Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

and the

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. He was also the guitarist for Seattle band

Skin Yard Skin Yard was an American grunge band from Seattle, Washington, who were active from 1985 to 1992. The group never gained a mainstream audience, but were an influence on several of their grunge contemporaries, including Soundgarden, Screaming T ...

, which was active between 1985 and 1992. Endino currently manages a studio in Seattle calle
Soundhouse
owned by Mike Sebring.

Early career

In 1985, Endino and

Daniel House Daniel House may refer to: * Daniel House (musician) (born 1961), American musician and entrepreneur *Daniel House (Knoxville, Tennessee), historic U.S. home See also * Danuel House (born 1993), American basketball player *Danielle House Danielle ...

started the grunge band

. Though originally a drummer, Endino played guitar and

Matt Cameron Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of ...

played drums until he left for

. In 1986, Skin Yard contributed two songs to

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of '' Deep Six'' which collected the earliest recordings of what later came to be known as ...

' grunge compilation '' Deep Six''. In July 1986, Endino left his basement recording studio to found

Reciprocal Recording Reciprocal Recording was the name of a recording studio in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States that was founded in 1984 and officially closed in July 1991. History Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale opened Reciprocal Reco ...

with

Chris Hanzsek Chris Hanzsek is an American musical engineer and record producer, living in Snohomish, Washington. He was co-founder, with then partner Tina Casale, of C/Z Records and their recording studio, Reciprocal Recording, in 1984. He produced bands in ...

, the ''Deep Six'' sound engineer, where he used his self-taught recording skills to produce, engineer, and mix Skin Yard's 1987 debut album ''

''. His skill and low fees meant that he was soon an engineer of choice for up-and-coming Seattle grunge bands, and in 1988, he recorded Nirvana's debut album ''

Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

'' in 30 hours for $606.17, using

reel-to-reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

8-track machine. The album did well in the underground, and after the success of 1991's ''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...

'' it went platinum. After Reciprocal Recording closed in July 1991, Endino continued as a freelance producer and engineer, producing several albums including

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

's ''

Skunkworks Skunk Works is an official trademark for the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (formerly Lockheed Advanced Development Projects). Skunkworks or Skunk works may also refer to: * ''Skunkworks'' (album), alternative rock album by Bruce ...

''. He appeared in the 1996 grunge documentary ''

Hype! ''Hype!'' (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early b ...

'', where he's humorously referred to as "the godfather of grunge." Endino was also interviewed at length for the 2009 book, ''Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music''.

Recording and production work

:''See

Jack Endino discography Jack Endino is an influential audio engineer and musician particularly associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement. This list contains albums and EPs Endino has recorded, mixed, and/or produced, and is incomplete. 1986-1987 * ...

for a chronological list of Endino's recording and production work'' Endino is known for his stripped down recording practices and his dislike of over-produced music with

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a ...

and remastering. Largely because of the success of albums like Soundgarden's ''

Screaming Life ''Screaming Life'' is the debut EP by the American rock band Soundgarden, released in October 1987 through Sub Pop Records. ''Screaming Life'' was later combined with the band's next EP, ''Fopp'' (1988), and released as the '' Screaming Life/Fopp ...

'' and Nirvana's ''Bleach'' in the mainstream, the resulting raw, unpolished sound is still seen as a defining characteristic of the grunge movement.

As an artist

Endino released his first solo album, ''Angle of Attack'', in 1989. Skin Yard disbanded in 1992, and he released a second solo album, ''Endino's Earthworm'', in 1993. In October 2005, he released his third solo album, ''Permanent Fatal Error''. He is currently second guitarist in the band Kandi Coded, which also features

Volcom Volcom is a lifestyle brand that designs, markets, and distributes boardsports-oriented products. Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, U.S. The brand is known for its trademark ''stone'' logo, its slogan ''True to This'', and the '' ...

snowboarding pro Jamie Lynn. He also plays bass in Seattle band Slippage. In March 2013, Fin Records released Endino's EP ''Rumble'', featuring a cover of the April 1958 single "

Rumble Rumble or Rumbling may refer to: Sounds and vibrations * Rumble (noise), a form of low frequency noise * Rumble, a haptic feedback vibration feature in video game controllers * Rumbling, a quality of a heart murmur * Stomach rumble, or borbory ...

" by

Link Wray & His Ray Men Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

. Since 2015, Endino has played lead guitar in Seattle rock band MKB ULTRA, and also with the improv-psych trio Beyond Captain Orca.

References

External links

*
Full discography with notes and album coversJack Endino Interview on RocknRollDating.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Endino, Jack 1964 births Living people American audio engineers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American rock singers American rock bass guitarists American rock drummers American rock guitarists American male bass guitarists Record producers from Connecticut Grunge musicians 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American bass guitarists Skin Yard members 20th-century American male musicians