Christopher Mario Testa (born March 8, 1973) is an American producer, mixer, engineer, re-recording mixer, sound designer and musician. He was born in Florham Park, NJ. He now resides in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California.
Biography
In the late 1990s Chris started his career as a drummer playing live gigs and doing sessions in and around the New York City area. In 2002 he got his first gig as an assistant engineer at the legendary, now defunct, Hit Factory Studios. He was the only person working there who didn't have any formal recording training. Even though he only worked there for a year it was enough time to work with many of rock, pop and hip hop's biggest stars such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Kanye West, J Lo, Beyoncé, and Justin Timberlake to name a few. After developing a relationship with Los Angeles producer's
Jim Scott Jim or Jimmy Scott may refer to:
Music
* Jimmy Scott (1925–2014), American jazz vocalist
* Jim Scott (producer), music engineer and producer
* Jim Scott (musician), acoustic guitar player and songwriter
* Jimmy Scott (songwriter), British-born mu ...
and John Fields he was convinced to make the move to Los Angeles to further his music career. He worked on many pop records working as engineer to producer John Fields with such pop artists as Pink, the Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore and Switchfoot. Following that was a year stint at the legendary Cello Studios (the old
United Western Recorders
United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boule ...
, the studio where
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
recorded
Pet Sounds
''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on th ...
) working with fellow engineer and producer Jim Scott with such artists as Wilco, Tift Merritt, Kathleen Edwards, and Nikka Costa.
The Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way"
In mid-2005 Chris, along with Jim Scott, started work recording the Dixie Chicks Grammy Award winning album "Taking the Long Way" with
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popula ...
producing. Recording for the record went well into the following year. He did the bulk of the record with Jim Scott then continued on his own with the three girls,
Natalie Maines
Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer. She is the lead vocalist for the all-female country band The Chicks.
In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their ...
,
Martie Maguire
Martha Elenor Maguire (née Erwin, previously Seidel; October 12, 1969) is an American musician who is a founding member of both the all-female alternative country band The Chicks and country bluegrass duo Court Yard Hounds. She won awards in na ...
, and
Emily Robison
Emily Burns Strayer ( Erwin, previously Robison; born August 16, 1972) is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the country band The Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks. Strayer plays banjo, dob ...
. The record was recorded in legendary Los Angeles studios
Sunset Sound
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the sprin ...
and The Village. He is credited with engineering and playing additional percussion on the record. As the record finished up the girls put him to work on preparing material for the live show, working on their back catalog of ringtones and helping organize the studio audio for the movie "Shut Up and Sing" directed by Academy Award- winning director
Barbara Kopple
Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work.
She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for '' Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...
and
Cecilia Peck
Cecilia Peck (born May 1, 1958) is an American film producer, director and actress. She is the only daughter of actor Gregory Peck and his second wife Veronique Passani.
Career
As an actress, Peck was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for '' ...
.
2007 Grammy Awards Ceremony
In 2007 the Dixie Chicks won 5 Grammy's at the 49th Grammy Awards. The record won every coveted award including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Country Album of the Year, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. This marked the first time any band has won that many Grammy awards in the same year. Chris won Grammy's for 3 of the 5 including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. The record went on to sell almost 4 million copies worldwide and was #1 on Billboards Top 200 albums for 2 weeks in a row reaching gold status in the first week.
Jimmy Eat World "Chase This Light"
Immediately following the Dixie Chicks record, Chris went to Tempe, AZ to record with emo rock pioneers
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...
on what would become "
Chase This Light
''Chase This Light'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World. The band began working on the follow-up to ''Futures'' (2004) by late 2005, and had made demos by early 2006. They started recording their next album with engi ...
". He was signed on first to engineer the record with the band producing and the legendary
Butch Vig
Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
acting as Executive Producer. He wound up participating in more ways than the band had originally envisioned and was granted a producer credit on the record by the band. The record went on to be Jimmy Eat World's highest debut ever, debuting on the Billboard Top 200 at number 5.
Current Work
He spent most of time producing and mixing bands moving back and forth between well known acts and more independent bands such as Rickie Lee Jones, Switchfoot, Sherree Chamberlain,
The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots are an American punk rock band formed in 2000, composed of wife Kelly Ogden (bass, lead vocals) and husband Luis Cabezas (guitar, backing vocals). They have released six studio albums and are currently under their own label, Arrest ...
, Liquid Love Letter, Mat Kearney, the Goo Goo Dolls, the Subways and producing and mixing Phoenix indie rockers Source Victoria, Reubens Accomplice, Kinch and Courtney Marie Andrews. He continues to move between smaller bands and more well known artists producing and mixing from his adopted hometowns of Burbank and Silverlake, CA. Currently he is moving between mixing television shows, films and records. He spent most of 2013 working fo TheCo as their in house re-recording mixer and sound designer. In 2014 he started working fo Lighthearted Entertainment as their in house re-recording mixer. In 2015 he mixed over 70 episodes for the Company, Lighthearted Entertainment an Intuitive Entertainment for such networks as CNBC, MTV, VH1, TLC and the Food Channel.
