Jack Joseph Puig is one of the most recognized names in the industry. The GRAMMY-winning, multi-platinum engineer and producer has worked with handfuls of incredible artists, like The Verve Pipe, Goo Goo Dolls, Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Klaxons, Panic! at the Disco, Stone Temple Pilots, U2, and more.
Beyond engineering, Jack Joseph Puig has served as executive vice president at Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records, where he signed Klaxons and Charlotte Sometimes. He’s also worked A&R for Shirley Manson, Ashlee Simpson, Klaxons, Charlotte Sometimes, Counting Crows, Puddle of Mudd, and The Like.
Jack Joseph Puig has done it all…
Before his mainstream success as engineer and producer, Jack got his start engineering Contemporary Christian music throughout the ’80s. He worked mainly with Myrrh Records at the time, where he engineered artists like Amy Grant and Russ Taff. Amy Grant’s 1985 record, Unguarded, was a GRAMMY winner.
Jack Joseph Puig is renowned in professional circles not only as an incredible mixer and producer, but also as a technologist and advocate for the highest standards in professional audio. His varied career speaks for itself, as he’s found genre-spanning success in rock, urban, and pop.
To put it simply, Puig has worked with everyone: blues legend Eric Clapton; John Mayer; roots rock artists like The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, and The Counting Crows; pop artists like The Goo Goo Dolls, Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, Common, and The Pussycat Dolls; country acts like Keith Urban, Faith Hill, and Sugarland; indie musicians such as Chris Isaak, Jellyfish, Dinosaur Jr., Guided By Voices, and Beck; and plenty of other superstar names from Black Eyed Peas to Green Day, Toto, No Doubt, 311, U2, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Klaxons, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, and even The Rolling Stones.
Puig’s experience as a record executive at Geffen has given him a unique perspective on not only making albums, but the music business as a whole. Over the course of his career, he’s become known for his ability to interpret the sonic aesthetics of the past 40 years and translate them into something modern and entirely his own.
He calls Ocean Way Los Angeles home, where he utilizes a hybrid approach with a modded 90-input Focusrite console, plenty of outboard gear, and of course, his very own signature Waves plugins.
Selected Achievements and Accolades
Puig earned his first GRAMMY in 1986 as engineer/mixer on Amy Grant’s Unguarded, which landed at #1 on the Contemporary Christian chart. The album won in the Best Gospel Performance, Female category.
When Unguarded was released in 1985, Grant was considered the most popular star in contemporary Christian music. She recorded songs with religious lyrics framed in the context of the the pop/rock style of the era. Unguarded marked a small departure from the religious content of her lyrics on previous releases. “I Love You” was actually Grant’s first secular love song that she wrote herself.
In 1997, Puig and The Verve Pipe had a #1 hit on the Alternative chart with “The Freshmen.” The song was the band’s breakthrough and remains their highest charting single to date. Puig produced and recorded the third version of the song. It started off as an acoustic style song five years prior, on I’ve Suffered a Head Injury.
The Verve Pipe recorded it a second time for release on 1996’s Villains, and finally a third time with Puig for release as a single in 1997.
Puig had the opportunity to mix most of John Mayer’s 2001 debut record, Room for Squares. To date, the record is Mayer’s best-selling release.
By the end of 2002, Room for Squares had produced a few radio hits: “No Such Thing,” “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” and “Why Georgia.” In 2003, Mayer won a GRAMMY for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”
In 2003, Puig produced John Mayer’s second studio album, Heavier Things. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 317,000 copies in the first week.
Mayer achieved his first #1 single with “Daughters,” as well as a 2005 GRAMMY for Song of the Year, beating Alicia Keys and Kanye West. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, winning out over Elvis Costello, Prince, and Seal.
Learn more about Jack Joseph Puig’s Signature Series below:
Jack Joseph Puig Signature Series
Iconic GRAMMY® award -winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig and his personal palette of tones, shades, and hues have illuminated and empowered a kaleidoscope of projects that have spanned commercial record making. His vivid and vibrant productions have defined and redefined the sound of contemporary pop, rock, country, and urban music, time and time again.
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Bass: “Every track is different. And every bass track is different. Sometimes you want just a great bottom; other times you want something with more mid-range that cuts through a mix. You may want to give it a bit of distortion, give it an edge. Or you’ll want to shape the sound with some nice bell EQs, use some compression and gate to lock it with the kick drum. I could even see someone using this plugin on the drums of a hip hop track as a sub enhancer, to give it some attitude. JJP Bass is a plugin that could be used in any situation.”
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Cymbals & Percussion: “There’s really so much you can do with cymbals and percussion. You can use some lo-fi effect to fatten up shakers. You can take out the mid-range on tambourines to make them sound brighter, or you can add some dirt and distortion to make them sound grittier. You can boost the high end to enhance the shimmer of the cymbals or compress them hard, to bring out other aspects of their sound. The JJP Cymbals & Percussion plugin gives you instant access to all the different colors I like to use, so you can just fire it up, find what you need, and stay creative.”
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Guitars: “I approach the guitar as a sound designer, and try to use the whole sonic palette: Make it brighter, darker, more aggressive, compress it, bring out the attack, whatever—to give it attitude. The JJP Guitars plugin helps you get into that creative space, quickly. Sure, there’s a rock and roll edge to this plugin, but for me, what makes it so powerful is that everything you need, it’s right there in front of you; it lets you stay in the zone.”
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Drums: “There are certain things you usually just take for granted when you’re mixing drums. Sure, the snare has to snap. Or maybe you want it to have a woodier sound. The bass drum has to have a nice bottom. But beyond that, there’s a whole other range of things you need to consider to really make the song come alive. Maybe there’s some tonality in the drum kit that you want to emphasize. How do the drums relate to the rest of the song? And once you figure all that out—how do you get there? Well, what’s really great is, JJP Drums is a plugin that can do it all.”
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Strings & Keys: “When I’m dealing with strings and keyboard parts, in general I want them to be radiant and beautiful. I want to shape the tonality to fit what the song needs to be, so when it comes out of the speaker, it’s on another level. With JJP Strings & Keys, it’s set up so you can really follow your instincts, to bring out the complexities in your keyboard parts and orchestrations. You might want to use some delay and make it wider, or add a little air for a more ambient feel. Sometimes you’ll want it dry and in-your-face. Whatever I do, it has to serve the song.”
Jack Joseph Puig on JJP Vocals: “When I mix a vocal, my approach is intuitive and instinctive, not technical. I don’t think in terms of ‘which delay’ or ‘how to EQ it’ or ‘more compression’ or whatever. What concerns me is how it makes you feel. And since each singer is unique, and every song is unique, there’s no single way to go about it. Is it personal, is it intimate, or is it loud and aggressive? So I do whatever it takes to make sure the vocal is open, sits well in the mix and, most importantly, helps convey the message of the song. JJP Vocals helps get you there.”