# Joey Sturgis

Joey Sturgis (born January 3, 1985) is an American record producer and owner of The Foundation Recording Studio in Connersville, Indiana. Sturgis started recording in 2004 including producing the Asking Alexandria single "The Final Episode" which has gone on to earn an RIAA certified Gold Record. He also received RIAA-certified Gold Records for Asking Alexandria's "Not the American Average", "Moving On" and Of Mice & Men's "Second and Sebring". He has recorded over 100 albums in his career, and was known for doing a majority of the workload by himself in his early years, including engineering, mixing, mastering, and production.
Sturgis is also the founder and president of Joey Sturgis Tones, which are his own line of audio recording plugins. In 2015, he co-founded URM Academy, an online school for rock and metal mixing and production. He also co-founded Drumforge, a drum software program, and Riffhard, which is an online school for guitarists. He also started the Joey Sturgis Forum Podcast, which is now known as the URM Podcast.

## Production discography
### Studio albums
#### 2000s

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit |
| Patterns of a Horizon | July 2005 | The Devil Wears Prada | Engineer, mixing, producer |
| Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord | August 22, 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | Engineer, mixing, producer |
| Why Are We So Dead? | January 23, 2007 | Kiss the Gunner | Audio production |
| Before Their Eyes | May 15, 2007 | Before Their Eyes | Audio engineer, audio production |
| Against the Rest | May 29, 2007 | Never Again | Audio engineer, engineer, mastering, mixing |
| Dear Brothers | July 20, 2007 | Death Virginia | Mastering, mixing |
| The Arcanum Order | July 24, 2007 | At the Throne of Judgment | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Plagues | August 21, 2007 | The Devil Wears Prada | Audio engineer, audio production, engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Aun Aprendo | November 13, 2007 | Every Bridge Burned | Mastering, mixing, producer |
| Changes | January 8, 2008 | For the Fallen Dreams | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Unbreakable | February 26, 2008 | MyChildren MyBride | Audio production, orchestra production, piano programming, producer |
| Blessed Be Our Ever After | March 4, 2008 | Burden of a Day | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Armada on Mercury | March 18, 2008 | Kingston Falls | Audio engineer, audio production, composer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| At Dagger's Drawn | April 29, 2008 | Sea of Treachery | Engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Can't Fight Robots | June 24, 2008 | Take It Back! | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| The Dawn of My Death | October 28, 2008 | Before Their Eyes | Audio production, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Someday Came Suddenly | November 11, 2008 | Attack Attack! | Audio engineer, audio production, drum programming, engineer, guitar, mastering, mixing, orchestra production, producer, sound effects |
| Kingdom of Might | January 6, 2009 | Woe of Tyrants | Audio engineer, audio production, composer, engineer, guest artist, mastering, producer |
| Depravity | March 3, 2009 | A Plea for Purging | Engineer, guest artist, mastering, mixing, producer, programming, vocals |
| Depths | March 10, 2009 | Oceano | Engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, producer, programming |
| With Roots Above and Branches Below | May 5, 2009 | The Devil Wears Prada | Audio engineer, audio production, engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Apologies Are for the Weak | June 23, 2009 | Miss May I | Audio production, composer, engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Guardians | July 7, 2009 | The Crimson Armada | Audio engineer, audio production, engineer, guest artist, mixing, producer, programming, remastering, sound effects, vocals |
| A Constant North | July 21, 2009 | Rosaline | Producer |
| Relentless | July 21, 2009 | For the Fallen Dreams | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| We All Have Demons | September 1, 2009 | The Color Morale | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Stand Up and Scream | September 15, 2009 | Asking Alexandria | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| To Plant a Seed | November 3, 2009 | We Came as Romans | Engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, producer, programming |

#### 2010s

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit |
| Untouchable | March 8, 2010 | Before Their Eyes | Composer, engineer, instrumentation, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Of Mice & Men | March 9, 2010 | Of Mice & Men | Mastering, mixing, producer |
| Inspired by the Threat of Failure | April 26, 2010 | Us, From Outside | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| To Our Forefathers | May 11, 2010 | I Am Abomination | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Recover | May 18, 2010 | Confide | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Attack Attack! | June 8, 2010 | Attack Attack! | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Monument | August 16, 2010 | Miss May I | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| No Secret Revealed | November 29, 2010 | Affiance | Mastering |
| Speaker of the Dead | February 15, 2011 | Emmure | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| The End of the World Party | February 22, 2011 | I See Stars | Mastering |
| My Devil in Your Eyes | March 8, 2011 | The Color Morale | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer, vocals |
| Truth Is... | March 28, 2011 | Ten After Two | Mastering |
| Reckless & Relentless | April 5, 2011 | Asking Alexandria | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Great Faith in Fools | May 13, 2011 | The Air I Breathe | Mastering, mixing |
| The Flood | June 14, 2011 | Of Mice & Men | Mastering, mixing, producer |
| Dead Throne | September 13, 2011 | The Devil Wears Prada | Keyboards, synthesizer producer |
| Understanding What We've Grown to Be | September 13, 2011 | We Came as Romans | Engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, producer, programming |
| Digital Renegade | March 13, 2012 | I See Stars | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Redemption | March 27, 2012 | Before Their Eyes | Mastering |
| Slave to the Game | April 10, 2012 | Emmure | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| The Future Again | July 17, 2012 | A Hero A Fake | Mastering, mixing, producer |
| Polarities | July 31, 2012 | Everyone Dies in Utah | Mastering |
| Death Is the Only Mortal | October 9, 2012 | The Acacia Strain | Mastering |
| Pardon My French | April 29, 2013 | Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Two-Faced Charade | April 30, 2013 | Famous Last Words | Foley artists, keyboard engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, percussion, percussion engineer, producer |
| About That Life | June 25, 2013 | Attila | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer, programming, sound design, vocal editing, vocal producer |
| Yours To Take | July 9, 2013 | These Hearts | Mastering |
| From Death to Destiny | August 5, 2013 | Asking Alexandria | Engineer, producer, programming, sound design, vocal engineer, vocal producer |
| Hollow Bodies | August 19, 2013 | Blessthefall | Producer |
| Tomorrow We Die Alive | August 20, 2013 | Born of Osiris | Mastering, mixing |
| Collapse | September 16, 2013 | Dangerkids | Mastering, mixing |
| What It Means to Be Defeated | October 29, 2013 | Dayseeker | Mastering |
| New Demons | November 22, 2013 | I See Stars | Producer |
| Faceless | March 7, 2014 | Buried in Verona | Producer, engineer, mixing, mastering, vocals |
| Eternal Enemies | April 15, 2014 | Emmure | Producer |
| The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways | July 22, 2014 | Crown the Empire | Mastering |
| Exotype | October 7, 2014 | Exotype | Producer, engineer, mixing, mastering |
| Beating a Dead Horse | May 26, 2015 | Jarrod Alonge | Mastering |
| Metanoia | July 10, 2015 | For All Eternity | Mastering |
| Conquer Divide | July 24, 2015 | Conquer Divide | Producer |
| Fearless | July 24, 2015 | Richy Nix | Mixing |
| Deathless | August 7, 2015 | Miss May I | Producer |
| To Those Left Behind | September 18, 2015 | Blessthefall | Producer |
| The Devil | October 2, 2015 | Blue Stahli | Mixing, producer |
| The Young Souls | October 30, 2015 | Myka Relocate | Producer |
| The Black | March 25, 2016 | Asking Alexandria | Producer |