Selected discography
Recording artists / albums
*
Dixie Chicks
The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...
"
Taking the Long Way
''Taking the Long Way'' is the seventh studio album by American country music group Dixie Chicks. Released on May 23, 2006, through Columbia Nashville, it was also the group's last album released under the “Dixie Chicks” name. The album debut ...
"
*
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...
"
Chase This Light
''Chase This Light'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World. The band began working on the follow-up to ''Futures'' (2004) by late 2005, and had made demos by early 2006. They started recording their next album with engi ...
"
*
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
"
Try This
''Try This'' is the third studio album by American singer Pink, released on November 11, 2003, by Arista Records. Wanting to expand more on the rock sound, which she explored on her previous record, ''Missundaztood'', for ''Try This'' Pink collabo ...
"
*
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B ...
"Balm in Gilead"
*
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska.
After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sound, ...
"
Something for the Rest of Us
''Something for the Rest of Us'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Goo Goo Dolls. It was released on August 28, 2010 in Australia and on August 31 in North America through Warner Bros. Records. The recording process took place du ...
"
*
Switchfoot
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, back ...
"
Nothing Is Sound
''Nothing Is Sound'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 13, 2005 and debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200. The first single from the album was "Stars," which was the n ...
" "
Oh! Gravity.
''Oh! Gravity.'' is the sixth album by the San Diego, California, San Diego based alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on December 26, 2006.
It was Switchfoot's last album released through Columbia Records and Sony BMG (Their next a ...
"
*
Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida.
The gr ...
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
"
ELV1S
''Elvis: 30 #1 Hits'' is a greatest hits collection of songs by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on September 24, 2002. It is the first Elvis Presley album to feature the remix of "A Little Less Conver ...
"
*
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
"
Special One
''Special One'' is the fourteenth studio album by the band Cheap Trick. It was released in 2003 to mixed reviews and features the single " Scent of a Woman." It charted for one week, reaching 128 on the album charts.
Background
''Special One'' ...
"
*
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...
*
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, ...
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Ge ...
*
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
City of Black & White
''City of Black & White'' is the third studio album by Mat Kearney. Released on May 19, 2009, it follows his 2006 major-label debut, '' Nothing Left to Lose''. The first single, " Closer to Love", was released on March 10, 2009, as a digital down ...
"
*
Edie Brickell
Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...
"
Volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
"
*"
Never Let Me Go (2010 film)
''Never Let Me Go'' is a 2010 British dystopian romantic tragedy film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. ''Never Let Me Go'' is set in an alternati ...
"
*
The Dollyrots
The Dollyrots are an American punk rock band formed in 2000, composed of wife Kelly Ogden (bass, lead vocals) and husband Luis Cabezas (guitar, backing vocals). They have released six studio albums and are currently under their own label, Arrest ...
A Little Messed Up
''A Little Messed Up'' is the third studio album by pop-punk band The Dollyrots. It was released on August 17, 2010 on Blackheart Records.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Tim Sendra awarded the album 3.5 stars stating "The Dollyrots' third alb ...
"
*
Nikka Costa
Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born 4 June 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa.
Early l ...
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...
"
Coverage
Coverage may refer to:
Filmmaking
* Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce
* Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene
* Script coverage, a short summary of a script, wri ...
Winter Pays For Summer
''Winter Pays For Summer'' is an album released in 2005 by Glen Phillips. The album was Phillips' debut for Lost Highway/Universal Records. It was recorded during 2003 and 2004. It was produced by John Fields at Paramount Studios and Mansfiel ...
" "
Unlucky 7
Glen Phillips (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of the alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Personal life
Phillips was born to a Reform ...
"
*
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
*Sherree Chamberlain "A Wasp In the Room"
* Reuben's Accomplice "Son's of Men" (TBA)
*Source Victoria "The Fast Escape" "Slow Luck"
* Kinch "The Incandenza"
*Domo "With Friends Like These"
*
Sacha Sacket
Sacha Sacket (born September 20, 1978, in Tehran, Iran) is an American pop singer-songwriter who resides in Los Angeles, California. Sacket has produced six albums, ''Alabaster Flesh'' (2001), ''Shadowed'' (2005), ''Lovers and Leaders'' (2007), ' ...
Courtney Marie Andrews
Courtney Marie Andrews (born November 7, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter originally from Phoenix, Arizona. She released her first widely distributed and breakthrough studio album, '' Honest Life'', in 2016. From 2010 to 2011, Andrews was a ...
"No One's Slate Is Clean"
*Reto Burrell "Go"
*
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine membe ...
*
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978 ) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2002 debut album, ''
Back to Me"
*
Tift Merritt
Tift may refer to:
Places
* Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States
People with the given name
* Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter
People with the surname
* Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portr ...
"
Tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...