Matt
Forger
Producer l Mixer l Engineer l Sound
Designer l Production Supervisor
Photo: by The C
Read
Matt Forger Interview with GMan For Record Industry Newswire
& enews
channel
History: LA based Matt Forger met and worked
with Michael Jackson on the ‘THRILLER’ album and also worked on
the ‘E.T. STORYBOOK ALBUM’ with Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg
producing. Following the remarkable success of the album, Matt worked
on the groundbreaking ‘THRILLER VIDEO’ with director John Landis.
This relationship continued and Matt worked on the albums ‘BAD’,
‘DANGEROUS’, ‘HISTORY’, and ‘BLOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR’. Matt also
recorded and mixed the ‘CAPTAIN EO’ 3-D Film for Disney, directed
by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, and oversaw its installation
at Disney theme parks worldwide.
Forger began his involvement in the
music business by mixing live sound for rock bands in the Northeast,
and designing and building sound systems and studios. Shortly
after moving to LA and securing a staff position at Westlake Studios,
he met and worked with Producers Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey,
Harold Faltermeyer, and George Duke. This was followed by the opportunity
to work with Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and Bruce Swedien, and
become part of “The Team.” More recently Matt was involved
on the Michael Jackson film project ‘GHOSTS’ with director
Stan Winston. Among the other works Matt has completed are his efforts
on the re-mastering and adding of bonus tracks to the Michael Jackson
‘Special Edition’ albums; ‘OFF THE WALL’, ‘THRILLER’, ‘BAD’, and
‘DANGEROUS’.
 
The nature of Matt’s involvement with Michael Jackson is extensive.
Forger provided a technical foundation, and relaxed studio environment
for the creativity of the artist to flourish where Michael would
write and develop songs and arrangements. “This process of experimentation,
exploration of sound, and application of new technologies, is always
challenging, but can also be most rewarding,” says Forger.
Matt’s all too familiar with the process - generating singles, videos,
and dance remixes, international
versions and promotional materials, approval of mastering and test
pressings, generating versions for film and television appearances,
and cataloging and maintaining an archive of all materials, are
just some of the responsibilities that Matt has overseen.
Matt has worked extensively with the Japanese superstar Yuming.
They first worked together in 1984 when Yuming's producer, Masataka
Matsutoya
was looking for a new sound. After releasing numerous albums it
was time for a new approach, so Matt was hired to bring not only
a new sound, but new
production techniques as well. That first collaboration doubled
the sales figure of any previous album, and was the first of 15
albums on which Matt was recording engineer, mixer, and co-producer.
13 of these albums entered the Billboard chart at #1. Matt has also
received 2 “Gold Disc Awards” (Grammy Equivalent) for his contributions.
Matt works in the LA singer/songwriter community with many new and
promising artists. Matt is also offering his services as a consultant,
for the creative recording arts. The basis for his work is the emotional
content of the recording. “Remembering that music is a form of emotional
communication is important” Matt says, “Too many people view recording
as a technical experience. It is important to understand technology
and be able to control and it, but it’s the music at center stage.
It’s the song people remember, not the recording system.” Matt
is also recording in a classic format with exciting new results.
Matt calls it ‘reality recording’, this is a live to 2-track recording
style that uses a carefully placed single stereo microphone and
a high quality signal path. It is capturing the moment of a great
performance, and putting the listener there in the environment to
share the experience. "It is especially well suited to acoustic
performances and elegant in its’ simplicity," says Forger.
l-r: Jolene Pellant (manager),
Mike Gormley (manager), Allison McGourty (Lo-Max Records), Simon
Lynge, Matt Forger (producer), Bernard McMahon (Lo- Max Records).
Current Credits: Simon
Lynge held off recording “Beautiful Way To Drown” until
he was able to put the team together that made him comfortable.
The team: Matt Forger and Jon Mattox (The Young Dubliners) who joined
with Simon to co-produce his CD which was recently picked up by
London's Lo-Max Records, home of Australian legends The Go-Betweens
(and front-man Robert Forster's brilliant "The Evangelist"),
New York rockers The Wrens and British psychedelic pioneer Kevin
Ayers.
Read studioexpresso March
review here
Matt Forger with Detroit Mutant Radio and Rafa Sardina at After
Hours Studios.
contact: Dianne Forger |
fn: 818-341-6610 fx:
818-341-7355
e-mail: mdforger@aol.com
copyright 2004 studioexpresso
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