Joe Barresi pisses me off!

Go listen to any record he’s mixed and you’ll understand what I mean. It leaves the rest of us scrambling to catch up.

The first time that I heard The Pot by Tool I knew that I was in trouble. My ears had an immediate man-crush on Joe. I researched his records and it turns out he’s made a lot of great recordings, so it’s no fluke. Shortly after, I subscribed to his online course and eventually took one of his classes. And I vaguely knew about him through Bad Religion, because they speak of him like he’s a Demi-God.

I finally met him at a Christmas party, which he hosts yearly in Santa Monica at Village Recorders. James Saez, another fantastic engineer, invited me to tag along. Like a giddy schoolgirl I approached Joe cautiously, trying my best not to say anything stupid, and he was super down to earth. Makes it even worse, because not only is he really good, but cool too.

Dammit!

Since then I’ve gotten to know him a bit. It helps that his studio isn’t far from my home, so on occasion I’ve gotten to geek out with him while trying weird combinations of guitar pedals, amps, and all things audio-nerdy. Which honestly doesn’t help my daughter’s college fund. Sorry, honey. And speaking of his studio, I wouldn’t know where to begin. In all my life I have never seen such an impressive collection. I’d get lost in there and my wife would have to send scouts to find me.

Without further ado, Joe Barresi.

Q: What is your favorite sandwich and who makes the best one?

J.B. I love Thanksgiving so anything with turkey, stuffing, and cranberries will do.  The Griddle Café on Sunset used to have the best, but I haven’t been there in awhile to see if it still exists.

Q: What is your favorite meal your mom makes?

J.B. Everything she makes is pretty great, but I’d have to say this soup with kale and beans is pretty excellent.

Q: How did you meet your best friend?

J.B. She was at the Lancaster pound—her name is Annie.

Q: When or how did you find what you wanted to do?

J.B. I attended a recording session for a friend at this old 8-track studio in Tampa, Florida — I was basically his roadie and hung out while the band played …that’s when I realized there was a career on the other side of the glass as well.

Q: How did you pursue it?

J.B. I went to the University of South Florida and started studying all I could about music—attended classes in music theory, learned to play other styles of music and read as much about recording as possible.  And using as much studio time as I could get my hands on to practice recording…that was key.

Q: Did you have a mentor/mentors in pursuing it? Who were they and what did they do for you?

J.B. My guitar teacher, Joe Braccio, was instrumental in opening my eyes on the guitar and also pursuing classical guitar at the University of Miami.  Then when I moved to LA and started working at Sound City I worked with 2 guys who were crucial in my development as an engineer—Jason Corsaro and Garth Richardson.  Those guys both think outside the box, and threw all the rules out.  They encouraged experimentation and strove to be different and that was important to me – to develop my own identity.

Q: What do you dream of doing or are you doing it? If so, then what is the goal?

J.B. My dream was to be a marine biologist—I love sharks and wanted to study them.  Somehow I took a left turn!

Q: What would your 15-year-old self say to you now?

J.B. What were you thinking? You should have stuck with the plan.

Q:  If you were in charge of the world and you have no restrictions, real or imagined, what is the one thing you would give it?

J.B. Peace—man. The world would be a better place if we all lived in peace.

Q: Has morality disintegrated to the point that we now need Yelp for people?

J.B. Some people have morals—I’ve always been a good judge of character, but rather than dwell on the bad, look for the good.

Q: How is society getting things right?

J.B. Society isn’t—you really need to make yourself happy first before you can be judging others.

Q:  What do people need in order to see each other as equals?

J.B. An open mind—you never know what goes on in a person’s day—if we all were a bit more mellow and cut each other some slack, life would be easier.

Q: Do we still need religion?

J.B. I think everybody needs something to believe in, what you call it is up to you.

Q: Do you have hope for the future?

J.B. Sometimes it does look pretty dismal, but in the grander scheme of things I think we still evolve and to do so there needs to be hope.

Q: What are three things that work for you? For example, I can’t find a good razor. Because of a near unbridled need for massive profits I find that many products don’t live up their advertising. What works for you?

J.B.

1: Pour over coffee with a good bean.

2: Envelopes that are self sticking—who wants to lick paper?

3: Air purifiers—life’s better with clean air.

More thought-provoking questions:

1:  Do Americans have the right to complain about immigration?

J.B. Everyone has the right to complain—free speech, right?  Is it appropriate? Well… depends, I guess. Every situation is different…there’s only so much space here, but everyone has the right to a better life.  If you come to this country though, you should respect its rules and strive to be a better American.

2: Would life be easier if racism were accurate? (This is a question to get you thinking about racism. Often ideas of race are talked about as an absolute truth.)

J.B. My dad used to always say there’s good and bad in every race—look at the person, not the color of their skin.

4: What would you like to see written about you on your gravestone?

J.B. There will be no gravestone—I’d like to be cremated.  Burn me up and flush me down the toilet while cranking “Highway to Hell”!