Matt Wallace (music producer)

Matt Wallace is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer, best known for his work with Faith No More, Maroon 5, O.A.R., The Replacements, and Train.

Career

Wallace is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was studying to become an English teacher. While attending college, he set up a music recording studio in his parents' garage in Moraga, California which he named Dangerous Rhythm Studios.

In 1983, Sharp Young Men recorded "Quiet in Heaven/Song of Liberty" at Dangerous Rhythm. The single was released under the band's new name of Faith. No Man., its only release before the majority of its members left to form Faith No More the following year. Wallace relocated Dangerous Rhythm Studios to Oakland, California and hired Kevin Army, who later bought the studio from Wallace. In 1985, Wallace produced Faith No More's debut album We Care a Lot and returned to work with the band for Introduce Yourself (1987).

Wallace relocated to Los Angeles in 1988 and worked for Slash Records as a staff producer and A&R person. He lobbied to produce The Replacements album Don't Tell a Soul (1989). The same year, he again worked with Faith No More, producing and mixing their breakthrough album The Real Thing, which featured the hit song, "Epic," as well as its follow-up, Angel Dust, named the #1 most influential album of all time by Kerrang! in 2003.

He produced Paul Westerberg's album 14 Songs and John Hiatt's album Perfectly Good Guitar. He co-produced the debut Juno-nominated album for Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. The album was certified double platinum in Canada.

Wallace produced and mixed Songs About Jane, the debut album for Maroon 5, including the Top 40 hit singles "Harder To Breathe," "This Love," "Sunday Morning," and "She Will Be Loved." The album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, streamed over 1 billion times on Spotify, and won a Grammy Award for "Best New Artist" in 2005.

Since then, Wallace has co-written songs and produced two albums for O.A.R. He has also co-written and produced several songs for Andy Grammer, an album for Pepper, and mixed Blackberry Smoke's album The Whippoorwill.

In 2015, Wallace joined Faith No More again to co-mix their album, Sol Invictus. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Album chart. It was named the "#2 Best Metal Album of 2015" by Rolling Stone, and won Metal Hammer's Golden Gods Award for "Best Album."

Wallace established the Studio Delux recording studio, located in the Sound City Studios complex in Van Nuys, California. In 2021, it was verified as a Dolby Atmos Music Studio.

Live at Studio Delux

In 2013, Wallace started a live music project with Will Kennedy (whose credits include Michael Franti, Thirsty Merc, Andy Grammer, and Pepper) called 'Live at Studio Delux'. The goal is to help music fans discover the joy of authentic live performances. With over 30 years of combined experience professionally recording and producing music, Wallace and Kennedy capture the artist at their best in a live studio environment. Each artist session is recorded in one day at Wallace's own studio, Studio Delux. The mastered recordings are made available on iTunes while video content can be watched on the project's YouTube channel.

ATMOS Mixer credits

Production and Mixer credits

Awards and nominations