Joe Zook is a highly versatile mixer whose work has earned multiple Grammy nominations and over 100 Gold, Platinum and Diamond certifications worldwide, with more than 45 billion streams. Known for moving between alt-rock, pop, indie, roots, singer-songwriter and soul, Joe lets the artist, the music and the moment shape the sound of each record.
Joe began his career in music as a musician in Boulder, Colorado, playing guitar in bands throughout elementary school and junior high. At 16, he took a job at Robb's Music in Boulder, working for store credit and amassing as much gear as his hourly toil could afford him. At 19, he moved to Austin, Texas, where he played guitar with the band House in Orbit.
The group toured for a time, but Joe's heart was in recording. After taking recording classes and landing an internship at a local studio, he began recording and mixing everything from world beat and jazz records to ESPN fishing shows and political ads.
From Austin, Joe moved to Miami to study at the University of Miami, focusing on music theory, jazz, music business, and digital audio. He played guitar in the Stevie Wonder Ensemble and the James Brown Ensemble and was a founding member of 'Cane Records, producing two records for the label.
In 1997, Joe moved to Los Angeles and landed a job as a runner at Conway Recording Studios. Six months later, he began working as a second engineer at the legendary Sunset Sound and Sunset Sound Factory. There, he assisted Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom on multiple projects and learned the craft from Quincy Jones, Don Was, Tony Visconti, T Bone Burnett, Niko Bolas, Val Garay, Andrew Scheps, Dave Sardy, Rich Costey, Joe Barresi, John Paterno, Neal Avron, Greg Wells, Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, Greg Fidelman, Jim Scott, David Kahne, Craig Street, Dave Rideau, Raphael Saadiq, Dave Way, Geoff Gillette, Dori Caymmi, Glen Ballard, and many other talented producers and engineers.
After four years at Sunset, Joe met iconoclastic producer Jack Joseph Puig. The two struck up a professional relationship that took Joe through nearly two years of record making, primarily as a Pro Tools engineer, while also sharing engineering and recording duties on JJP productions. Joe worked with artists such as Mick Jagger, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Vanessa Carlton, No Doubt, and dozens more.
In 2002, Joe began freelancing. Since then, he has built a remarkably diverse career as a mixer, with his work earning multiple Grammy nominations, more than 100 Gold, Platinum and Diamond certifications around the world, and over 45 billion streams. Moving between genres and generations of artists, Joe continues to let the artist, the music and the moment shape the sound of each record.