### EPs

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit |
| This Is Your Way Out | May 1, 2007 | Emarosa | Composer, engineer, lyricist, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Beyond the Unknown | May 8, 2007 | From the Shallows | Audio production |
| The Second Coming | March 3, 2008 | Eli | Producer |
| Face The Day | August 18, 2008 | Callahan | Producer |
| Don't Even Say A Word | November 4, 2008 | Run into The Shadows | Producer |
| Dreams | December 12, 2008 | We Came As Romans | Producer |
| Jaw Dropper | January 14, 2008 | I Am Abomination | Producer |
| Digital Spaces | August 4, 2009 | Let's Get It | Audio production, engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Now That We're Waiting | August 31, 2009 | Settle The Sky | Engineer, mastering, mixing |
| Zombie | August 24, 2010 | The Devil Wears Prada | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| The March Ahead | August 11, 2011 | The March Ahead | Producer |
| This Is Just The Beginning… | May 8, 2012 | Through Arteries | Producer |
| Proceedings | June 26, 2012 | Tides Will Turn | Mastering |

### Compilations

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit |
| Punk Goes Crunk | April 8, 2008 | Punk Goes... | Engineer, producer |
| Punk Goes Pop 2 | February 17, 2009 | Punk Goes... | Engineer, producer |
| Punk Goes Pop 3 | November 2, 2010 | Punk Goes... | Engineer, mixing, producer |
| Total Breakdown | November 22, 2010 | Various artists | Engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, producer, programming |
| The Filthiest Hits...So Far | August 26, 2011 | Borgore | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |
| Rise 200 | July 30, 2013 | Various artists | Engineer |

### Remix

| Album | Released | Artist | Credit |
| Stepped Up and Scratched | November 8, 2011 | Asking Alexandria | Engineer, mastering, mixing, producer |

## Entrepreneurship
### Joey Sturgis Tones

Joey Sturgis Tones are audio plugins launched and created by Joey Sturgis. Sturgis began his journey with a background in computer science during high school combined with his ability to pick up any instrument he could get his hands on. This eventually became the catalyst for his passion in audio software creation. He programmed and designed his first plugin, "Gain Reduction" a compression plugin that was praised by producer Chris Lord-Alge at the NAMM Show in 2018. He has also released plugins in collaboration with Howard Benson, Rex Brown of Pantera, Misha Mansoor of Periphery, Jeff Loomis of Arch Enemy, Ben Bruce of Asking Alexandria, multi-platinum country producer Billy Decker and others. His plugins have been used on everything from metal, to country, to pop songs such as 10,000 hours by Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber.

### Unstoppable Recording Machine

URM Academy is an online audio school created by Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek 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, Spiritbox, Angels and Airwaves, Conquer Divide, Knocked Loose, Animals As Leaders etc. and producers such as Tom Lord-Alge, Andrew Wade, Tue Madsen, Devin Townsend, Logan Mader, Jens Bogren, Kane Churko, Machine, Daniel Braunstein, Dave Otero, Will Putney among others. Nail the Mix has won two "2 Comma 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 Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek 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

He also started the Joey Sturgis Forums Podcast, now known as the URM Podcast, which was said to "cover a range of music industry topics such as marketing, touring, mixing and producing"
Sturgis has been an active member of The Recording Academy since 2017, advocating for improving the rock and metal categories and encouraging more people to participate.

## Mentorship

Over the years, prior to starting URM Academy, Sturgis mentored a handful of up-and-coming producers who eventually gained notoriety, such as Nick Sampson, Nick Scott, Nick Matzkows, Landon Tewers, Johnny Franck and Caleb Shomo of Beartooth. He also mentored two-time Grammy-Nominated Tyler Smyth in his early days. Smyth started the band DangerKids and is now known for his work with I Prevail and Falling in Reverse.