By 2014, I'd already been transitioning for more than five years from working in traditional studios to almost exclusively doing field recordings overseas. As a result, I'd had some success with groups like Tinariwen, Malawi Mouse Boys, and The Good Ones. At that point, the...
In 2006 the world lost Arif Mardin, a classic (and classy) record producer and arranger who'd originally worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, producing hits for artists like The Bee Gees, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Hall & Oates, and later working with singers like Norah Jones and Jewel. Recently the Grammy nominated documentary The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story was released on DVD, and it's a loving tribute to the man and the producer. While I was watching this film I began to notice the presence of Joe Mardin, Arif's son, who acted as co-director (with Doug Biro), producer, and sometimes interviewer for the film. He even co-mixed the soundtrack with Arif Mardin's longtime engineer, Michael O'Reilly. I was curious what Joe's life was like growing up in the Mardin family, and how he'd also followed a career of music production, engineering, writing, arranging, conducting, and even drumming. I visited Joe at his Manhattan-based NuNoise Studio for a journey into remembering his father's career and how it has affected his own life.
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