# Joel Wanasek

Joel Thomas Wanasek is an American record producer and owner of JTW Recording in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wanasek started recording in 2002, initially as a self-taught producer, but by January 2006, he was able to quit his job and professionally dedicate to his recording business.
Primarily working with rock and metal bands, Wanasek has worked with numerous bands such as Blessthefall, Machine Head, Attila, Miss May I and Monuments, amongst others.

## Career and education

Joel Wanasek started playing violin at the age of 10, and guitar at the age of 12. He was inspired to practice by Randy Rhoads, forming a band called Crystal Reign which lasted for a number of years. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
He created the now defunct instructional guitar web site InsaneGuitar.com, before forming his band Dark Shift in 2000, where he played lead guitar. They signed to AJA Records, but disbanded before releasing an album. Joel worked on Dark Shift's debut album "The Assault" which was released in June 2003. The band would then open up for Gigantour in Milwaukee, which featured Megadeth, Dream Theater, Symphony X, among others.
In his producing career, he has worked with labels such as Fueled by Ramen, Virgin Music, Century Media Records, No Sleep Records, Fearless Records, Nuclear Blast Records, among others. In 2016, the song "Is There Anybody Out There?" by Machine Head charted at #36 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock, which he co-produced. In 2018, Wanasek mixed and mastered Miyavi's "Samurai Sessions Vol.2", with the opening song, "Dancing With My Fingers", topping the iTunes Japanese charts.
He uses Steinberg Cubase as his digital audio workstation.

## Entrepreneurship
### Unstoppable Recording Machine

URM Academy is an online audio school created by Wanasek, Joey Sturgis and Eyal Levi, which describes itself as "the world's best online music school for rock & metal producers". Through its program Nail The Mix, the platform offers monthly mixing sessions with professionally-recorded songs and livestream commentary from the producer who originally mixed them. The program has featured bands such as Lamb of God, Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Chelsea Grin, Born of Osiris, A Day to Remember, Opeth, Neck Deep, Papa Roach, Meshuggah, Periphery, Gojira, etc. and producers such as Andrew Wade, Tue Madsen, Devin Townsend, Logan Mader, Jens Bogren, Kane Churko, Machine, among others. Nail the Mix won two "2 Commas Club Awards" from ClickFunnels for "entrepreneurs who have used ClickFunnels to grow their business to the 7-figure mark". The platform also offers a podcast, Q&As, lessons ("Fast Track") and, as part of its Enhanced subscription, "Mix Rescue", where students submit their own mixes to be critiqued and cleaned-up during a live broadcast.

### Drumforge

Drumforge is a music software company founded by Joel Wanasek, Joey Sturgis and Joe Wohlitz that provides drum sample libraries and audio plug-ins. The company has released libraries by Taylor Larson, Luke Holland, Daniel Bergstrand, Matt Greiner and others.

### Riffhard

Riffhard is an online guitar school created by Monuments guitarist John Browne, in partnership with URM Academy, and co-owned by Eyal Levi and Joel Wanasek, mainly dedicated to rhythm guitar.

### Other projects

Wanasek has also developed plug-ins in collaboration with Joey Sturgis Tones (JST), namely "Bus Glue Joel Wanasek", a series of bus compressors.
He has also participated in the Joey Sturgis Forums Podcast, along with Sturgis and Levi, which was said to "cover a range of music industry topics such as marketing, touring, mixing and producing"

