum
1993GretaLPNo Biting
1992Green JellöLPCereal KillerCertified gold
1992ToolEPOpiateCertified platinum
1992Patti LaBelleSingleAssistant engineer
1992Ingrid ChavezSingle"Crystal City Cry"
1992Carmen ElektraSingle
1992Louie LouieSingleAssistant engineer
1991PrinceRemix"Cream"Assistant engineer
1991PrinceLPDiamonds and PearlsAssistant engineer Certified multi-platinum
1991FishboneLPThe Reality of My SurroundingsAssistant engineer
1991Kate BushSingleAssistant engineer
1991George ClintonSingleAssistant engineer
1991Green JellöLP Cereal Killer
1991Elton JohnSingle"Nobody's…. "Assistant engineer
1991Tom JonesLPAssistant engineer
1991Jefferson StarshipLPAssistant engineer
1991Paul Schaffer BandSingleAssistant engineer
1991Enuff Z'NuffLPStrengthAssistant engineer
1991Sheena EastonSingleAssistant engineer
1991Kylie MinogueSingleAssistant engineer
1991Paula AbdulLPSpellboundAssistant engineer
1991Ziggy MarleyLive
1991Eric BurdonLPAssistant engineer
1990Prince"New Power Generation"Assistant engineer
1990PrinceLPGraffiti Bridge
1990JunkyardLP
1990Wendy & LisaSingle"Waterfall" – Wendy and LisaAssistant engineer
1990Mavis StaplesSingleAssistant engineer
1990Rosie GainesSingleAssistant engineer
1990Paula AbdulSingleAssistant engineer
1990AerosmithRemix"The Other Side"Co-mixer
1990SealSingleAssistant engineer
1990BabyfaceSingleAssistant engineer
1990Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkLPAssistant engineer
1989Big Daddy KaneSingle"It's a Big Daddy Thing" – It's a Big Daddy ThingAssistant engineer
1990Young MCLPBrainstormAssistant engineer
1990Bobby BrownSingle"The Freestyle Mega-Mix"Assistant engineer
1990QueenLPAssistant engineer
1990New EditionSingleAssistant engineer
1990Teddy RileySingleAssistant engineer
1990Spandau BalletLPHeart Like a SkyAssistant engineer
1990BeBe & CeCe Winans Single"The Blood" – Different Lifestyles
1990DanzigLPDanzig II: LucifugeAssistant engineer
1990Geto BoysLPAssistant engineer
1990The TimeRemix"Chocolate"
1990Apollo SmileLP
1990Black CrowesLPShake Your MoneymakerAssistant engineer
1990The JacksonsLP2300 Jackson StreetAssistant engineer
1990Ryuichi SakamotoLPSoundtrack to Black RainAssistant engineer
1989Green JellöLPTriple Live Möther Gööse at Budokan
1989The Big FLP The Big FAssistant engineer
1989TroubleLPAssistant engineer
1989Julio IglesiasLPStarry NightAssistant engineer
1989Jermaine JacksonLPAssistant engineer
1989Barbra StreisandLPThe Broadway AlbumAssistant engineer
1987ExodusLPPleasures of the Flesh
1987Joe SatrianiLPSurfing with the AlienAssistant engineer
1987Femme FataleSingle"I Need a Date"
1987Adolescents"All Day and All of the Night"
- Rat Music for Rat People Vol. III
1987Mojo Nixon / Skid Roper"I Ain't Gonna Piss in No Jar"
- Rat Music for Rat People Vol. III
1987Raw Power"We Shall Overcome"
- Rat Music for Rat People Vol. III
1987Doggy Style"Janitor Man"
- Rat Music for Rat People Vol. III
1986Sea HagsLP Sea HagsCo-producer
1986The BeatnigsSingle"Television"
1986TuxedomoonLive LP
1985Verbal AbuseLPRocks Your Liver
1984New Riders of the Purple SageSingleAssistant engineer
1984Bobby HutchersonLPColor SchemesAssistant engineer