## Production discography
### Studio albums
#### 2010s

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit | Label | Chart |
| Phronesis | Oct 5, 2018 | Monuments | mixing, mastering | Century Media | Heatseeker Albums - #6 |
| Trinity | Oct 31, 2018 | ChuggaBoom | mastering | | |
| Arbors | May 5, 2017 | Arctic Sleep | engineer, mixing, mastering | The Church Within | |
| Passage Of Gaia | Aug 21, 2014 | Arctic Sleep | producer, recording, mixing, mastering | Dripfeed | |
| Samurai Sessions Vol.2 | Nov 8, 2017 | Miyavi | mixing, mastering | Virgin Media | Billboard Japan - #9 |
| Samurai Sessions Vol.3 -Worlds Collide- | December 5, 2018 | Miyavi | mixing | Virgin Media | Billboard Japan - #27 |
| Catharsis | Jan 26, 2018 | Machine Head | post-production | Nuclear Blast | US Billboard 200 - #65 |
| Electrogram | Sep 23, 2014 | Vinyl Theatre | producer, mixing, mastering | Fueled By Ramen | Heatseeker Albums - #35 |
| PWNZ | Sep 23, 2014 | CHALLENGER! | producer | | |
| All Is Vanity | Jun 9, 2017 | Christina Grimmie | mastering | UMGRepublic RecordsZxl Music | |
| March Of Rome | Feb 10, 2017 | Bases Loaded | mastering | | |
| Home Is What You Make It | Mar 10, 2017 | Bases Loaded | mastering | | |
| Are You Out There? | Jun 23, 2017 | Rilian | mixing, mastering | Kenobi | |
| Blood Money Part 1 | Oct 28, 2016 | Dope | mastering | Steamhammer | Billboard 200 - #27 |
| To Those Left Behind | Sep 18, 2015 | Blessthefall | mixing assistant | Fearless | Billboard 200 - #23 |
| Future Golden Age | Dec 8, 2015 | Fallstar | mastering | Rat Family | |
| An Achor To The Abyss: Chapter One | Dec 4, 2015 | A Hero Within | mastering | | |
| Navarasam (An Ennead) | 2015 | Thaikkudam Bridge | mastering | Satyam Audios | |
| Viceversa | Feb 4, 2014 | Unarmed For Victory | mixing, mastering | Red Cord | |
| Movement | Oct 9, 2012 | Inhale Exhale | mastering | Red Cord | |
| Change the World | Jun 12, 2012 | From The Eyes Of Servants | mixing, mastering | Red Cord | |
| The Fire Inside | Oct 8, 2013 | Righteous Vendetta | composer | | |
| The Vitality Theory | Jun 15, 2010 | Rosaline | producer, engineer, programming, orchestration | Good Fight | |
| Broken Mirrors | Oct 24, 2011 | Mercy Screams | mixing, mastering | Good Fight | |
| This Is Our Rise | Aug 21, 2015 | First Decree | producer, mixing, mastering | | |
| We Are One | Dec 2, 2015 | The Bloodline | producer, mixing, mastering, vocal engineer | Another Century | |
| Passage | Sep 30, 2011 | The Chosen | mixing | Red Cord | |
| Making the Man | 2010 | Stranger Than Fate | mixing, mastering | Red Cord | |
| Inheritors | Aug 23, 2011 | Serianna | engineer, producer | Bullet Tooth | |
| Hope for Now | Jul 22, 2014 | Silent Screams | mixing assistant | Artery | |
| Exotype | Oct 3, 2014 | Exotype | mixing | Rise | Heatseeker Albums - #27 |
| Departure | May 14, 2013 | Ocellus | producer, mixing, mastering | | |
| California Cauliflower | Jun 18, 2014 | Ian and the Dream | mastering | | |
| Bad Dreams and Melodies | Oct 9, 2012 | Southbound Fearing | strings, synthesizer, programming | Red Cord | |
| Babylon | May 14, 2010 | Milosny | engineer, mastering | Red Cord | |
| 30 Minutes or Less | Dec 12, 2010 | Action Madison! | producer, mixing, mastering | Red Cord | |
| Killers & Thieves | Feb 25, 2014 | Embers in Ashes | producer | | |

#### 2000s

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit | Label |
| Stories From The Book Of Metal | May 21, 2008 | Zephaniah | producer | |
| Gaining Ground | Oct 16, 2006 | Dark Shift | mixing | Dark Shift, LLC |
| The Deepest Rise | Jun 24, 2008 | Dichotic | mixing, mastering | Psycho Drive Studios |
| Kiss Of The Thorn | Sep 28, 2007 | A Tortured Soul | recording, mixing, mastering | Eyes Like Snow |
| Living The Dream | Sep 28, 2007 | Rictus Grin | recording | |

## Works

* "The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Guitar Virtuoso" - 2005